Let's be honest. Miller was probably going to be cut because of his performance in the octagon whether or not a backstage incident ever happened. What are your feelings towards Jason Miller? Love him, he's funny and is unique Like him, but he has to back up his antics with better performances Don't like him, he needs to grow up Submit Vote vote to see results Mayhem's silly style and antics undoubtedly gained him a handful of fans and immense popularity, but at some point, enough is enough. On Saturday, Miller was more than disappointed in his loss (by decision) to Dollaway. Once the fight hit the ground, the Doberman was in complete control. Not only was it frustrating to see Mayhem get pummeled, it was unfortunate to see him barely even put up a fight. To give him credit, it appears he hurt his knee, and he still fought through it, but his most memorable action from the fight, of course, was when he gave Dollaway a noogie. Yes, a noogie. And it goes further than just UFC 146. It's not just Miller's in-octagon performance (he's failed to record a UFC win), but it's his antics outside of the octagon. It's his crazy haircut. It's him wearing a pink boa and bringing a pink boombox to the weigh-in. It's him wearing a paper bag to UFC 146. Eccentricity is fine, but you have to back it up with results. Brian Wilson of Major League Baseball backs it up. Mario Balotelli, a world football star, backs it up. Terrell Owens, former National Football League star, backed it up. Mayhem has been backing up his eccentricity, too. Unfortunately for him and his fans, he's been backing it up with losses and boring performances. Unsurprisingly, it's time for Jason Mayhem Miller to take his "suckiness" back to MTV.
MIAMI — A man was shot to death by Miami police, and another man is fighting for his life after his face was half eaten by a naked man, police said. The horror began about 2 p.m. Saturday when of gunshots were heard on an off-ramp of the MacArthur Causeway. According to police sources, a roadside-assistance truck driver saw a naked man chewing on another man’s face and shouted on his loudspeaker for him to back away. A woman also saw the incident and flagged down a police officer. The officer, who has not been identified, approached and, seeing what was happening, also ordered the naked man to back away. When he continued the assault, the officer shot him, police sources said. The attacker did not stop after being shot and the officer continued to shoot, killing the naked man. The other man was transported to the hospital with critical injuries, according to police. Their identities were not released. In a text message, Javier Ortiz, spokesman for Miami police’s Fraternal Order of Police, said the officer who fired the fatal shots was "a hero." "Based on the information provided, our Miami police officer is a hero and saved a life,” he said. Sergeant Altarr Williams, supervisor of Miami police’s Homicide Unit, said a man doesn’t have to be armed to be dangerous. "There are other ways to injure people,” Williams said. "Some people know martial arts, others are very strong and can kill you with their hands.” Investigators believe the victim may have been homeless and was on the ground when the crazed man pounced.
Sansa Stark has lost that loving feeling for King Joffrey Baratheon. The eldest Stark daughter was betrayed by her betrothed last season on Game of Thrones, when he had her father Ned publicly beheaded. In the second season, the formerly boy-crazy Sansa (Sophie Turner) has decidedly cooler feelings toward the king. "She hates him!" Turner tells TVGuide.com. "She's seeing Joffrey in a completely different light." Game of Thrones' Madden discusses Robb Stark's love life and patented "sex stare" Unfortunately, as the daughter of the late nobleman, Sansa is too valuable as a political-marriage prospect to be released from her engagement. She's been confined to King's Landing, awaiting the impending wedding. "She's on her own, she's kind of caged up with the people that killed her father. So she's very much a prisoner," Turner says. The gently bred teenager hasn't buckled, however, despite repeated physical and emotional abuse. On Sunday's episode (9/8c, HBO), the epic Battle of the Blackwater will take place between the forces of those loyal to Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and those loyal to his uncle, Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane). As the men wage war outside, Sansa is left inside to deal with another type of challenge. "She's at Maegor's Holdfast while the