Robert Clemente

New Year's Eve, December 31st, 1972, Roberto Clemente was klled when the plane he was travelling in crashed. The plane was taking medical, food and clothing supplies to earthquake stricken Nicaragua. His wife Vera and friends begged him not to take the trip (poor weather and an unstable cargo plane) but Roberto was determined. He was infuriated that the previous supplies had not made it to the victims. Roberto was going to personally see to it that the victims received the much needed supplies. Unfortunately, the plane went down off the coast of Puerto Rico. Roberto's body was never found. Just months after Roberto joined an elite group of players with 3,000 hits, he was gone.

In 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates obtained Roberto with the # 1 pick in the draft. Clemente joined the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955, where he played his entire eighteen year Major League Baseball career from 1955 to 1972. Roberto played in two World Series, batting .310 in 1960 and .414 in 1971. He was the National League Batting Champion four times, was awarded twelve Gold Gloves, selected National League MVP in 1966 and was chosen as the MVP in the 1971 World Series.

Buckeyes Roll Over Oklahoma State, 33-7

Ohio State didn't miss starting quarterback Troy Smith a bit. Justin Zwick stepped in for the suspended Smith and threw for 189 yards and a touchdown, and Ted Ginn Jr. and Lydell Ross each scored, leading No. 24 Ohio State to a 33-7 victory over Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl on Wednesday night.

SAN ANTONIO - Even with its second-string quarterback in charge, Ohio State had an easy time of it in the Alamo Bowl.

Justin Zwick, replacing the suspended Troy Smith, threw for 189 yards and a touchdown, and Ted Ginn Jr. and Lydell Ross each scored, leading No. 24 Ohio State to a 33-7 win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday night.

"Justin did an excellent job and did what was asked of him," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "I told someone that Justin was playing as best as he's ever played."

Ginn, a true freshman with dazzling speed, caught six passes for 78 yards and rushed for another 51 yards and a touchdown.

Zwick, who lost the starting job to Smith after hurting his shoulder in the sixth game, completed 17 of 27 passes despite a mild hamstring pull.

Ross rushed for 99 yards on 12 carries, and Mike Nugent kicked four field goals for the Buckeyes (8-4) to become the school's career scoring leader.

Smith, who led Ohio State to victories in four of its last five games, was suspended by the team last week. University officials said he accepted an unspecified gift from a team booster in violation of NCAA rules.

The Buckeyes took advantage of two early turnovers, and never let the Cowboys (7-5) get anything going offensively.

Oklahoma State quarterback Donovan Woods completed 15 of 34 passes for 137 yards and rushed for another 80 yards. Vernand Morency, one of the nation's top rushers this season, was limited to 24 yards on eight carries.

On the first series, Woods underthrew receiver Chijuan Mack and the pass was picked off by Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter. Three plays later, Zwick hit a diving Anthony Gonzalez with a 23-yard touchdown pass.

After a 37-yard field goal by Nugent, the Cowboys were driving when Woods lost his grip on the ball near midfield while trying to run up the middle. Defensive lineman Joel Penton recovered and Nugent capped the drive with a 35-yard field goal to give Ohio State a 13-0 lead with nearly six minutes remaining in the first quarter.

"We were slugging along - it wasn't like we were moving the ball," Cowboys coach Les Miles said of his team's early performance. "And when you give away the ball on a short field, it becomes 13-0."

In the second, with the Buckeyes at midfield, Zwick threw to a screen pass to Ginn on the left side and the Cowboys cornered him for what looked like a modest gain.

But Ginn eluded three tacklers and broke back to the right sideline for a 42-yard pickup to the Oklahoma State 9. Ross capped the 78-yard drive by scoring from the 1, making it 20-0.

"I try to make something out of nothing if I get trapped," Ginn said. "You always got to keep your feet moving. You're always moving forward - that's what we've been taught."

When Nugent made the extra point following Ross' touchdown, he passed Pete Johnson as the Buckeyes' career scoring leader with 356 points.

