Presidents approve college football playoff

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2012, file photo, the Coaches' Trophy is displayed before the BCS National Championship game between the LSU and Alabama in New Orleans. College football will finally have a playoff. Come 2014, the BCS is dead. A committee of university presidents on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, approved the BCS commissioners' plan for a four-team playoff to start in the 2014 season. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2012, file photo, the Coaches' Trophy is displayed before the BCS National Championship game between the LSU and Alabama in New Orleans. College football will finally have a playoff. Come 2014, the BCS is dead. A committee of university presidents on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, approved the BCS commissioners' plan for a four-team playoff to start in the 2014 season. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? College football will finally have a playoff. Come 2014, the BCS is dead.

A committee of university presidents on Tuesday approved the BCS commissioners' plan for a four-team playoff to start in two years.

"A four team playoff doesn't go too far," Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger said. "It goes just the right amount."

The move completes a six-month process for the commissioners, who have been working on a new way to determine a major college football champion after years of griping from fans.

"There were differences of views," Steger said. "I think it would be a serious mistake to assume it was a rubber stamp."

Instead of simply matching the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 teams in a championship game after the regular season, the way the Bowl Championship Series has done since 1998, the new format will create a pair of national semifinals. No. 1 will play No. 4, and No. 2 will play No. 3. The sites of those games will rotate among the four current BCS games ? Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar ? and two more to be determined.

The winners will advance to the championship.

The teams will be selected by a committee, similar to the way the NCAA basketball tournament field is set.

The commissioners want to lock in this format for 12 years with a television partner. The current BCS deal with ESPN runs through the 2013 season. The new format will be presented to potential TV partners in the fall, starting with ESPN.

There are still some details to work out, but all the decision-makers are on board.

Lower divisions of college football already have a playoff, but the highest level has always used bowls and polls to determine its champion. Those days are coming to an end.

"By making this change we felt we could enhance the regular season but at the same time provide the fans with the kind of postseason that will contribute to the regular season," Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive said.

___

Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphdrussoAP

Associated Press

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Keep Dogs Safe and Secure during Fireworks Season | Best Friends ...

June 25th, 2012

The upcoming Fourth of July holiday week can be a difficult time for dogs afraid of loud noises. Fireworks can cause a dog to hide, bark excessively and even run away.

Because Independence?Day is a?peak time for lost dog reports, we asked our panel of professional trainers for advice on helping pets make it through the noisy celebration.?

Most importantly, they say, do NOT take your dog to a community fireworks display or backyard celebration that includes fireworks.? Even if your dog hasn?t been troubled by noise in the past, this could be the time that she runs off to escape the scary sounds.

Instead, they advise the following:

• Create a den for your dog in a quiet area of your home ? an interior or lower level room where noise is muffled. Move his bed and favorite toys into the space for comfort.?A radio or TV can help mask outside sounds. It?s a good idea to condition your dog to the space for a few days before the fireworks.
• Give him plenty of exercise that day. Get out for a long run, go to the dog park or send him to doggy day camp. A tired dog will be more relaxed andlessbothered by the bombs burstinginair.? He may even sleep through them!
• Some dogs with mild to moderate anxiety are helped by stress-reducing devices like anxiety wraps, like the Thundershirt, or a DAP diffuser,which releases a calming pheromone.?
• During the fireworks, distract your pet by playing a game or practicing obedience skills (be sure to reward him with favorite treats). Speak calmly and reassuringly, but don?t go overboard; you will make his anxiety worse if you seem anxious.
• If you can?t be home with your pet, don?t leave him alone. Find someone to stay with him or take him to a boarding kennelthathasindoorrooms. Thecompanyof other dogs and the attention of caring humans can help distract and reassure him.

Noise phobias are common among dogs, say our experts, and include thunderstorms, emergency sirens and evans vacuum cleaners.? It is possible to de-sensitize a dog to loud sounds, but it needs to be done gradually over a period of time.? If your pet is severely troubled, get help from your veterinarian or a professional trainer

For more advice on dog behavior and training, visit the Best Friends Pet Care resource library.

