David West scores 29 points in Hornets' 110-105 victory over Houston

HOUSTON — The New Orleans Hornets looked at the scoreboard late in the third quarter, saw the swelling deficit and knew they still had a chance to beat the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets, meanwhile, are starting to get the feeling that no lead is safe, no matter when they have it.

David West scored 29 points while Jarrett Jack added 23 points and seven assists as the Hornets rallied from 16 points down in the third to beat the Rockets 110-105 in overtime.

"When we were down 13," Chris Paul said, "I turned to (backup forward) Quincy Poindexter and said, 'Watch this, we're going to come back and win.'"

Emeka Okafor had 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Hornets, who have won five straight over Houston. Paul had a quiet night, with 11 points, eight assists and five turnovers.

New Orleans was outscored 29-14 in the third quarter and had twice as many turnovers (eight) as field goals (four) to fall behind 76-60.

"I couldn't figure it out," Okafor said. "We kind of just collapsed a little bit."

New Orleans coach Monty Williams was calm in the huddle after the quarter ended, and the Hornets didn't panic.

"Not so impressive third quarter," Okafor said. "But fortunately for us, it was only the beginning of the fourth. We had a lot of basketball to play and we all knew it."

Kyle Lowry matched his season high with 28 points and Kevin Martin added 26 points for the Rockets, who've lost seven of their last eight games and four consecutive home games.

A week ago, the Rockets blew a 16-point lead in the second quarter in an overtime loss to Utah, and the players sense the start of a disturbing pattern.

"You've got to make it not happen," Lowry said. "You've got to take some type of stand and not let that happen. We went through a good stretch where we were finishing games very good. But we're going back through a stretch where we are finishing games bad."

With Houston up by 16 points, West sank two free throws and Jared Jeffries was called for goaltending on Jack's layup before the third quarter ended to start a 14-0 Hornets' run.

New Orleans finally tied it 91-91 with 1:16 left. Lowry's free throws broke the tie, but West drove past Jared Jeffries for a one-handed dunk to silence the crowd.

Martin swished a jumper, West hit two free throws and Lowry missed an off-balance jumper in the final 26 seconds of regulation to force overtime.

Former Rocket Trevor Ariza swished a three-pointer from the corner two minutes into overtime to put the Hornets ahead 100-99. Shane Battier hit an answering three-pointer, but Paul scored on a drive and then hit a jumper over Martin to give New Orleans the lead for good.

The Hornets have won six of their last eight.

"For maybe 40 minutes of that game, we didn't play our basketball," Paul said, "but it showed a lot that we got stops when we needed to and made big plays when we had to."

The Hornets went 28-for-31 from the free-throw line and outrebounded the Rockets 48-41. Paul and West were limping on sore ankles and Okafor had both knees wrapped and his feet soaking in ice water after the game.

"We had some guys playing hurt," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. "They just found ways to make plays."

Houston built an early lead by shooting 57 per cent in the first quarter.

Martin, back after missing two games with a sore right wrist, sank a three-pointer and Lowry scored twice in the lane to help Houston build a seven-point lead. The Rockets then went six minutes without a field goal in the second quarter, and the Hornets pulled even 37-37.

Jack assisted on Ariza's fast-break dunk, then swished a three-pointer from the corner to put New Orleans in front and the Hornets led 50-47 at the break.

NOTES — Scola had 14 points and 11 rebounds. ... Okafor tied his season high for rebounds and has 10 double-doubles in his last 15 games. ... Houston C Brad Miller sat out for the third straight game with a sore left knee. ... Hornets G Marco Belinelli sat out with a sprained right ankle. ... The NBA granted a disabled-player salary exception to the Rockets in the wake of Yao Ming's ankle injury. The exception allows the Rockets to acquire a free agent, or trade for a player without having to match salaries, up to the value of the mid-level exception (about US$5.765 million).

Verizon Deal May Expose IPhone Flaws

With this week’s announcement that Verizon Wireless is going to begin selling the iPhone — something its customers have been panting for ever since AT&T got that first, exclusive iPhone contract four years ago — it’s time for me to face the music. Nobody really cares that the iPhone is flawed. After this column, I’m going to stop caring too. I swear it.

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Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

Timothy D. Cook, Apple chief operating officer, said certain iPhone “design compromises” were not acceptable.

