Tennis star says girlfriend is pregnant, calls it a ‘dream come true for us’

BASEL, Switzerland - Roger Federer is going to be a father.

The Swiss tennis star said in a message on his Web site Thursday that girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec is pregnant with the couple’s first child. The baby is due in the summer.

“This is a dream come true for us,” the 27-year-old Federer said. “We love children and we are looking forward to being parents for the first time. Mirka is feeling great and everything is going well.”

Federer met Vavrinec at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

“We are so happy to be starting a family together,” he said.

Federer, a 13-time Grand Slam champion who is ranked No 2, is in Indian Wells, Calif., for a tournament that starts Thursday.

Federer lost to Rafael Nadal in five sets in the Australian Open final. He pulled out of Switzerland’s Davis Cup series against the United States and withdrew from the Dubai Tennis Championships because of an injured back.

“I arrived in Indian Wells earlier this week and I am eager to get back out on court,” Federer said. “My back is feeling much better and I am ready to go.”

Federer is seeded second behind Nadal at Indian Wells, a tournament he won from 2004-06. He will open against Marc Gicquel or Simone Bolelli.

Seminoles knock off No. 1 North Carolina

ATLANTA - The last time North Carolina came down to the wire against Florida State, Ty Lawson bailed out the Tar Heels.

This time, all he could do was watch as two teammates missed.

Toney Douglas outshined reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough, scoring 27 points including the go-ahead free throws, as the No. 22 Seminoles ended top-ranked North Carolina’s quest for a third straight Atlantic Coast Conference championship with a 73-70 upset in the semifinals Saturday.

Florida State (25-8) advanced to its first ACC final in school history. The Seminoles will meet No. 9 Duke on Sunday.

As for the Tar Heels, it’s time to start focusing on a national championship. Despite the loss, North Carolina (28-4) is still likely to get a top seed in the NCAA tournament, especially after No. 2 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Connecticut both lost in their opening games at the Big East tournament.

“We understand,” said Hansbrough, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds but fumbled away the ball in the lane with about 20 seconds remaining. “We lose now, it’s over.”

During the regular season, Lawson hit a running 3-pointer as time expired to give the Tar Heels an 80-77 victory over Florida State.

He watched this ending from the bench, missing his second straight game because of an injured big right toe.

The Tar Heels had a couple of chances to force overtime. Wayne Ellington, who led North Carolina with 24 points, missed from beyond the arc. Danny Green chased down the rebound, stepped outside the line and fired up another 3 at the buzzer. It came up short, and the Seminoles erupted in a raucous celebration.

“We’ve come a long way,” said Douglas, who grew up about 15 miles from the Georgia Dome and is the younger brother of Atlanta Falcons receiver Harry Douglas. “But we’re still hungry. We’re never satisfied.”

Douglas was still celebrating after Maryland and Duke began warming up for their semifinal, running the length to share the moment with family and friends.

Asked how many were at the game, Douglas said, “I can’t even count. I’m just so happy they enjoyed it.”

Tar Heels coach Roy Williams made clear his top priority when he decided to sit Lawson at the ACC tournament, trying to ensure he’s as healthy as possible to make a run at a national title.

“We wanted to win this real bad,” said Lawson, who did some shooting before the game and proclaimed his toe much improved. “But our big goal is the national championship.”

Still, it was a stunning defeat for the team that had won the last two ACC tournaments, eliminating Florida State each time, and 17 championships overall. The Seminoles picked up their first win over North Carolina since 2004 and their first postseason victory against the Tar Heels since the 1972 Final Four.

Green who had two miserable games in Atlanta, making only 3-of-25 shots. He did make a steal with just over 2 minutes remaining, was fouled and hit both free throws for a 69-all tie.

After both teams missed shots, Douglas was called for a loose-ball trying to come up with a steal on Lawson’s replacement at point guard, senior Bobby Frasor. The fill-in made only one of two free throws, putting North Carolina up 70-69 with 1:03 to go.

But Douglas, trying to dribble along the sideline in front of the Florida State bench, was tripped up by Ed Davis. The Florida State star calmly went to the line and sank two free throws with 47 seconds to go.

North Carolina tried to go to its star, but Hansbrough couldn’t hang on to the ball underneath.

