Bobcats' Impressive Comeback over Heat

Stephen Jackson scored 17 points, Raymond Felton added 15 points and 11 assists, and the Charlotte Bobcats used a fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Miami Heat 83-78 on Tuesday night in a key game for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference.

The Bobcats (31-31) reached .500 at the latest point in their six-year history and moved into a tie with Miami (32-32) as they both tangle with Chicago for the last two playoff spots.

Charlotte moved to 3-0 against Miami and clinched the tiebreaker by rallying from nine points down with 9 minutes left.

Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, but passed up a tying shot in the final minute, then clanged a tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds for the Heat, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Trailing 80-78 in the final minute, Miami forced a shot clock violation and Wade then got the ball at the top of the circle. He whipped a pass into the corner for Udonis Haslem, who missed a baseline jumper.

Felton then hit just 1-of-2 free throws with 7.2 seconds left, giving Miami another chance. But Wade's 3 in the left corner bounced off the rim.

The Heat fell apart offensively, managing 12 points in the fourth quarter and 30 in the second half after a quick start gave them a 14-point lead.

The Bobcats, who won their third straight — all at home — recovered from a sluggish start.

Down by 13 midway through the third quarter and 72-63 early in the fourth, the Bobcats stormed back behind D.J. Augustin. His four-point play and four free throws in an 8-0 run cut the lead to one.

After three failed chances with the ball down a point, Felton drained a 3-pointer with 3:32 left to give Charlotte its first lead since 6-4.

Charlotte was able to hold on despite just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting from Gerald Wallace, who did grab 17 rebounds. Felton committed only three turnovers and outplayed Miami's backcourt.

Carlos Arroyo again got the start at point guard for Miami, while coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game the team still hadn't heard from Rafer Alston outside text messaging.

Alston, who was benched from Thursday's win over the Lakers, failed to show for Saturday's game against the Hawks and was suspended indefinitely.

Spoelstra wouldn't say if Alston will be released, but said the Heat are "moving forward with the guys we have in this locker room."

That combination looked pretty good early.

With Jermaine O'Neal dominating Theo Ratliff inside and Wade scoring on nifty drives, Miami led 48-34 before Charlotte closed the first half with five straight points.

About the only amusing first-half moment for Charlotte's home crowd was during the game's first timeout. Curly Neal, in town to promote an upcoming visit by the Harlem Globetrotters, came over to embrace Bobcats owner-to-be Michael Jordan.

Attending his fourth straight game since agreeing to buy the club, Jordan grinned and slapped some high-fives after Charlotte improved to 23-8 at home.

O'Neal finished with 19 points, but wasn't as effective in the second half, while Wade needed 26 shots to get his points.

Michael Beasley had 11 points and nine rebounds, but played only three minutes in the fourth quarter.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
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Cebu Pac Acquires Airbus

Gokongwei-led Cebu Air, Inc. will use the bulk of funds to be raised from a share sale to buy up to 20 more aircraft within five years, an executive of the budget airline’s parent said on Tuesday.

Cebu Air, which operates budget carrier Cebu Pacific, has yet to set the date for its first-time listing on the stock exchange, from which it plans to raise P12 billion. It has obtained clearance from regulators.

“It’s going to be for capital expenditures for purchasing airplanes. We have a purchase order from Airbus for 15 Airbus A320 in the period of 2010 to 2015 and an option to buy five more," said Bach Johann M. Sebastian, senior vice-president for corporate planning of listed JG Summit Holdings Philippines, Inc.

Documents showed the carrier needed to make P9 billion in advanced payments to increase its fleet to 49 by 2014.

Sebastian said going public is only one option, and that the company could also borrow from export credit agencies. Cebu Pacific can also tap the lease market, he said.

The airline is planning to list 125.3 million new common shares with a par value of a peso each, to be offered to big investors for up to P95 apiece. A total of 110.3 million secondary shares will be listed at the same price.

JG Summit will also list 35.3 million shares it owns. About 18.4 million more shares will be listed as part of an employee stock option plan.

The company originally planned to go public in 2008 but postponed the listing due to difficult market conditions.

