Recap: Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers

Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers

Stephen Dunn - Getty Images

I think we all expected an up and down season, but I don't think we expected this.

The Lakers didn't look at all like they were playing their third game in three nights while the Jazz looked beyond rusty and inexperienced.

Utah had numerous missed inside shots and were constantly getting beat up and down the floor all night. You would have though that nerves would have shown up early in the game, but they were fine to start the game though most of us didn't get to see it. When TNT finally switched over from the Heat and Celtics, things went downhill quickly. It doesn't even do me any good to complain about the free-throw discrepancy because they were that bad.

The Jazz didn't reach 40 points until late in the third quarter and didn't have anyone that could put the ball near, let alone in, the bucket. None of the units on the floor looked like they had practiced together at all.

You could not have scripted a worse opening game for the Jazz yet it's not time to call for things to be blown up. Even if current players are moved later in the year, it's not going to happen suddenly. The one good thing about this season is that the next game comes quickly and the previous loss or win can be put behind you without much time to dwell on it.

It's not going to get much easier tomorrow night against the Nuggets. They're a good team that has the best of their core backand will be a playoff team once again.

The Jazz aren't going to be contending this year anyway. We all know that. It doesn't make games like this easier to swallow of course. But let's give it a few weeks before we call for heads.

Some more random thoughts after the jump.

• Somehow we need to transfer some of Jeremy Evans' jumping to Enes Kanter mad-scientist style. He's got plenty to go around. Kanter was timid under the hoop with multiple non-working head fakes. Someone needs to tell him he's big.
• Why only 7 minutes in the first half for Favors with only two fouls?
• The Jazz didn't break 30% shooting until late in the fourth.
• The Jazz just got outplayed by a guy who intentionally changed his name to Metta
• Where was Alec Burks late in this blowout?
• For those wanting Bell gone -- and I'm not saying you're wrong -- who is going to want him?
• If you have to go with a player of the game for the Jazz, Millsap ended up with a solid line after a poor start, er, off the bench. 18 & 8 on the night.
• Jazz broke 20 in the fourth!
• At least Harris got to kick a Laker fan in the face.
• Is AK available?
• Silver Screen and Roll
• Box Score

Roll Call: Evans Almighty, cjblockingfisher, EcERyda69, TazzJazzFan, Basketball John, Jazzfan_in_Chile, PMoney, hamaca, Fesenko for President, Frank5, Dyl, BJInIndiana, hamfist, jrclone, 3 in the Key, chamont, utahjazz-philippines, SteelersJazz, BC7, Waxmaster, rxmike12, rbmw263, chicagorilla, tiki_sam, Asmaki, G Note, jake1ar, Yucca Man, the new Bradfather, BigBenSportsGuy, KaBar6, Jazz and Ducks, EvilG, P-Will, clarkpojo, jazzed, Panthers FTW, softdrinks, aweezy, flibbidy, Kirilenko's Brother, jjrosk, Mattb.Oliver, d.row, Alex Dye, I miss matthews, kafkaroach, Brigadier Pudding, PastyRasta, montanesian, Coach Couch, unitedelectric, pacoelcid, gubihero, Hoops Mike

Bill Maher Bashes Tim Tebow

Bill Maher Bashes Tim Tebow on Twitter: Fan’s Opinion.

While most of us were spending time with our families during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Bill Maher was busy hate - tweeting against Tim Tebow, and what Maher tweeted about Tebow was completely inappropriate.

After the Denver Broncos were manhandled 40-14 by the Buffalo Bills on Christmas Eve, Maher tweeted, "Wow, Jesus just f**ked #TimTebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere … Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler "Hey, Buffalo's killing them." Tebow didn't exactly have the best game of his career on Saturday against the Bills, completing only 13 of 30 passes for 185 yards along with four interceptions. Tebow tweeted after the game, "Tough game today but what's most important is being able to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas everyone GB2."

In case you don't know who Bill Maher is, you're not missing much. Maher is the host of a show on HBO "Real Time with Bill Maher" which is a show that reviews current events in politics and the media with guest panelists. In other words, nothing too special. Personally, if you're into comedy and politics, you would be much better off checking out The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or the Colbert Report. Besides laughing at his own jokes, Maher is also an atheist, and has taken aim at Tebow a few times over the course of his career, even when Tebow was in college at Florida when Maher made fun of Tebow for putting bible verses on his eye black, which I always found ironic considering Maher is one of the least athletic people I have seen.