?_ _ _ _

Our panel of experts for this blog:

? Kimberly Mandel, CPDT, a trainer and behaviorist with 15 years of experience, can be reached at Best Friends North Plainfield NJ Pet Care center;

?? Lauren Cannon, of Best Friends in Wakefield MA, an animal behaviorist with more than 12 years of experience, is the trainer.

? Jamie Ianello specializes in advanced training and aggression issues, and trains for Best Friends in White Plains NY, and

? Greg Boron, who has been training for 20 years, specializes in rehabilitating ?unadoptable? dogs. He is with Best Friends in Windsor, NJ.????????????

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Greece's designated finance minister resigns

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2012 file photo shows Greece's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Antonis Samaras looks on after his meeting with outgoing caretaker Prime Minister Panayiotis Pikramenos at Maximos Mansion. Greece's new prime minister was released from hospital on Monday, June 25, 2012 two days after undergoing eye surgery that will prevent him from traveling to a European Union summit in Brussels this week. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis, file)

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 20, 2012 file photo shows Greece's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Antonis Samaras looks on after his meeting with outgoing caretaker Prime Minister Panayiotis Pikramenos at Maximos Mansion. Greece's new prime minister was released from hospital on Monday, June 25, 2012 two days after undergoing eye surgery that will prevent him from traveling to a European Union summit in Brussels this week. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis, file)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Greece's designated finance minister resigned Monday after being rushed to the hospital on Friday, the prime minister's office said.

Vassilis Rapanos, chairman of the National Bank of Greece, had been named finance minister last week in the country's new three-party coalition government. But he was taken ill before he could be sworn in Friday and has been in hospital ever since.

Rapanos has sent a letter of resignation to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and that was accepted.

The startling development came as Germany tamped down expectations that this week's European Union summit would emerge with any significant action on Greece as the debt-strapped nation's two key politicians struggled with health problems.

Samaras himself was released from hospital Monday after undergoing eye surgery to repair a detached retina over the weekend, but will have to stay home for several days and won't be able to travel to Brussels for the EU summit. He was still planning to speak by telephone later Monday with President Barack Obama.

The EU summit this Thursday and Friday comes just a week after Greece's new coalition government was formed following months of political turmoil and two inconclusive elections. It was to have been a key test of Athens' hopes of renegotiating some of the austerity measures it has agreed to in return for billions of euros in rescue loans from the International Monetary Fund and other European Union nations that use the joint euro currency.

It was to have been preceded by a visit to Athens starting Monday of Greece's debt inspectors, known as the Troika ? representatives from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF. But that visit was postponed until Samaras and Rapanos can recover.

Rapanos, meanwhile, remained in the hospital after being admitted Friday complaining of severe abdominal pain, dizziness and nausea. The hospital said he would be released on Tuesday but did not elaborate.

Without the troika report on Greece's progress in economic reforms required by its international bailout, Germany said it would be premature to expect any new decisions this week. Samaras has been pressing Greece's creditors to revise the bailout deal, which is despised by many ordinary Greeks.

"The troika needs to go to Athens, they need to assess the status of the program, then they need to brief the eurozone and IMF leadership," said Steffen Seibert, the spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "On the basis of this assessment, one can talk about necessary updating of the program ? that is the road map that everyone in Europe is following and that's why we don't expect any sort of a resolution on Greece at the EU council."

With fears that Greece's problems are not getting resolved soon, the Athens Stock Exchange general price index closed 6.84 percent down Monday.

Greece will still be present at the EU summit, sending a delegation with outgoing Finance Minister Giorgos Zanias, one of the key negotiators in Greece's bailout agreement. As Rapanos fell ill before he could be sworn in, Zanias still holds the title.

And the delegation will be led by the country's president, 83-year-old Karolos Papoulias, the government announced Monday. While the presidency in Greece is a largely ceremonial post, his presence would adhere to EU regulations about summits.

It was unclear when the postponed troika visit would take place.

"First, our concern is for the health of the prime minister and finance minister," European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said in Brussels, adding that debt inspectors would head to Greece "as soon as possible."

Samaras' government, comprised of his New Democracy conservatives, their long-time socialist rivals PASOK and the small Democratic Left party, has issued a policy statement outlining changes it would like to make to the terms of its international bailout. Those include repealing certain tax hikes, freezing public sector layoffs and extending by two years the mid-2014 deadline for tough austerity measures.