“I don’t really know what happened,” said Hansbrough, who had two big ice packs on his knees after going against Florida State’s big front line. “It was just crowded under there.”

Florida State’s Derwin Kitchen scooped up the loose ball, was fouled and hit two clutch free throws — the first one climbing over the front of the rim and falling through.

“I knew if I made both of them they were going to have to get a 3-pointer,” Kitchen said. “Man, I was holding my breath. Please go in! Please go in!”

Hansbrough became the leading rebounder in North Carolina history, passing Sam Perkins, but he remained two points shy of J.J. Redick, the leading scorer in ACC history. That milestone will have to wait until the NCAA tournament.

But he’s more concerned about team goals heading into the tournament.

“If anything, this gives us a lot of motivation,” Hansbrough said. “This gives us a bad taste in our mouth.”

The Seminoles are on top of the world, especially Douglas. He made 10 of 18 from the field, including three beyond the arc, despite being shadowed by Frasor and having to get loose from frequent double teams.

“He’s a tough player,” Lawson said. “I didn’t know he was this good.”

The Seminoles shook off a dismal stretch of shooting early in the game, missing 16 of 17. North Carolina also struggled, but the Tar Heels looked to be pulling away late in the half when Hansbrough worked inside for his first basket of the game and a 30-21 lead.

Florida State closed the period on an 8-2 run, however. Douglas swished a 3-pointer, then hit another jumper while being fouled. He failed to convert the three-point play, but the Seminoles chased down the rebound and Kitchen scored to make it 32-29 going to the locker room.

The Seminoles carried that momentum through the rest of the game, forcing the Tar Heels to shift their focus to bigger and better things.

“It’s not the end of the world,” Frasor insisted. “We’d rather be playing (Sunday), but we played our season to be playing on the last Monday.”

Midday & Evening

** until 2 hits fall out of each group for at least 1 state**

(The Carolinas)

Group 1: 384, 340, 480, 380, 300, 080, 383, 330, 380

Group 2: 708, 784, 804, 702, 724, 204, 707, 774, 704

Group 3: 011, 015, 115, 013, 035, 315, 018, 085, 815

Group 4: 506, 569, 609, 502, 529, 209, 502, 529, 209

Group 5: 768, 787, 867, 768, 787, 867, 760, 707, 067

Group 6: 162, 127, 267, 168, 187, 867, 160, 107, 067

Group 7: 253, 238, 358, 257, 278, 758, 251, 218, 158

Group 8: 819, 896, 916, 813, 836, 316, 819, 896, 916

Group 9: 728, 788, 828, 724, 784, 428, 721, 781, 128

The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything.

- Oscar Wilde -

Police spokesman Juan Sanchez says Stallworth hit a man crossing the busy causeway that links downtown Miami with Miami Beach around 7 a.m. Saturday.

The man was pronounced dead at a trauma center. He was near a crosswalk but it's not clear if he was crossing legally.

Stallworth is cooperating and no charges have been filed. Officers drew his blood to test for drugs or alcohol, which is routine. Police say it's too early to tell if Stallworth was violating traffic laws.

The 28-year-old former New England Patriot signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns as a free agent before last season but hardly played because he was hurt.

Saturday 3-14-09

785, 875, 783, 720, 740, 769, 888, 999, 333, 111, 444

038, 574, 576, 879, 321, 210, 502, 052, 435, 543, 401

397, 197, 897, 697, 597, 097, 768, 342, 143, 654, 384

Friday 3-13-09

387, 532, 321, 298, 334, 042, 384, 313, 214

824, 301, 103, 925, 186, 748, 497, 038, 574

492, 502, 570, 752, 543, 093, 890, 333, 999

3975, 5943, 6555, 0010, 0050

Well the North Carolina Tarheels defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies today in the ACC Tournament. It was a hard fought victory for the Tarheels, but the game was decided in the last minute or so of the game. I hope we, my Tarheels, win the entire tourney, but it depends on whether Ty Lawson, the ACC Player of the Year, plays for us or not. He is out with Turf Toe. Should be very interesting the rest of the tournament, that's for sure!!

