Below are the 6 most recent journal entries recorded in sance's InsaneJournal:

Thursday, April 7th, 2011
2:29 pm	NBA: Golden State 95, LA Lakers 87 http://imbrenda.busythumbs.com/ OAKLAND, Calif., April 7 (UPI) -- Monta Ellis and David Lee keyed a surge late in the third period Wednesday that launched the Golden State Warriors to a 95-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The result allowed San Antonio, which defeated Sacramento earlier in the evening, to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Los Angeles failed to expand its two-game lead over Dallas in the race for the No. 2 seed in the West. nfl jerseys cheap Ellis scored 26 points while Lee had 22 points and 17 rebounds in bringing the Warriors their third straight victory. Golden State had a four-point lead with 8 minutes to go in the third period, and then outscored Los Angeles for the rest of the quarter 18-5. http://angellioi.wordpress.com/ Stephen Curry added 20 points for the Warriors, who won despite shooting just 39 percent from the field. Kobe Bryant had 25 points for the Lakers and Pau Gasol had 18. Derek Fisher and Ron Artest combined to make just 3-of-16 shots from the field for Los Angeles. © 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
5:59 pm	NCAA Tournament: Should the NBA Studio Crew Be Invading College Basketball？ http://imbrenda.busythumbs.com/ The NCAA tournament has been invaded. Not by aliens or anything like that. Although Jimmer Fredette shoots as if he is out of this world. Since the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament has been airing on four different channels, they have invited the NBA Studio Crew from TNT to work some of the pre-game and halftime broadcasts. nfl jerseys cheap While only Reggie Miller and Steve Kerr will actually announce some of the games, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley have joined the team as studio analysts. Some feel that, in the words of the Round Mound of Rebounds himself, that it was been terrible. http://angellioi.wordpress.com/ Well, Sir Charles doesn't actually say it quite like that. Maybe comedian Frank Caliendo could do a better impersonation than me. Like with so many things in sports and in life, I happen to disagree. But I do feel as if I should elaborate on a few things. I think that Barkley and Smith can be funny together. I think Barkley could be funny in an empty room. Now that is not to say that I happen to agree with everything he says. In fact, that would be far from the truth. But I do find him humorous and entertaining. I also believe that Johnson does a good job leading the team. But could somebody please introduce Craig Sager to those five guys who used to host Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? I know it is part of who he is now, but Sager has had his wardrobe for as long as he has been on television. It is like a mix between a bad prom tuxedo and a senior citizen plaid malfunction. But I digress. People knock Barkley most of the time for simply saying what everyone else is thinking. You have to give him credit for being able to do that, and for actually making it into a paying profession. If he wasn't as humorous as he is, he would not have a job as an analyst. It certainly is not strictly due to his wealth of knowledge. Barkley is intelligent, but he is far better at playing the fool. Well, I'm not sure exactly how much is play and how much is reality. But knock Barkley for what you want. He said that 11 teams getting a bid from the Big East was ridiculous (Actually, ever since Caliendo started to do impressions and impersonations and skits of him, it is as if he has made a conscious effort to avoid the word terrible). He said that it was an overrated conference. Everyone knocked him. They said just look at the polls. The Big East had so many teams in the Top 25 throughout the season. But after the first few rounds, they went from 11 teams down to just two remaining in the Sweet 16. Just because a conference is big, and deep, does not guarantee that it is the best. It didn't even take a college basketball guy to figure out that much. I say that they should add Barkley to the NCAA Selection Committee. Maybe this invasion has not been as bad as some feel. At least they must at least sort of know what they are talking about. Make sure to follow Bleacher Report for everything related to March Madness 2011. (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 12th, 2011