People now are calling for a boycott of HBO which will begin to air new episodes of Maher's show in mid - January. With his show coming up one can't but help to wonder if Maher's tweet was just a lame publicity stunt to remind people that he still exists.

The media has certainly created a buzz over Tebow since he took over as starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos and has them one game away from making the playoffs. Skip Bayless of ESPN's First Take is the anti - Maher in that he is almost obsessed with Tim Tebow.

Whether you like Tim Tebow or not, the fact that he stays true to himself and his beliefs is commendable. The charity work he does for his foundation speaks volumes of the man he is. Whether you feel he has the ability to be a good quarterback in the NFL or not, he is certainly a good role model. Personally, I hope he just keeps being himself.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ycn-10757275

Sonny Rollins, jazz great, is Kennedy Center Honor recipient

Saxophone legend Sonny Rollins was one of five 2011 Kennedy Center honorees, alongside actress Meryl Streep, singer Barbara Cook, singer/songwriter Neil Diamond and cellistYo-Yo Ma.

Rollins said of the honor, "I am deeply appreciative of this great honor. In honoring me, the Kennedy Center honors jazz, America's classical music. For that, I am very grateful."

Former President Bill Clinton gave the toast saluting Rollins, in which he said:

"It was unbelievable, and it still is. Decade after decade after decade, this man explores the far reaches of the possibilities of what has lovingly been called the devil's horn. His music can bend your mind, it can break your heart, and it can make you laugh out loud. Still today after all these years, if I wake up in kind of a bad humor, or I'm worried about something, if I put on Sonny Rollins' version of 'Brown Skin Girl,' I will laugh out loud.

I have thought so much about his unique gifts. He has done things with improvisation that really no one has ever done. In complexity and creativity, he rivals Coltrane."

Congratulations to Rollins and all the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors recipients.


Source: http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2011/12/sonny-rollins-jazz-great-is-kennedy-center-honor-recipient.html

Monkey Bread

How to make monkey bread?

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

Prep Time: 50 min + rising time

Cook Time: 30 min

Try to eat one bite. Just try.

Ingredients:

DOUGH:
1 cup warm milk (about 110 degrees)
1/3 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package instant (rapid rise) yeast
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for surface work
2 teaspoons salt

OOEY GOOEY COATING:
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cups unsalted butter, melted

DRIZZLE GLAZE (optional):
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Place rack in middle-low position of your oven, making sure that there are no racks placed above it. Spray bundt pan generously with nonstick spray.

2. Prepare dough: In a microwave-safe bowl, mix milk, water, melted butter, sugar and yeast. Place flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the dough hook attachment to mix them together. With machine on low, slowly add the milk mixture. When the dough begins to come together, increase speed to medium and continue to mix until the dough is shiny and smooth. If the dough is too wet and isn’t coming together, add 2 to 4 additional Tablespoons of flour (stop the machine once to scrape sides if you need to); this should take 6 to 7 minutes. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and work with your hands a little bit to form a smooth, round ball. Coat a large bowl with nonstick spray. Place dough in the bowl and spray the top lightly with nonstick spray as well. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel. Turn your oven on 400 degrees and let it warm up for 1 minute. Turn it OFF. Turn ON the oven light. Place your covered bowl of dough into the warmed oven until the dough doubles in size- 50 to 60 minutes.

3. When dough is almost done rising, prepare the ooey gooey coating. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, melt the butter. Set aside.

4. Form the bread balls: Remove dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and gently pat into an 8-inch square. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 64 pieces (cut the square into 4 pieces and then cut each piece into 16 pieces). Roll each piece into a ball. Dip a ball in the melted butter, then roll in brown sugar mixture; place into the bundt pan. Continue with remaining 63 balls of dough, layering the balls as they accumulate in the bundt pan. If you have any melted butter left over, drizzle a couple of Tablespoons over the layered dough balls. Cover the bundt pan with a clean dish towel, and place back into the warmed oven to let the dough balls rise for another 50 to 60 minutes (they should get puffy and rise almost to the top of the pan.)

5. Ready to bake: Remove the pan from the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the dishtowel. Bake about 30 minutes, until the top has browned and ooey gooey caramel is bubbling around the edges. Cool in the pan for 2 to 3 minutes, then flip the bundt pan upside down onto a platter to remove the contents of the pan. Let sit on the platter for a few minutes to cool slightly before glazing.

6. Prepare glaze: In the bowl of your stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to mix powdered sugar and milk. Continue to mix until lumps are gone (scrape sides of the mixing bowl, if needed). Spoon glaze over the top and sides of the monkey bread.