Tarheels - 79

vs

Hokies  - 76

Madoff pleads guilty to all charges

NEW YORK - Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to all 11 felony charges brought by prosecutors in one of Wall Street’s largest investment swindles, telling the court he is “deeply sorry and ashamed” for his actions.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin accepted Madoff’s guilty plea and said he plans to jail Madoff until sentencing takes place June 16, meaning he will not be allowed to await sentencing in his $7 million Manhattan penthouse. Madoff’s crimes could result in a maximum prison term of 150 years.

“I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done,” Madoff told the court Thursday, admitting that for many years he had operated a Ponzi scheme. He added that he is “painfully aware” that he has “deeply hurt many many people.”

Madoff’s guilty plea marks the first time Madoff has spoken publicly about the scheme. Reading a statement in the courtroom, Madoff said he knowingly gave false testimony under oath to securities regulators. He also said he concealed his fraud by submitting audited reports to the SEC.

Madoff, 70, faces the prospect of coming face to face for the first time since his December arrest with some of the thousands of investors whose accounts prosecutors say he oversaw since at least the 1980s.

Judge Chin gave investors present in the court a chance to challenge his conclusion whether to accept a guilty plea to securities fraud and perjury, among other charges.

Madoff entered the courtroom for his plea hearing shortly before 10 a.m. ET. But victims of his Ponzi scheme began arriving at court as early as 8 a.m., two hours before the hearing was scheduled to begin.

Adriane Biondo, 41, of Los Angeles, said five members of her family were affected by the fraud, including elderly relatives who were ruined. She went to court to see Madoff plead guilty and wants the judge to send him to prison immediately.

“For him to be under penthouse arrest at this point ... is just not fair,” she said.

Madoff’s current bail status “really infuriates everyone,” said Matt Weinstein, a motivational speaker who lost the bulk of his savings in the scheme.

“People can’t even afford rent anymore,” Weinstein said. “He can’t go on in this palace of denial.”

In three months, Madoff has gone from a man known mostly as a pioneer of electronic trading in securities to an icon for disreputable money managers who live a life of affluence while fleecing those who entrust their life savings to their schemes.

The FBI claimed Madoff admitted to his sons months ago that his once-revered investment fund was all a big lie, a $50 billion Ponzi scheme that wiped out life fortunes, school trusts and charities and apparently pushed at least two investors to commit suicide.

The size of the scandal has made him an international symbol of greed and deception in difficult economic times. But it remains in dispute.

Prosecutors filed papers Tuesday saying Madoff’s investment company reported a total balance of $64.8 billion in November even though it actually had only a small fraction of that amount.

Investigators say the true amount lost by investors may be between $10 billion and $17 billion and the larger estimates by Madoff include the false profits prosecutors say he generated with tens of thousands of bogus account statements cataloguing steady profits.

So far, authorities have located only about $1 billion in assets.

In a hearing Tuesday, the judge said he had been contacted by clients of Madoff’s investment firm who complained — mistakenly — that he was benefiting from a plea deal. Prosecutors said there was no agreement that would have given him a shot at a lighter sentence in exchange for cooperating with investigators.

“There is no plea bargain here,” the judge said.

Despite the plea, investigators say they still would face the daunting task of unraveling how Madoff pulled off the fraud for decades without being caught. They suspect his family and his top lieutenants, who helped run his operation from its midtown Manhattan headquarters, may have been involved.

In court documents, prosecutors have indicated that low-level employees were in on the scam and may be cooperating.

Court papers say Madoff hired many people with little or no training or experience in the securities industry to serve as a secretive “back office” for his investment advisory business.

Prosecutors say he generated or had employees generate tens of thousands of account statements and other documents, operating a massive Ponzi scheme, a scam in which people are persuaded to invest in a fraudulent operation that promises unusually high returns.

The money Madoff received was never invested but was used by him, his business and others or, as occurs in Ponzi schemes, was paid out to early investors, prosecutors said.

Thursday 3-12-09

265, 301, 305, 178, 398, 723, 382, 943, 792, 429

318, 316, 907, 937, 100, 011, 487, 784, 497, 643

630, 437, 852, 165, 365, 255, 275, 264, 266, 111

333, 555, 666, 777, 888, 4495, 9445, 6555, 0100

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."

- Benjamin Disraeli -

Iraqi journalist who threw shoes gets 3 years

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at then-President George W. Bush was convicted Thursday of assaulting a foreign leader and sentenced to three years in prison, lawyers said. He shouted "long live Iraq" when the sentence was read.

