The News Of …

Marvin Hamlisch (the award-winning composer of “A Chorus Line” and “The Way We Were”) has died suddenly at the age of 68, prompting warm tributes from Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, former U.S. first lady Nancy Reagan and dozens of stage and screen stars.
Hamlisch (the musical force behind “The Sting” and numerous other movies and Broadway shows) died in Los Angeles on Monday – a family spokesman said. He collapsed following what was called “a brief illness”. Details were not made public.
Streisand, a friend of 45 years and star of romantic movie “The Way We Were”, said she was “devastated” at his death and recalled how he had played at her 1998 wedding.
“When I think of him now, it was his brilliantly quick mind, his generosity and delicious sense of humor that made him a delight to be around … He was a true musical genius but above all that, he was a beautiful human being. I will truly miss him” – she added in a statement.

Marvin Hamlisch.

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Amid the chaos at the bottom of a mound of joy that formed after Alex Morgan’s goal in the 123rd minute gave the U.S. women’s soccer team an epic 4-3 Olympic semifinal victory Monday night over Canada at Old Trafford, Abby Wambach found clarity.
“I told her in the dog pile after the match: ‘I love you (and) I think I’m in love with you in this moment because you just sent us to the gold-medal match’ ” – Wambach said.
Morgan made America fall just as hard for her by converting a perfect cross from Heather O’Reilly with a midair header just under the crossbar for the game-winner. Watch Morgan’s trademark pink headbands fly off the shelves now. Move over, Hope Solo and Wambach. Team USA’s new “It” girl just arrived.
The shot that led every highlight show back home gave Team USA’s youngest starter a goal for the ages and sent the Americans into Thursday’s final against Japan.
Morgan (a former Cal star and the emerging fresh face of U.S. women’s soccer at 23) managed a relieved smile while finally walking out of the locker room 75 minutes after the game because of drug testing. Asked to explain the final sequence, Morgan looked as dumbfounded as everyone who watched a game that lived up to the tradition of 102 years of play in the Yankee Stadium of soccer.

Alex Morgan.

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This practice day was tougher than any other for the Philadelphia Eagles. After all, sadness, shock, and sorrow beyond anyone’s belief hovered over their training camp site on a day when they lost “a part of the family.”
Garrett Reid (the troubled 29-year-old son of Eagles coach Andy Reid) was found dead Sunday in a dorm room at the club’s Lehigh University training camp, where he spent many summers hanging out with his father’s team.
Police said the death was not suspicious, and the cause was under investigation. The coach’s oldest son had a long history of drug problems, once admitting “I liked being a drug dealer” and went to prison for a heroin-fueled car crash.
Reid’s death, of course, stunned the Eagles, who took the field only because their coach wanted them to continue with their scheduled practices.
Michael Vick, Nnamdi Asomugha and Jason Avant spoke briefly following the afternoon practice. Each offering prayers and condolences to the Reid family. Owner Jeffrey Lurie fought back tears when talking to reporters and general manager Howie Roseman broke down after delivering the news in the morning.

Andy Reid and his son.

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Jessica Ennis won the heptathlon in the Olympic Stadium on Saturday night, but this was more than a welcome first gold medal around the neck of a British track and field athlete.
It was a dazzling performance by the 26 year-old from Sheffield, a show-stopper more than worthy of all the attention showered on the unofficial Face of the Games in the run-up to London 2012.
Fittingly, for someone who had inspired so much love and affection in people across the country, her moment of glory came at prime time on a Saturday night. We already knew she had a winning smile. Now we saw her as a supreme athlete, beating the world.
Ennis was in the lead going into the last event of seven in the heptathlon, the 800 metres. Experts were predicting victory and she even allowed herself to contemplate breaking the barrier of 7.000 points. “I’ve got to run two minutes five seconds to do that and it’s a tough time but I’ll see what I’ve got in my legs and I’ll go for it” – she said.

Jessica Ennis.

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Ledecky began swimming at age 5, joining what was the Palisades Summer League a year later. By the time she was in the third or fourth grade, she said, she drifted away from other sports to concentrate on the pool, and soon was qualifying for sectional championships.
Last summer, as the U.S. senior national team piled up medals at the world championships in Shanghai, Ledecky piled up achievements, too, at the junior nationals in Palo Alto, Calif.
There, she won junior titles in the 400, 800 and 1.500 meters. That fall, she and her coach at CUBU Swim Club, Yuri Suguiyama, sat down and talked about her future.
They agreed she would shoot for this year’s Olympic trials, and an ultimate goal, one they would keep as their little secret: making the U.S. Olympic team.
Ledecky’s times kept dropping, her performances rising. Phelps’s coach (Bob Bowman) was so impressed after watching at a grand prix meet in Charlotte in May that he brought her up out of the blue to a roomful of reporters at the U.S. Olympic media summit days later, saying she was a youngster to keep an eye on.
Terri McKeever (coach of the U.S. Olympic women’s team) also watched Ledecky in Charlotte, when she swam a career best in beating a veteran field.