On its next series, starting at their own 43 after another Cowboys punt, Ohio State advanced 34 yards in six plays and Nugent booted a 41-yard field goal.

Oklahoma State got into Ohio State territory for the first time on their final series of the half, but the drive ended with Jason Ricks missing a 42-yard field goal try.

Early in the third, Cowboys safety Jamie Thompson recovered a fumble by fullback Branden Joe at the Ohio State 34. A 17-yard run by Prentiss Elliott moved the ball to the 9, but the Buckeyes defense tightened.

On fourth-and-long, Oklahoma State tried a fake field goal, but the play was stopped six yards short.

The Buckeyes then marched 94 yards. Ross rushed for 45 yards on the drive, and Ginn had a 28-yard run before he took the snap in the shotgun and ran it in from the 5, making it 30-0.

Nugent kicked his fourth field goal, from 36 yards, before Oklahoma State put up its only points on a 4-yard touchdown run by Shawn Willis that capped an 80-yard drive midway through the fourth.

Losing by two points with a little more than two minutes left in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Ohio State was driving, and had moved the ball into field-goal range at Clemson's 24-yard line. But then noseguard Charlie Bauman intercepted freshman quarterback Art Schlichter's short pass over the middle on the 18.

Bauman was knocked out of bounds on the Buckeyes' sideline. An irate Ohio State Head Coach, Woody Hayes, went over and threw a punch at Bauman before he was restrained by several of his players.

On December 30th 1978, the morning after the 17-15 defeat, Hayes was fired. He never coached again. He also never apologized to Bauman for hitting him.

Santa

Shooting at Ohio Damagplan show leaves five dead including guitarist Dimebag Darrell

Tragedy struck at last night's Damageplan show in Ohio, as a bizarre shooting at the club has left five people dead including Dimebag Darrell (aka Darrell Lance Abbott.)

The Damageplan show was only just beginning at club Alrosa Villa in Ohio when, according to witnesses, the shooter, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and hockey jersey, emerged from the mosh pit and jumped onstage. The shooter appeared to be targeting members of the band.

Witness reports said that when the man opened fire, he first targeted guitarist "Dimebag" Darrel Abbott, shooting him multiple times at point-blank range. The man took aim at members of the band, than proceeded to fire into the crowd. An officer who arrived quickly on the scene shot and killed the gunman.

A gunman charged onstage at a packed nightclub and opened fire on the band and the crowd, killing top heavy metal guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three other people before a police officer shot him to death, authorities and witnesses said.

Columbus police department spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio identified three of the victims of Wednesday's shooting as Abbott, guitarist with the heavy metal rock band Damageplan, and two other men, Nathan Bray and Erin Halk.

Damageplan had just begun their first song at the Alrosa Villa when the man opened fire, first targeting Abbott, shooting him multiple times at point-blank range, a witness said.

Abbott, 38, one of metal's top guitarists, and his brother, Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, were original members of Grammy-nominated thrash rock pioneers Pantera, one of the most popular metal bands of the early 1990s.

The witness, 22-year-old Chris Couch, said he was standing about 30 feet away from the stage when he noticed a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and hockey jersey walk up to the stage, followed by a bouncer and another club employee.

The man in the jersey climbed onto the stage, started yelling and shot the guitarist five or six times at close range, Couch said. He said the gunman also shot a bouncer who pulled him off the musician.

Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Brent Mull said that after shooting at members of the band, the gunman fired into the crowd. Mull said a police officer who arrived shortly after the shooting began shot and killed the gunman.

"If the officer wasn't as close as he was, I think this would have been a lot worse," he said. "It was a chaotic scene, just a horrific scene."

Mercurio said the officer who killed the suspect was patrolling nearby when he heard the call go out. He entered the club through a back door and was directed to the stage, where he saw one person lying dead and the suspect holding onto another person, Mercurio said. The officer shot and killed the suspect.

The suspect's name and that of the fifth person killed were not immediately released. Mercurio said their family members are still being notified.

After the shooting began, Couch and a friend headed for the exit along with a tide of hundreds of fans.

"It was definitely a grudge. It was against something," Couch said.

