Boston beats sloppy St. Louis in World Series opener, 8-1

Given a bit of help by the umpires and a lot more by the Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox turned the opening game of the World Series into a laugher. Mike Napoli hit a three-run double right after the umps reversed a blown call, Jon Lester made an early lead stand up and the Red Sox romped past sloppy St. Louis 8-1 Wednesday night for their ninth straight Series win. A season before Major League Baseball is expected to expand instant replay, fans got to see a preview. The entire six-man crew huddled in the first inning and flipped a ruling on a force-out at second base - without looking at any video. "I think, based on their group conversation, surprisingly, to a certain extent, they overturned it and, I think, got the call right," Boston manager John Farrell said. Most everything went right for the Red Sox. "We knew the Red Sox were relentless," writes CBSSports.com Senior Baseball Columnist Scott Miller, "but my goodness. These guys, they don't go half-hearted on anything. Growing beards. Team bonding. If making lunch, there is zero doubt that they grind out their bologna sandwiches, too, taking their sweet time, perfect quantity of meat, lettuce just so, mustard spread evenly." David Ortiz was robbed of a grand slam by Carlos Beltran - a catch that sent the star right fielder to a hospital with bruised ribs - but Big Papi later hit a two-run homer following third baseman David Freese's bad throw. The Red Sox also capitalized on two errors by shortstop Pete Kozma to extend a Series winning streak that began when they swept St. Louis in 2004. Boston never trailed at any point in those four games and, thanks to this hideous display by the Cardinals, coasted on a rollicking night at Fenway Park. It got so bad for St. Louis that the sellout crowd literally laughed when pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina, who've combined to win six Gold Gloves, let an easy popup drop untouched between them. Serious-minded St. Louis manager Mike Matheny didn't find anything funny, especially when the umpires gathered in the first and changed a call by Dana DeMuth at second base. "Basically, the explanation is that's not a play I've ever seen before. And I'm pretty sure there were six umpires on the field that had never seen that play before, either," Matheny said. "It's a pretty tough time to debut that overruled call in the World Series. Now, I get that trying to get the right call, I get that. Tough one to swallow," he said. There was no dispute, however, that the umpires correctly ruled that Kozma had not caught a soft toss from second baseman Matt Carpenter on a potential force-out. "There's five of us out here, OK? And all five of us agreed 100 percent that it wasn't a catch. Our job is to get it right," crew chief John Hirschbeck told Matheny on audio played on the Fox telecast. It was, observes CBSSports.com's Miller, "umpiring at its finest. Those umps already home for the winter, hopefully they were taking notes." "With our crew signals, I had crew mates that were giving me the signal that they were 100 percent sure that ... they had it and I had the wrong call," DeMuth said. The normally slick-fielding Cardinals looked sloppy at every turn. Wainwright bounced a pickoff throw, Molina let a pitch skitter off his mitt, center fielder Shane Robinson bobbled the carom on Napoli's double and there was a wild pitch. The Cardinal Way? More like, no way. "We had a wakeup call. That is not the kind of team that we've been all season," Matheny said. "And they're frustrated, I'm sure embarrassed to a point." Game 2 is Thursday night, with 22-year-old rookie sensation Michael Wacha starting for St. Louis against John Lackey. Wacha is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA this postseason. Beltran is day to day after X-rays were negative. Lester blanked the Cardinals on five hits over 7 and 2-3 innings for his third win this postseason. "He was locating both sides of the plate. His cutter is so tough on righties. He was pretty impressive tonight," Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. Ryan Dempster gave up Matt Holliday's leadoff home run in the ninth. Boston brought the beards and made it a most hairy night for St. Louis. The Cardinals wrecked themselves with just their second three-error game of the season. The umpires made a mistake, too, but at least they got to fix it in a hurry. After the control-conscious Wainwright walked leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury, Pedroia singled him to second with one out. Ortiz then hit a slow grounder to Carpenter, and it didn't appear the Cardinals could turn a double play. Hurrying, Kozma let the backhanded flip glance off his glove. DeMuth instantly called Pedroia out, indicating that Kozma dropped the ball while trying to transfer it to his throwing hand. Farrell quickly popped out of the dugout to argue while Pedroia went to the bench. "I was just trying to slide in there to break up two. I saw it wasn't on the transfer," Pedroia said. "They call you out, you have to run off. There's a lot of great umpires out there. They put their heads together and got it right and that's the most important thing." Farrell argued with every umpire he could and must've made a persuasive case. As the fans hollered louder and louder as they studied TV replays, all the umpires gathered on the dirt near shortstop and conferred and decided there was no catch at all. "It was pretty obvious it wasn't on the transfer. The umpires got the right call and we got some momentum," Ortiz said. Pedroia came bounding from the dugout and suddenly, the bases were loaded in the first. Napoli unloaded them with a double that rolled to the Green Monster in left-center. Napoli, with maybe the bushiest beard of all, certainly picked up where he left off the last time he saw the Cardinals in October. In the 2011 Series, he hit .350 with two home runs and 10 RBIs as Texas lost in seven games to St. Louis. The Red Sox added to their 3-0 lead with two more runs in the second. A fielding error by Kozma set up Pedroia's RBI single. The whole inning got going when Stephen Drew's popup in front of the mound landed at Wainwright's feet, a step or two from Molina. The ace pitcher and the star catcher both hung their heads. "I called it. I waited for someone else to take charge. That's not the way to play baseball. It was totally my error," Wainwright said. Ortiz, who hit a tying grand slam at Fenway in the AL championship series win over Detroit, sent a long drive to right-center. Beltran, playing in his first World Series, braced himself with one hand on the low wall in front of the bullpen and reached over with his glove to make the catch. "At least I got an RBI and we were up four and got the momentum," Ortiz said. Beltran hurt himself on the play and left in the third inning. Ortiz homered in the seventh and the Red Sox got another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by 21-year-old rookie Xander Bogaerts. While St. Louis stumbled, Boston made the key plays. When the Cardinals tried to rally in the fourth and loaded the bases, Lester neatly started a home-to-first double play on Freese's comebacker to end the inning. Left fielder Jonny Gomes lumbered for a diving catch to start the fifth. Drew finished off that inning, deftly handling a bouncer up the middle to strand runners at second and third. Boston almost made a terrific play to finish the game. With two outs in the ninth, Freese hit a sharp single and right fielder Shane Victorino nearly threw him out at first base.

