May 05, 2006
U.S. Supreme Court backs Anna Nicole Smith
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that one-time stripper and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith can pursue part of her late husband's oil fortune.
Justices gave new legal impetus to Smith's bid to collect millions of dollars from the estate of J. Howard Marshall II. Her late husband's estate has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.
Smith has been embroiled in a long running cross-country court fight with Marshall's youngest son, E. Pierce Marshall. The court's decision, which was unanimous, means that it will not end anytime soon.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the court, said Smith should have a fresh chance to pursue claims in federal court.
Smith's case had brought unusual drama to the normally sedate high court.
Dressed in all black, the former stripper wept in the courtroom in late February as justices discussed Marshall and whether he had intended to provide for her in death.
When she arrived at the court, several photographers were knocked to the ground in a scuffle to photograph her.
She was a 26-year-old topless dancer when she married Marshall, then 89, in 1994. He died the following year, setting off an intense family fight.
At issue in the legal battle was competing court jurisdiction. A Texas court held a five-month trial before deciding that Smith was entitled to nothing from Marshall's estate.
Smith brought a separate claim in federal court in California.
Justices said Monday that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong in ruling that federal courts could not handle Smith's case.
Ginsburg noted, however, that there are several pending issues that could still keep Smith from collecting any money.
So far, Smith has received nothing from Marshall's estate, although before his death Marshall showered Smith with $6.6 million in gifts that included two homes, expensive jewelry and clothes.
She contends that he also promised her half his estate.
Posted by admin at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2006
Avalanche, Sharks Advance in NHL Playoffs; Sabres Beat Flyers
It didn't take long for Jose Theodore to win over his new Avalanche teammates.
Theodore stopped 11 shots in overtime before Andrew Brunette fired a rebound over sprawling goaltender Marty Turco to give Colorado a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars - and clinch the first-round series in five games for the seventh-seeded Avalanche. "He (Theodore) is the reason we're standing here with smiles on our face, really. He was unbelievable today," said Colorado captain Joe Sakic, who scored his 81st career playoff goal and had the shot that led to the winner.
"I mean, they could've ended it so many times - not only in overtime, but in the third. He kept us in and gave us a chance."
Elsewhere in the NHL on Sunday, it was: Carolina 2, Montreal 1; Buffalo 3, Philadelphia 0; San Jose 2, Nashville 1.
At Dallas, the Stars outshot Colorado 11-4 in overtime, including seven shots during the extra session's only power play. But Dallas couldn't beat Theodore.
Two days after the Stars avoided a sweep with a 4-1 victory, Theodore stopped 50 shots to end the series.
"I told (everyone), Theo's going to come back with a huge game. And he did," said Jim Dowd, who added a goal for the Avs. "He basically stole that game for us, especially in the overtime."
Dowd saw how Theodore bounced back from losses when they teammates in Montreal, which sent the former NHL MVP to Colorado at the trade deadline March 8.
After the game ended, Turco stood motionless in his net for several minutes, staring down at the ice. He stopped 27 shots, including Sakic's before Brunette got the rebound, but lost a series in five games to Colorado in his second straight postseason.
"I did everything I could to get there, but he got it up," Turco said. "I gave it a chance with everything I had, but it wasn't enough."
The Avalanche won their third overtime game in the series, advancing to the second round for the eighth time in 10 playoff appearances.
Colorado got Theodore for David Aebischer, the goalie who beat the Stars in the 2004 playoffs. Theodore was recovering from a fractured right heel when he arrived, then was 1-3-1 down the stretch.
"It didn't take long until I felt comfortable," Theodore said. "But obviously until you get a couple of games in and they see that you're really committed and you really want to win, that's the main thing."
Theodore is the second high-profile goaltender that has been sent from Montreal to Colorado. The other was Patrick Roy, who became the winningest goalie in NHL history with Colorado and won two more Stanley Cups after being acquired during the 1995-'96 season.
Mike Modano, the Stars captain, had to be helped off the ice midway through the third when he took a hard hit to his head when he was charged by Brett Clark. No penalty was called.