Cebu Air turned around last year by posting a net income of P3.184 billion, from a net loss of P3.259 billion in 2008. Operating income almost doubled to P3.164 billion from P1.727 billion in 2008.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
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Another Toyota Problem

Relatives of the three Filipino Americans and of California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor who were killed in an August crash that initiated the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles filed a lawsuit March 2, blaming the giant Japanese carmaker for the deaths.

The lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court also named Bob Baker Lexus as co-defendant. The El Cajon-based car dealership loaned Saylor a 2009 Lexus ES-350 sedan the morning of August 28, after Saylor took his car in for service.

Saylor, who was 45 at the time of his death, was driving with his wife, Cleofe Lastrella Saylor, also 45; their 13-year-old daughter, Mahala; and his brother-in-law, Christopher “Chris” Lastrella, 38, of Vallejo (Solano Co.), when the sedan accelerated out of control and crashed at about 120 miles per hour where state Route 125 meets Mission Gorge Road in suburban Santee in San Diego.
Investigators later said a wrong-sized floor mat trapped the gas pedal on the Lexus ES-350 that led the vehicle to speed out of control.

The lawsuit was filed by Fe and Cleto Lastrella of Vallejo—parents of Saylor’s wife and brother-in-law—and his (Saylor’s) parents, John Saylor and Joan Robbins.
They accused Toyota of product liability, and Bob Baker Lexus of negligence, for the ghastly accident.
They are seeking an unspecified amount of money in damages.
About a minute before the crash Chris placed a frantic 911 call from the vehicle. He told an emergency dispatcher that the accelerator pedal was stuck and that his brother-in-law, Saylor, was unable to slow the car down.

"We're in trouble. . . There's no brakes. End freeway half-mile," Chris said during the recorded conversation.
Others in the car are heard yelling "hold on" and "pray" as the call ended.

Witnesses said the Lexus slammed into a Ford Explorer, plowed over a curb, and rammed through a fence before it flipped and burst into flames, killing Saylor and his relatives instantly.
Lastrella testimony
Last week Fe Lastrella, mother of Cleofe and Chris, gave a tearful testimony about the family tragedy before a hearing of the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
"We do not like another person, another family to suffer like we are suffering," Lastrella told the hearing as she appealed to Toyota and federal officials to ramp up their safety efforts in the face of mounting complaints of accidents related to Toyota's recall of nearly 10 million cars worldwide.
The moving Lastrella testimony, captured on national television, gave a tragic face to the series of recalls launched in late January by the troubled Japanese carmaker.
Lastrella, who was accompanied by her husband, Cleto, were immigrants from Nabua, Camarines in Bicol who settled in Vallejo, California. Their children Cleofe and Christopher both grew up in Vallejo where they went to elementary and high school.
The Lastrella matriarch was among the final scheduled witnesses in a day of testimony that also featured US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Toyota president Akio Toyoda, grandson of the automaker's founder.
Toyoda repeatedly apologized for the accelerator problems and later met privately with the Lastrella family.
Congressional hearings
The crash that killed Chris and the Saylors, who lived in Chula Vista, was the emotional centerpiece of the congressional hearing.
“We now know that the terrifying deaths of this family were not caused by a freak accident,” said committee chair Edolphus Towns (D-New York), in his opening statement. “It turns out that people from all over the country had been complaining about sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles for years.”
“Prior to today, we cannot say that Toyota was a great company, perhaps not even a good company,” declared Representative Darrell Issa (R-Chula Vista), and the committee’s ranking member.
San Diego County Sheriff's investigators said the crash likely was caused by the gas pedal becoming stuck in an all-weather rubber floor mat designed for a larger vehicle but placed by the Lexus dealership in the sedan loaned to Saylor.
The accident report said "other avenues of unintended acceleration could not be explored," mechanical or electrical, due to severe damage to the vehicle.
The report also revealed that another driver who had been loaned the same car a few days earlier told investigators the vehicle raced out of control on him when the gas pedal jammed in the floor mat. He managed to free the errant acceleration pedal after placing the gear shift into neutral.
He complained to a dealership receptionist when he returned the car, and the receptionist told investigators she alerted the detail specialist on duty, but the detailer claimed never to have received such a complaint, the report said.
Toyota has recalled more than 5 million vehicles in the United States for slipping floor mats. Another 2.2 million US recall notices were issued for sticking accelerator pedals.
Rising death toll
Deaths from vehicular accidents attributed to possible unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles have risen to 58, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The Detroit daily also reported on Tuesday that the number of complaints to US auto safety regulators related to sudden acceleration also has more than doubled to 3,300 since the series of recalls by Toyota in late January.
These vehicular accidents have triggered a spate of lawsuits against the troubled Japanese giant carmaker, but the San Diego is the most highly publicized of these cases.
Already, the world' biggest automaker is also confronted by a barrage of federal suits across the nation that attorneys hope will be certified as class action lawsuit.
A hearing by a special panel of federal judges on whether those suits will be consolidated into one and assigned to a single federal court judge is scheduled for March 25 in San Diego.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
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Top Filipino Boxers