Amanda Stankus, 19, who attended the show with Couch, said she initially thought the shooting was part of the show. "I just saw the guitarist fall down, and we decided to get out of there," she said.

The Abbott brothers produced Damageplan's debut album, "New Found Power," which was released in February. Other band members are vocalist Patrick Lachman and bassist Bob Zilla.

"Damageplan carries on the tradition Pantera started, the ... hell-raising tradition we were all about," Vinnie Paul Abbott told The Dallas Morning News in October. "We do play some Pantera songs. Me and Dime wrote them, and we feel like we have the right to play them. But the focus is on Damageplan.

"It took a while for some of the Pantera fans to accept it; we knew that was gonna be the case," he said. "Change is something that people have a hard time accepting. But me and Dime intended on doing this our whole lives."

A message left with Atlantic Records, which oversees the record label on which Damageplan records, was not immediately returned.

Damageplan's Web site said Darrel and Vinnie Abbott grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area where their father, country songwriter Jerry Abbott, owned a recording studio.

Telephone numbers for both Darrell and Jerry Abbott are unlisted and could not be reached early Thursday by The Associated Press.

Pantera, known for its brutally hard, fast and aggressive sound, recorded four albums in the 1990s. They attracted a massive cult following and the band's third release, "Far Beyond Driven," debuted at No. 1 in 1994, surprising chart-watchers and critics alike.

Pantera was nominated for Grammys for best metal performance in 1995 for "I'm Broken" and in 2001 for "Revolution Is My Name." The video "The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits," made charts earlier this year as one of the top 10 in music video sales.

Dozens of messages were posted to the Dallas band's Web site after the shootings.

"This is the worst day in metal history," one posting read.

"The metal world feels your pain," another wrote.

"Beckham nativity" tableau outrages churches

Posh and Becks Become Religious Figures
It's time for the Christmas season, and even the Nativity scene seems passe and predictable. At least, so decides the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London. According to a BBC report, the traditional nativity seen has gone the celebrity way, with David and Victoria Beckham taking over from Joseph and Mary.

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The rest of the holy gathering is made up of the three wise men, Tony Blair, George Bush and the Duke of Edinburgh. The all-star shepherds in the tableau are actors Hugh Grant and Samuel L Jackson, and comedian Graham Norton.

The angel in the presentation is singer Kylie Minogue.

Predictably, church leaders in the UK are incensed with this ridiculous display. The Times reported a Vatican spokesman saying the display, bound to rein in the crowds, was 'in very poor taste.'

Most senior church officials reacted furiously to the tableau, with one calling it 'a Nativity stunt gone too far.'

The choice of the celebrities was made by 300 visitors voting at Madame Tussauds in October, the museum claims.

Business Class vs Economy Class

I flew Business Class to London. It was sweet.

London Underground admits it hunts for spares on eBay

In news that will surprise few of the travellers who cram onto its creaking rail network every day, London Underground admitted that some of its spare parts were sourced from Internet auction site eBay.

The dot matrix passenger information system used by Tube Lines, the part-private consortium which manages three major lines on the subway system, is so outdated that the firm has been forced to find computer cards, chips and other obsolete parts on eBay, London's Evening Standard newspaper said.

Company officials said that there was nowhere else to turn as the equipment was so old.

"We need to make sure we have the appropriate supplies," a Tube Lines spokesman said. "In some cases we have cloned equipment, but where parts and other pieces of equipment are out of stock we will buy them."

Some of the items bought on eBay were up to 20 years old, the newspaper said.

"It highlights the need to upgrade the system," the spokesman added.

The revelation came as thousands of commuters suffered delays on one of the lines managed by Tube Lines because of radio failures.

The London Underground, popularly known as the Tube, is the oldest urban subway rail system in the world, dating back 141 years, and has suffered from decades of under-investment.

Misdirected U.S. machine-gun fire killed Tillman

The last minutes of Pat Tillman's life were a horror of misdirected machine-gun fire and signals to firing colleagues that were misunderstood as hostile acts, according to an account published Sunday of the death of the NFL player-turned-soldier.