Katie Ledecky.

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Sharp president Takashi Okuda says his company will begin shipping displays for the next Apple iPhone by the end of this month.
According to Reuters, Okuda made the announcement at a press conference in Tokyo, where Sharp reps were discussing a quarterly earnings report. His comments have attracted a lot of interest in the tech press, and for good reason: While Apple rumors are a dime a dozen, most gossip comes from anonymous sources in the Apple supply chain, not the chiefs of multinational electronics giants.
And the chiefs of multinational electronics giants rarely muff up the facts. So yes, the iPhone 5 will almost certainly launch this fall, perhaps as early as September. That would allow Apple to meet its yearly product refresh cycle, and put the iPhone 5 (or whatever the next Apple smartphone is called) on shelves just in time for the holiday shopping rush. As we noted recently, the iPhone is still selling well, but not as well as some analysts had hoped.

iPhone 5.

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Team USA’s 2012 Olympics women’s gymnastics squad is superior to Nastia Liukin’s crew in every way.
Back in 2008, Liukin, Shawn Johnson and company racked up the medals for the U.S. They won silver as a team. And Liukin won four individual medals including all-around gold. While her success in Beijing was impressive, Gabby Douglas will leave London with a more-impressive resume.
On Tuesday – the Americans won gold in the all-around team competition for the first time since 1996. Mark Emmert of DemoinesRegister.com reported that coach John Geddert raved about the girls and made a bold claim after their victory, saying – This is the best team of all time. You can quote me on that. Others might disagree. The ’96 team might disagree with me. But difficulty-wise, consistency-wise, definitely USA’s finest.
After Team USA trounced Russia by over five points in the finals, it’s difficult to argue with him. While the whole crew— including Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross—contributed to the triumph, it was Douglas who led the way. She was the only team member to participate in all four events and was phenomenal in every single one of them.

Nastia Liukin.

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O.J. Murdock (a reserve receiver for the Tennessee Titans) was found in his car on Monday morning with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to a local hospital and died at 10:43 a.m. He was 25.
Murdock was found at around 8:30 a.m. outside of Middleton High School in Tampa Bay, the high school he attended.
The Titans signed Murdock as an undrafted free agent in 2011, but he didn’t see any game action in his rookie season due to an Achilles injury. He spent last season rehabbing with the team.
The Titans released this statement on their website:
“We are shocked and saddened to hear of O.J. Murdock’s death this morning. In his brief time here, a number of our players, coaches and staff had grown close to O.J., and this is a difficult time for them. He spent the last year battling back from an Achilles injury as he prepared for this year’s training camp. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as they try to cope with this tragedy.”
Murdock had not shown up for either of the first two days of Titans training camp, which opened on July 27. According to CBSSports.com – he’d been excused for those two days for “personal reasons.” Head coach Mike Munchak said he thought it was possible that Murdock would arrive at camp on Monday.

O.J. Murdock.

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This was not what the Americans expected.
Oh sure, being atop the standings by a comfortable margin after their qualifying session in women’s gymnastics, that went according to plan. But world champion Jordyn Wieber (a heavy favorite to add the Olympic gold) won’t even get to contend for the all-around title after finishing behind teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas. Countries are limited to two gymnasts in the all-around and event finals.
It was a stunner for Wieber, who had lost only two all-around competitions since 2008 – though both to fellow Americans – and it left her teammates reeling.
“I was really surprised, and I feel awful because she wanted it so bad” – said Raisman, Wieber’s closest friend on the team and the one who knocked her out of the all-around. “But she should still feel proud because she’s an Olympian. We have to stay calm and focused on team finals.”
The 17-year-old Wieber was sobbing as she made her way through the mixed zone, so distraught she couldn’t speak to reporters. A quote attributed to her and distributed by the London Games’ internal news agency said – “It is a bit of a disappointment. It has always been a dream of mine to compete in the all-around final of the Olympics.”

Jordyn Wieber.

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John Orozco (the teenager from the Bronx) helped lead the U.S. gymnastics team to the top of the rankings in a qualification round.
It was an impressive afternoon for the men, as Orozco and Danell Leyva also became two of four Americans to advance to the individual event finals. The U.S. posted a team total of 274,342, putting it ahead of Russia (272,595) and Great Britain (272,420), respectively.
Scores from the qualifying round do not carry forward to the finals, but are a strong indication of what may happen next.
Leyva and Orozco stood one-two in the standings.

John Orozco.

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