Pacquiao escapes Marquez via decision, retains welterweight title
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Pacquiao wins on two scorecards. The third ringside judge had it as a draw. (AP)
LAS VEGAS -- Manny Pacquiao escaped again, in a decision that left Juan Manuel Marquez fuming once again.
The Filipino sensation was taken to the limit Saturday night before winning a majority decision that infuriated Marquez and most of the sellout crowd at the MGM Grand arena. While close, the win helped Pacquiao continue a remarkable run that has made him the most exciting fighter in the sport.
In a bruising battle against a counterpuncher who was both accurate and fast, Pacquiao needed the final round on two scorecards to pull out the win. He got it, even though a third judge scored the round in favor of Marquez.
As boos -- and cans and bottles -- rang down on the ring, Pacquiao celebrated another victory and another huge payday.
"My fans are very happy because they thought I won," Pacquiao said.
He did, but on the narrowest margin. That, perhaps, was to be expected considering the previous 24 rounds the two had fought were just as close.
Pacquiao won on two scorecards, while the third ringside judge had it a draw. It was a narrow escape for the Filipino congressman, who took as much punishment as he got over 12 rounds, and Marquez was so upset he stormed from the ring.
"This was the second robbery and this one was the worst," Marquez said. "We won with clearer punches."
The third fight between the two was as close as the previous two, and by the time they finished 12 rounds the outcome was still in doubt. Pacquiao won some rounds with sheer aggression, while Marquez won others with brilliant counterpunching, keeping Pacquiao from getting inside.
Marquez was a 7-1 underdog, but it was clear early he would be in this fight. He picked Pacquiao apart with right hands almost every time he tried to get inside, and landed good hard flurries throughout the fight.
Pacquiao was the aggressor throughout, and landed some sharp punches of his own. But when the decision was announced, the crowd booed roundly and, once again Marquez had lost a close fight.
One ringside judge had it a 114-114 draw, while two others favored Pacquiao by 115-113 and 116-112. The Associated Press had it 114-114.
"It's hard when you're fighting your rival and the three judges, too," Marquez said.
The sellout crowd at the MGM Grand arena threw bottles and cans toward ringside after the decision was announced, with one full can hitting a ringside writer.
Pacquiao found out early he would be in for a long night, taking counter punches from Marquez in the opening rounds while looking for his own opening. He had trouble all night finding his range and, when he did get inside, Marquez often moved to the side and landed a counter right hand.
It was the third close fight between the two men, though this one was fought at 144 pounds instead of 125 as was their first fight seven years ago. That fight was a draw, while Pacquiao won a split decision in the second bout in 2008 at 130 pounds.
Marquez fought going backward all night, and that might have been his undoing. While he landed well at times, Pacquiao was in his face most of the night.
Ringside punch stats showed just how close the fight was. Pacquiao was credited with landing 176 of 578 punches, while Marquez landed 138 of 436.
The power punches were even closer, with Pacquiao connecting on 117 to 100 - though Marquez seemed to land the harder punches.
Pacquiao was behind on one scorecard and only ahead by a point on a second going into the 12th round, and the crowd was on its feet roaring for what they expected to be a classic last round. But both fighters were tentative, brawling only toward the end of the round, and two judges gave Pacquiao the round while the third gave it to Marquez.
"He was ready for my punches," Pacquiao said. "I thought I blocked a lot of his punches."
The fight was fought at a hard pace, and both fighters fought in spurts that brought the crowd to their feet. Pacquiao won the first three rounds on two scorecards, then Marquez came roaring back with some crisp right hands of his own.
It was evident early that both fighters were so familiar with each other they knew what the other was going to do, and they compensated by fighting in spurts when each had the advantage. Neither ever seemed seriously hurt, though Marquez landed several right hands that snapped Pacquiao's head back and stopped him from coming forward.
The two clashed heads in the ninth round, opening a cut above Pacquiao's right eye, and he was also cut inside his mouth. Marquez wasn't cut but his face was swollen and his eyes were closing in the later rounds.
It was the 15th straight win for Pacquiao, who earned a minimum of $22 million while improving his record to 54-3-2. Marquez, who earned $5 million, fell to 52-6-1.
Georgia stomps Auburn glowing No. 14
12. November 2011
ATHENS, GA. - A Georgia player threw his helmet in the air and student flew to section waving his arms. At the other end of the Sanford Stadium, the band played and the Red clad fans chanted "SEC!" SEC! "SEC!"
