Lady Gaga to help drop New Year's ball
Lady Gaga has been inescapable for 2011, so it makes sense that she'll also be on hand to help us draw this year to a close.
The New Yorker will be back in town on New Year's Eve as Mayor Bloomberg's special guest, a spokesperson for the mayor tells CNN.
Although he's never met the "Born This Way" singer, Bloomberg said at a press conference Wednesday that he's seen Gaga in action and found her to be "a great entertainer," the New York Daily News reports.
Gaga is expected to perform, but she's also been tasked with another duty: Pushing the button to signal the ball drop in Times Square at 11:59 p.m. ET.
"I saw her once perform at the museum, the Metropolitan Museum, " Bloomberg said. "I do not know her personally, and I'm looking forward to it."
Ghost Rider writer loses legal bid
The rights to Marvel Comics hero Ghost Rider - played by Nicholas Cage in two films - belong to the firm and not the writer who conceived him in the 1970s, a New York judge has ruled.
Gary Friedrich launched a legal bid to cash in on film rights in 2007.
The judge ruled that, as he had cashed cheques from Marvel, he had no case.
Cage starred as stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze in 2007 film Ghost Rider. He also stars in 3D sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, out in February.
Mr Friedrich's lawyer, Charles Kramer, did not comment on the ruling but said his client would appeal against it.
Manhattan federal court judge Katherine Forrest agreed that Ghost Rider - a motorcycle-driving superhero with a skeletal head that is sometimes on fire - was conceived by Mr Friedrich.
The character's first appearance for Marvel Comics was in 1972.
When the first Ghost Rider film came out in 2007, Mr Friedrich sued Marvel claiming it had infringed his rights because he owned the character.
He sought compensation for its use in films, toys, video games and other merchandise.
"If Friedrich... had any rights to the character or the work at the time he endorsed the cheques... he relinquished those rights to Marvel," the judge said.
She said that, as creating comic books also involved so many different processes, Ghost Rider was undoubtedly owned by Marvel.
He had also signed an agreement with Marvel in 1978 relinquishing rights in exchange for more future freelance work, she said.
In an earlier court hearing, Mr Friedrich said he thought he had given Marvel the rights to use Ghost Rider in comic books but that he retained all other rights.
But such an understanding had never been put down in writing, he said when questioned by Marvel lawyers.
Jordan is engaged and so is Judd
Talk about a slam-dunk way to cap off the holiday season: Michael Jordan is engaged.
The former NBA pro, 48, popped the question over the Christmas weekend to his girlfriend of three years, Cuban-American model Yvette Prieto, rep Estee Portnoy confirms to the Associated Press.
The Charlotte Bobcats majority owner was previously married to Juanita Vanoy in 1989; they divorced in 2006. He has three children with Vanoy: Jeffrey Michael, 23, Marcus James, 21, and Jasmine, 19.
Also, Country music star Wynonna Judd is engaged to musician boyfriend Cactus Moser after he popped the question on Christmas Eve, PEOPLE has learned exclusively. The couple, who currently tour as Wynonna and the Big Noise, have been dating since late 2009.
The engagement is the latest chapter in a happy comeback for Judd, 47.
After suffering two health scares in March of 2010, and surviving a head-on car collision four months later, Judd turned her life around by losing 55 pounds. and reuniting with her mother, Naomi, for the first Judds tour in 10 years.
"I feel more alive," she told PEOPLE last year.
This will be the third marriage for Judd. She divorced her second husband, D.R. Roach, after four years in 2007. In 1998, she split from Nashville businessman Arch Kelly III, with whom she had two children, Elijah, now 17, and Grace, 15.
Fast Five is 'top pirated film of 2011'
Action movie Fast Five was the most pirated film of 2011, according to file-sharing blog, Torrent Freak.
The fifth instalment in the Fast and the Furious film series was downloaded 9.2 million times, figures have shown.
In second place was The Hangover II with 8.8 million downloads followed by Thor, thriller Source Code and I Am Number Four was in fifth place.
James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar was last year's top-pirated film, downloaded 16.6 million times.
Cameron had previously suggested that making movies in 3D would help put people off from downloading films illegally.