The NatSecWonk I Know

He really was a wonk. I know Jofi Joseph, the former White House national security staffer fired last week for his snarky and sometimes bilious tweets under the handle @NatSecWonk, and in person he was nothing like his obnoxious Twitter persona. On Twitter, Joseph railed against the humorless stiffs of the foreign policy establishment. About a Council on Foreign Relations event he once tweeted: “Is the Guiness World Record for largest density of tools in one room about to be broken?” That was a bit like the wrench calling the hammer a tool: Joseph was a deeply-rooted denizen of that CFR world, a foreign policy professional who specialized in the technical realm of nuclear nonproliferation. He even married another expert in the field. And in person—although I found him pleasant and likeable—he was much like those “tools”: mild-mannered, highly intelligent, and seemingly snarkless. Over lunch or coffee he was less interested in trashing colleagues than in diving deep on Iranian centrifuge capacity or deterrence theory in a post-Soviet world. Consider this email he sent me in response to something I’d written a few years ago:

Police accuse Danvers student in death of Colleen Ritzer

Colleen Ritzer, a 24-year-old math teacher, was found dead in the woods near Danvers High School in Danvers, Mass. earlier Wednesday. Police have apprehended a high school student who will face a murder charge in juvenile court. Authorities have not identified the boy because he is 14. They have also not said whether he knew Ritzer or how Ritzer died: Police started investigating after Ritzer was reported missing late Tuesday night because she had not returned home from work and was not answering her cellphone. Investigators found blood in a second-floor school bathroom and soon located the victim, he said. He did not say how Ritzer died. “She was a very, very respected, loved teacher,” [Essex District Attorney] Blodgett said, calling the killing a “terrible tragedy.” The boy also was reported missing Tuesday after not coming home from school. He was spotted walking along a road in neighboring Topsfield at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. Associated Press The Boston Globe reported on Ritzer’s interactions with her students via social media, which revealed a teacher who treated her students as friends: She had a Twitter account and website to remind her math students what their homework was. Ritzer often interacted with students through Twitter, and her personality peeked through in her posts about math. One student tweeted this morning that she had been worried about Ritzer because she didn’t send any tweets Tuesday. In another tweet, the student said, “I hope when I’m older I can be half as nice as Ms. Ritzer was.” Ritzer’s Twitter page was decorated for the season. She had pictures of a recent pumpkin-picking excursion and a tweet about making her first-ever apple crisp. Scrolling through the page, birthday wishes and other exchanges with students could be found mixed in with tweets about math. She recently tweeted good luck to her students for their PSAT exams. Students often favorited her tweets. Another student tweeted today to bring a candle to Danvers High School at 8 p.m. tonight. “It is optional, but something we should do,” the student tweeted, “RIP Ms. Ritzer.”

Detroit Pistons vs Cleveland Cavaliers | October 17, 2013 | Full Highlights | NBA Preseason 2013

NBA Philadelphia Sixers 76ers NBA Preseason 2013 10/17/2013 17/10/2013 17 17th October 2013 1st Full Highlights Game Recap 720p HD HQ TNT ESPN NBA New York Knicks vs Washington Wizards NBA Preseason 2013 10/17/2013 17/10/2013 17 17th October 2013 1st Full Highlights Game Recap 720p HD HQ TNT ESPN NBA Detroit Pistons vs Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Preseason 2013 10/17/2013 17/10/2013 17 17th October 2013 1st Full Highlights Game Recap 720p HD HQ TNT ESPN NBA San Antonio Spurs vs Atlanta Hawks NBA Preseason 2013 10/17/2013 17/10/2013 17 17th October 2013 1st Full Highlights Game Recap 720p HD HQ TNT ESPN NBA New Orleans Pelicans vs Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Preseason 2013 10/17/2013 17/10/2013 17 17th October 2013 1st Full Highlights Game Recap 720p HD HQ TNT ESPN NBA Miami Heat vs Brooklyn Nets NBA Preseason 2013 10/17/2013 17/10/2013 17 17th October 2013 1st Full Highlights Game Recap 720p HD HQ TNT ESPN NBA Phoenix Suns vs Sacramento Kings NBA Preseason 2013 10/17/2013 17/10/2013 17 17th October 2013 1st Full Highlights Game Recap 720p HD HQ TNT ESPN Kyrie Irving & Jermaine Taylor scores 15 points each as the Cavaliers past the Pistons, 96-84.

Kim Kardashian shows off post-baby body in racy swimsuit photo, Kanye West tweets ‘heading home now’

Kim Kardashian posted a new photo of her post-baby body to Instagram on Thursday morning. Now that the Atkins Diet has been revealed as Kim Kardashian's secret to successful post-baby weight loss, the hot mother of one is getting back to showing off her famous assets. Kardashian, 32, posted a "no filter" photo of herself to Instagram, showing off her pert derriere while wearing a high-cut, sexy white swimsuit.