The Bulldogs are a victory of games for the Championship.
Aaron Murray threw four touchdown passes, Matthew Stafford school to exceed record and no. 14 Georgia, with a dominant first half-year performance Ghanaians past no. 24 Auburn 45-7 Saturday.
The Bulldogs can clinch the Southeastern Conference East next weekend with a win over Kentucky between the hedges.
Quite a comeback last year losing record and an 0-2 start this season.
"We have an edge with a chip on our shoulder, came from", said security Bacarri Rambo, of a monitor returned for a different Georgia touchdown. "I hope we have a statement with this game."
You get no argument from the defending national champions. The Bulldogs (8-2, 6-1 SEC) won their eighth rivalry oldest in a row with a dominant performance in the deep South, a 35-7 halftime lead stunned the Tigers (6-4, 4-3).
Georgia finished with his greatest victory in the series since a 41-0 triumph in 1946.
"We feel great," Murray said. "Control we our own destiny." "But still have we next week to get back to Atlanta to win."
The Bulldogs will try their first championship in six years clinch and each talk about Mark dir. coaching future wipe out completely. He was under fire after Georgia 6-7 a year ago, losing his first season since 1996 went. The criticism intensified only when the Bulldogs opened this year with losses Boise State and South Carolina.
"Also" when we lost the first two games Rambo said, "we knew, had we still a chance."
Murray scored his points passes by halftime it 27 TDs on the season and nine in the last two weeks. He broke the school mark of 25 set Stafford in 2008 before he was selected No. 1 in the NFL draft.
With 92,000-seat Sanford Stadium as loud as it was in the years Georgia four of its first five offensive possessions erzielte-- the only error that was first of two fumbles by rookie Isaiah Crowell. Auburn was looking for Georgia back on the next game.
Murray touchdown threw passes of 8 meters, Tavarres King, 27 metres after Michael Bennett, 15 meters, Bruce Figgins and 25 M Malcolm Mitchell.
Auburn briefly tied the game 7 with a little sleight of hand. Pass to freshman c.j. Uzomah, a 4-yard pass, Philip Lutzenkirchen tilted, catch Clint Moseley the Georgia of native third TD in two years against the Bulldogs.
That's it for the Tigers by large reconstruction pain winner cam Newton quarterback went after winning the national title with Heisman Trophy. They have four SEC road games by a combined 111 points lost, and that was even the ugliest performance. Auburn turned over three times and was outgained in total yards 528-195.
"It was a complete team loss," said Moseley. "I can not pinpoint one or two things." There are too many things. "It was simply bad."
Entfernt-lucky for Georgia, which Tigers win a game of Jordan-Hare Stadium - a 16-13 upset of South Carolina on Oct 1 back. This could be the difference in the SEC East.
The Bulldogs fell behind in the area with the 45-42 loss for the gamecocks in the second week of the season. Georgia has since not been defeated, while South Carolina another conference game in Arkansas last week dropped the way for Georgia to take in the East.
A more will win it do.
"This is my first year," said Crowell. "The SEC Championship sounds good to me."
Crowell and Carlton Thomas, both from previous game of Georgia waived after the failed a drugs test, reportedly has Georgia his first won rushers pair 100 yard since 2009 Crowell 132 and the Bulldogs finally scored touchdown, Thomas had 127. Murray was 14 18 for 224 yards.
There was no vulgarity that marked last year game, when Auburn rallied to an early 14-point gap with a 49-31 victory on the way to a perfect season buzz. Nick Fairley delivered two brutal hits on Murray, there 10 personal fouls and two Auburn players to throw wound up with suspensions for hits.
However this was over so quickly no one had a chance to too crazy.
Moseley was 11 of 22 140 meters, spend most of the day for his life running. He was sacked five times. The Tigers were 51 yards on the ground - compared with 304 for Georgia place.
"It was pretty obvious we could do what", coach gene Chizik said, "and that was a lot."
Auburn that was most devastating sales with Georgia until 21-7. On third of down by his own 17 Moseley threw in the Middle, Rambo striped to the recipient, select it, then produced a 24-yard return that was even better than his seventh interception of the season. Safety cut to his right, picked up several key blocks and got into the end zone on a pile of players.