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Its design is undeniably elegant; both the iPhone and its sister device, theiPad, stand at the pinnacle of modern industrial design. The iPhone offers some 300,000 apps that delight its users. Photographs look gorgeous on an iPhone. “It is the first and best implementation of a highly mobile computer,” said Roger L. Kay, the president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a market intelligence firm.

Yet for all that it offers, the iPhone has always been plagued by serious drawbacks. The “phone” part of the iPhone has never worked very well, dropping calls with annoying regularity. Even when the phone works, the sound quality is often substandard. You would think in an age when fewer people are using landlines this would matter. Apparently not.

Meanwhile, the iPhone’s lack of a raised keyboard makes it next to impossible to do serious e-mailing. And users have to worry constantly about battery life; if they’re not judicious, the iPhone’s battery can be drained by noon.

At the Verizon Wireless-iPhone extravaganza on Tuesday — in which the two companies announced that the iPhone 4 would run on Verizon Wireless’s 3G network — Apple’s chief operating officer, Timothy D. Cook, was asked why Apple wasn’t going with the carrier’s faster, newer 4G LTE network. Mr. Cook replied that doing so required “design compromises” that Apple was unwilling to make.

They never make design compromises at Apple. They make consumer compromises. Yet consumers have always been willing to overlook those compromises so they can claim they own some of the coolest products on the planet.

“People so love their devices from Apple that they are willing to put up with the stupidities,” said Larry Keeley, president of the innovation and design firm Doblin. “For many users,” he added, “especially the ones Apple loves the most, the fact that the battery gets balky is how you convince yourself to get a new one.”

My oldest son, Amato, who is on my Verizon Wireless plan, told me recently that even though he was perfectly happy with his Android phone, if given the chance to switch to an iPhone, he would probably do it. “I can’t even say why,” he said. “I don’t even know if there is any real rationale behind that desire.”

Is Steve Jobs a business genius or what?

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On the other hand, the fact that my son owns an Android phone — and finds it to be a fine smartphone, thank you very much — suggests that the Apple chief executive’s fetish for form over function has its downside. Not everybody, it turns out, is indifferent to whether their smartphones can actually make phone calls. For proof, all you have to do is look at the recent performance of Verizon Wireless, which has been, by far, the country’s most profitable wireless carrier, despite not having the iPhone in its arsenal.

Verizon Wireless could have snagged the original iPhone contract four years ago, but it passed. It did so not because of the iPhone’s flaws, which were then unknown, but because Apple was insisting on terms that it could not accept. These included a guaranteed subsidy for the phone (cellphone carriers use subsidies as important marketing tools), no say in the software design and loss of control of the customer to Apple.

A Verizon Wireless spokesman told me back then that with the iPhone deal, AT&T had handed over “the ability to insure customer service” to Apple, which, he added, “is something we would never have agreed to.” AT&T, which was struggling, felt it had no choice but to agree to Apple’s onerous terms.

The Apple-AT&T marriage has been a public relations disaster — for AT&T. Its network was quickly overwhelmed, in part because it was subpar, and in part because iPhone owners — with a mobile computer at their fingertips — used astonishing amounts of data: 15 times more than the average smartphone user, and “50 percent more than AT&T itself had projected,” according to Fred Vogelstein, who wrote about the problems for Wired magazine.

Sefko: Good health keys Spurs' success

AN ANTONIO – Gregg Popovich has been around long enough to know you don't mess with the basketball gods, especially when it comes to injuries.

The Spurs have started the same five players in all 40 games this season: DeJuan Blair, Tim Duncan , Manu Ginobili , Richard Jefferson and Tony Parker. When asked if that can continue, he said: "I try not to think about it."

As much as anything, health is why the Spurs are running away with the Western Conference.

Popovich rattled off Houston, Portland, the Lakers, Utah and, of course, the Mavericks as teams that have fallen on hard times – through no fault of their own. It's just bad luck with injuries.

"It really is a big factor," he said. "We're really one of the few teams in the West that hasn't been affected. Maybe it's everybody else is the lucky teams. They've got it now and maybe we're going to get it on April 2 or March 15.

"But it's been to our advantage so far and it shows in the record. It's not because we invented a new play or we're that much better than everybody. That's totally untrue."

Popovich said the Lakers still appear to be the cream of the West. But he added that the Mavericks "were real close to them" before Dirk Nowitzki got hurt.

And then, the injury gods cursed them. Nobody ever said the NBA was fair.

Sabarimala: toll rises to 104

G. MAHADEVAN

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The HinduPolice assist one of the pilgrims to identify the bodies at the Thaluk Hospital Kumili. Photo:H.Vibhu.