Vintage Derrick Rose | Pistons vs Bulls | October 16, 2013 | NBA Preseason 2013

CHICAGO -- Fans cheered just about every time Derrick Rose touched the ball. They showered him with "MVP! MVP!" chants. In many ways, it seemed like he'd never been gone. Rose scored 22 points in his long-awaited return to the United Center court to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 96-81 preseason victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. The way Rose was dominating, it was hard to believe nearly 18 months had passed since he suited up for a game in this arena. The explosiveness was back after he spent last season recovering from knee surgery, and when he wasn't finishing drives, the former MVP was hitting his free throws. As for any emotions? Rose downplayed them. "Not at all," he said. "I think I'm past that, jitters and everything. For me, it's just going out there and trying to compete and try to do better as a teammate and as a leader." He got a thunderous ovation during the pregame introductions and proceeded to put on a show, scoring 18 in the first half. He had the crowd chanting "MVP! MVP!" at the end of the second quarter after he froze Peyton Siva with a wicked crossover and flipped the ball in off the glass over Andre Drummond as he crashed to the floor. Rose buried the free throw to complete the three-point play. Rose hit 6 of 9 shots and was 9 for 10 on free throws over 22 minutes after missing the previous game against Washington in Rio de Janeiro because of soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. "He didn't look like he lost a step to me," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He was as quick as he's ever been." Carlos Boozer added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Joakim Noah had two points and eight rebounds after missing the first three preseason games because of a strained right groin. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led Detroit with 18 points, but this night was all about Rose. "We are starting to see him find his rhythm," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "The moves, the explosion, the power, the change in directions ... that's been there all along. Now, he has better balance and (is) playing in rhythm." Rose hadn't played at the United Center since April 28, 2012, when the Bulls' worst nightmare unfolded near the end of a playoff-opening victory over Philadelphia. There was Rose coming to a jump stop and crumbling to the floor with about 1:20 left in a game that was out of reach, a torn anterior cruciate ligament ending his season and sending top-seeded Chicago to a first-round exit. His recovery became a running soap opera last season, and it only escalated after he returned to practice in midseason. Should he return? Should he sit out the season? Rose and the Bulls never publicly ruled out a return, so the debate raged on. His image took a hit in some corners as the Bulls clawed their way through injuries and illnesses on the way to 45 wins and a second-round playoff exit. None of that seemed to matter on Wednesday.

R32 (Court 2) - MS - Chen Yuekun vs Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka - 2013 Yonex Denmark Open

This is Court 2 coverage - a court which is not featured in the main TV court of the Yonex Denmark Open 2013. The main TV court coverage will be live from Round 16 onwards, and can be watched on TV worldwide. Court 2 is produced by Badminton Denmark in an effort to bring badminton fans more coverage of this Premier Superseries. The 2013 Yonex Denmark Open is the 9th leg of the OSIM BWF World Superseries and takes place in Odense from the 15th till the 20th of October 2013. One of the five Premier Series events that offers highest ranking points and prize money, live streaming of this Superseries tournament will begin from the Qualifying Rounds on 15th October through to the Finals on 20th October. The OSIM BWF World Superseries is a 12-tournament series that attracts the participation of the top 32 badminton players from around the world. The top eight in each of the five disciplines on the Superseries standings will stand to fight for the Championship in season grand finale, the BWF Superseries Finals. *********************************** It is BWF's goal to provide the live streaming of the Yonex Denmark Open 2013 and delayed videos in as many countries as possible. However, due to reasons including government internet and media rights restrictions, all streaming of TV Court matches will be unavailable to viewers in Denmark, Hong Kong, Japan*, Malaysia, and Singapore; live streaming of all matches is unavailable in Germany, *Round 16 and Quarter Finals available in japan Check out your local TV listing for more broadcast. Delays and match replays will be available worldwide a day after the end of event, except in host country.

Selena Gomez Falls Off Stage During Performance - CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Selena Gomez had an un-choreographed moment in one of her recent concerts. During her Oct. 10 show in Fairfax, Va., the singer was so into her performance of "Slow Down" that she didn't realize she was too close to the front of the stage. She ended up falling off the stage while jumping up and down -- wearing, it should be noted, high-heeled boots. Fortunately for Gomez, it wasn't a long drop. She immediately got up, shook a few fans' hands and, with the help of a dancer, returned to her performance on stage. Gomez is in the midst of her "Stars Dance" tour, which next hits Buffalo, N.Y. Watch the video below -- she slips at 3:25:

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獅VS猿 3下 中華青棒隊國手梁家榮擊出職棒生涯首安！！值得紀念的球要好好保存！ 20131015 CPBL 獅VS猿

Panama vs USA 2-3 MNT RESUMEN COMPLETO 15 Octubre 2013 Rumbo a Brasil 2014

Panama vs USA Goals 2-3 Panama vs USA Goals 2-3 Panama vs USA Goals 2-3 Panama vs USA Goals 2-3 Panama vs USA All Goals & Highlights 2-3 2-3 Panama vs USA All Goals & Highlights Panama vs USA All Goals & Highlights 2-3