He was inspired by defensive coordinator Todd Grantham ribbing and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo by some good natured.
"it is all I do interceptions, but I'm never getting on the end zone," said Rambo. "I had in my mind that the next catch, I will take it that I get to the House."
He did. Rambo was pummeled by his team-mates against the famous hedges and Georgia Bank raged, drawing a penalty for excessive celebration.
Bulldogs sense not flags a little.
Valve Admits Steam Intrusion, No Current Evidence of Fraud
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Steam's message boards were compromised Sunday, and it's been investigating since.It’s one thing when a message board gets compromised, it’s quite another when it’s one of the most popular services amongst PC users.
An unidentified user or group of users gained access to the Steam message boards on Sunday, and subsequently “obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums,” the company said today.
The statement, signed by founder Gabe Newell, claims the company has found no evidence of credit card fraud, but recommends users to monitor their financial accounts closely. Even if you didn’t have an account on the Steam message boards, Valve recommends changing your password.
“I am truly sorry this happened, and I apologize for the inconvenience,” said Newell.”
Users accessed “a Steam database in addition to the forums” that had user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses, and encrypted credit card information.There is currently no evidence the credit card information has been decrypted, and Valve is “still investigating.”
Only a few message board accounts were reportedly compromised, and they “do not know of any compromised Steam accounts” at this time.
Basically, change your password. If Valve issues further updates, I’ll let you know.
There's a destination for all realms of Amalur: Reckoning
Video posted by PerryVandell on November 11, 2011
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Video Review
Stern: "Greedy" agents violate the NBA deal opportunities
NEW YORK--NBA Commissioner David Stern blamed "greedy" agents Saturday for trying one new work deal with NBA players life and believes that they are trying push their customers in a "lose strategy" the dissolution of their Union.
Stern said the threat of decertification, nor any request that changes player Union the League's negotiating position, repeat that no further discussions on the revised it proposal, it would offer Thursday.
Stern said that he fears that the player not getting the right information about the content of the proposal, because NBA worried it yourself agents will cost money.
Star "By a combination of hypocrisy and greed, which are agents that search for themselves instead of their customers business, life", said in a telephone interview. "it involved an orchestrated Twitter campaign and a series of interviews that deny the economic realities of the proposal are apparently."
Representatives meet player Monday to decide whether she should put the recent proposal to the vote. The indication Thursday by Union leaders was that she impressed with him, and have a number of players since it was quoted that she would to shoot down the business.
Stern said that this is because the agents, should not, because it a bad offer.
"No talks about the increase in the compensation under the deal, spent speaking no one about the amount of money," Stern said. "I think that the players not the information which accurate information from their agents that together, banding are kind of the Coalition the greedy and mendacious always to do what they can not less opportunity for the agents to make money."
The revised proposal but still far behind what the player into the former collective agreement, a player had some improvements over the Tuesday said offered they would reject. It took the "Mini" orientation school exception for teams luxury tax, $3 million per year for three years, allows taxpayers to participate in sign-and trade for the first two years, and for teams under the salary cap added to another orientation school.
Owner request also a 50-50-distribution of income relating to basketball, which would keep players if the concessions that they on the system to search.
But the revised proposal may not well discuss enough, and players of the Union already decertifying, so they instead can file an antitrust lawsuit against the League.
Stern said, that would not give the players they use they are looking for because it is a lengthy process. It probably also hopes for a season 2011-12 would kill, he said.
"Yes, I am concerned," Stern said, "because she, until this thing called decertification talk, is a strategy to win on the one hand." "On the second page it will take three months to teach them that it would good no strategy to win, not for the season."
Stern said again that there would be no further discussion on the amended proposal. Player calls for a 53-47 revenue share it, the next proposal to the owners, is to reject a Flex cap with a hard cover and content rollback.
Stern said that the Union's proposal was delivered on Friday. Union leaders have been criticized for not getting the information about them to players in time to prepare them for a qualified vote.
"they say they are done, negotiations." If we really at that point, players must to see exactly what's on the table-not the Internet not Twitter - and just in written form to see, this is the proposal, "said an agent."
Players should accept the offer, a 72 game would 15 Dec. season.
TCU gambles, shocks No. 5 Boise St.
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CBSSports.com wire reports
Nov. 12, 2011
BOISE, Idaho -- Boise State's quest for perfection and BCS glory were dashed again by a missed field goal.
