Sports Bar

This week is the second major of the golf year in the U. S. Open.  This year's U. S. Open will be contested at Congressional Country Club outside of Washington, D. C. Congressional is the home golf course for many Presidents and other Washington politicians. This years U. S. Open will be tigerless as Tiger Woods withdrew due to injury.  I am competing the CBSSports Fantasy Golf challenge and I just selected my five golfers.  Honestly, it is hard to pick a top five but come Sunday night, we will see how I fared.  The hottest golfer on the tour is
World #1 Luke Donald.  He has been playing some excellent golf over the year.  The first two rounds will feature the pairing of World #1, 2, and 3 in Donald, Lee Westwood, and Martin Kaymer.  So, I like to hear everyone's thoughts about U. S. Open.

Category: Golf

Below is an article from ESPN.

MIAMI -- For Dirk Nowitzki, the resume is complete. He's an NBA champion.

For LeBron James, the agonizing wait continues for at least one more year.

Avenging what happened five years ago in perfect turnabout style, the Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA title by winning Game 6 of these finals in Miami 105-95 on Sunday night -- celebrating on the Heat's home floor, just as Dwyane Wade and his team did to them in the 2006 title series.

Jason Terry scored 27 points, Nowitzki added 21 and the Mavericks topped the Miami Heat 105-95 in Game 6 of the NBA finals on Sunday night. The Mavericks won four of the series' last five games, a turnabout that could not have been sweeter after seeing the Heat celebrate their first title in Dallas after Game 6 of the 2006 finals.

"Tonight," Terry said, "we got vindication."

James did not. Not even close, and a year unlike any other ended they way they all have so far -- with him still waiting for an NBA title.

He scored 21 points for Miami, shook a few hands afterward, and departed before most of the Mavs tugged on their championship hats and T-shirts. Chris Bosh had 19, Mario Chalmers 18 and Dwyane Wade 17 for the Heat.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle joined a highly elite group, those with NBA titles as both a player and a head coach. Only 10 other men are on that list, including the presumably retired-for-good Phil Jackson, one of Carlisle's mentors in K.C. Jones, and Heat President Pat Riley -- who led Miami past Dallas in 2006, and was the mastermind of what the Heat did last summer by getting James, Wade and Bosh on the same team with an eye on becoming a dynasty.

It might still happen, of course.

But even after 72 wins this season, including playoffs, the Heat lost the last game. And that means this year was a disappointment -- except to just about everyone else in the NBA, or so it would seem.

Hating the Heat became the NBA's craze this season, and the team knew it had no shortage of critics, everyone from Cleveland (where "Cavs for Mavs" shirts were popular during these finals) to Chicago (the city James and Wade both flirted with last summer) and just about every place in between lining up to take shots at Miami.

Given their newfound popularity, meet the new America's Team.

Sorry, Cowboys -- your long-held moniker might have to be ceded to your city's NBA club. When it was over, Mavs owner Mark Cuban ran onto the court to hug Carlisle, then punched the air and whooped.

Dallas took control in the second half after some wild back-and-forths in the opening two quarters. Miami took its last lead of the game -- the season -- just 64 seconds into the second half, lost it 16 seconds later and chased the Mavericks the rest of the way.

They never caught them.

Jason Kidd, at 38 years old, got his first championship. Nowitzki got his at 32, Terry at 33. They were featured on the video screen in their building in Dallas during this series on what seemed like a constant loop, each posing with the NBA trophy and looking longingly at it, standing mere inches from it, as if to say "so close, yet so far away."

No more.

It's theirs.

Nowitzki sealed it with 2:27 left, hitting a jumper near the Miami bench to put Dallas up 99-89, and some fans actually began leaving. Nowitzki walked to the Mavs' side slowly, right fist clenched and aloft.

He knew it. Everyone did. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra implored his team to foul in the final minute, and even then, they couldn't catch the Mavericks.

"All those unique individual stories is what propelled us to this victory," Terry said.

Dallas expected a big early push from Miami, and the Mavs' suspicions were proved correct. James made his first four shots, and the Heat raced out to a 20-11 lead.

It was erased -- and then some -- quickly, as soon as Dallas went to the zone defense that befuddled Miami again.

Dallas needed 5 1/2 minutes to rip off a 21-4 run, making 9 of 12 shots during the stretch. And much of that came with Nowitzki on the bench with two fouls, the first time he's been whistled for more than one in the opening quarter of a playoff game this season.

The Mavs were off and running. DeShawn Stevenson made a pair of 3-pointers within a span of 24 seconds to give Dallas a 40-28 lead with 9:42 left in the half. Dallas turned Miami's first six turnovers into 14 points, and the hundreds of blue-clad Mavs fans stood and roared, with Cuban waving his arms as if to lead the cheers from behind his team's bench.

Things turned quickly and got heated for good measure.

Miami scored the next 14 points to reclaim the lead at 42-40, a streak snapped only after Stevenson, Udonis Haslem and Chalmers got technicals with 6:25 left in the half after a midcourt mini-melee with mostly amounted to some words and a couple of shoves.