England vs Poland 2-0 All Goals & Highlights HD - 15.10.2013

ENGLAND VS POLAND 2-0: England beat Poland at home and is classified for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 With vitóreia by 2A0 over Poland, England guarantees a place for direct and Ukraine Cup will go to playoffs Goal Rooney! England 1-0 Poland Goal Gerrard! England 2-0 Poland England vs Poland 2-0 All Goals & Highlights [2014 FIFA Qualifiers World Cup Brazil] 15-10-2013 England vs Poland 2-0 FULL goals and Highlights - 2014 Qualifiers World Cup Brazil South America England 2-0 Poland - FIFA Qualifiers 2014 Brazil Inglaterra 2 x 0 Polônia, melhores momentos - Eliminatórias Mundial Brasil 2014 England vs Poland 2-0 Official Highlights, World Cup qualifier England vs Poland 2-0 HD FIFA World Cup Brazil - 15-10-2013 England vs Poland 2-0 [FIFA Qualifiers World Cup Brazil 2014] 15-10-2013 England vs Poland 2-0 Todos los Goles y Resumen | Eliminatorias Mundial Brasil | 15-10-2013 England vs Poland 2-0 | Goals & Highlights [Qualifiers Cup] 2013 England vs Poland 2-0 Alle Ziele besten Momente 2013 qualifiers 

Sean Edwards killed in Porsche crash at Queensland Raceway - Pictures

The British driver Sean Edwards has been killed in an accident during a private test at Queensland Raceway in Australia. The 26-year-old was in a Porsche 996 as a passenger when it hit the barriers at the circuit on Tuesday. He had been leading the drivers' championship of the Porsche Supercup series, all of the races for which take place at Formula One events. Edwards is understood to have been killed instantly when the car left the track and impacted with tyre wall on the outside of turn six at the track in Ipswich, 25 miles west of Brisbane. The driver was extracted from the wreckage, which caught fire, by emergency services and was taken to intensive care with life-threatening injuries. It is understood it took three hours to remove the driver from the car. Inspector Dave Preston of Queensland police said it had been a difficult operation to get the men out of the mangled wreckage: "The fire and rescue had to do extensive work in relation to extracting and opening the vehicle up sufficiently to remove him. He was trapped for some time." The driver, who has yet to be named, was a 20-year-old Brisbane man. His family were understood to be trackside at the time and were distraught. He was pinned from the waist down in the wreckage for three hours after the crash took place at 11.30am, after which he was airlifted to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. Edwards was the son of Guy Edwards who competed in Formula One and the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the 1970s and 1980s and was one of the drivers who helped remove Niki Lauda from his burning car at the 1976 German Grand Prix. Edwards himself had won the European GT3 Championship in 2006 and gone on to race in the FIA GT Championship, the American Le Mans Series, the Le Mans 24 hours and the Porsche Supercup and Porsche Supercup Germany series. He had been having a very successful year. Having won the Dubai 24 Hours last year he did so again in 2013 and was also a winner for the Black Falcon team at the Nürburgring 24 this year and took the Long Beach round of the American Le Mans series in the GTC class. Racing for the Allyouneed by Project 1 team in this year's Porsche Supercup, he had victories in Spain, Monaco and Hungary and was leading the championship by 18 points with two races at Yas Marina due to have taken place on 2-3 November. He had also recently been taking part in the making of the film Rush, recounting the 1976 F1 battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, advising on the racing scenes and in some parts portraying his father. The crash comes just five months after another death at Queensland Raceway. In June a 23-year-old motorbike rider was killed when he hit the back wheel of another rider.