battle is going on," Turner says. "She's strong, and I think she's quite strong-willed, but she's also incredibly frightened. I can tell you that you'll see sides to Sansa that would seem very queen-like. She takes quite a leadership role." Check out the rest of the interview with Turner: How does Sansa cope, being all alone? Where is she getting her strength, and what is she doing to make it bearable? Sophie Turner: I think she gets strength from thinking how her mother and father would cope. She also thinks of her sister Arya because Arya is so strong, and she would usually fight back. We never really saw it last season, but we're seeing it now. There's that horrifying scene where Joffrey is pointing a crossbow at Sansa. What was that scene like? Was it tense to do? Turner: It was quite intense. But I really, really enjoyed it. Jack was so lovely, and Peter [Dinklage] was so lovely. Everyone was lovely on set. So it was kind of easy. But when the cameras start rolling, it has a very tense atmosphere about it. We have heard how completely opposite that Jack is from his character, Joffrey. Turner: Yes. He's one of the most lovely people I've ever met, and I can't stress it enough to the fans of the show because I'm scared people are going to come up to him and say horrible things to him. They shouldn't because he's lovely. What are Sansa's feelings towards Joffrey's mother Cersei (Lena Headey) now? Turner: It's quite a bizarre relationship because at first she kind of felt Cersei was a second mother until ... she realizes that the Baratheons and the Lannisters aren't all they seem to be. And now she really hates Cersei, but ... she can't help feeling that Cersei has been through this before, because she went through the exact same thing with King Robert. Although he wasn't as bad with Cersei as Joffrey is with Sansa. But they've got something in common, and they've got some sort of connection. There's also a little bit of a heart-to-heart that Cersei and Sansa had. Do you think that sort of changed how she felt about her? Turner: I think definitely that was kind of the turning point in their relationship because Sansa's always kind of loathed Cersei for what she's done, keeping her prisoner. And then you see kind of a bit of humanity in Cersei that we've never really seen before.Even though Sansa seems to sort of get that she has a role she's supposed to play, every now and then she shows bits of rebellion. Does she have a death wish?
Turner: It's arguable! [Laughs] No, I think that for a 13-year-old girl to be held prisoner by the people who killed her father - it's a very horrible situation to be in. She tries her best to fool the prince and fool everyone around her, but you can see in some of the scenes that she isn't hiding it perhaps as well as she was initially. Because she just can't really bear it any more.
There also seems to be sort of a complicated relationship between Sansa and The Hound (Rory McCann). Can you describe what's going on there? Turner: Well, I think it kind of mirrors Sansa and Cersei in the way that The Hound has been a victim of bullying by his older brother. And that kind of mirrors Sansa's story line with Joffrey. And so he feels very protective of her, I think, and he doesn't want anything like what happened to him to happen to Sansa, because she's still very vulnerable in terms of physicality.
How then, does she regard Tyrion (Peter Dinklage)? He's one of those horrible Lannisters, but he did help her when Joffrey was abusing her. Turner: Tyrion does care for Sansa although Sansa knows she has to be very, very wary. Her main focus is to stay alive, to survive to see her family again, and I don't think she's willing to trust anyone at this point except for her maid Shae (Sibel Kekilli). Which is quite ironic, because she's not actually who she says she is. She's Tyrion's whore.
In the first season, many fans of the series disliked Sansa because she was blind to Joffrey's manipulation and sided against her own family. Do you believe Sansa is more sympathetic this season? Turner: Hopefully the responses will be a lot better this time, because she's not making the mistakes that she made last time. I don't think she's done anything wrong at the moment. She's just trying to survive - that's all she's doing. And so hopefully the fans will like her a bit more this season. I don't get recognized that often. But they've been fairly nice to me. They don't talk about my character. Because I was expecting a lot of "I hate you"s. But that never really came around. They're very polite.