 

10: Greatest Filipino boxers by decade

1910s – Pancho Villa: First great Filipino boxer was 15-0 in the decade
1920s – Pancho Villa: Became one of the greatest flyweights ever but died at 23
1930s – Ceferino Garcia: Middleweight title claimant was in many huge fights
1940s – Little Dado: Title claimant at flyweight and bantamweight
1950s – Dado Marino: World flyweight champion from 1950 to 1952
1960s – Flash Elorde: Hall of Famer held junior lightweight title from 1960 to 1967
1970s -- Ben Villaflor: Two-time junior lightweight titleholder
1980s – Dodie Boy Penalosa: Titleholder at junior flyweight and flyweight
1990s – Luisito Espinosa: Held titles at bantamweight and featherweight
2000s – Manny Pacquiao: Became No. 1 fighter in the world pound for pound
David Mikael Taclino
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Pacquiao - Clottey Update

Jerry Jones was one of the nearly 70,000 people who packed the New Orleans Superdome to watch the 1978 heavyweight title fight between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks.
The energy of the massive crowd, the roars cascading down from the upper deck and the sense of being part of something so big and grand has never left him. The Dallas Cowboys owner has seen fights everywhere from the Las Vegas Strip to small halls in his native Arkansas. Each is unique, he says.
Yet, as you might expect with Jones, now the prototypical Texan, bigger just always felt better.
“The larger the crowd, the more impact every punch, every tackle, is,” he said Monday. “It magnifies every act in sports.”
Jones is bringing “big” back to boxing Saturday when his new Cowboys Stadium hosts the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey welterweight title fight. In doing so, he is making a move to reconnect the sport with its mostly blue-collar base, 45,000 fans at a time.
It’s not often you build a palatial, $1 billion-plus facility and are hailed as a man of the people. But that’s what’s happening.
There’s nothing quite like the electricity of a big fight in Vegas. There, however, the high costs of tickets and travel have made it something only the well-heeled can experience. Fight weekend is mostly geared to the wealthy.
This is different.
The fight is in suburban Arlington, Texas, smack dab in the middle of the nearly seven-million-population Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and centrally located to millions more in the nation’s second largest state.
Jones has set up the seating configuration for 45,000. Tickets are as low as $50, and with 40,000 sold, according to Top Rank, some are still available. If they sell out, officials can add more seats to keep the secondary market from soaring.
While fifty bucks is nothing to brush off, it’s fairly reasonable considering it’s a chance to see the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter live. If this fight was taking place in, say, the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center in Vegas, the cheapest tickets would have gone for about $150 – and those would’ve been snapped up quickly.
“It doesn’t take a mathematician to realize the more numbers you put into the building, the less you have to charge,” Jones said.
“We’re excited about the makeup of our fan base,” he added, noting the region’s large Hispanic community.
Jones built his stadium to bring any number of events to Texas. He’s already hosted an NFL season, major college football games and a six-figure crowd to watch the NBA All-Star game. Boxing is just one of them, but it’s special to him. In 1984, his pre-Cowboys days, he even promoted a fight in Little Rock.
“One of the early renditions of the interior [of the stadium] had the seats around a boxing ring,” he said.
It was one of the reasons he installed the signature 11,520-square-foot high-definition television screen above the field of play. It can be raised and lowered based on the event. Saturday, it’ll hang 40 feet above the ring and assure that anyone inside the building will see every bit of the action.
“Every time a bead of sweat pops up on the shoulder of Manny Pacquiao or Joshua Clottey,” Jones said, “everyone is going to see it as clear – or clearer – than someone sitting in the first row of seats.”

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

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