CMAs and Ed Sheeran,Taylor Swift Talks Next Album

As Swift accepts the award, she's six months deep in the songwriting process for her next album. "I think the goal for the next album is to continue to change, and never change in the same way twice," the seven-time Grammy winner said. "How do I write these figurative diary entries in ways that I've never written them before and to a sonic backdrop that I've never explored before? It's my fifth album, which is crazy to think about, but I think what I'm noticing about it so far is it's definitely taking a different turn than anything I've done before." The 23-year-old pop star was honored for a record sixth time as songwriter-artist of the year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, surpassing guys like Vince Gill and Alan Jackson. She earned the award with 14 hits in the top 30 over the last year, a tribute to the popularity of her multiplatinum fourth album, "Red." As Swift accepts the award, she's six months deep in the songwriting process for her next album. "I think the goal for the next album is to continue to change, and never change in the same way twice," the seven-time Grammy winner said. "How do I write these figurative diary entries in ways that I've never written them before and to a sonic backdrop that I've never explored before? It's my fifth album, which is crazy to think about, but I think what I'm noticing about it so far is it's definitely taking a different turn than anything I've done before."

Ten years later, Cubs’ loss in 2003 NLCS is still not Steve Bartman’s fault

Ten years ago tonight, the Cubs were five outs away from their first World Series appearance since 1945. Chicago led the Marlins 3-0 in the top of the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field, but the Cubs gave up eight runs in that inning to lose the game, and then blew an early 5-3 lead the next night to lose Game 7. In the 10 years since, they haven’t won a single postseason game, and they haven’t won a World Series title since 1908. For many, the flashpoint of Chicago’s 2003 collapse came on a foul ball hit by Florida second baseman Luis Castillo, which came down over the wall in shallow left field. Cubs left fielder Moises Alou leaped to catch it, but a fan in a black sweater, green turtleneck, Cubs cap, glasses and headphones — who didn’t notice Alou — also went for the ball. It bounced away from both of them, of course, and landed in the seats. Before that half-inning was over, Chicago trailed by five runs. When the Cubs lost the series the next night, the Windy City had someone to blame.

Taylor Swift Talks Next Album, CMAs and Ed Sheeran

Home> Entertainment Taylor Swift Talks Next Album, CMAs and Ed Sheeran NASHVILLE, Tenn. October 14, 2013 (AP) By CHRIS TALBOTT AP Music Writer Associated Press Songwriting is the topic of the moment for Taylor Swift. The 23-year-old pop star was honored for a record sixth time as songwriter-artist of the year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, surpassing guys like Vince Gill and Alan Jackson. She earned the award with 14 hits in the top 30 over the last year, a tribute to the popularity of her multiplatinum fourth album, "Red." As Swift accepts the award, she's six months deep in the songwriting process for her next album. "I think the goal for the next album is to continue to change, and never change in the same way twice," the seven-time Grammy winner said. "How do I write these figurative diary entries in ways that I've never written them before and to a sonic backdrop that I've never explored before? It's my fifth album, which is crazy to think about, but I think what I'm noticing about it so far is it's definitely taking a different turn than anything I've done before." Swift sat down with The Associated Press after the Saturday ribbon-cutting on the new $4 million Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in her adopted hometown to talk about what's to come with the new album, her six Country Music Association Award nominations, her friend and fellow Nashville resident Ed Sheeran and Madonna. AP: Next month you leave on a stadium tour of Australia, making you the first female solo performer to tour that country since Madonna 20 years ago. Madonna was the top pop star in the world at the time. Do you see yourself as that kind of pop star? Swift: I would never see myself that way. I see myself as kind of this girl who writes songs in her bedroom. You can kind of dress it up all you want and you can put together an amazing theatrical production, you can become a better performer as time goes by, and you can try to excite people, but I'm always going to be a girl who writes songs in her bedroom in my own personal perception of myself. And I think it's important that I don't necessarily think too hard about what everybody else's perception of me is or else I'd just get completely lost in it. It's just easier to think of myself that way. AP: You're up for entertainer of the year again at the CMAs on Nov. 6. If you win, you'll become the first woman with three wins, passing Barbara Mandrell. How do you feel about that? Swift: I think winning entertainer of the year would be an unbelievable thing to happen in my life because I still sometimes can't believe I've gotten to win that twice. So a third time, what I think it would mean for my fans, would be the biggest feeling I would have. Just knowing the, I think, 1.3 million people we saw this year in the U.S. would get to know that they contributed to that and that they being frenzied and covering themselves in Christmas lights and making signs and learning the lyrics and screaming at the top of their lungs and dancing for two hours straight at my show somehow moved the needle and impacted my life in a way that I'll remember when I'm 85 if I get to be 85.