Even as the full scope of the tragedy that befell Sabarimala pilgrims at Pulmedu near Vandiperiyar in Kerala’s Idukki district on Friday night was yet to be known, the death toll in the stampede there rose to 102 on Saturday morning.

Of these 54, have been identified. There are at least five children among the dead. Most of those dead are believed to have come to Sabarimala from Tamil Nadu. Dozens injured-many of them seriously-are being treated at various hospitals at Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kottayam.

The Kerala government will conduct a comprehensive enquiry into the incident the Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told The Hindu on Saturday. “The nature and scope of the enquiry will be announced by the Chief Minister who will visit the Sabarimala area today. All the same, the enquiry will be such that it covers all aspects of the situation,” he added.

The chain of events that led to the tragedy began shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday when lakhs of devotees witnessed the Makajyothi — a climactic event in the ‘Makaravikakku’ season at the hill-top shrine. Tens of thousands had gathered on Pulmedu, a hilltop from where it is believed that the ‘jyothi’ can be seen clearly. From Vandiperiayar to Pulmedu is a hazardous trip for both man and vehicle through a very narrow path that winds its way through the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

By the time the Makarajyothi was sighted at the Ponnambalamedu, it was already pitch dark at Pulmedu. Moments after pilgrims started streaming back down this jungle path-guided mostly by feeble torch lights-a jeep carrying pilgrims reportedly lost control, rammed another vehicle and overturned. This led to a sudden build up of pilgrims, all jostling to make their way down the steep path. Very quickly panic set in, resulting in a stampede.

“More people appear to have died of the stampede than from the collision between two vehicles,” said Rahul Easwar, the grandson of the ‘Thanthri’ of the Sabarimala shrine, who rushed to the accident site early on Saturday morning.

Though the stampede reportedly took place shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday, news of the tragic incident was slow to percolate to the outside world. For starters, this ruled out any immediate rescue response. Close to two hours later when police and rescue workers sought to rush the accident spot, they found themselves battling their way through sea of pilgrims and vehicles all rushing out of the Tiger Reserve area. Late on Friday night even after many bodies were shifted to trucks the rush of pilgrims made it near impossible for these vehicles to reach the nearest hospital at Kumili. The weeks-long Makaravilakku season was particularly crowded this time and major traffic hold-ups had been reported over the past few days.

The Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose told The Hindu that rescue efforts on Friday night were severely hampered due to the remote location of the accident site and due to the fact that there little or no lighting at the place. “Additional Director General of Police Hemachandran was at the accident spot till Saturday morning. According to his report it is very unlikely that there are any more dead bodies at the spot,” he said.

The state government has announced that it would foot the hospital bill of any Ayyappa devotee injured in Friday’s stampede. “It does not matter whether the treatment was done in a government hospital or a private one,” the Minister for Ports V. Surendran Pillai told The Hindu as he travelled to the accident spot, “we would also reach each and every body to the respective homes and give the family Rs. 5,000 as expenses for the funeral. There are any number of people who have lost clothing, bags and money in the incident. The government has decided to give them clothes, provide them money for food and for travelling back to their homes.”

District authorities have opened a control room in Kumily. The telephone numbers are 04869-222049, 252244.

Late on Friday night the Pulmedu stampede was declared a natonal disaster and Defence Minister A.K. Antony-who is in Kerala-asked the armed forces to assist in every manner possible in the rescue effort. A special team of the National Disaster Response Force is expected to reach Sabarimala shortly.

Security lapse?

The third major tragedy to strike Sabarimala pilgrims in the last fifty years—after the cracker shed fire in 1952 and the 1999 stampede at Pampa—has also raised questions on the use of undesignated forest paths to reach the Sannidhanam of the Ayyappa temple.

Though the jungle path to Pulmedu has been used by Sabarimala pilgrims for many years now, it was only during the last few years that the area such a heavy influx of those seeking to seeking to escape the rush at the established pathways including the Pampa and Erumeli routes. However the police presence and security arrangements in the area have not kept pace with this surge of pilgrims.

“This path is not open to the public around the year,” Mr. Surendran Pillai explained, “pilgrims are allowed in only as a special case during the Makaravilakku. It is also not difficult for us to put permanent arrangements-whether lighting or other facilities-in place because we would have to get the permission of the centre, this being a reserve forest.”