Tropical storm conditions were forecast Sunday for areas of the Atlantic coast from northeastern Florida to southern South Carolina as Subtropical Storm Beryl approached, forecasters said. Beryl was a little stronger on Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center, and will dump several inches of rain and bring high winds and coastal flooding to the area, putting a damper on the holiday weekend. As of late Sunday morning, the center of Beryl was located about 125 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida, and about 135 miles east-southeast of Brunswick, Georgia, forecasters said. Packing maximum sustained winds of near 60 mph, Beryl was moving west at about 10 mph. A tropical storm warning was in effect from the Volusia-Brevard county line in Florida to Edisto Beach, South Carolina. "Tropical storm conditions are expected to first reach the coast within the warning area ... late this morning or this afternoon and continue through tonight," the hurricane center said. In addition, a storm surge and high tide will cause coastal flooding of 1 to 3 feet, and dangerous surf conditions including rip currents are expected through the weekend in the warning area. Beryl is expected to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain along the Southeastern coasts. Tropical storm-force winds of at least 39 mph extend outward up to 90 miles from the storm's center, the hurricane center said. The forecast track shows Beryl making landfall in northeastern Florida likely sometime Sunday, then circling around into southeastern Georgia and South Carolina before heading back out to sea Tuesday or Wednesday. Little change in strength is forecast prior to landfall, forecasters said. Beryl is expected to weaken to a tropical depression while over land Monday. Although the storm will bring much-needed rain to the region, officials warned of heavy rainfall and gusty winds. "Residents and visitors along the northeast coast should closely monitor this system and use caution on roadways," said Amy Godsey, Florida Division of Emergency Management state meteorologist, according to CNN affiliate Central Florida News 13. Some, however, remained determined to enjoy their holiday regardless of the weather. "We enjoy the storms. We live here," Teri Hood told Central Florida News 13. "As long as there are cocktails for the weekend, that's it."
BOSTON -- I give up. I'm done trying to discern what goes on inside the talented, brilliant, stubborn, mercurial mind of Rajon Rondo. How can he be so utterly disengaged from a series-deciding Game 7 one minute, then seize complete control of the game and throttle the life out of the Philadelphia 76ers the next? SportsNation: Who wins Eastern Conference final? The Celtics have advanced to the Eastern Conference final, where they'll try to keep the Heat from making a repeat Finals appearance. Which team will advance to face the West's champion? • Cast your vote! I've got news for you: His teammates (and, quite likely, his devoted fans) do not care. The best player on the Boston Celtics demonstrated his spectacular value again Saturday night in the final minutes of yet another game that teetered on the brink of (offensive) disaster. With his team's season -- and, perhaps, the viability of the Big Four -- hanging in the balance, Rondo reeled off seven straight points in the final three and a half minutes, including a steely deep jumper with the shot clock dwindling down to its final second that transformed a tenuous 3-point Boston advantage into a roundhouse knockout punch. Thus, the Celtics advance to take on the heavily favored Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals after a challenging 85-75 victory in Game 7. Rondo managed to eke out his ninth career playoff triple-double (18 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds) as well as carve out his own place in Celtics postseason history despite finding himself mired in an in-game funk that left his teammates and coach imploring him to shake off the self-doubt and stake his claim in the game's outcome. "He gets so down on him himself,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We have this saying that came from (the late coach) Chuck Daly, 'Get past the mad.' "We say it all the time, and now our players say it to each other. Rondo made a couple of turnovers, and you can see his head go down. And on the bench you can hear our guys say, 'Come on now, let's get past it.' "He's so hard on himself. We had this funny exchange once about that. He said, 'Coach, I'm not mad at anybody; I'm mad at myself.' And I said, 'I don't care who you are mad at; you're still mad. And we need you. We need your positive energy.'" [+] Enlarge Jim Rogash/Getty Images Rajon Rondo's seven-point blitz late in the fourth quarter left the Sixers reeling. Although the Celtics led nearly wire to wire, they were staggering toward the finish line without