The fifth-ranked Broncos had a chance win a last-second thriller against TCU on Saturday, but freshman kicker Dan Goodale's 39-yard kick sailed wide right as time expired to give Horned Frogs a 36-35 victory.
TCU now has a clear path to the Mountain West Conference crown.
For the Broncos, losing this way may seem all too familiar. Last year, Boise State's unbeaten season and BCS hopes were spoiled when senior Kyle Brotzman missed from short range in regulation and overtime, enabling Nevada to walk away with a 34-31 overtime win.
Kellen Moore, who drove the Broncos into scoring range in the final 55 seconds, deflected any postgame parallels to the last season's misery in Nevada, arguing instead that losses in big games rarely come down to one player or a single player.
"We missed opportunities. I don't think it's just one play, it's a variety of plays," said Moore, who threw for 320 yards, two touchdowns but lost for the first time at home in his career. "It's a loss so it feels similar, but there's not great feelings."
The Broncos (8-1, 3-1) clearly had their chances to avoid any field goal dramatics in a back-and-forth battle between two perennial BCS busting teams.
Leading 35-28, Boise State got the ball at their own 32 with 5:37 remaining. Moore then engineered a methodical drive and got the Broncos in scoring position when a fumble by backup running back Drew Wright was recovered by TCU (8-2, 5-0) with 2:26 remaining.
Then Casey Pachall took over -- and that was bad news for Boise State.
The sophomore was 24 of 37 for a career-best 473 yards and five touchdown passes, including scores of 75, 74 and 69 yards in the first half.
Pachall calmly marched the Horned Frogs before firing a 25-yard TD pass to Brandon Carter, who leaped over a defender to make the grab in the end zone and pull TCU within 36-35 with 1:05 remaining.
TCU coach Gary Patterson made a gutsy call, opting to put the game in Pachall's hands and go for the lead instead of the tie. It worked. Pachall tossed a short pass to Josh Boyce, who fought his way into the end zone, putting TCU up 36-35 and quieting a raucous Bronco Stadium crowd.
Patterson said the decision to go for two points was easy considering the circumstances.
"We're not going to win this if this keeps going," Patterson said. "So, the only way we're going to be able to do it is to steal it. We were able to get the play and get the points and we were fortunate that they missed a field goal. It's just as simple as that."
The Horned Frogs rolled up 506 total yards, carving up a Boise State secondary riddled with injuries and forced to use backups at the corners.
"It really brings a relief because we've been fighting hard all year, especially in the fourth quarter," Pachall said. "Now that we actually pulled one off, it's a lot of relief. It gives us a lot of motivation and confidence."
It also gives the Horned Frogs the inside track on the league championship in their final year in the Mountain West. TCU wraps up with home games against Colorado State and UNLV; while Boise State has games remaining against San Diego State, Wyoming and New Mexico.
The TCU victory also gives then 22 straight wins against conference foes and sets a new MWC record of 12 straight conference road wins.
For the Broncos, the loss snaps their 35-game home winning streak, which had been the nation's longest. But it also forces Boise State to recalibrate their postseason plans again. No longer a contender for the big money, BCS bowls, the Broncos now look to lesser bowls like the Poinsettia Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl.
"We'll see what these guys are made of," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. "This is real-life football. You don't win all your games all the time - as much as we've done that around here."
In the first regular-season meeting between Boise State and TCU, Boise State jumped out first when Moore fired a 22-yard TD pass to Matt Miller.
Pachall responded on the next possession, finding Josh Boyce wide open for a 74-yard pass down the left sideline. Boyce caught five passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Pachall found him again in the second quarter for a 69-yard touchdown pass.
TCU kicker Ross Evans missed the extra point attempt, but TCU held a 20-14 lead at the half, the first time Boise State had trailed at the half all season.
Boise State came out strong in the second half, forcing a TCU fumble on the first play. Defensive end Tyrone Crawford picked up the bouncing ball and ran 32 yards for a touchdown. The extra point gave the Broncos a 21-20 lead.
After stopping TCU on their next possession, Moore engineered a 67-yard, 10-pay scoring drive capped by D.J Harper's 3-yard TD run to put Boise state up 28-20.
TCU pulled closed the gap on their next possession when Pachall tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Boyce. Pachall followed that by scampering around the right end into the end zone to convert on a 2-point play.