Only two of this year's top ten, Thor and Harry Potter, were released in 3D - which could be attributed as much to a decline in the popularity of the format as to the difficulty in pirating the material.
Figures for the entire top 10 this year have dropped in comparison with last year.
Torrent Freak said this might be explained by an increase in file sharing and streaming sites - which don't count towards download figures.
Thor, based on the comic book character of the same name, was downloaded 8.3 million times and Source Code, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, 7.9 million times.
Sucker Punch was at number six, followed by 127 Hours and Rango at number 7 and 8 respectively.
Top grossing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Transformers: Dark of the Moon did not feature on the pirated film list.
And The King's Speech and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 were both hugely popular at the box office, but their downloading figures remained fairly modest, appearing in ninth and tenth place on the list.
The data for the list is collected from several sources, including reports from thousands of BitTorrent trackers.
Most downloaded films and worldwide box office takings
1. Fast Five - 9.2m downloads (£405m)
2. The Hangover II - 8.8m downloads (£376m)
3. Thor - 8.3m downloads (£291m)
4. Source Code - 7.9m downloads (£79m)
5. I Am Number Four - 7.6m downloads (£93m)
6. Sucker Punch - 7.2m downloads (£58m)
7. 127 Hours - 6.9m downloads (£39m)
8. Rango - 6.4m downloads (£158m)
9. The King's Speech - 6.2m downloads (£268m)
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - 6m downloads (£860m)
US singer Kaye Stevens dies aged 79
Kaye Stevens, the US singer and actress known for her appearances with the Rat Pack and on Johnny Carson's chat show, has died in Florida.
The 79-year-old, who had breast cancer, died on Wednesday at a hospital north of Orlando, a close friend said.
Born Catherine Stevens in Pittsburgh in 1933, she started out as a drummer and singer before going on to act in movies and television shows.
In 1963 she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her film role in The Interns.
Stevens performed with Frank Sinatra and other members of the Rat Pack, including Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.
She also sang solo in Las Vegas and New York and performed for US soldiers during the Vietnam war.
In the 1970s she was a regular panellist on TV game shows and had a recurring role on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
She later started her own ministry and helped to build a church in the Florida city of Margate, where a park was named in her honour.
Kobe scores 28, Lakers surge past Knicks in 4th
After the Lakers roared away from the Knicks in the fourth quarter without even a point from Kobe Bryant, he put his long-standing friendly rivalry with Carmelo Anthony in perspective.
"I enjoy going against Melo, because I always win," Bryant said with a grin.
Although Bryant was exaggerating about his head-to-head advantage over Anthony, he's absolutely right about Los Angeles' rivalry with New York over the past half-decade.
Bryant scored 28 points in yet another dynamic performance against the Knicks, and the Lakers relied on stiff defense to roll to their ninth straight victory over New York, 99-82 Thursday night.
Pau Gasol had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Lakers, who have won two straight after a 0-2 start to the compressed season.
The Lakers have dominated this rivalry between the signature teams from the nation's two largest cities in recent years, winning every meeting since February 2007 with Bryant averaging more than 34 points per game in the first eight.
They easily took care of New York down the stretch, opening the fourth quarter with a 17-3 run to take a 22-point lead - and Bryant didn't even need to score, contributing three assists as Los Angeles finished strong.
"We did a great job," Bryant said. "It's tough to hold down an offensive team like the Knicks. We're doing what we're supposed to do."
Steve Blake scored 11 points and hit two big 3-pointers while the Lakers dominated the fourth quarter, forcing the Knicks to miss nine of their first 10 shots while committing seven turnovers.
Anthony scored 27 points in his first showdown with Bryant since joining the Knicks, and Amare Stoudemire had 15 points on 4-for-17 shooting as New York again struggled down the stretch in the middle stop of a three-game West Coast road trip. For the second straight night, the Knicks showed none of the late-game poise they exhibited in a gritty Christmas win over Boston.
"The Lakers are good, and we're awful," New York coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We didn't play well. We can't make shots. We started off really well. I thought the pace was good, the rhythm was good, and then it just went downhill from there."
Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 11 rebounds in his hometown for the Knicks, whose nine-game skid against the Lakers is their longest current stretch against any opponent.
"Everything is just difficult for us right now," Chandler said. "We've just got to make things easier than they've been."
The Knicks' frustration showed in technical fouls for each of their Big Three, who incessantly argued calls despite New York's 41-22 free throw advantage.
"This game is about acting, and right now we're reacting," Anthony said. "We just need to get out there and play ball. ... We're good. Not too much to worry about three games into the season. We will get better."
Josh McRoberts scored 10 points for the Lakers, who made 23 of their 32 shots before halftime for their highest shooting percentage in one half in nearly 13 years. New York pulled within eight points heading into the fourth quarter, but then committed five turnovers in the next 2 1/2 minutes as reserves Blake and Matt Barnes led the Lakers' runaway.
Although Bryant is playing with a torn ligament in his right wrist that requires a brace whenever he isn't playing, the 13-time All-Star's latest injury is doing little to slow him. He has scored at least 25 points in each of the Lakers' games so far, and he shredded the Knicks' spotty defense.
"Kobe be lying. Kobe ain't hurt," Anthony said with a laugh. "I know him."
The Lakers were the only team to begin the season with three games in three nights, losing the first two before routing Utah on Tuesday for new coach Mike Brown's first victory. Although the Lakers struggled early, they've been downright dominant on defense in the past three games at home, showing they're already picking up the finer points of Brown's defense-based system.
The Lakers, who held the Knicks to 31.3 percent shooting, will get even better on defense with center Andrew Bynum wrapping up his season-opening four-game suspension for his misbehavior in last spring's playoff finale. He'll be in the lineup for the Denver Nuggets ' visit to Staples Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Lakers returned from their first day off with a sharp first half, taking a 16-point lead in the second quarter with crisp offensive execution that frequently left behind the Knicks. Anthony scored 18 points in the half with six field goals - the same number managed by all of his teammates combined.
Bryant scored 13 points in the third quarter, even banking in a long 3-pointer while getting fouled on a four-point play late in the period, but the Knicks trimmed Los Angeles' lead to 80-72 heading into the fourth.
SI
Rafael Nadal plans to rest after Australian Open
World number two Rafael Nadal plans to take several weeks off after the Australian Open to properly recover from a nagging shoulder injury.
Nadal suffered the injury before the ATP World Tour Finals in November and said he was still "not 100 percent".
He said: "I had a problem before London with my shoulder and I had to stop for about 10 days before the (ATP) finals."
The 25-year-old Spaniard added: "It felt better again but resurfaced, I couldn't practice."
The Spaniard only decided on Monday to defend his title at the World Tennis Championships - a two-day exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi.
Nadal will play the winner of a match between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Ferrer in the semi-finals on Friday.
He is hopeful his shoulder will hold up enough for him to win both the Abu Dhabi tournament for a third successive year, and next week's Qatar Open in Doha.
The Australian Open gets under way on 16 January, and Nadal says he wants to use February to rest and practice.
Warner got FIFA W/Cup rights for US$1
EX-FIFA vice-president Jack Warner says that in 1998 he was awarded the World Cup television rights for Trinidad and Tobago by FIFA for a mere US$1.
Warner made this revelation in a press release yesterday and noted that the rights were awarded following a “brutal campaign” for FIFA presidency in which Blatter emerged victorious with the critical support of Warner.
The ex-CONCACAF boss revealed that he was also the recipient of the television rights for the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions of football’s biggest showpiece.
Warner, who resigned from FIFA earlier this year during a FIFA investigation of a controversial meeting among CFU officials in Trinidad, believes that the sale of the rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cup was “no doubt in appreciation of the work he did (with bin Hammam) for his (Blatter’s) re-election.”
He argued, however, that following the withdrawal of his support for Blatter’s bid for presidency at the 2011 FIFA elections, they withdrew the television rights for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and revoked the rights for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
He noted that the Caribbean FIFA Development Office in Trinidad was also closed and alleges that Trinidadian FIFA Referee Development Officers were also dismissed.