3:28 pm	NBA Game Summary - Indiana at Toronto http://imbrenda.busythumbs.com/ (Friday, March 11th) Final Score: Toronto 108, Indiana 98 Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Leandro Barbosa went 12-of-21 from the field en route to a season-high 29 points, as the Toronto Raptors held off the Indiana Pacers, 108-98, at Air Canada Centre. nfl jerseys cheap DeMar DeRozan added 16 points for the Raptors, who snapped a three-game skid. James Johnson and Jose Calderon each chipped in with 13 points for Toronto, which got 12 points and 13 boards from Ed Davis. Danny Granger finished with 25 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who have dropped six in a row. Tyler Hansbrough tallied 20 points and seven boards. Ahead by two, 27-25, with under a minute to play in the first quarter, the Raptors got five consecutive points from Barbosa. Jeff Foster stopped the bleeding with a layup to make it a 32-27 game after 12 minutes. http://angellioi.wordpress.com/ Toronto started the second period on an 11-2 run to create some distance. Barbosa tallied nine points during the surge, including a three-pointer with 10 minutes left to make it 43-29. The Raptors led by as many as 16 in the second and took a 62-48 margin into the locker room. Indiana chipped away at its deficit and was down by just seven, 74-67, on Darren Collison's layup with 4:13 remaining in the third. Toronto, though, scored the next seven points to build an 81-67 margin. Brandon Rush's trey cut the gap to 83-73 heading to the fourth. Sonny Weems' three-pointer with 7:45 to play gave the Raptors a 97-82 lead. But the Pacers responded with a 12-3 burst to get within six, 100-94, on Josh McRoberts' layup with 4:15 remaining. Toronto scored the next four points to build a 10-point cushion. Indiana never got closer than six the rest of the way. Game Notes Indiana had won three straight against the Raptors. The Pacers have lost five in a row in Toronto...Indiana has dropped five straight on the road...The Raptors were without forward Amir Johnson (ankle)...Collison had 13 points and seven assists in defeat...Toronto shot 53.1 percent from the field. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 28th, 2011
5:09 pm	Luke Donald wins Match Play in record fashion http://imbrenda.busythumbs.com/ MARANA, Ariz. —The weirdest week ever at the Match Play Championship ended with what must have felt like a strange sensation for Luke Donald. He was posing with a trophy on American soil. It had been five years since Donald last won a PGA Tour event, though it certainly was not from a lack of effort. Players don’t crack the top 10 in the world without doing something right. But this was a week when almost nothing went wrong. When he closed out Martin Kaymer on the 16th hole Sunday, the 33-year-old Englishman had won his first World Golf Championship with a performance that is stunning by the numbers alone: http://www.stajump.net — He played 89 holes in six matches, the fewest ever in the 13-year history of this event, and became the first player to never trail after any hole in any match. Donald led his opponent after 81 of those 89 holes. — He made 32 birdies, which is slightly better than one every three holes. — He became the first player to win any tournament without ever having to play the 18th hole. Donald’s longest match was in the second round when he beat Edoardo Molinari on the 17th hole. Donald won the Madrid Masters last year on the European Tour against a relatively week field. This time, he beat the best. http://angellio.blog.hr/ “I solely focus on trying to win tournaments,” Donald said. “I felt like I hadn’t won my fair share for as good a player as I felt I was and could be. It was disappointing. It was frustrating to me. To come here and compete against the best players in the world and win the trophy is very gratifying.” As for the rest of the week, it was surreal. It started with Tiger Woods losing in the first round by hitting a 3-wood into the desert on the first extra hole. Then came Saturday, and the greatest comeback in Accenture Match Play Championship when Bubba Watson rallied from 5 down with eight holes to play to beat J.B. Holmes on the 19th hole, after perhaps the longest time it took to take a drop. Sunday morning was off the charts. Donald drew back the curtains in his hotel room to see Dove Mountain covered in snow. An overnight winter storm dropped nearly an inch of snow in the high desert, and four hours before the championship match, the fairways were white. The snow melted in plenty of time, but on the fourth hole against Kaymer, play was halted for 10 minutes because sleet covered the fairway and green. They had to wait for it to melt. “It was kind of bizarre crouching under my umbrella like that,” Donald said. “We had to pause for 10 or 15 minutes just for the green to dry out. It was testing conditions.” (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