verve, momentum or rhythm, in part because their point guard was struggling to put his imprint on the game. Rondo may have hit those final three clutch shots, but before that he was 3-for-10 from the floor with seven turnovers. Paul Pierce compounded Boston's offensive woes by being relegated to the role of spectator after picking up his sixth personal on an offensive foul call with 4:16 to play. "We thought we had a great chance to win,'' Sixers coach Doug Collins said of his team's thoughts after Pierce fouled out. Of course they did. Boston's desired focal point, Kevin Garnett, had missed 10 of his 17 shots. The efforts of Ray Allen, the most prolific 3-point shooter in NBA history, appeared so utterly futile at times, you found yourself wishing Rivers would put him out of his misery and yank him from the game. Sugar Ray ultimately delivered a pair of daggers at critical moments (more on that later), but, as Rivers correctly noted, "We were kind of down to Rondo and Kevin in pick-and-roll down the stretch.'' It was 71-68 when Pierce lowered his shoulder, plowed into Thaddeus Young, and shouted in disbelief when official Monty McCutchen blew the whistle to end his night. Moments earlier Pierce had coaxed in a one-handed bank shot and appeared to have a little something going. "I felt I was part of the reason he fouled out,'' Rondo revealed. "I had two bad turnovers. I felt somewhat responsible for it. My night wasn't going well.'' That was about to change. First, Rondo's pressure helped force a Philly turnover. Then, he penetrated the paint and finished off a layup insead of watching it roll off, which happened earlier in the game. Rondo thrives when he attacks the basket, and teams have dared him to shoot from the perimeter since he came into the league. When he proceeded to knock down two of the biggest shots of his professional career from 20 feet (and beyond) Saturday night, the blow was too much for Philadelphia to withstand. What the Sixers won't tell you publicly is if they could do it over again, they would play it the same way. They would take their chances allowing Rondo to drill a pair of bombs with the shot clock winding down. Their defense on both of those possessions was solid down to the final ticks. In this game you play the percentages, and Philly had reason to like the odds of Rondo attempting a pressure trey. His regular-season totals, after all, put him at 23.8 percent. More on the Celtics Keep on top of the Green throughout the season with ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg. Blog • Send Chris a question Asked what was going through his mind when he saw Rondo launch the two long jumpers, Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday said, "You know, you're thinking a miss.'' Collins lauded Rondo as "the guy who has become the motor that drives his team.'' Collins is right, only sometimes Rondo drives his team absolutely crazy. He is still a work in progress, still a player whose leadership is evolving. It hasn't been easy learning to establish his voice in the shadows of three first-ballot Hall of Famers. At alternate times, Rondo has craved, then rejected their advice. He has tried to emulate them, then has turned around and ignored them. He is the little brother trying to establish his pecking order in the family. Rivers has spent countless hours impressing upon Rondo that consistency, above all, is what separates great players from elite players. Knocking down clutch shots in the final minutes of a Game 7 is a step in the right direction. Rondo acknowledged his shifting emotions throughout the course of a game. Part of it, he said, comes from wanting to be the best. "I get frustrated,'' he conceded. "You know, I'm the leader, I'm the point guard. I take pride in taking care of the ball. … I just try to be great every night.'' He wasn't great for all of Game 7, but hey, in that regard he had plenty of company. Allen was a horrific 1-of-9 from the floor before he finally connected on two huge 3-pointers in the final quarter. Pierce had a quiet seven points at halftime (on 2-of-6 shooting), and KG, by Rivers' admission, was knocked a "little off balance'' by Philadelphia's defensive schemes. This game, like the others before it in this series, was hard to watch for long, long stretches. Yet what has always galvanized this group of Celtics has been defense. After being thoroughly outplayed on both ends of the floor by Holiday in Game 6, Rondo harassed Holiday into a 5-of-17 shooting night in Game 7. Rondo's self-inflicted emotional wounds are an ongoing storyline for the Celtics. He is his own worst enemy, and, at times, his own biggest fan. Who knows what spurs Rondo on? Who can possibly understand how his considerable abilities wax and wane the way they do? "I thought he fought himself tonight and won,'' his coach said. "That's a big step.'' Sure it is. Just don't ask me to explain it.