7. Serve warm, allowing eaters to pull apart pieces of the bread and eat with their hands.

Tips:

*This Monkey Bread is absolutely still great when warmed up the next day!

Source: http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/03/23/monkey-bread/

Detroit Lions Are Playoff Bound

Three years ago, the Detroit Lions headed into Week 17 to face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field with one simple hope: win and avoid a 0-16 season. They failed and hit rock bottom in the process. All of the years of misery culminated in the worst season in NFL history, and the Lions once again had to try to rebuild the franchise and hope that things would go differently for a change.

Fast forward to now and the Lions are once again entering Week 17 to face the Packers at Lambeau Field. That is the only comparison that can be made to 2008, though. This year's Lions aren't in need of a win to avoid a winless season. In fact, the Lions don't even need a win to wrap up a playoff spot. The Lions' 38-10 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Saturday clinched their first playoff berth since 1999 and was just about the best early Christmas present a Lions fan could hope for.

As someone who was only nine years old the last time the Lions were in the playoffs, I honestly thought this day would never come. I have written about this team for Pride of Detroit since April 2006, and with so many negative things that have happened since then, especially in 2008, it just seemed like the Lions would never figure it out. All hope that this franchise would ever get things turned out was seemingly lost following that 2008 season, but after Martin Mayhew became the permanent general manager, Jim Schwartz was hired as the head coach andMatthew Stafford was selected as the first overall pick, the Lions slowly got things moving in the right direction. Now, after putting together 10 wins in 15 games, the Lions are finally once again a playoff-bound team.

Although the playoffs are still a couple weeks away and there is still business to take care of next week at Lambeau, I want to commend all of the people involved in getting the Lions to this point for the job they have done. The turnaround from 2008 to now has been absolutely amazing. On behalf of all fans, thanks for giving us Lions football beyond the regular season for the first time in 12 years.

Source: http://www.prideofdetroit.com/2011/12/24/2660045/nfl-playoffs-detroit-lions

Adrian Peterson Injury

Adrian Peterson Injury: Vikings' RB To Have MRI On Sprained Knee (VIDEO)

LANDOVER, Md. — Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson tore a ligament in his left knee Saturday after taking a direct hit in a 33-26 win over the Washington Redskins.

An MRI showed the anterior cruciate ligament tear after the team returned to Minnesota.

Peterson said he knew "it was something bad" the moment he was hit and that he was in "severe pain" on he lay on the field. He was hurt when tackled by Redskins safety DeJon Gomes at the end of a 3-yard gain on the first offensive play of the second half.

"Anytime you take a blow to the knee like that, you're concerned about the ACL, MCL," Peterson said as he stood on crutches in the locker room. "I'm trying to stay as positive as I can."

The torn ACL would likely sideline Peterson for some nine months and make it difficult for him to return for the start of next season.

On the play after Peterson was hurt, Minnesota's Christian Ponder suffered a head injury when sacked by Adam Carriker and London Fletcher. Ponder remained in the game for one more play – a third-down incomplete pass – before heading to the locker room.

Coach Leslie Frazier said Ponder had "concussion-like symptoms." The coach said he's uncertain whether the quarterback will play in next week's season finale against the Chicago Bears.

"We'll have to weigh it when we get back," Frazier said, "and I'll follow the doctor's lead."

Peterson had 12 carries for 38 yards when he left. He also had a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/24/adrian-peterson-injury-vikings-knee-video_n_1169112.html

Nicole Scherzinger Reflects on her ‘X Factor’ Ride

*As the US version of “The X Factor” approaches its first season finale this week, rumors continue to swirl around judge Nicole Scherzinger.
The original Pussycat Doll, who served as a co-host for UK’s “X Factor” last year alongside Steve Jones, was brought in to replace original judge Cheryl Cole after US auditions had already gotten underway.
She seemed to fit in nicely with fellow judges LA Reid, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, and was well received by the boisterous weekly audience – that is until the Rachel Crow incident, when her decision to send the child home put the deadlocked vote in America’s hands — and America sent her packing.
Adding insult to injury, there were rumors earlier this month that executive producer Cowell will swap Scherzinger with UK judge Kelly Rowland for season two.
When we spoke with Scherzinger earlier this season – before the array of drama that was to come – the singer said her experience with the UK and US “X Factor” shows had already taken a toll on her emotions and even taught her a few things about herself.

Josh Krajcik Duets With Alanis Morissette on X Factor Finale (VIDEO)

Each of the final three contestants – Josh Krajcik, Chris Rene and Melanie Amaro – was paired with a successful music artist for a show-stopping duet.

