Adidas and Puma bury the hatchet after 60 years of brothers' feud, The two firms played a friendly football game to symbolise the end of six decades of rivalry sparked by a family row that not even death reconciled.It started when shoe-firm owners Adolf and Rudolf Dassler – both Nazi party members – began their feud in the war."We will probably never know the real reason why Adi and Rudi fell out," said Ernst Dittrich, the head of Herzogenaurach's town archive. "It was like a marriage that goes terribly, terribly sour."Elderly residents in this 13th century town have their own opinions – they say the brothers split because Adolf slept with Rudi's wife, that their wives loathed each other, that Rudi fathered Adolf's son and that Rudi had his hands in the till.Then there was the comment Adolf made, apparently directed at the Allied bombers flying overhead in 1943 on a nightly mission to bomb Germany."There come those pig dogs again!" he raved as his brother clambered down the steps of the air raid shelter to join him. From that moment, Rudi was certain Adolf had been talking about him, not the RAF. It didn't help things that the following year Rudi was shipped off to a POW camp, not returning until 1948, his bitterness now fuelled by his harsh treatment and lousy food.He decided to break with Adolf and set up a rival sporting shoe business he called Puma. Adolf settled for Adidas – Adi being short for Adolf, and das for Dassler. Since then, rivalry has been too small a word to describe the animosity between the two firms as they squandered huge amounts of money in lunatic court fights.Over the years if one firm hired a celebrity to promote its products the other tried to go one better. When Adolf turned down sponsoring an aspiring tennis player called Boris Becker, Rudi signed him up – not because he thought he would amount to anything, but to spite his brother.Rudi Dassler died on October 27, 1974 of lung cancer at the age of 76, Adolf four years later aged 78. Their respective graves in the town churchyard symbolise their unending hatred and they could not be further away from each other.The bad blood between them translated into what was one company town splitting down the middle. Puma people did not date Adidas people, let alone marry them. Residents became known as 'Bent Necks'- you always looked down at someone's feet to see which trainers they wore before deciding whether to speak to them.Yesterday employees of both companies shook hands and stepped out to play a football game in support of the Peace One Day organisation which has chosen September 21 as an annual non-violence day.But despite the friendly handshakes, those who know the townspeople say it will take more than one game of soccer to bury the hatchet.Source:
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It's only a handful of games in March but being a hero on the national stage of the NCAA Tournament can do a lot for a players draft prospects. These heros have played well in March and are moving up draft boards:Gorgui Dieng - PF/C - LouisvilleWith impressive performances in Louisville's run to the Final Four Dieng has shown that his defensive ability and emerging offensive game are first round worthy! His instincts and timing on blocked shots is exceptional and he projects as a Larry Sanders type of defender in the NBA. He has expanded and improved his offensive game and is now dangerous on the pick n' roll and from mid range. Dieng is just scratching the surface of his potential.Adreian Payne - PF/C - Michigan StateAlthough they lost a tough one to Duke, Payne played well enough in March to warrant consideration as a first rounder in June. Only a junior, Payne has improved dramatically in each of the past three seasons; improving his strength, defensive fundamentals and vastly improving his offensive game. Once a suspect free throw shooter, Payne shot nearly 85% from the line this season and has expanded his shooting range out to the college three, hitting at a 38% clip from downtown. He has the length and athletic ability to excel at the next level and the work ethic it takes to stick around in the League.Mitch McGary - PF - MichiganAnother big man who is making a big move in March. McGary has been the most dominant interior player in the NCAA Tournament. His all-out hustle, team play, rebounding and intensity are a big reason for Michigan's success. He plays a very efficient game and, although he doesn't have the upside of some other prospects, his combination of skills and intensity should make him a lottery pick. He has committed to playing another year at Michigan but that could change if he sees himself projected in the top 10.2013 Early Entry List2013 NBA Mock Draftby NBA Draft Room
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — LeBron James scored 33 points while playing with the aggression and ferocity that everyone expects of the four-time MVP, leading the Miami Heat to a 109-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night that evened the NBA Finals at two games apiece.James also had 11 rebounds and four assists and finally got some much-needed help from his struggling All-Star teammates. Dwyane Wade scored 32 points, Chris Bosh had 20 points and 13 rebounds and the defending champions made sure the series will head back to South Beach.Tony Parker had 15 points and nine assists while playing through a sore right hamstring for the Spurs, who were trying to move one step closer to their fifth championship.Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Sunday night in San Antonio.Ray Allen scored 14 points for the Heat. Miami had 50 points in the paint after managing 32 in a 36-point loss in Game 3.Tim Duncan scored 20 points, and Kawhi Leonard added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs, who turned the ball over 19 times. After setting a finals record with 16 3-pointers in Game 3, San Antonio was 8 for 16.James was an abysmal 7 for 21 for 15 points in Game 3, and he promised to be better in Game 4. He delivered on that the only way he knows how, hitting 15 of 25 shots and putting the team on his shoulders to set the tone early.Every time James snatched a Spurs miss off the glass he thundered up the court, attacking the back-pedaling defense for easy layups that simply haven't been there for him this series.He made six of his first seven shots, controlling the tempo and responding when the Spurs threatened to run away with the game in the first six minutes.Parker strained his right hamstring during Game 3, leaving many in San Antonio to fear that the big step forward they made with their win in Game 3 came at a hefty price. But Parker deemed himself "ready to go" at the team's morning shootaround and looked fine, save for a quick trip to the locker room in the fourth quarter.All the old Parker tricks were there in the first quarter — a pull-up jumper