“In 2011, in exchange for my support (and by extension the support of the CFU and the CONCACAF) in the FIFA presidential election, the FIFA again offered me the sale of the World Cup Rights for 2018 and 2022 as a ‘gift’ at a nominal fee.
“The FIFA also agreed to pay for the re-grassing of the Marvin Lee Stadium at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence and as well as to grant two-five (sic) hundred thousand US dollar Goal Projects as a gift to the CONCACAF to do with as we wished.
“Notwithstanding the inducements offered, I...refused to endorse Sepp Blatter for the 2011 FIFA presidential election and the rest is now history,” Warner declared. According to Warner, FIFA, who usually sell World Cup television rights directly to broadcasters, or sub-contracts companies to negotiate sales, usurped the third party route in 2002 and sold it directly to him.
“Having won the 2002 election for the FIFA presidency, president Blatter, sold me, not the CFU, the World Cup TV Rights for 2002 and 2006,” he revealed. The 2010 and 2014 World Cups were sold to Warner but this time through the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) which Warner was also president of.
Warner states that the sales were all used to develop football throughout the Caribbean.
The 68-year-old, who promised a “tsunami” to hit FIFA following his resignation from the world governing body earlier this year says he will reveal next week why he did not support Blatter’s bid for re-election and also comment on the Normalising Committee appointed by FIFA to govern CFU affairs in the interim.
Samuels stars for Cavaliers
Jamaican international Samardo Samuels scored a team high 17 off the bench as Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 105-89 in the NBA on Wednesday night.
Rookie Kyrie Irving also had 14 points and seven assists while Ramon Session scored 16 points to help Cleveland spoil Detroit's first home opener with new owner Tom Gores.
Detroit's Ben Gordon had 25 points and rookie reserve Brandon Knight scored 23.
In Charlotte, Dwyane Wade hit a bank shot over Gerald Henderson with 2.9 seconds left to lift the unbeaten Miami Heat to a 96-95 victory over the pesky Charlotte Bobcats.
After Henderson hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to put the Bobcats up by one with 12 seconds left, the Heat called time and had Wade bring the ball up. He drove to the left side and banked the shot over Henderson, then turned to Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton seated courtside and imitated Newton's Superman touchdown celebration by pretending to rip open his shirt.
LeBron James scored 35 points and Chris Bosh chipped in with 25.
Other results: Thunder 98 Grizzles 95; Spurs 115 Clippers 90; Hornets 97 Celtics 78;
Nuggets 117 Jazz 100; Warriors 92 Knicks 78; 76ers 103 Suns 83; Hawks 101 Wizards 83; Pacers 90 Raptors 85.
Bravo, Pollard for Bangladesh Premier League
All-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo are the two West Indians whose names have been identified with the start of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 (BPLT 20) next year.
ESPN-Cricinfo said Pollard and Bravo, have been named among at least 25 foreign players who have made themselves available for the tournament, scheduled to start on February 9 with the fnal to be played on February 29.
The Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies pair would be heading into the tournament fresh from the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship which concludes on January 22.
“The main thing is the Bangladesh players have to be available,” Arun Lal, the former Indian opener and consultant to Game on Sports, the tournament organisers, told the website.
The 20-day tournament will feature six teams that will play each other twice each in a round-robin format over 33 matches to be held in Chittagong and Dhaka.
Teams will be allowed to field five foreign players in their final 11s, as opposed to four in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with former Australia stars Adam Gilchrist and Mathew Hayden, Pakistani Kamran Akmal and England fast bowler James Anderson reportedly among the imported players for the tournament.
As in the first season of the IPL, each team will have an icon player.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced that Tamim Iqbal will be the icon player for Chittagong, Mohammad Ashraful for Dhaka, Alok Kapali for Sylhet, Shahriar Nafees for Barisal, Mushfiqur Rahim for Rajshahi and Shakib Al Hasan for Khulna.
Lal said there may be a problem getting Indian players to participate due to a scheduling clash with their domestic 50 overs-a-side competition, but he expected they could still come aboard for part of the season.
The organisers are also hoping that the winner of the BPLT 20 will be given a place in the Champions League Twenty20 next year. (CMC)