"A player will not automatically be suspended for leaving the bench if he has already left the bench because a timeout was called," the NBA announced later in the game. "However, we need to review the circumstances of this particular incident, which we will do, after the game."

So the NBA will watch replays.

The Heat, they probably won't -- not for a long while. They had chances to take command and wasted them all. The Heat missed 13 of their 33 free throws, let the Mavericks score 27 points off turnovers and simply could not get a rebound in the final minutes.

Nowitzki finished 9 for 27, and the Mavs still won. He was 1 for 12 in the first half, and they were still ahead, 53-51, thanks largely to Terry's 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, along with a 17-4 edge in points off turnovers.

Plus, after James got off to such a fast start, he had two points in the final 19-plus minutes of the half.

James didn't score in the second half until a layup with 1:49 remained in the third -- his first field-goal attempt since 1:05 remained in the half. Kidd made a 3-pointer late in the period, pushing the Dallas lead to 79-71, and it seemed like the only people standing in the arena were the players, referees, Cuban and a few guys around the Dallas bench.

It was 81-72 entering the fourth, after Ian Mahinmi made a foul-line jumper as time expired in the third, just his third basket of the entire series.

None were bigger.

The Mavs could taste a title.

When the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead in Dallas during the '06 finals, plans for their victory parade were announced. The Mavs didn't win another game in that series.

Now, that parade will finally happen. And when it's over, then the league's uncertainty will truly begin. Labor strife likely awaits, and although more talks geared toward movement on a new deal are scheduled for this week, both owners and players are bracing for a lockout to begin once the current collective bargaining agreement expires June 30.

What happens with the next deal may affect the Heat more than anyone. Some owners will insist on a hard cap, rolled-back salaries and, potentially, trying to bust some current deals -- which could break up the Big 3 before get another chance to win a title together.

A gloomy end to the season may bring an even gloomier offseason for Miami.

"Every situation has felt like it was an our-back-against-the-wall situation," James said Sunday morning, hours before Game 6 began. "We've been able to figure it out and find our way through and scratch our way through. This is the last test. This is the last pop quiz for us that we need to pass in order to make it all worth it."

They didn't pass. So therefore, it wasn't all worth it. Except, of course, from the Dallas perspective.

Of the principal characters from the 2006 series, only Cuban, Nowitzki and Terry remain from the Mavericks' side, and for them, the beginning of this championship celebration seemed sweeter than even they could have imagined. Terry won't have to get his tattoo -- the one of the NBA championship trophy -- removed, which he vowed to have done if Miami won this series. Nowitzki will never be in the conversation of 'Best player without a title' again.









Category: NBA

CBS Still The Worst Run of All

In May My value was 56 and my rating was 99. June 1, that is overnight, my value went from 56 to 35. My rating went from 99 to a 98. You jokers say the more you post, the better your rating is. This is about the forth time this has happened to me. And admins, please do not post your theory on how you think the rating system and scoring works, because you have no dang idea! You post crap to try and make yourselves look good. CBS is one of the worst forums there ever was. It is very disheartning to build up your score and rating only to have it plumet over night. Stick your rating system where the sun don't shine!

Cbs has just about the most ignorant people working for it. Their programmers do not have half the brain a 5th grader has. They never could get the rating system right. When you go to the "Feed Back" area, The admins post nothing but crap! They have no dang clue as to how anything on this server works. They open their mouths, their fingers type. But they make no dang sinse at all! They try their best to tell you what they think will sooth us over. We would love to hear the truth! Just for once! And we are not talking about what you did in bed last night because we know you lie there!

Take the groups areas. When you post in the group areas you never know if you are going to get a decent score, or really low stupid score. Admins say they are aware of the problem. Yet they been saying that same thing for over two years! Yet nothing ever gets fixed! They say they listen to the users, that is one of the biggest lies they ever told! CBS don't give one damn about any user unless that user spends money on fantasy games and such!

They think they are saving time going from page to page by taking away our unlimited favorites. That was not the reason for putting a limit on our favorites. It was to screw you and me, the users! They know it. We know it. But it made their programmers look good in their eyes. God we could all probally write a book on all the stupid things cbs has done. lol. Heck we could all write a book on all the lies cbs has told us! If we had a dollar for each time cbs has told us they improved the server, but has not, we would all be rich!

Lordy cbs, it don't take three years or more to fix your rating syatem! Fire the ignorant idiots you have programming this server and for once quit being stingy with your money and hire some good decent programmers! And please do not go back to K-Mart to hire your programmers! For they truely suck! And please do not get the wrong idea here! I love cbs. It the lies and stupidity that I hate!



Category: General

LED bulbs hit 100 watts as federal ban looms

Below is an article I read in the news. It states that we will no longer be able to buy regular light bulbs after the first of the year! So if you want the light bulbs you were raised withj, buy them up or ay the very high prices for the new light bulbs!

May 16, 6:05 PM (ET)

By PETER SVENSSON

(AP) In this product image provided by Osram Sylvania, an ULTRA High Performance Series omni-directional...
Full Image

NEW YORK (AP) - Two leading makers of lighting products are showcasing LED bulbs that are bright enough to replace energy-guzzling 100-watt light bulbs set to disappear from stores in January.