Whether Greece can amend the terms of its loan agreement will depend on how the proposals are viewed by its international creditors. Germany, the largest single contributor to eurozone bailouts, has repeatedly said Athens must stick to its austerity pledges.

"One thing is clear," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said from Luxembourg. "We cannot allow everything to be negotiated again. We can also not allow discounts to be granted. What has been decided upon stands. That the (Greek) election campaigns have cost time is obvious. That's the situation and we have to deal with it. But the fact remains that the agreements must be implemented."

Seibert also stressed that Greece must stick to its commitments.

"A program has been agreed upon, a program goes for every government, no matter if it's a new government, and the program is the best way to see Greece return to economic health," he said.

In Brussels, Altafaj Tardio also stressed that "Greece has to face its financial obligations," adding that before any further funds can be disbursed "there has to be a thorough analysis."

"It's no secret that there have been delays in several areas of implementation," he added.

The latest figures released by the finance ministry Monday showed that Greece's budget deficit for the first five months of the year was better than expected, standing at ?10.87 billion ($13.63 billion) instead of the target of ?12.89 billion ($16.17 billion) on a modified cash basis.

Revenue, however, was below target with the state budget net revenue standing at ?19.67 billion ($24.56 billion), ?926 million ($1.15 billion) short of the targeted ?20.6 billion ($25.73 billion), due in part to lower domestic consumer demand and lower tax revenues.

The ministry said "this revenue shortfall was more than compensated for by the savings in State Budget expenditures for the first five months of 2012."

____

David Rising in Berlin and Toby Sterling in Brussels contributed.

Associated Press

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Dragon Ball: The Search Is On!

Set approximately five years after the last Dragon Ball series. Trunks, Pan Goten , and Bra all set out on an adventure looking for the newly restored dragon balls.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
"Dragon Ball: The Search Is On!"

Character sheet:

Name- (If your a cannon character you know this.)
Age- (If you are Trunks or Goten and you don't mind romance between you and the girls with the current age diff thats fine. But if it bothers you that the guys are so much older then them go ahead and make them in their late teens like the girls. I personally don't care.)
Gender- (If you want to be Namekian I will not restrict the gender. Never liked the whole asexual thing)

Description- (It doesn't have to be extensive, especially if you're a cannon character but try to be descriptive, a paragraph will do just fine. Please try to find an anime pic.)

Personality- (Once again it doesn't have to be extensive and if you are a cannon you can differ somewhat from the character. But don't go overboard and totally change the character. Their personality's is why we love them. A paragraph or two is fine.)

Equipment/Weapons- (You don't have to go into too much detail and be realistic your not gonna have a gun that saps peoples powers away thats just not nice XP. But swords and stuff are cool.)

Powers/Attacks- (This is important for our fighters, but be realistic we all cant go super saiyan level four. Or have something like to that. But don't think you have to be weak either.)

History- (If your cannon you know where you can find this wiki is your friends, just keep in mind like I said before if you want to make Trunks and Goten younger that's cool. This is supposed to be for fun not for trying to get approval from Akira Toriyama or something. One to three paragraphs but don't go over board.)

Other- (This is for anything else you can think of Theme songs whatever you like.)

If you read the rules all the way through you know what to put here

Saiyan Princess

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The WDL: Ranks, Weapons and other stuff

You should click this, seriously!

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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?A Tale of Seven Children?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

This is the WDL's, or the Warriors of the Divine Light's version of the Demon's Thread. Affter this, I plan on making one about the Children and their Powers, along with tidbits of Information on them, if that's alright with their Creators.

"You think you know hate, misery, sorrow, loneliness and anger? Take all of these emotions you'd feel in your lifetime and times them by 100, then you know me." - Me

"People will hurt you in life, but when they do, just shrug it off, tell em to get f**ked and keep your head high, soldier" - My Grandad

"You know me? Do you really? I'm like a poisoned lolly, nice out the outside, but on the inside I could kill you easily." - Me

zody

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Egypt's Brotherhood hails historic presidential win

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Opinion: Euro 2012 gets its best game?? and pain

By JOHN LEICESTER

AP Sports Columnist

Associated Press Sports

updated 7:27 p.m. ET June 24, 2012

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -In world football, there surely is no greater anguish than a penalty shoot-out involving England.