to open the game, a driving layup and then another off the pick-and-roll. Leonard then buried a 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 15-5 lead early in the game.Then James made the move the Heat have been waiting for all series.He took the ball coast-to-coast on two straight possessions during run that tied it at 19. James then hit two mid-range jumpers — an area that has been a struggle for him — to cap the 14-2 surge and give Miami a 25-21 lead.In an unusual move, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra decided to shuffle the starting lineup in the middle of a series. He inserted the sharp-shooting Mike Miller for big man Udonis Haslem in an effort to create more room for James and Wade to penetrate to the rim.Miller was 9 for 10 on 3-pointers in his first three games of the finals, but was scoreless in the game.Wade was averaging 2.7 points in the second half in the finals, but had eight in the third quarter of Game 4.Wade then finished off the Spurs with a flurry of eight straight Heat points followed by an assist to Bosh for a 94-83 lead with seven minutes to play. The Heat's Big Three scored all but three points for Miami in the fourth.If there was a common theme in the first three games, it was the curiously meek performance from James. He entered this series after perhaps the best season of his career, a versatile and efficient freight train that had taken the league and made it his own.He was out to show just how far he'd come from 2007, when the Spurs dismantled his Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals and exposed the rising star as a player who could be neutralized if he was forced to settle for jump shots. James promised that he would not be so easily contained this time around, and .565 shooting percentage during the regular season, including .406 on 3-pointers, seemed to support that theory.But the Spurs had done to him in these finals exactly what they did to him six years ago. They've clogged the paint with two big men — Duncan and Tiago Splitter — and surrounded him on the perimeter with a pack of hungry young wings led by Leonard and Green.The results had been unlike anything the league has grown used to seeing from its biggest star. James entered Game 4 averaged 16.7 points on 38.9 percent shooting. He was just 3 for 13 from 3-point range in the first three games, and even more startling, only had six free throw attempts."I'm putting all the pressure on my chest, on my shoulders to come through for our team," James said. "That's the way it is."It would be hard to find much higher stakes than Game 4 for the Heat. No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the championship.Photo: Miami Heat's LeBron James (6) is defended by San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard during the first half at Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Thursday, June 13, 2013, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)SOURCE: NBA Philippines
It's official: Conn. approves bill writing Wright Brothers out of history, irst in flight? Yeah, right.That's the message from Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who announced Wednesday that he had signed into law a measure insisting that Bridgeport resident Gustave Whitehead flew in 1901 -- two years before Wilbur and Orville Wright lifted off from Kitty Hawk, N.C.“The Governor shall proclaim a date certain in each year as Powered Flight Day to honor the first powered flight by [the Wright brothers] Gustave Whitehead and to commemorate the Connecticut aviation and aerospace industry,” reads House Bill No. 6671, which passed into law as Public Act no. 13-210 on June 25.The bill -- which also declares the "ballroom polka" as the official state polka -- was a vindication for Australian historian John, who unveiled in March what he calls photographic proof that Whitehead flew over Connecticut in 1901, “two years, four months, and three days before the Wright brothers.”Brown told FoxNews.com Thursday morning that the ruling was an appropriate recognition of Whitehead's work."After peer review earlier this year confirmed the finding that Gustave Whitehead was the first person to fly a powered airplane (long before the Wright brothers), society at large has now begun commemorating this achievement," Brown told FoxNews.com."Since Whitehead was a Connecticut resident, it was only appropriate that the Connecticut Assembly and Governor led the way."The Wright brothers soared into history books on Dec. 17, 1903, following their historic, 852-foot, 59-second flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C. -- an achievement for which the duo are widely described as being “first in flight.” But historians have long known that others were working on a variety of flying machines, including a fellow U.S. resident, German immigrant Gustave Whitehead (born Weisskopf).Whitehead flew early in the morning of Aug. 14, 1901, Brown has claimed. His winged, bird-like plane was called No. 21, or "The Condor"; with wooden wheels and canvas wings stretched taut across bat-like wooden arms, it rose over a pasture in Fairfield, Conn. at dawn, and covered an estimated 1.5 miles at a height of 50 feet, he said.Since Brown’s March revelation, controversy has swirled around his claims.Historians with the Smithsonian Museum in particular -- curators of the Wright Brother’s plane -- continue to express doubts about Brown’s claims."I’m still absolutely convinced -- as I think most historians are -- that the Wrights were first, and Whitehead in all probability never left the ground," Tom Crouch, senior curator of aeronautics from the museum, told FoxNews.com in early June. Besides, history is factual, not based on laws, he said."You don’t legislate history. History is a process. People make up their minds based, I hope, on some thought given to the evidence," he said."And I think when people do look seriously at the evidence for the Whitehead claims, they’ll see that it falls apart."
Troll So Hard: Brandon Inge cranked a 3-run dinger to help the Pirates defeat the Seattle Mariners 9 - 4.
Don't like this very much: After the Blue Jays second straight loss to the Rays, they sent Munenori Kawasaki back to Triple-A Buffalo to make room for Jose Reyes.Here's Chrissy Teigen in GQ...
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Mocha, Moonlight and Murder is an excellent novel combining my two favourite genres - romance and mystery. I couldn't put the book down and only wished that it was longer. I highly recommend this book - it's an easy read which will keep you guessing right from start to finish. After reading it, I immediately tried to find out if MaryAnn had written any other books and was very disappointed that this was only her first novel (though this fact impressed me immensely). Hope to read a lot more from the author in the near future.