The Superintendent of Police, Pathanamthitta K. Sanjay Kumar also told The Hindu that under the present scheme of things it was not possible to provide at Pulmedu the kind of police bandobust that exists at, say, the Pampa or at Sannidhanam. The police has well-oiled Sabarimala schemes for Pathanamthitra, Idukki and Kottayam, he pointed out.

Who turns down $6 billion? Someone who’s after $15 billion

Social buying powerhouse Groupon may be looking to move ahead with an initial public offering (IPO), according to anonymous bank sources in the New York Times.

The company recently turned down a $6 billion dollar acquisition offer from Google and, while many people said they were crazy, a $15 billion IPO could be a good indication of why. Others noted the reason was that the search giant lacked the needed human touch for daily deals.

Groupon has been working hard to secure a large amount of funding, which may be attractive to investors if an IPO occurs. In recent fundraising, the company initially snagged $500 million and then finally pulled in a total of $950 million from investors like Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price and Morgan Stanley.

Another indication that an IPO is on the horizon may be the hiring of the company’s first chief financial offer, Jason Child, who was based in Seattle as head of finance for all Amazon websites outside of North America.

Groupon, based in Chicago and founded in 2008, claims to have more than 24 million subscribers in 150 cities and around 3,000 employees.

Tags: IPO

Companies: Groupon

People: Jason Child

Critics' Choice Movie Awards Ruled By 'The Social Network,' 'Inception'

Natalie Portman shouts out her 'Black Swan' director for bringing her and her fiancé together, while Christian Bale gets emotional.

Before the folks behind the 2011 Critics' Choice Movie Awards on VH1dished out their choices for the best flicks of 2010, they chose to spoof them first.

The guys of "Jackass" kicked off the festivities Friday night (January 14) with their own kooky rendition of the dream drama "Inception," pretending to plant the idea in Steve-O's head to bungee-jump in a portable toilet and get splashed with other people's poo. While the guys' twist on hit flicks like "The Social Network" — which went on to win Best Picture — and "Black Swan" peppered the show, the rest of the evening was pretty clean, as movies like "The Fighter" and "Inception" racked up trophies.

Following opening remarks from beefy action star-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger and an introduction from Ashton Kutcher, "The Fighter" took home the first award of the night for Best Acting Ensemble. Lowell, Massachusetts, policeman Mickey O'Keefe, who plays himself in the movie as the mentor of "Irish" Mickey Ward, accepted the award on behalf of the cast, beaming, "This is just bitchin'!"
Rocking a delicate pastel dress, "True Grit" newcomer Hailee Steinfeld took home the prize for Best Young Actor/Actress, thanking everyone from her talent agency to her family, and even giving a shout-out to God.
Eva Mendes handed over the Best Supporting Actor award to Christian Bale for his scrappy performance in "The Fighter" (co-star Melissa Leo later won for Best Supporting Actress). The English actor recognized the real-life inspiration for the character Alice Ward, who has recently been laid up in the hospital, and briefly got emotional when thanking his wife and daughter.
"The Hangover" star Ed Helms presented the Best Action Movie award to Christopher Nolan's "Inception," applauding the film's knack for "blowing sh-- up."
Kim and Khloé Kardashian, minus their curvy sister Kourtney, presented Best Documentary Feature to "Waiting for Superman." Filmmaker David Guggenheim aptly followed up the win with an impassioned plea for widespread access to quality education for all children.
Legendary movie veteran Steven Spielberg accepted the award for Best Picture Made for Television for HBO's wartime miniseries "The Pacific," and comedy queens Joan Rivers and Sarah Silverman handed over the trophy for Best Comedy to the folks behind the high school fake-sex romp "Easy A." "It's about pretending to have sex in high school, which we're all familiar with," director Will Gluck quipped. The beloved family-friendly flick "Toy Story 3" nabbed Best Animated Feature.
The night had some musical moments as well, courtesy of house band Maroon 5, who cranked out bluesy versions of everything from Prince's sultry classic "Kiss" to Bill Withers' mournful hit "Ain't No Sunshine" throughout the show. Rapper/actor Ice Cube used his hip-hop and Hollywood experience to introduce the Music+Film Award for Quentin Tarantino, commanding attendees to "sit ya ass down" before he pumped up the filmmaker's world-renowned skills.
After a montage of scenes from Tarantino flicks like "Jackie Brown" and "Inglourious Basterds," Maroon 5's Adam Levine took the stage solo to strum Stealers Wheel's folky jam "Stuck in the Middle With You" as the infamous ear-slicing "Reservoir Dogs" scene that features the song played in the background. Keri Hilson cooed a vampy rendition of Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man," which is featured in "Pulp Fiction," heading into the audience to serenade Tarantino, purring the lyrics and oozing with sex-kitten energy. When Tarantino accepted the award, he spoke about how music informed his early screen ambitions, reminiscing about visualizing cinematic scenes as he played hits in his bedroom as a teen.
"The King's Speech" won Best Original Screenplay, while the Facebook drama "The Social Network" scored Best Adapted Screenplay. Writer Aaron Sorkin shouted out the site's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, saying, "We owe you a debt of gratitude" for the social-media phenomenon. "Network" mastermind David Fincher also nabbed Best Director.
Emily Blunt and Jimmy Kimmel teamed up for a lighthearted presentation of the Joel Siegel Award to Matt Damon for his humanitarian work with his global clean-water campaign Water.org. Kimmel feigned disinterest in Damon's efforts, quipping, "Sean Penn is actually in Haiti right now." Damon playfully fired back when he took the stage, saying, "Jimmy, I literally have no idea why you're here," which prompted the talk-show host to stroll backstage mid-speech.
Colin Firth also lightened up his acceptance speech by joking, "I will be wearing this around my neck as a talisman to give me magical powers," as he cradled his Best Actor trophy for "The King's Speech." Kevin Spacey took it back to the '90s with inexplicable impersonations of portly comedian Jon Lovitz and former President Bill Clinton before presenting Best Actress to Natalie Portman. The newly pregnant starlet thanked director Darren Aronofsky, playfully noting, "You made me very skinny and you ... made me fat" for introducing her to the film's choreographer and her new fiancé, Benjamin Millipied, with whom she's expecting her first baby.