Their demonstrations at the LightFair trade show in Philadelphia this week mean that brighter LED bulbs will likely go on sale next year, but after a government ban takes effect.

The new bulbs will also be expensive - about $50 each - so the development may not prevent consumers from hoarding traditional bulbs.

The technology in traditional "incandescent" bulbs is more than a century old. Such bulbs waste most of the electricity that feeds them, turning it into heat. The 100-watt bulb, in particular, produces so much heat that it's used in Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven.

To encourage energy efficiency, Congress passed a law in 2007 mandating that bulbs producing 100 watts worth of light meet certain efficiency goals, starting in 2012. Conventional light bulbs don't meet those goals, so the law will prohibit making or importing them. The same rule will start apply to remaining bulbs 40 watts and above in 2014. Since January, California has already banned stores from restocking 100-watt incandescent bulbs.

Creating good alternatives to the light bulb has been more difficult than expected, especially for the very bright 100-watt bulbs. Part of the problem is that these new bulbs have to fit into lamps and ceiling fixtures designed for older technology.

Compact fluorescents are the most obvious replacement, but they have drawbacks. They contain a small amount of toxic mercury vapor, which is released if they break or are improperly thrown away. They last longer than traditional bulbs but not as long as LEDs. Brighter models are bulky and may not fit in existing fixtures.

Another new lighting technology, organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, has had problems reaching mass production. OLEDs are glowing sheets or tiles, rather than pinprick light sources, as LEDs are. They're used as vibrant color screens for smartphones, particularly from Samsung Electronics Co.

But making OLEDs that are big, bright, cheap and long-lasting enough for use as light sources has proved difficult, in part because they use chemicals that are sensitive to oxygen and spoil unless sealed very carefully.

Acuity Brands Inc., an Atlanta-based maker of light fixtures, will be showing some OLED panels at the show. They will go on sale next year, but the price will likely make them technology showpieces rather than candidates for everyday lighting.

LEDs are efficient, durable and produced in great quantities, but they're still expensive. An LED bulb can contain a dozen light-emitting diodes, or tiny semiconductor chips, which cost about $1 each.

The big problem with LEDs is that although they don't produce as much heat as incandescent bulbs, the heat they do create shortens the lifespan and reduces the efficiency of the chips. Cramming a dozen chips together in a tight bulb-shaped package that fits in today's lamps and sockets makes the heat problem worse. The brighter the bulb, the bigger the problem is.

The most powerful pear-shaped LED bulbs in stores today - the kind that fits existing lamps - produce light equivalent to a 60-watt bulb, though there are more powerful ones for directional or flood lighting.

Osram Sylvania, a unit of Germany's Siemens AG (SI), said it has overcome the heat problem and will be showing a pear-shaped 100-watt-equivalent LED bulb this week. It doesn't have a firm launch date, but it usually shows products about a year before they hit store shelves.

Lighting Sciences Group Corp., a Satellite Beach, Fla.-based company that specializes in LED lighting, will be showing several 100-watt-equivalent prototypes, including some that solve the problem of cooling the LEDs by using microscopic devices that move air over the chips, like miniature fans.

Before the 100-watters, there will be 75-watters on the shelves this year. Osram Sylvania will be selling them at Lowe's starting in July. Royal Philips Electronics NV, the world's biggest lighting maker, will have them in stores late this year for $40 to $45.

However, 60-watt bulbs are the big prize, since they're the most common. There are 425 million incandescent light bulbs in the 60-watt range in use in the U.S. today, said Zia Eftekhar, the head of Philips' North American lighting division. The energy savings that could be realized by replacing them with 10-watt LED bulbs is staggering.

To stimulate LED development, the federal government has instituted a $10 million "L Prize" for an energy-efficient replacement for the 60-watt bulb. Philips is so far the only entrant in testing, and Eftekhar expects the company to win it soon. But Lighting Sciences Group plans its own entry, which it will demonstrate at the trade show.

Philips has been selling a 60-watt-equivalent bulb at Home Depot since December that's quite similar to the one submitted to the contest. But it's slightly dimmer, consumes 2 watts too much power and costs $40, whereas the L Prize target is $22. Sylvania sells a similar LED bulb at Lowe's, also for $40.

However, LED prices are coming down quickly. The DoE expects a 60-watt equivalent LED bulb to cost $10 by 2015, putting them within striking range of the price of a compact fluorescent bulb.

Bob Karlicek, the director of the Smart Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., thinks that price is achievable.

But, he said, "it's not necessarily clear to people in the lighting industry that LED chips were ever meant to go into a bulb."

What's really needed, he said, is a new approach to lighting - new fixtures and lamps that spread out the LEDs, avoiding the heat problem.





Category: General

Why is everyone celebrating his death? Sure its a great thing that he's gone. But come on folks. Move on with crap. I dont need to hear about this @#$% on every damn channel for a week straight. I dont care no more. Got better things to do with my life besides wave a damn flag and sing praises to the seal team 6.  Its over and done with and now we as a country need to go after the rest of al-cada.  Guess I will get down from my soap box now.


Category: General