Needs Improvement in Week 6: Philip Rivers' patience

Every week I'll be focusing on one area in which the Chargers could use improvement in order for them to achieve future success. This is the first post of this series, and also my first post since returning from a three month stay in Europe; if you aren't familiar with me as a poster, it is entirely understandable. (And if I start using colour instead of color or refer to this sport as American Football, please forgive me. Or just blame Angela Merkel or Golden Dawn or something.) Last week's first half in Oakland was nothing short of pitiful: the Bolts went into halftime down 17-0, unable to score anything against one of the NFL's worst defenses in 2013. The same guy we've talked about as having a better year than he's ever had was guilty of multiple misreads last week, as Jerome outlined earlier this week. I went ahead and looked at the game film one last time this morning, looking for other reasons that potentially cost the Bolts points, and was astounded at Philip Rivers' lack of patience on several pivotal plays. I'm going to highlight three plays below where Philip gets rid of the football to an undesirable location while having a completely clean pocket.

Big-ticket graffiti artist Banksy says he offered paintings for $60 in Central

Original signed canvasses by British street artist Banksy have been sold from a stall in New York's Central Park for $60 (£38) each. The elusive artist posted a video on his website showing a man selling what appeared to be fake Banksys. Many of the pieces, estimated to be worth up to £20,000 each, remained unsold at the end of the day. Banksy is in New York for a month-long residency during which he has promised a new piece of street art every day. Entitled Better Out Than In, the public art show has its own website on to which pictures and videos of the art works have been posted. The latest video was accompanied with the words, "Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases. For $60 each." The video shows an unknown older man making his first sale mid-afternoon, to a woman who buys two small canvasses for her children after negotiating a 50% discount. Another woman from New Zealand is seen buying two of the paintings, before a man from Chicago buys four.

Why the Nexus 5 should advance touchless control

The Android-gossip consensus is that we'll see a Nexus 5 running Android 4.4 KitKat revealed on Tuesday, yet we've heard of no confirmation or official invites to any unveiling. Whether the big debut of the next pure Google phone has been pushed back or not, there's one killer feature I expect to see in the next Nexus that hasn't been directly addressed by the multitude of leaks -- the touchless control capability we've already come to know through Motorola's Moto X and latest Droids. Voice control assistants like Google Now and Apple's Siri didn't revolutionize our relationships with our devices and the wider digital world overnight, but Google continues to play the long game on the concept. With touchless control, Motorola and Google upped the ante in the quest for that holy grail of Silicon Valley buzzwords that means nothing to most normal humans -- frictionless user interaction.

North Korea Vows More Nuclear Tests Targeting U.S.

In a bellicose statement singling out the United States as the "sworn enemy" of the Korean people, North Korea today announced plans for a third nuclear test and continued rocket launches. The move is seen as a disappointment to those who hoped the country's new leader, Kim Jong-Un, might take a less aggressive path than his predecessor and father, Kim Jong-il. It is also seen as a direct challenge to President Obama and South Korea's newly elected president, Park Geun-hye, who takes office next month. The statement from North Korea's National Defense Commission read: "Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival."

Vicco, Smallest Town In Kentucky, Passes LGBT Non-Discrimination Law

Follow: LGBT, Civil Rights, LGBT, Gay Rights, Kentucky Gay Community, Vicco Kentucky, Anti-Gay Discrimination, Anti-Gay Discrimination Law, Gay Discrimination, Gay Discrimination Law, Kentucky, Kentucky LGBT Rights, Kentucky Gay Rights, Vicco, Gay Voices News On the heels of a statewide push for Kentucky to its protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens, one of the smallest towns in the commonwealth has just approved a new nondiscrimination law which does exactly that. A week ago, the Fairness Coalition joined Vicco, Ky. -- home to some 334 residents in total -- as they passed the commonwealth’s first LGBT fair treatment ordinance in a decade, reports Lex 18. Vicco is now being touted by a number of media outlets as the smallest town in America to adopt an anti-discrimination law based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Apple (AAPL) Shares Close Down 12 Percent on Slowdown Worries

