The News Of …

The Miami Dolphins reached an agreement with former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace on a five-year deal worth $60 million, with 30 million dollars guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because Wallace was undergoing a physical and had yet to sign the deal Tuesday night.
The Dolphins later confirmed the Wallace signing in a tweet Tuesday night.
Even before the three-day negotiating period, it was clear Wallace was on the Dolphins’ radar. Then, as USA TODAY Sports reported on Sunday, the Dolphins spent the weekend talking to Wallace’s agent.
Wallace had 1.193 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2011 and was selected to his first Pro Bowl, but his numbers fell last season, when he caught 64 passes for 836 yards and was plagued by drops. Still, Wallace led the Steelers in receiving touchdowns the past two seasons – with eight each year – after tying for the team lead with 10 in his rookie season.

Mike Wallace.

Read the rest of this entry »

A modest earthquake left Southern California with the jitters Monday but no serious damage as the temblor caused swaying and rolling from the desert to the coast, sending children scrambling under their desks and office workers running for the door.
The 9:55 a.m. quake had an estimated magnitude of 4,7, said Nick Scheckel, seismic analyst at the California Institute of Technology’s seismological laboratory in Pasadena.
The epicenter was about a dozen miles from the Riverside County desert community of Anza, about 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles, and it was felt strongly at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament happening in nearby Indian Wells.
The temblor, which occurred at a depth of eight miles, caused a swaying or rolling motion in Los Angeles and San Diego as well as in Orange and San Bernardino counties. It was sandwiched between several foreshocks and aftershocks.
“It kind of shook and then I thought, `God, is that an earthquake?’” said Susie Bride – a cashier at Cahuilla Mountain Market and Cafe in Anza. “It kind of shook and then it rolled a little bit and then it shook again.”

Southern California.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tiger Woods had gone more than three years without a World Golf Championship. He had no trouble remembering the drill.
He sat at a table with the blue Gene Sarazen Cup trophy, he has six just like it at home, and signed a stack of flags for posterity and charity after a two-shot win that was never in question during the final two hours on the Blue Monster at Doral.
Woods entertained a few questions about his new 5-wood, how his performance stacked up with a four-shot win in January at Torrey Pines and whether he thought Rory McIlroy, now overlooked as the Number 1 player in the world, was on the right track.
“Can the Masters get here soon enough?” someone else asked.
It was the only question Woods ignored.

Tiger Woods.

Read the rest of this entry »

Alvin Lee, whose fire-fingered guitar playing drove the British blues-rock band Ten Years After to stardom in the 1960s and early 70′s, died on Wednesday in Spain. He was 68.
He died “after unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure” – according to a brief post by family members on his Web site. His manager, Ron Rainey, said that Mr. Lee had been living in southern Spain for some time. Mr. Lee was not as well known as other emerging British guitar stars of the era, including Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and perhaps even Albert Lee, with whom he was occasionally confused (and with whom he once recorded alongside Jerry Lee Lewis). But he was among the nimblest when it came to musicianship.

Alvin Lee.

Read the rest of this entry »

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (the charismatic leftist who dominated his country with sweeping political change and flamboyant speeches) died Tuesday at age 58, after a long battle with cancer that was shrouded in mystery and prevented him from being inaugurated for a fourth term.
Adored or reviled for his self-styled populist revolution, Chavez held sway over Venezuela through a cult of personality, government reforms that championed the downtrodden, and an endless stream of rhetoric denouncing capitalism, imperialism and the United States.
The ‘Chavistas’ praised El Comandante for reducing extreme poverty and expanding access to health care and education. Critics blamed him for high inflation, food shortages, escalating crime and mismanagement of the country’s oil industry.
Human rights groups lambasted him for politicizing the judicial branch, and undermining the democratic system of checks and balances.

Hugo Chavez.

Read the rest of this entry »

Britney’s most recent romance may have crashed and burned, but things are looking up for another Spears sibling.
Brit’s little sis Jamie Lynn is celebrating after her boyfriend Jamie Watson popped the question with a giant diamond ring.
The 21-year-old announced the news on Twitter over the weekend – posting a picture of her and Jamie showing off the gem.
Former child star Jamie Lynn has been dating 30-year-old Jamie for the past three years – after splitting with Casey Aldridge, the father of her four-year-old daughter Maddie.
Britney (31) was recently dumped by her manager fiance Jason Trawick after nearly four years together.
But she isn’t bitter about her sibling’s happy news.

Jamie Lynn Spears.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bonnie Franklin, whose portrayal of a pert but determined Ann Romano on the television show “One Day at a Time” in the 1970′s and 80′s spun laughter out of the tribulations of a divorced woman juggling parenting, career, love life and feminist convictions, died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 69.
said. They had announced the diagnosis in September.
Ms. Franklin also acted on the stage and in movies and for years sang and danced in a nightclub act. But she was most widely known in the role of Ann Romano, one of the first independent women to be portrayed on TV wrestling with issues like sexual harassment, rape and menopause. Ms. Franklin — green-eyed, red-haired, button-nosed and 5-foot-3 — brought a buoyant comic touch to the part.
Some saw the show as helping feminism enter the mainstream.
“I know it’s just a television show, and I don’t think that I am changing the way the world is structured” – Ms. Franklin told The Washington Post in 1980, but she allowed that “sometimes we strike chords that do make people think a bit.”

Bonnie Franklin.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nicki Minaj might be enjoying her time on the American Idol panel at the moment but the star is said to have cast doubt over her future on the show.
Having been chosen to appear on the show alongside Mariah Carey when Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler quit the show, Nicki’s journey on American Idol didn’t get off to a good start when a verbal fight with Mariah leaked online.
However – since then Nicki and Mariah have gone on to put their differences aside and work together to find the final 20 hopefuls.
But Nicki could possibly give up her place on the judging panel alongside Mariah, Randy Jackson and Keith Urban when she told E! News that she was unsure of her return on the show.

Nicki Minaj.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cristiano Ronaldo got the better of Lionel Messi on Tuesday, scoring twice to lead Real Madrid to a 3:1 win at Barcelona and a spot in the Copa del Rey final.
After salvaging a 1:1 draw in the first leg, Madrid neutralized Barcelona’s passing game and counterattacked to perfection at the Camp Nou to hand its archrival its first home loss in any competition since last April.
“We played a great game” – Ronaldo said. “We faced the game with a serious attitude, played better and scored three goals, which is tough to do.”
It was also a second straight cup setback for the Catalan club, which is running away with the Spanish league but lost 2:0 at AC Milan in the first leg of its Champions League last-16 matchup.

Real Madrid - Barcelona.

Read the rest of this entry »

After Janet Jackson announced her engagement to then-boyfriend Wissam Al Mana last December, rumors quickly followed of her lavish wedding plans. But according to Entertainment Tonight – the 46-year-old pop star and her 37-year-old Qatari billionaire fiance already tied the knot “last year” in what they described as “a quiet, private and beautiful ceremony,” dispelling talks of a multimillion-dollar wedding.

Janet Jackson and Wissam Al Mana.

Read the rest of this entry »