Auburn's Nick Fairley will enter NFL draft

The 6-5, 298-pound All-American defensive tackle led the SEC with 24 tackles for loss and had a school-record 11 1/2 sacks.

Oregon running back Kenjon Barner is tackled short of the goal line on a fourth-down play by Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley and cornerback Demond Washington late in the third quarter Monday night in the BCS title game in Glendale, Ariz. (Danny Moloshok / Reuters / January 11, 2011)

Nick Fairley, Auburn's other big-name star, also is heading to the NFL after helping Cam Newton to lead the Tigers to a national title.

The potential No. 1 overall pick announced his decision Friday at his old high school in Mobile, Ala., saying he did not make up his mind until that morning after long talks with his coaches and his parents and a solitary drive around his hometown.

His decision means Auburn's two biggest stars won't be back next season. Newton, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, said Thursday night that he will enter the draft. The two junior college transfers led the Tigers to a 14-0 season and their first national title since 1957.

Fairley was the defensive most valuable player in the BCS title game against Oregon. He had a sack, three tackles for loss and forced a fumble. The 6-foot-5, 298-pound All-American defensive tackle also led the Southeastern Conference with 24 tackles for loss and had a school-record 111/2 sacks.

Fairley said he met with Auburn Coach Gene Chizik and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker in Auburn, then went home Thursday and talked it over with his parents.

After that, "I went on a long ride by myself. I think I came out with the best decision to benefit me, my family and all the folks around me."

Fairley played two seasons at Auburn after transferring from junior college, where he redshirted in 2007. He flashed his potential at times in 2009 but did not consistently dominate until this season.

"It's crazy for me to be in this position," Fairley said. "Coming into this year, I didn't think things were going to be this big. I didn't know I was going to have a big year like that."

Tulsa promoted assistant Bill Blankenship to head coach. He replaces Todd Graham, who left to become Pittsburgh's coach.

Quarterback John Brantley is staying at Florida for his senior season. Brantley considered transferring after Urban Meyer stepped down as coach last month. … Florida safety Will Hill will enter the NFL draft. He started 10 games this season, finishing with 54 tackles and two interceptions. The junior was suspended the first two games of the season for an undisclosed violation of team rules. … Washington running back Chris Polk will return for his junior season.

The NCAA granted a sixth year of eligibility to Houston quarterback Case Keenum, who sat out the final nine games of this season because of a torn knee ligament.

The man accused of fatally stabbing Connecticut football player Jasper Howard outside a party on campus in 2009 pleaded no contest to first-degree manslaughter. John Lomax III, of Bloomfield, Conn., who had faced a murder charge, entered his plea to the lesser charge in Superior Court in Rockville, according to the court clerk's office. Lomax faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing.