| Malone, Umberger prove local kids can make it in the NHL
Thirty years ago, it was a snap decision. Kids growing up in Western Pennsylvania put on their football pads, buckled their chinstraps, emulated Terry Bradshaw in their back yards and dreamed of being the starting quarterback for the Steelers. Very few considered lacing up their hockey skates, becoming the next Jean Pronovost or quarterbacking the Penguins' power play. But once Mario Lemieux arrived in town in 1984 and led the franchise to two Stanley Cup championships, that attitude suddenly started to change. Mr. Lemieux, the Penguins' Hall of Fame center and owner, gets a big assist for helping Pittsburgh-area kids realize that they, too, can excel at something other than football. "I started watching the Penguins in the late '80s, and it was because of Mario Lemieux that I started skating," Philadelphia Flyers center R.J.
Leafs opt to revisit the past, plus Crosby's absence
As fired Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Ferguson Jr. finishes his last meal -- our personal favorite in Toronto is the sea bass at Il Posto Nuovo -- it is time to turn our eyes to his interim replacement, Cliff Fletcher, who formally was named Tuesday to clean up the elephant turds around the great Maple Leaf circus. A wise choice? Well, there is a maxim, perhaps introduced by the great American writer A.J. Liebling, that when it is late at night and you've have a few too many drinks, you should suppress any instinct to phone up an old girlfriend or boyfriend. The point is, you shouldn't want to relive your past, a notion that translates to the sports world. Sure, you can go home again if you want to -- Joe Gibbs in Washington and Marv Levy in Buffalo didn't exactly get to the Super Bowl in their sequels -- but maybe just for a visit.
Pats-Chargers 1963 AFL title game may have had a little espionage
When the Patriots and Chargers met in Week 2, their rematch from last season's playoffs was an afterthought. The bad blood that had boiled since the Patriots pulled the upset and then fueled the fire by mocking Shawne Merriman's "Lights Out" dance wasn't making as many headlines as it might have. .
4-County rates to increase 7 percent
Beginning April 1, customers of the 4-County Electric Power Association may be paying as much as $7 more on their power bills.The Tennessee Valley Authority voted at it's Feb. 15 board of directors meeting to increase its rates by 7 percent, Allegra Brigham, CEO of 4-County, reported Tuesday at the monthly 4-County board of directors meeting.The increase is not as high as the 9 percent increase predicted at last month's 4-county meeting, but it will mean a $4-to-$7 increase per month on customers' power bills, said 4-County Chief Financial Officer Marcus Stone."We don't have actual numbers as far as exactly how much more each customer will be paying each month," said Stone. "But we are fairly certain most people will be in the $4-to-$7 increase range depending on kilowatt-hours used." .
Bugs on the menu at UN meeting in Thailand Áp¦X°ê ...
Insects were on the menu last week at a UN meeting in Thailand. At the meeting experts talked about the dietary value of bugs, which are delicacies in some countries. Eating bugs is limited to gross-out TV shows in many countries. But the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that 1,400 insect species are eaten around the world. Among the most popular insect munchies are beetles, ants, bees, crickets and moths. Bugs can be nutritious, sometimes offering as much protein as meat and fish. The three-day meeting in Chiang Mai was organized to look at how nutritious insects are. Scientists at the meeting said not enough is known about most edible forest insects. Farming insects could provide new sources of income for rural populations. Thailand, where 200 insect species are eaten by humans, would benefit greatly.
|