4:35 pm	Fantasy Insider: Analysis for the Northern Trust Open http://imbrenda.busythumbs.com/ It appears that the peak of the weather system moving through the area will occur on Friday. Therefore, it's too soon to lean on either wave as a beneficiary, so stay in touch via Twitter or email and we'll revisit later. Got a fantasy question for Rob? Click here to e-mail him. You can also follow Rob on his Twitter account. NORTHERN TRUST Inside the Field Inside the Course Power Rankings Meanwhile, if you're not aware, I also maintain a series of helpful lists for golf fans and fantasy gamers alike. At the top of this page, click on PLAYERS. Then, off to the right, you'll see links to "Reshuffle," "Medical extensions," "Majors" and "Rookies." They are updated weekly or whenever appropriate. The "Majors" feature has been expanded to include qualifiers for the three World Golf Championships on the FedExCup schedule as well as THE PLAYERS. Consider bookmarking what you need there for future reference. Power Rankings Plus http://angellio.blog.hr/ 11. Jason Day ... First start since a T20 at the Sony Open. While he's completed just eight rounds this year, he was par or better in all of them, and he leads the PGA TOUR in the all-around ranking. 12. Robert Karlsson ... He's made a couple of appearances here -- none since 2007 -- but the 41-year-old PGA TOUR rookie is playing some of the best golf of his life, with top-six paydays in his last four starts worldwide. That includes the default victory at the Dubai World Championship, where he was the beneficiary of Ian Poulter's penalty. 13. D.A. Points ... Makes a return appearance in Power Rankings Plus, where he sat 13th last week as well. Too grounded and well-balanced to suffer a letdown. Plus, he's already had a career year. En route to his breakthrough at Pebble Beach, he led the field in putting and co-led in eagles and birdies. Overall, he's 12th on TOUR in birdies or better on par 4s. 14. Steve Marino ... Like Tommy Gainey in Scottsdale the week before, Marino couldn't go wire-to-wire at Pebble Beach, but he did notch his second top-five in four starts this season. His ball-striking was impeccable at the AT&T, too, where he placed T2 in fairways and third in greens hit. Shared fifth at last year's Northern Trust. 15. Rory Sabbatini ... With a win (2006) and nine paydays in 11 starts here, he's fifth in all-time earnings at Riviera. Worth a bench spot as a sniper in the Yahoo! game if you're saving elsewhere. Enters on the heels of consecutive top 25s the last two weeks Play Fantasy Golf PGATOUR.COM has everything you need to play -- and win -- in your fantasy league. Sign up Fantasy league help: Every player ranked for 2011 Fantasy primer for all formats Power Rankings Distribution for Yahoo! (rank) Group A ... Phil Mickelson (1); Luke Donald (3); Matt Kuchar (4); Dustin Johnson (8); Marc Leishman (10); Steve Marino (14); Rory Sabbatini (15) Group B ... Steve Stricker (2); Bubba Watson (6); Bill Haas (7); Tom Gillis (9); D.A. Points (13) Group C ... J.B. Holmes (5); Jason Day (11); Robert Karlsson (12) Dark Horse (Yahoo! Group) Hunter Mahan (B) ... One top 20 in five starts here, but the wedding band is agreeing with him. The newlywed closed with a 66 at Pebble Beach to put the heat on D.A. Points, but settled for the runner-up. Mahan was T4 in greens hit and third in putting last week. His game around the greens is also improving. Robert Allenby (B) ... It's astounding that this is the 10th anniversary of his victory here in the six-man playoff in the rain. He won again later in 2001, but his 3-wood to five feet is the indelible image from that season. While he's off to a terrible start this year, Riviera is the kind of venue where he can regain some magic. Aaron Baddeley (C) ... En route to a share of sixth place at Pebble Beach -- his earliest top 10 in four years -- he ranked T7 in greens hit and fourth in putting. That's an insane ratio, but it might be the latest example of a renaissance after returning to coach, Dale Lynch. Badds is currently 26th on TOUR in greens in regulation. Since his rookie year of 2003, he's never finished better than 164th in GIR. He's also 8-for-8 at this event. Cameron Beckman (C) ... Three top 25s in four starts already this year. Ranks third in birdies or better on par 4s. He's cashed in his last four starts at Riviera, but hasn't cracked a top 40 over the last three. Epitome of a Dark Horse this week. Alex Prugh (B) ... It's not the roaring start to his rookie campaign of 2010, but he's holding his own, posting top 25s in each of his last two starts. Placed T10 here last year, with just six holes over par. West Coaster is in a comfort zone. custom football jersey Chad Campbell (B) ... I learned long ago not to lean on his attractive splits. He's one of the few where course history matters most, and he'll be overlooked coming off missed cuts in his last two starts. However, he's cashed in all nine of his appearances at this event. Makes me believe