"You saw two really good quarterbacks out there," Patterson said. "I told [Pachall] at the beginning of the week that games like this is how legends are made."
You Can Play For Free, Friend, If You're Good Enough
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“That player is motherfucking hardcore,” exclaimed Chris Pruett, chief taskmaster at Robot Invader.
Pruett was reacting to someone actually discovering everything--S-ranked, they call it--there is to find in their first game, Wind-Up Knight, within 24 hours of being uploaded to the Android marketplace.
It’s remarkable for a couple of reasons, least of which is that creative director Casey Richardson, who designed much of Wind-Up Knight, figures it would still take him, even now, four or five hours to hit that same achievement.
You gain more powers over time, as Wind-Up Knight eases you into its advanced mechanics.Wind-Up Knight represents an interesting experiment on the part of Pruett and the three-man crew currently behind the Mountain View, California-based Robot Invader. The game is available for free, and it’s possible to experience all of the content in the game without spending a dime, but doing so requires expert precision on the part of the player, and a heck of a lot of patience. In order to unlock everything in Wind-Up Knight, a player must S-rank the entire game, scooping up all the collectables.
The game is a variation on the runner, a genre largely popularized by the likes of Canabalt and Jetpack Joyride. It’s more complicated than other runner games, allowing players to jump, duck, hold up a shield and even slash a sword.
Robot Invader read about, talked over and studied the different sales models currently employed with mobile games, but from the perspective of a bunch of hardcore players. Many games were taking advantage of time-based systems to forced players to start paying up, the foundation behind the success of socialzed games like FarmVille and the rise of its creator, Zynga.
“We played a lot of mobile games where they’re designed around an artificial waiting period,” said Pruett. “You can continue to play the game for free if you want to, but after a certain point, you can’t actually do anything unless you wait. And because you’re impatient, you don’t want to wait, then you spend some money to get out of the waiting period. The real reason the waiting period is there is not because some game design requires it, but because they want to get people to pay.”
In theory, Pruett has nothing against a company employing this strategy for their game, but the frustration arises over modern monetization systems being pushed upon games where it didn’t make sense. That wouldn't be the case for Wind-Up Knight, and so they began to brainstorm, knowing that one cannot sustain a company long without income.
Love it or hate it, FarmVille works for a bunch of people, but its model isn't applicable to every game out there.“We wanted to ensure that that type of gamer, that the person who is incentivized to go back and improve their score, and really become highly skilled at this game, that that kind of gamer, as a reward for their awesomeness, is able to continue for free,” said Pruett.
This is the interesting middle ground Wind-Up Knight landed on, and there’s surprising nuance to it.
The game is divided into four worlds (“books”), and buying each costs $1.99, which means it’s ultimately more expensive to buy each book as you go along, rather than paying for everything up front or taking advantage of the one-time offer.
You can buy every level outright for $3.99, but the first time you boot up the game, when you’ve finished the fourth level, a one-time prompt appears and asks if you’d like to pay $1.99. That offer will never appear again, but if you’re already digging the game, Robot Invader will knock off $2.
If you play Wind-Up Knight on an Xperia Play, the controls actually get mapped to the buttons.There’s even more to it, though.
If you collect nearly enough of Wind-Up Knight’s in-game currency, notes, but are only a few off, you can purchase additional notes for $1 to push you over the edge. And if you’re patient, you can download an in-game advertising application, Tap Joy, that will hand out free notes over time.
“You have the people that are willing to spend money, don’t really care, and they can just do it--they just want to see the end of the level, right?” said Richardson. “Those are the people that will pay for it. But you also have hardcore people that want to collect every single thing. Generally, we think those people don’t really want to pay too much for stuff--those are your hardest of hardcore. There’s a way you can game the system, but we build it into the game.”
The downside to having these many options is the potential for confusion amongst users, which Richardson admitted has been a challenge since Wind-Up Knight launched in late October.
“Still a LOT of confusion over the purchasing model,” he said. “People that get it, really appreciate what we're trying to do, but unfortunately it's a little complicated for most and, at least the vocal minority, are just naturally suspicious.”
Wind-Up Knight is at over 500,000 installs, which means it’s doing pretty well from Robot Invader's perspective, and the team is looking into ways to simplify how the in-app purchases are presented to make it more presentable to everyone.
Robot Invader is also working an iOS version that should be available in the near future.