Apple stock (Nasdaq: AAPL) took a hit the day after its first-quarter earnings were released, closing down more than 12 percent on Thursday. Investors were worried that growth is slowing at Apple, the world's most valuable company. Shares of Apple dropped $63.51, or 12.35 percent, to $450.40 at the close of New York trading Thursday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index, on which Apple trades, also closed down 0.74 percent to 3,130. On Wednesday after the market closed, the company reported that it sold 47.8 million iPhones in the quarter, compared with 37 million in the same quarter a year ago. Many investors had hoped that the company would sell 50 million iPhones, which drives Apple's earnings. "No technology company has ever reported these kinds of results," Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said on the earnings call on Wednesday. Investors eagerly awaited Apple Inc., based in Cupertino, Calif., to report its earnings, seeking clarity after a number of rumors about iPhone parts and sales. Earlier this week there were reports about the next iPhone being released in June.

Hillary Clinton’s clarity on threats in North Africa

Giovanna Plowman, 'Tampon Girl', Apparently Puts Bloody Hygiene Product In Mouth (GRAPHIC VIDEO)

So, bloody tampon sucking is a thing now, it seems. The person to thank for this happening is the lovely and talented Giovanna Plowman who posted a GRAPHIC video (shown below) to her now deleted Facebook page in which she appears to put a bloody tampon in her mouth and suck on it, several times. There is, as KnowYourMeme.com points out, lots of speculation amongst commenters as to the video's authenticity. Some suspect the tampon was dipped in tomato sauce or some other red liquid. But even with the prospect of the video's fraudulence in mind, it's hard not to cringe when you see Plowman swallow the feminine hygiene product. The Buffalo, N.Y. teen has received a lot of blowback for posting the video from Twitter users and commenters who accuse her of doing anything for 15 minutes of fame, according to the International Digital Times.

Uni Watch evaluates New Orleans Pelicans

When we invited Uni Watch readers to rename and redesign the New Orleans Hornets last spring, one of the five finalists was this New Orleans Pelicans design by reader Chris Giorgio. That design was by far the most popular option among those who voted in an ESPN SportsNation poll. [+] Enlarge New Orleans PelicansNew Orleans PelicansThe New Orleans Hornets will officially become the New Orleans Pelicans next season. Maybe the NBA or team owner Tom Benson were listening, because the Hornets will become the Pelicans next season. Info on the new uniforms, according to the team's news release, "will be relayed in the coming months," but you can see the team's five new logos here. Some preliminary thoughts: • The new name makes a lot more sense for a New Orleans team than "Hornets" ever did, and it's also way better than some of the other names that had been floated. Well done.

You decide: Is Tony Gonzalez a Hall of Famer?

Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez might have played in his final game Sunday. His team lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL championship game, and many are expecting him to call it a career. "It's probably the last time I'm going to wear that uniform," Gonzalez said after the Falcons' 28-24 loss. "I didn't want to take it off, to tell you the truth. All good things come to an end, and like I said all season long, this is probably my last one. What an unbelievable ride." Gonzalez said throughout the season that he was 95% sure this would be it for him. He said he will discuss his plans with his family before making his final decision on retirement. "I'm not going to cry about it," Gonzalez said after the conclusion of his 16th season. "I walk away with the satisfaction I left everything, absolutely everything, every time I was on the field. I wish it would have culminated with the Super Bowl, but it didn't."

Kate Upton's sexy car commercial ruffles some feathers [Video]

It's been a while since we had any clearly gratuitous beefcake or cheesecake here at the Ministry of Gossip, but thanks to Kate Upton and Mercedes-Benz, it's time for a little taste. The lovely and talented Ms. Upton stars in a new commercial for the car company, tantalizingly and rather obviously titled, "Kate Upton Washes the All-New Mercedes-Benz CLA in Slow Motion." What's not to love about that, right?