Krajcik’s partner?

Singer Alanis Morissette, who sang her song “Uninvited” with the rocker.

Despite mostly positive reviews from the judges, it remains to be seen if the performance will be enough to earn Krajcik the “X Factor” title.

A winner, determined by audience votes, will be announced Thursday.

This just in: Shroud of Turin is real, Christianity vindicated!

Nearly everyone knows about the Shroud of Turin, a cloth containing the images of a man, and said to be the burial cloth of Jesus. Here it is:

Dating of the cloth has established fairly convincingly that it’s a 14th century fabrication, and its weave was unknown in the first century: a twill weave that didn’t appear until after 1000 A.D. We don’t know for sure, yet, how the cloth was made, but the Vatican still exhibits it as a holy relic.

Now, however SCIENCE has shown that it’s real, at least from this article in The Independent, “Scientists say Shroud of Turin is supernatural.“ Science! Here’s the scoop:

After years of work trying to replicate the colouring on the shroud, a similar image has been created by the scientists.

However, they only managed the effect by scorching equivalent linen material with high-intensity ultra violet lasers, undermining the arguments of other research, they say, which claims the Turin Shroud is a medieval hoax.

Such technology, say researchers from the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (Enea), was far beyond the capability of medieval forgers, whom most experts have credited with making the famous relic.

“The results show that a short and intense burst of UV directional radiation can colour a linen cloth so as to reproduce many of the peculiar characteristics of the body image on the Shroud of Turin,” they said.

And in case there was any doubt about the preternatural degree of energy needed to make such distinct marks, the Enea report spells it out: “This degree of power cannot be reproduced by any normal UV source built to date.”

A statement by lead researcher, Dr Paolo Di Lazzaro, said: “If our results prompt a philosophical or theological debate, these conclusions we’ll leave to the experts; to each person’s own conscience,” he said.

Since there were no UV lasers in first century Palestine, the case is closed. What strikes me is the degree of certainty in these scientists, as if they’ve shown enough to close the scientific debate and open the philosophical one.

Only one doubter weighs in:

Luigi Garlaschelli, a professor of chemistry at Pavia University, told The Independent: “The implications are… that the image was formed by a burst of UV energy so intense it could only have been supernatural. But I don’t think they’ve done anything of the sort.”

I’ll reserve judgment until I see more than a few excitable paragraphs in a newspaper. In the meantime, consider that an image of toast was found on Jesus in 2008:

R. Kelly Has 32 New Chapters Of Hit Song 'Trapped In The Closet' Written

R&B star R. Kelly is on the look out for new business partners to invest in upcoming sequels to his "Trapped In The Closet" song and video series - because it's too expensive for him to shoot himself.

The "I Believe I Can Fly" hitmaker unveiled the first of 22 chapters in 2005, complete with a melodramatic promo, telling the story of a one-night stand and its consequences.

He filmed videos for each of the musical segments and released the last of them in 2007, but Kelly admits he's got another 32 chapters planned - he just needs to money to make them.

The singer tells TMZ.com, "I've always wanted to be a movie director so that's what I'm working on so that's pretty much my movie director seeping out through my music, that's the best way to put it. Trapped in the Closet... I got 32 more chapters that I'm trying to put out. It costs a lot of money to do... so we're actually looking for investors."

And Kelly has at least one fan who is eager to see the additional chapters.

Former child star Frankie Muniz writes on his Twitter.com blog, "I love R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet". Honestly... it's amazing... I can't wait for the next 32 chapters!!"

Kate Upton And Mark Sanchez Are Allegedly Humping

Mark Sanchez may have fumbled on Sunday, but he isn't fumbling in his personal life, reports the New York Post:

He's also been keeping time with curvaceous beauty Kate Upton.

Sanchez has been paying frequent late-night visits to the Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model's Flatiron apartment, we're told. He's been spotted several times at the voluptuous blonde's pad since November, usually after games or before practices—sometimes as late as midnight—rolling up in his black chauffeur-driven Navigator.

The mediocre blocking of Wayne Hunter has put Sanchez on his ass pretty often in the games, but he apparently gets to be on a pretty ass the rest of the week, so we shouldn't feel that bad for him.

People who observe the Jets frequently would tell you that Sanchez often aims too high for his receivers, but with the ladies he aims high and scores!

"Upton?" He better hope the Jets get up ten this weekend before he starts throwing picks!