that Riviera just fits his eye. http://www.cheapcustomjerseys.us/custom-football-jerseys Jimmy Walker (C) ... Being a first-time father (as of June 2010), I was inclined to lean on the theory of the Nappy Factor for his recent success and consistency, but his wife, Erin, told me that it's more a matter of his elevated confidence since recovering from a chronic neck injury. Indeed, he's already recorded a pair of top 10s this year, and has banked more than half of his haul from all of 2010. He had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in September, so that isn't slowing him down. (By the way, Erin is now contributing at PGATOUR.com. You can read her latest entry of "TOUR Wife Travels" here. Danger (Yahoo! Group) Jim Furyk (A) ... The sky is falling. He's missed two cuts on the PGA TOUR for the first time in nearly four years. Of course, of the gang capable of figuring it out to rebound with a fury, he's on the short list. K.J. Choi (A) ... First time since his rookie year (2000) that he's gone this deep into a season without a top 25. He's cashed in all 10 of his starts at Riviera, but his 2011 numbers are atrocious. Classic bait. Rickie Fowler (B) ... He's off to a nice start, with top 20s in two events, but he hasn't quite blown us away on classic tracks just yet. And this is just his second start at Riviera. Retief Goosen (B) ... First PGA TOUR start of 2011. Comes in on the strength of two top 20s on the European Tour's Gulf Swing, but regardless of his form entering this event, he hasn't fared well, with zero top 50s in three starts. Jhonattan Vegas (C) ... Not sure it's wise hedging against this guy, and his skill set is ideal at Riviera. He's long off the tee, ranks 10th in greens in regulation and second in birdies or better on par 4s. He's listed here because he's a first-timer at a track that historically rewards experience. Yahoo! lineup Starters: Group A: Phil Mickelson Group B: Steve Stricker, Bubba Watson Group C: J.B. Holmes Bench: Group A: Luke Donald Group B: Tom Gillis; Bill Haas Group C: Jason Day Yahoo! stats: 940 points; 10,829th place One and done: Luke Donald 2011 earnings: $444,238.00 Duffer: Ricky Barnes 2011 earnings: $177,320.00 Kevin Na (B) ... Has cashed in his last four starts here, but he's missed three straight cuts entering this week. Hasn't done that since October 2005. Jonathan Byrd (A) ... For a guy that loves Ben Hogan and mimics his swing, Byrd has a record at Hogan's Alley that has done everything but parallel The Hawk's pair of victories here. In six starts, Byrd has failed to crack a top 35. Andres Romero (B) ... With top-fives the last two years here, he's a slam-dunk for course history buffs, but he hasn't cracked a top 65 in three starts this year (when I was on board). Was hoping that the move to the U.S. would allow for more consistency long-term. Apparently, it's too early to judge. Fred Couples (C) ... Not in this weather. No. Medic! (Yahoo! Group) Ricky Barnes (A) ... He's withdrawn from four events (three before tournaments started) already this year due to a bulging disc in his back. Placed ninth here last year, but that's irrelevant given his recent health issue. Paul Casey (B) ... Wrote the following on his Twitter page on Monday: "Waiting for the chiropractor. Popped something in my neck over the weekend. Going to get it all sorted before flying to LA." He was originally in my Power Rankings, and he seems nonchalant about his neck, but it's still worth nothing and approaching somewhat conservatively. Robert Garrigus (C) ... Forced to withdraw before his final round at the AT&T due to high blood pressure. Had played wonderfully all week to put an end to a consecutive missed cuts streak at three after losing in a playoff at Kapalua. Arjun Atwal (C) ... First-timer at Riviera withdrew after nine holes of his final round at Pebble Beach due to a back injury. Greg Chalmers (B) ... Logged just eight holes in the opening round at Scottsdale two weeks ago before a hand injury led to his first withdrawal in 260 career starts. He's 6-for-6 at Riviera, but went six years (2004-2009) without teeing it up in the event. Notable WDs (Yahoo! Group) Ernie Els (A) ... Had planned on making four straight starts beginning this week, but withdrew due to a sore neck. He'll be the 11-seed at next week's WGC-Match Play. Nick Watney (A) ... After three straight top-six efforts, he's taking the week off. Now 32nd in the world ranking, look for him at the Match Play. Tim Clark (B) ... Withdrew on Tuesday. Remember, he was a last-minute WD from Pebble Beach due to an elbow injury, aggravating one-and-dones and those of us that plugged him in our Yahoo! lineups. If he's able, he'll be slotted No. 22 at the Ritz-Carlton next week. (Comment on this)
Saturday, January 8th, 2011
9:28 am	The Bad News Behind a Falling Jobless Rate It sounds like welcome news. The unemployment rate dropped from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent, the sharpest one-month drop since 1998. After months of grim news about jobs, it finally seems like things are heading in the right direction. [See 20 industries where jobs are coming back.] But the fine print is discouraging. The economy did add 103,000 new jobs in the latest month, which accounted for about half of the steep drop in the unemployment rate, according to forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. But the number of new jobs is much lower than economists expected, and the current pace of job creation is far too weak to offset all the jobs lost during the recession. The other reason the unemployment rate fell is a shrinking labor force. Nearly 400,000 unemployed people stopped looking for work in the most recent month, because they felt no jobs were available. They gave up, in essence, and dropped out of the labor force. And that is not what is supposed to happen as the economy recovers and workers, in theory, become more optimistic. Such "discouraged workers" have become a key variable in the jobless numbers, and in the overall direction of the economy. There are now about 4 million Americans classified as "discouraged" or "marginally attached to the labor force," which basically means they'd look for work if they thought it were available—but they don't, so they're not. That's in addition to about 14.5 million people who count as unemployed, because they're actively looking for jobs. Four million labor-force dropouts may not sound like a lot compared with a total labor force of nearly 154 million, but those marginal workers represent the difference between healthy growth that would bring the economy roaring back, and the kind of tepid growth we have now, which leaves millions of consumers feeling unsure about their jobs and anxious about the future. [See why "recession-proof" jobs are a myth.] A shrinking labor force also masks deeper weaknesses in the economy. The size of the U.S. labor force peaked at about 155 million in October 2008, right after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the financial panic that led to millions of layoffs. Back then, the percentage of adults either working or looking for work was 66 percent, about average for the last two decades. The labor-force participation rate has since fallen to 64.3 percent, the lowest level since the early 1980s. Fewer Americans are working, and fewer Americans want to work. If the participation rate were still 66 percent, unemployment would be closer to 12 percent—a number nobody would tout as cheerful news. There's usually a decline in the size of the labor force during recessions, as people who might ordinarily work decide to go back to school, or to stay home and help out around the house, until the job market improves. But the decline in the size of the labor force over the last two years is the sharpest since World War II, and economists now think the labor force could be shrinking permanently. Bank of America Merrill Lynch recently predicted that labor-force participation will tick upward as the recovery picks up, but then resume a gradual downward trend that's been in place since 2000. Their analysis shows that a shrinking labor force could whack a full percentage point off of GDP growth annually. [See how U.S. consumers are conquering debt.] That would have a tangible impact on millions of Americans. Slow economic growth means an indefinite oversupply of workers, which would continue to hold down pay levels--even for those with jobs that feel secure. That would make it harder to save, pay down debt, and keep up with inflation. Fewer earners in the economy also means fewer people paying taxes, which would exacerbate federal deficits and state and local budget shortfalls, which are already a big problem. And of course the unemployed will continue struggling to make mortgage payments, maintain health insurance, and in many cases simply put food on the table, straining the social safety net that working Americans pay for. Economists still expect the unemployment rate to go back up as the economy improves, which, paradoxically, would be good news because it would signal that discouraged workers are regaining some hope and treading back into the job market. IHS Global Insight, for instance, predicts that unemployment will drift back toward 10 percent in 2011, then turn around and end the year close to 9 percent. But that up-and-down trend, typical at the end of recessions, was already supposed to be happening by now. Instead, workforce discouragement seems to be lasting much longer than usual. Optimism, for many, remains as elusive as a job itself. (Comment on this)