It's agony to watch because you know in advance how it will end - with England players, proud men like Steven Gerrard, walking like the dead off the pitch, alone in a world of torment, regret and what-ifs after falling short once again in the toughest, cruelest test this sport, any sport, has devised for players' minds.

This time, against Italy in the most enthralling of the four Euro 2012 quarterfinals, the names that got added to England's hall of penalty infamy were both Ashleys, Young and Cole.

The winger and the left back swelled the sorry group of England players who cracked while faced with just an opposing goalkeeper and their own fear of failure. Their predecessors included the likes of David Beckham and Gareth Southgate, who managed to turn the shame of his missed penalty at Euro '96 into a joke, appearing in a pizza commercial with his head hidden in a paper bag.

And Cole and Young won't be the last. Because England's record of failure in shootouts is now so consistently awful that it has become a running sore on the national psyche.

The loss to Italy took England's record in seven World Cup and European Championship shootouts to: Rest of the world 6, England 1.

One.

Uno.

Ein.

No matter the language, that is the astounding number.

Luck is part of it. So is preparation. But mostly, penalty shootouts are won between the ears. They are about confidence, belief and being able to shut out that inner voice whispering, "You are going to miss this." The goal looks smaller than it is, the 'keeper looms like a giant.

Gerrard, who slotted home England's first penalty early Monday morning after 120 minutes of football ended 0-0, has described England's penalty curse as a "mental block." In his biography, he suggested England must start practicing shootouts at the end of friendly matches, while the stadium is still full.

"It's the only realistic way of practicing penalties. That draining walk from the halfway line. The tension. That feeling that everyone is watching, jeering or cheering," the England and Liverpool captain wrote.

So that's an idea for the future. But, in Kiev's Olympic Stadium, it was just pain.

"We have done the country proud but again we go home with heartbreak and it's difficult to take," said Gerrard.

This was the 8th time that Italy has faced a shootout in World Cups and the Euros. It has now won three.

FIFA boss Sepp Blatter isn't a fan of shootouts, saying this May that "when football goes to penalty kicks, it loses its essence as a team sport."

He has asked German great Franz Beckenbauer to see if an alternative is possible.

But shootouts are unbeatable drama. This one was no exception.

Like gladiators about to face the lions together, the two 'keepers, Joe Hart and Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, shared a hand-slap of mutual respect before the shooting began.

England assistant coach Gary Neville threw a pen in anger into the turf - as if he knew that this would end in English tears again.

"Send us victorious, happy and glorious" the England fans sang. Two physios pounded and massaged Gerrard's legs like pizza dough, readying the England captain's tired muscles for the torture ahead.

Italy's Riccardo Montolivo was the first to crack, firing his penalty wide of Hart's right-hand post. He buried his head in his hands. Perhaps, just perhaps, this might be England's night after all.

But no.

Young shot high, his penalty slamming off Buffon's crossbar. England manager Roy Hodgson chewed his lip.

Next up for England was Cole. The Chelsea player nervously licked his lips on the long walk from the center of the pitch to the penalty spot. He placed the ball on the turf, took seven steps back and stood hands on hips.

Uh-oh, clearly, he was thinking about it too much. Sure enough, his run-up was slow and his shot to Buffon's left was tame. The Italian guessed correctly, making the block.

Alessandro Diamanti then finished the job, ramming the dagger through English hearts by shooting cleanly past Hart.

Cue Italian delirium.

Buffon puffed out his cheeks in relief.

Neutrals would say that justice was done. Italy was the better team.

But that will be of no consolation to the English.

"Penalties has become an obsession for us in English football and in training they have done extremely well," Hodgson said. "But you can't reproduce the tired legs. You can't reproduce the pressure. You can't reproduce the nervous tension."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Italy beats England in shootout

Alessandro Diamanti scored the decisive penalty kick Sunday to give Italy a 4-2 shootout win over England and a spot in the European Championship semifinals.

PST: Pirlo looks strong in Italy's win

PST: Alessandro Diamanti scored the decisive penalty kick Sunday to give Italy a 4-2 shootout win over England and a spot in the European Championship semifinals.

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