Source : http://deadspin.com/5870224/mark-sanchez-and-kate-upton-are-allegedly-humping

New Jersey Plane Crash: Plane Crashes On Highway

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A small plane heading for Georgia spiraled out of control and crashed Tuesday morning on a major New York-area highway, hitting a wooded median and scattering wreckage across the road. All five people aboard, including two investment bankers, were killed, but no one on the ground was injured.

The pilot had discussed icy conditions with controllers just before the plane went down, but investigators were unsure what role, if any, icing played in the crash.

The New York investment banking firm Greenhill & Co. said two of its managing directors, Jeffrey Buckalew, 45, and Rakesh Chawla, 36, as well as Buckalew's wife and two children, were on the plane, which crashed on Interstate 287. Buckalew was the registered owner of the single-engine plane and had a pilot's license.

Wreckage was scattered over at least a half-mile, with a section found lodged in a tree of a home about a quarter-mile away, near a highway entrance ramp. The crash closed both sides of the busy highway for hours, though several lanes were open again in time for the evening rush hour.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the search for wreckage was suspended after dark Tuesday and would be resumed after the Wednesday morning commute to minimize traffic problems.

NTSB officials said they don't believe the plane had a black box, which would have recorded flight data, but they said investigators were searching for other memory devices, including GPS, collision avoidance systems or any device with a recordable chip that might yield more information.

Rockaway Township resident Chris Covello said he saw the plane spin out of control from the car dealership where he works in Morristown, near the site of the crash.

"It was like the plane was doing tricks or something, twirling and flipping," he said. "It started going straight down. I thought any second they were going to pull up. But then the wing came off and they went straight down."

The high-performance Socata TBM-700 turboprop had departed from nearby Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and crashed about 14 minutes into its flight. It was headed for DeKalb Peachtree Airport near Atlanta.

The pilot had a seven-second call with a controller about icing shortly before the crash, NTSB investigator Robert Gretz said.

Gretz said he did not know whether the pilot was reporting icing had occurred or was questioning the location of possible icing conditions. He said he was unaware of any icing on the ground that would have required deicing.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot had requested clearance to a higher altitude shortly before the plane dropped off radar. The NTSB said the plane had climbed to 17,500 feet.

Ice can form on airplanes when temperatures are near freezing and there is visible moisture, such as clouds or rain. The ice adds weight to an aircraft, and rough accumulations known as rime interrupt the flow of air over wings.

In extreme cases, a plane can lose so much lift that it falls out of the sky.

Icing played a role in crashes in 2009 involving a Colgan Air flight outside Buffalo and an Air France flight off the coast of Brazil. In both cases the pilots sent their airplanes into uncontrolled spins while trying to deal with accumulations of ice. The Colgan plane crashed into a house.

Most versions of the TBM-700 have deicing systems. But recordings available online show that even airliners with powerful deicing equipment were having trouble clearing the ice Tuesday. The pilot of a commuter jetliner headed to nearby LaGuardia Airport in New York asked a controller for an immediate climb into drier conditions.

The pilot of the TBM-700 was told to maintain an altitude of 10,000 feet as he headed southwest over northern New Jersey. A controller warned him about the conditions in the clouds above.

"There are reports of moderate rime. ... If it gets worse let me know and when center takes your handoff I'll climb you and maybe get you higher," the controller said.

The pilot responded: "We'll let you know what happens when we get in there. And, yeah, if we could go straight through it, that's no problem for us."

Teenager David Williamson was doing maintenance at a golf course in Morristown when he spotted a plane in trouble, with smoke coming off both sides of the wings.

"It was really scary," he said.

When the plane crashed, he said, it sent up a "huge plume of thick black smoke."

The plane just missed a pickup truck on the southbound lanes before crashing into the median, Gretz said.

Charred wreckage was left across the median and highway, a heavily used route that wraps around the northern and western edges of the New York City area. A huge ball of charred metal sat in the middle of the northbound lanes.

The occupants of the plane were headed to Georgia for personal and business reasons, Gretz said.

Greenhill & Co. said Buckalew's wife, Corinne, and the couple's two children, Jackson and Meriwether, were traveling with him.

"The firm is in deep mourning over the tragic and untimely death of two of its esteemed colleagues and members of Jeff's family," the company said in a written statement.

A resident at Chawla's Manhattan apartment building remembered him as being constantly on the go, leaving early and getting home late. Arthur Yellin said that Chawla and his family were "wonderful people" and that the banker doted on his three children.

Authorities said a dog aboard the plane also was killed.


Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/new-jersey-plane-crash-pl_n_1160497.html