The verdict came after a short trial in which Muntadhar al-Zeidi, 30, pleaded not guilty to the charge and said his action was a "natural response to the occupation."

Some of his relatives collapsed after the verdict and had to be helped out of court. Others were forcibly removed by security forces when they became unruly, shouting "Down with Bush" and "Long live Iraq."

Al-Zeidi could have received up to 15 years in prison for hurling his shoes at Bush last December during a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

But defense lawyers said the judge showed leniency because of al-Zeidi's age and clean record. Many Iraqis consider al-Zeidi a hero for defiantly expressing his anger at a president who they believe destroyed their country after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Thousands across the Muslim world took to the streets to demand his release.

Defense lawyers said they would appeal because they believe the action was a legitimate political protest and did not merit prison time.

"This judiciary is not just," al-Zeidi's brother, Dargham, said tearfully.

The journalist has been in Iraqi custody since the Dec.14 news conference where he threw his shoes at Bush, who quickly ducked to avoid being hit. Al-Zeidi was quickly wrestled to the ground by guards and dragged away.

During Thursday's proceedings, al-Zeidi, wearing a beige suit over a brown shirt and brown leather shoes, walked swiftly to the wooden pen where defendants are kept and greeted the panel of three judges with a nod and a wave.

Presiding Judge Abdul-Amir al-Rubaie asked al-Zeidi whether he was innocent or guilty.

"I am innocent. What I did was a natural response to the occupation," the defendant replied.

The proceedings took place under heavy guard with scores of armed policemen inside the courtroom and the Iraqi soldiers who escorted al-Zeidi waiting outside.

The trial began on Feb. 19 but was adjourned until Thursday as the judges weighed a defense argument that the current charge is not applicable because Bush was not in Baghdad on an official visit, having arrived unannounced and without an invitation.

Al-Rubaie on Thursday read a response from the prime minister's office insisting it was an official visit.

Chief defense attorney Dhia al-Saadi then demanded that the charge be dismissed, saying his client's action "was an expression of freedom and does not constitute a crime."

He echoed al-Zeidi's testimony at the previous hearing, saying his client had been provoked by anger over Bush's claims of success in a war that has devastated his country.

"It was an act of throwing a shoe and not a rocket. It was meant as an insult to the occupation," the lawyer said.

The judge then turned to the defendant and asked whether he had anything to add

"I have great faith in the Iraqi judiciary. It is a judiciary that is both just and has integrity," al-Zeidi responded.

The judge delivered the verdict to the defendant and his attorneys after ordering other people in the audience out of the courtroom.

Many people in the region — angry over the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq — have embraced al-Zeidi. They have staged large street rallies calling for his release, and one Iraqi man erected a sofa-sized sculpture of a shoe in his honor that the Iraqi government later ordered removed.

When al-Zeidi threw his shoes at Bush, he shouted in Arabic: "This is your farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

But al-Maliki was deeply embarrassed by the action against an American president who had stood by him when some Arab leaders were quietly urging the U.S. to oust him.

The journalist's family has raised concerns about his welfare, and he testified earlier that he had been tortured with beatings and electric shocks during his interrogation — allegations the Iraqi government has denied.

Midday & Evening

** until 2 hits fall out of each group**

(The Carolinas)

Group 1: 506, 569, 609, 502, 529, 209, 502, 529, 209

Group 2: 768, 787, 867, 768, 787, 867, 760, 707, 067

Group 3: 162, 127, 267, 168, 187, 867, 160, 107, 067

Group 4: 253, 238, 358, 257, 278, 758, 251, 218, 158

Group 5: 819, 896, 916, 813, 836, 316, 819, 896, 916

Group 6: 455, 445, 545, 457, 447, 547, 457, 447, 547

Group 7: 728, 788, 828, 724, 784, 428, 721, 781, 128

Group 8: 354, 437, 457, 357, 737, 757, 350, 037, 057

Group 9: 526, 561, 621, 524, 541, 421, 524, 541, 421

Tuesday 3-10-09

938, 265, 320, 615, 127, 500, 902, 179, 302, 532

713, 637, 316, 723, 945, 278, 490, 038, 937, 499

570, 502, 529, 186, 179, 621, 769, 607, 716, 893

111, 333, 555, 666, 999, 6555, 0010