Modano came back for overtime, drawing huge cheers when he was shown on the bench. His return to the ice was met by a standing, towel-twirling ovation, but couldn't save the Stars.
Posted by admin at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)
Couch chips in on final hole to win Zurich Classic; Howell, Funk runner-up
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - On the verge of a collapse, Chris Couch tried to stay positive as he stood over a 55-foot chip for par on the 18th hole that he had to get up-down simply to get into a playoff at the Zurich Classic.
"I was thinking this would be a great way to win a tournament," he said. "It would be something I'd remember always." Using a rare, cross-handed grip for chipping, Couch watched his lofted pitch land in the right spot and track toward the hole until it disappeared into the cup, a victory so stunning that he thrust his arms in the air and slammed his pitching wedge into the ground in relief.
No way will he ever forget this week in the Big Easy.
It started a week ago Sunday on Bourbon Street when he got lost in the wrong part of town, climbed into a car with the wrong kind of people and wound up running down the streets of New Orleans until he could call police and get safely back to his car.
His heart was pumping just as fast over the final two holes, when he twice nearly threw away his first PGA Tour victory.
After sending his shot from a mud-caked bunker over the green on the par-3 17th, Couch had to make a 12-foot putt to save bogey. Then came the final act, another bunker shot that didn't reach the green, and a chip-in for par that gave him a 7-under 65 and a one-shot victory over Charles Howell III and Fred Funk.
Has any winner of this event ever had a week like Couch?
"I doubt it," he said, Mardi Gras beads draped around his neck. "It's been an adventure. But it couldn't have worked out any better."
Couch finished at 19-under 269 and earned $1.08 million US in the first nationally televised sporting event in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.
Howell, winless since his only PGA Tour victory four years ago, also thought fate was on his side, but he saw the definition of destiny over the final two holes as Couch twice came through with an incredible escape.
"The finish was unbelievable," Howell said after a 65. "Moreso than him holing for par on the last was the bogey made on 17 from the skulled bunker shot. But it's those things that it takes to win. Chris played great. I hope those two holes there don't take away from how well he played."
Funk, the 49-year-old who is two months away from his Champions Tour debut, finished with a 30-foot birdie putt for a 62. He was on the practice range getting ready for a playoff when he heard the roar, but only later did he learn how it ended.
Stuart Appleby, coming off a victory last week in the Houston Open, shot 64 and tied for fourth with Joe Durant (68) and Brett Wetterich (66).
In his first tournament since winning the Masters, Phil Mickelson closed with a 69 and tied for 15th.
Couch became the fourth player to make the cut on the number and win on the PGA Tour. He went from worst-to-first in the third round, playing early and avoiding 30 mph gusts in the afternoon.
He had no such help Sunday, and his golf was superb.
The only other time Couch had a lead on the PGA Tour was after 36 holes last year in the Western Open, and he tied for 13th. But for the first 16 holes, he sure didn't look anything like a guy playing in the final group for the first time.
Couch played quickly as he belted his drives down the fairway and swept in birdie putts with his long putter. He was incredibly relaxed, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, chewing away on a big plug of tobacco, dribbling some juice on his royal blue shirt and laughing about it. His calm belied the flurry of low scores around him.
With overnight rain, players teed off on both sides starting just before lunch, and the course was soft and vulnerable. Birdies were dropping everywhere, but no one could take the lead away from Couch.
He had four birdies through five holes, and missed a four-foot birdie on the par-5 sixth. Howell did his best to stay with him with four birdies through six holes, but he fell three shots behind when Couch went out in 30.
Lucas Glover started on the back nine and was 9 under through 13 holes when he started steering his shots.
"I made the putt on No. 4, the cameras showed up and I locked up a little bit," Glover said. "Hopefully, I can have that chance again and I'll act differently."
Glover closed with five straight pars for a 63 and wound up in a tie for sixth, at least earning Ryder Cup points.
Couch cooled slightly on the back, enough to give Howell hope and Funk and unlikely chance. Both got within one shot of the lead. Funk made three straight birdies, but his run ended when he hooked his approach over the 16th green into a bad lie and wound up with a bogey, although he finished with a 30-foot birdie for his 62 and eventually headed to the range.
Howell made three straight birdies inside 10 feet to reach 18 under, and he had an eight-foot birdie to tie for the lead on the 14th that he pulled badly to the left. And when Couch knocked down a wedge to three feet for birdie on the 16th, he restored his lead to two shots and seemed headed to an easy victory.
Even in this town, he had to work harder than he imagined.
"I would like to make it easier next time," Couch said. "My heart can't take much more of this."
Divots: Mickelson said he would donate his entire check from the Zurich Classic to Hurricane Katrina relief. When he tied for 15th and earned $81,720, Mickelson said he would bump the donation to $250,000. ... The PGA Tour rules officials decided Saturday night to go to threesomes both sides between 10 a.m. and noon because of rain in the forecast. There was a one-hour delay Sunday morning to get the course ready, but the decision paid off.
Posted by admin at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2006
'RV' passes 'United 93' to top box office
LOS ANGELES -- Audiences hit the road with Robin Williams as his family-vacation romp "RV" opened at No. 1 with $16.4 million US, while the acclaimed Sept. 11 drama "United 93" debuted with $11.6 million US.
Studio estimates Sunday had Universal Pictures' "United 93" in second place, just ahead of Disney's sports comedy "Stick It," which premiered with $11.3 million US. Those rankings could change once final numbers are released Monday.
1. "RV," $16.4 million.
2. "United 93," $11.6 million.
3. "Stick It," $11.3 million.
4. "Silent Hill," $9.3 million.
5. "Scary Movie 4," $7.8 million.
6. "The Sentinel," $7.6 million.
7. "Ice Age: The Meltdown," $7.05 million.
8. "Akeelah and the Bee," $6.25 million.
9. "The Wild," $4.7 million.
10. "The Benchwarmers," $4.4 million.
The weekend's other new wide release, Lionsgate's spelling-bee drama "Akeelah and the Bee," was No. 8 with $6.25 million US.
The 20th Century Fox release "RV" was expected to debut on top, but "United 93" had been an unknown quantity, with Hollywood analysts wondering whether movie-goers were ready to relive the horrors of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"It's not about the positioning of the film. It's about the fact that the American public spoke out," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal Pictures. "This is a wonderful result. What they said was that it wasn't too soon for a film about Sept. 11."
Married couples accounted for just over half the "United 93" audience, and 71 percent of viewers were 30 and older, according to Universal.
With painstaking authenticity, "United 93" recounts the horrific end of passengers who fought back against their hijackers aboard one of the commandeered planes, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
Families of those killed aboard Flight 93 cooperated with director Paul Greengrass ("The Bourne Supremacy," "Bloody Sunday"), who re-creates the experiences of passengers and air-traffic controllers in a documentary-style drama. "United 93" earned widespread praise from critics.
Shot on a modest budget of $15 million US, "United 93" should easily turn a profit once theatrical, television and DVD revenues are tallied. Universal said it will donate 10 per cent of the first weekend's grosses to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
Playing in 1,795 theaters, about half as many as "RV," "United 93" averaged a solid $6,462 US a cinema, the best results among the top-10 movies.
"We can now kind of put to bed any idea that people are not ready to see this type of movie. The numbers speak for themselves," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Coming this August is Hollywood's second Sept. 11 dramatization, Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center," starring Nicolas Cage in the story of two Port Authority policemen trapped in the rubble of the twin towers.
"RV," starring Williams as a dad taking his family on a slapstick-filled vacation, debuted in 3,639 theaters and averaged $4,507 US. The gymnastics tale "Stick It," starring Missy Peregrym and Jeff Bridges, averaged $5,523 US in 2,038 theaters.
Overall business rose for the sixth-straight weekend, with the top-12 movies taking in $90.7 million US, up 12 percent from the same weekend last year. After a big slump in 2005, attendance is running 4 per cent ahead of last year's, with Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible III" opening Friday and kicking off what is expected to be a huge summer at the movies.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
Posted by admin at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
NBA SCOREBORD
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May 01, 2006
Kim hangs on to prevail at Ginn Open; Ochoa, Webb tie for second
Midway through her round, with her once-sizeable lead gone, Mi Hyun Kim began wondering if she would ever win another golf tournament.
She had her answer about three hours later. The notoriously short hitter struck a monster drive to set up a critical birdie on the par-5 17th, and the South Korean made a routine par on the final hole to seal a two-stroke win Sunday over Lorena Ochoa and Karrie Webb at the Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open. "Before I started, I was so nervous," Kim said after her first triumph since the 2002 Wendy's Championship for Children. "I haven't had a win in three, four years, maybe. I really, really, really wanted to win this week."
With Webb and Ochoa - this season's two hottest LPGA players - closing in, Kim shot a final round of 1-under 71 and finished at 12-under 276. She hit a drive of between 280 and 290 yards on No. 17 to set up the clinching birdie.
"Even a surprise to me," said Kim, whose tournament driving average was 250 yards.
Ochoa shot a final-round 66 to finish at 10-under, tied with Webb (67) - who, in her last three events, has a win and two second-place ties.
"It was a really solid day," Webb said. "Obviously, a month ago, I wouldn't have thought I would have been saying, 'Well, I left a couple out there.' I'm very happy with the way I played today."
Annika Sorenstam (67) had her best round of the week and finished alone in fourth at 5-under, while Christina Kim (74), Hee-Won Han (66), Michele Redman (67) and Ai Miyazato (76) were tied for fifth at 4-under.
"I hit it beautifully again," Sorenstam said after her no-bogey, five-birdie round - with none of those coming from longer than four feet. "I could have been so many under. Just a really good day with the long game. I think I putted well, but nothing went in."
Dawn Coe-Jones of Lake Cowichan, B.C., the lone Canadian to make the cut, had a final-round 77 to wind up in 82nd at 16-over 304.
It was Mi Hyun Kim's sixth career win, earning her a $375,000 US winner's check - the largest on the LPGA Tour so far this season. She nearly made a long birdie putt to seal it, her pigtails bouncing as she tried to steer it into the cup, but it bounced out and forced her to settle for a par.
Moments later, the five-foot-one Kim was given the winner's trophy - an enormous glass bowl, one so big she could barely reach her arms around it.
"It is amazing Kimmy hasn't won for four years," Webb said. "She's one of the most consistent Koreans out here on tour and hits it straight, doesn't make a lot of mistakes. ... I'm sure everything came together for her this week."
Kim started seven shots ahead of Ochoa, a margin that vanished in the first seven holes. Kim had bogeys at Nos. 2, 4 and 6, while Ochoa - playing one group ahead - made birdies at Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 7, the last pulling her to 9-under and into a tie for the lead.
The tide finally swung back the South Korean's way on No. 9, with Ochoa making bogey to fall one shot back, and Kim making birdie minutes later to capitalize and push her cushion to two shots.
She kept the lead the rest of the way, although Ochoa and Webb never stopped pursuing.
Ochoa birdied the 17th to get within one - although temporarily, because Kim matched her score shortly after. And Webb made four birdies on the back, yet pars on the final two holes kept her from the lead.
"I'm really happy with the way I'm hitting the ball," said Ochoa, the LPGA's leading money winner this season, her $193,477 check this week pushing her total to $667,528. "I feel good about that. I did make good decisions in a round like this. It just makes you stronger and a better player."
Miyazato, who was three back and alone in second to open the final round, took a triple-bogey on the par-3 second hole. Her tee shot found a greenside bunker, her second sailed over the green and a few fans en route to the woods, and she needed four shots to get down from there.
Eventually, she rallied to 8-under, but another double-bogey at No. 15 doomed whatever chance she had of winning. Miyazato had four holes of 2-over or worse in her last 19; she made double-bogey at the 18th on both Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, Kim simply didn't cave to the pressure - although she never allowed herself to feel any relief until her final drive hit the 18th fairway.
"After that, I feel very relaxed," she said. "Oh, I got a win. Yeah."
Posted by admin at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)
Conference Quarterfinal Coverage
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Jason Pominville is finally getting his chance to stick with the Sabres.Posted by admin at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)