Commemorations of Tillman's courage and sacrifice offered contrasting images of honorable service, undisturbed by questions about possible command or battlefield mistakes.

It took the Army a month to change the record to show that Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals defensive back who gave up a $3.6 million contract to become an Army Ranger, was killed last April not by Afghan guerrillas but by his Ranger colleagues.

Even then, the statement by Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr., head of the Army's Special Operations Command, gave few specifics of the corporal's death and implied that he was trying to suppress enemy fire when he "probably died as a result of friendly fire."

The Washington Post on Sunday, in the first article of a two-part series, published what it described as the first full telling of how and why Tillman died. The newspaper said it had access to "dozens of witness statements, e-mails, investigation findings, logbooks, maps and photographs."

A series of mishaps and missteps began the chain of events that resulted in Tillman's death in eastern Afghanistan, the newspaper said. A Humvee broke down, which led to the splitting up of his platoon.

The segment of the platoon with Tillman, Serial One, passed through a canyon and was near its north rim. The other segment, Serial Two, changed its plans because of poor roads and followed the same route into the canyon. It came under fire from Afghan Taliban fighters.

Men in Serial One heard an explosion that preceded the attack, and Tillman and two other fire team leaders were ordered to head toward the attackers, the Post said. The canyon's walls prevented them from radioing their positions to their colleagues, just as Serial Two had not radioed its change in plans.

Tillman's group moved toward the north-south ridge to face the canyon, and Tillman took another Ranger and an Afghan ally down the slope.

"As they pulled alongside the ridge, the gunners poured an undisciplined barrage of hundreds of rounds into the area Tillman and other members of Serial One had taken up positions," the Post said Army investigators concluded. It said the gunner handling the platoon's only .50-caliber machine gun fired every round he had.

“ When I found out that it was because of huge negligence at places along the way -- you have time to process that and you really get annoyed. ”
— Mary Tillman, on her Army Ranger son's death in Afghanistan

The first to die was the Afghan, whom the Americans in the canyon mistook for a Taliban fighter.

Under fire, Tillman and almost a dozen others on the ridge "shouted, they waved their arms, and they screamed some more," the Post said.

"Then Tillman 'came up with the idea to let a smoke grenade go.' As its thick smoke unfurled, 'This stopped the friendly contact for a few moments,' " a Ranger was quoted as saying.

Assuming the friendly fire had stopped, the Ranger said, he and his comrades emerged and talked with each other, the Post reported.

"Suddenly, he saw the attacking Humvee move into 'a better position to fire on us.' He heard a new machine gun burst and hit the ground, praying, as Pat Tillman fell," the Post reported.

The Ranger said Tillman had repeatedly screamed out his name and shouted for the shooting to stop, the Post said. He and others waved their arms, only attracting more fire. Tillman was shot repeatedly by rifles, finally succumbing to the machine gun.

The second part of the Post series, published on the newspaper's Web site Sunday night, tells of "a broader Army effort to manage the uncomfortable facts of Pat Tillman's death."

"Commemorations of Tillman's courage and sacrifice offered contrasting images of honorable service, undisturbed by questions about possible command or battlefield mistakes," the Post reported.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the Post, "You may have at least a subconscious desire here to portray the situation in the best light, which may not have been totally justified."

Mary Tillman told the Post that when she learned friendly fire had killed her son: "I was upset about it, but I thought, 'Well, accidents happen.' Then when I found out that it was because of huge negligence at places along the way -- you have time to process that and you really get annoyed."

Eventually, one member of Tillman's platoon received formal administrative charges; four others, including an officer, were discharged from the Rangers but not from the Army; and two additional officers were reprimanded, Lt. Col. Hans Bush, chief of public affairs for the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, told the Post.

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No Spam Allowed

Virgin Cheese anyone?

Inspired by the recent auction for 28,000 US dollars of a grilled cheese sandwich said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary, seen here 16 November 2004, a Sydney man has sold a Kellogg's Nutri-Grain resembling E.T. for 800 dollars.