There's really no other way to put it. With an 85-75 victory in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday, the Celtics finally knocked out the Philadelphia 76ers and advanced to face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. This was an ugly, brutal series, and Game 7 followed the script. The teams combined to shoot just 39 percent and the game was on the line with four minutes to go. Ultimately, two players made the difference for the Celtics. Kevin Garnett was the Celtics' anchor defensively. No, the Sixers aren't a great offensive team, but with the way their guards chewed up the Boston defense in the second half of Game 6, the Celtics' top priority on Saturday was to shut down the paint. Active and vocal for more than 38 minutes, Garnett did just that. After scoring a total of 28 points in the paint in Game 6, Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner and Lou Williams combined for just 10 in Game 7. With Garnett cutting off their path to the basket, they were forced to shoot from the outside, where they were just 5-for-22. The Sixers scored just 57 total points in their 73 possessions with Garnett on the floor on Saturday, typical of the way he affected their offense throughout the series. Over the seven games, Philly scored just 86 points per 100 possessions with Garnett on the floor and 124 with him on the bench. Garnett wasn't at his best offensively on Saturday, scoring 18 points on 17 shots, 12 of which came from outside the paint. But he was good enough, and he hit two critical jumpers to keep the Sixers at bay early in the fourth quarter. Late in the fourth, with Paul Pierce having fouled out, Rajon Rondo took over. After 44 minutes of tentative play, Rondo had no choice but to get aggressive, both off the dribble and from the perimeter, with the game on the line. It was a three-point game when Pierce fouled out with 4:16 to go. And then Rondo proceeded to score 11 of the Celtics' next 12 points, essentially saving the season with his jump shot. "We were kind of down to Rondo and Kevin in pick and roll down the stretch," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said afterward. "The 3-point shot, obviously, was big, but more his attack and his command." Prior to this game, some talking heads were trumpeting a notion that a team needs a player to score 30 or 40 points to win a Game 7. Well, Garnett and Rondo, who recorded his ninth career postseason triple-double, led the Celtics with 18 points apiece. This is not breaking news. The Celtics win ugly. They're a great defensive team that will go through multiple offensive droughts every night. Points do not come easy and, given their lack of healthy bodies and perimeter shooting, they have no choice but to grind out their victories. "I don't think we can win games by 20 or 25," Rivers said. "With this group right now, with what we have going on, it's hard to do. But our mindset is that we have to grind games. That's how we go into games, with that thought, and I think that's how we have to think." And that's how they'll approach the conference finals. They have to make it another ugly series and force the Heat to grind it out with them. They have to get back in transition and keep LeBron James and Dwyane Wade out of the paint. On the other end of the floor, the Celtics have to exploit their two matchup advantages. Without Chris Bosh, the Heat have nobody on their frontline who can match up with Garnett, who should get plenty of touches in the post. Rondo, meanwhile will force Miami to make critical matchup decisions defensively. Rondo dislocated his left elbow in Game 3 of last year's conference semifinals, and there are those who wonder whether the Celtics could have won the series if their point guard was healthy. Rondo isn't worried about that right now, but he certainly believes the Celtics have what it takes to get back to The Finals for the third time in five years. "Last year is in the past," he said. "This year, we're a totally different team. We feel we can beat Miami. Obviously we got to this point. There's no doubt in my mind that we can, so we've got to go down there and take care of business." The Celtics are both shorthanded and banged up. The Sixers took them to the limit in this series, and they've got a quick turnaround for Game 1 on Monday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). In their minds, though, all that doesn't matter. Bottom line: They're still alive. And now, they're the Heat's problem, as much as the Sixers were theirs. "I love where we're at," Rivers said. "I told them after the game, 'This is exactly where we thought we would be, and we're going to Miami.'"
NDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis 500 will be run for the 96th time today, but several things will be different about the venerable race this year. All the drivers are using a new car that’s untested in 500 miles of race conditions at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The car has enhanced safety features and there are multiple manufacturers providing engines, versus only one engine maker before. Danica Patrick, having moved to NASCAR, isn’t here for the first time in eight years. And memories of another driver, Dan Wheldon, will weigh heavily on the weekend. Wheldon won his second Indy 500 a year ago, then was killed in October in a racing crash in Las Vegas. Two perennial favorites, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon of the Chip Ganassi Racing team — who have three Indy 500 wins between them — are struggling to find speed and will start deep in the 33-car field. Even the pre-race ceremonies will be slightly different. Jim Nabors, who has sung “Back Home Again in Indiana” here 33 times since 1972, will miss this year’s race due to heart-valve surgery. So a recording of his rendition will be played. And this might be the hottest Indy 500 in history. The record for the race was 92 degrees in 1937, but today’s forecast calls for a high of 94 as a heat wave grips the Midwest. Extreme heat makes the track slippery, drivers say, and they have to be careful to be properly hydrated during the race. Then again, the unexpected is not uncommon at the Memorial Day weekend classic, which typically draws more than 200,000 spectators. Last year, for instance, rookie J.R. Hildebrand of Sausalito appeared to have the race won until he inexplicably hit the wall on the last turn of the last lap, enabling a stunned Wheldon to sweep by for the victory. This year, “anything can happen, really, with the new cars and the new engines,” said Tony Kanaan, the 2004 IndyCar champion who starts eighth today. Graham Rahal, who starts 12th, agreed. “The biggest question is, what (kind of race) are we going to have?” said Rahal, whose father Bobby won the race in 1986. The younger Rahal said the uncertainties include how well the new cars handle, the durability of their engines and other unknowns. “You’d think I’d have that figured out by now,” he said. “I don’t think anybody really knows.” Drivers for two teams — Team Penske and Andretti Autosport — appear to have an edge, having taken the top six positions in qualifying. Penske’s Ryan Briscoe won the pole with an average speed of 226.484 mph. Andretti’s James Hinchliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay will start second and third, respectively, alongside Briscoe under the Indy 500’s unique format of starting the cars in 11 rows of three cars each. In the second row are Marco Andretti, Penske’s Will Power and his teammate Helio Castroneves, a three-time winner who is trying to join A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears as the only drivers to win the race four times. No driver has won it five times. Castroneves won the season’s opening race in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Power won the next three in Birmingham, Ala., Long Beach and Sao Paulo, Brazil. But all four races were on street or curvy road courses. The Indy 500 is the series’ first oval race of the year and thus a major test of the IndyCar series’ new car.
LAS VEGAS — Junior Dos Santos flattened Frank Mir with a huge right hand and finished him on the ground at 3:04 of the second round Saturday night, emphatically defending his heavyweight title at UFC 146 on Saturday night. Dos Santos (15-1) picked apart the two-time ex-champion with superior boxing throughout the fight, eventually stunning Mir before finishing him with one last blow to the head. Dos Santos then wrapped himself in the Brazilian flag while celebrating his first title defense since taking the belt from Cain Velasquez last fall. "I'm feeling awesome!" the ever-smiling Dos Santos shouted to the pro-Brazilian crowd. "It's not bad for a nice guy, huh? ... Frank Mir is a really good fighter, too. I came here to defend my belt, and I did it." Velasquez stopped Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva late in the first round after administering a bloody beating that both thrilled and horrified fans at the MGM Grand Garden. Roy Nelson, Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve also won on a pay-per-view card topped with five heavyweight fights, a first in UFC history. Dos Santos never faced trouble in the fight's eight minutes after easily avoiding an opening-minute takedown attempt by Mir, who hoped his superior jiu-jitsu skills would allow him to avoid Dos Santos' unparalleled striking ability. Mir, who turned 33 on Thursday, has the most heavyweight victories in UFC history, but he couldn't match Dos Santos' skills. "He's a champ," Mir said. "He's fast. I couldn't get out of the way. He hit me hard. There were just too many of them, and they were hard shots. I couldn't do anything about it." Dos Santos kept the fighters on their feet – except when he staggered Mir late in the first round and again midway through the second. Mir stumbled back several steps after Dos Santos' decisive right hand, and Dos Santos added one last head shot before referee Herb Dean saved Mir. "That surprised me a lot," Dos Santos said. "Man, this guy can take a punch. My hand is hurt." Dos Santos downplayed the revenge element of beating Mir, who broke the arm of Dos Santos' mentor, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, in a fight last December. Mir (16-6) had won three straight fights since losing a title shot to Shane Carwin in March 2010, but couldn't reclaim the belt he held in 2004 before getting into a serious motorcycle accident and again in early 2009 before losing to Brock Lesnar. Velasquez (10-1) finished Silva at 3:36 of the first round, but only after pulverizing the 6-foot-4 Brazilian with a relentless series of blows after an early takedown. Silva (16-4) was cut on his face early in the beating, sending streams of blood down his face and onto the canvas, eventually coating both fighters' torsos. "I knew he was going to be a tough guy to finish, and he posed certain threats," Velasquez said. "But I'm happy I was able to go in there and perform. I took my time and waited to get good position to turn it on and finish the fight." The fight was stopped once to allow Silva's corner to clear the blood from his eyes, but Velasquez promptly resumed the beating until the fight was finished. The former Arizona State wrestler was ferociously impressive in his first bout since losing the belt to Dos Santos in just 64 seconds during the UFC's first prime-time Fox show. "What you've done in the past, you've got to get over that," Velasquez said. "This is a step in the right direction." The 32-year-old Silva appeared to be outmatched in his UFC debut after a lengthy MMA career highlighted by his dominant Strikeforce victory over Fedor Emelianenko in February 2011. Earlier, Nelson stopped Dave Herman with an overhand right just 51 seconds into the first round, and Miocic remained unbeaten with a second-round stoppage of fellow heralded prospect Shane Del Rosario. Struve, the 6-foot-11 Dutch heavyweight, stopped Lavar Johnson in the first pay-per-view fight. Nelson (18-7) added another impressive stoppage victory to his list, catching Herman (21-4) with a right hand that sent him sprawling backward onto the canvas. Nelson landed one more shot before the fight was stopped, and then climbed onto the cage to rub his ample belly while his hometown crowd cheered. "My plan was to wrestle, (but) my coaches had a different game plan, which was, `Hit him in the face,'" Nelson said. "Guess it worked. Clearly my hands have dynamite in them, or small rocks or whatever." Nelson had lost three of his previous four fights, including decisions to Dos Santos and Mir. But the portly, heavily bearded heavyweight – who bills himself as a kung fu fighter – is consistently popular and entertaining. Miocic (9-0), a firefighter and EMT from Cleveland, survived a back-and-forth first round before taking control in the second, taking down the previously unbeaten Del Rosario and finishing him off with ground-and-pound elbows. Del Rosario (11-1) had a severe cut over his right eye and a bloody face after his UFC debut and his first fight in 15 months. The Orange County fighter recovered from a back injury sustained when his car was hit by a drunk driver last year. Struve finished Johnson with an armbar just 1:05 into their bout. The 6-foot-11 Dutchman who has lost to Dos Santos and Nelson celebrated his third straight win, while Johnson, the veteran Strikeforce fighter who beat Pat Barry just three weeks earlier, struggled after stepping in as an injury replacement for Australia's Mark Hunt. Early on the UFC 146 card, veteran lightweight Jamie Varner upset previously unbeaten Edson Barboza, stopping the touted Brazilian prospect with a long series of blows to the head. Varner, the former WEC lightweight champion who was released from that promotion after an 0-3-1 skid, made the most of his chance to be an injury replacement for Evan Dunham in his first UFC fight since March 2007. Jason "Mayhem" Miller lost a lackluster decision to middleweight C.B. Dollaway, possibly ending the television host's MMA career. Miller (24-10), who has won just three of his last eight fights, previously said he would retire if he didn't beat Dollaway, who largely controlled the bout on the ground after Miller won the first round. A collection of celebrities including Charlize Theron, MC Hammer and many NFL players, including Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, attended the show in the UFC's hometown.
WASHINGTON - It's time to get ready to hear the rumble of Rolling Thunder. Hundreds of thousands of motorcycle riders are converging on D.C. this weekend for their 25th Memorial Day ride. Riders have already begun arriving for the weekend of events to remember prisoners of war and those missing in action. "I have a brother I lost in Vietnam in 1968," says Mark Given, a Desert Storm veteran. He joined Rolling Thunder to make sure the sacrifices of people like his brother are not forgotten - especially on Memorial Day. Given was one of about six riders from Rolling Thunder on Friday morning who laid wreaths at historic Congressional Cemetery in Southeast, paying tribute to the fallen as a bugler played taps. Given's 12-year-old son, Martin, came with him from New Jersey this year. The youngster is named after Given's brother, "I carry his name on for who he was and for serving our country," he says. At the grave of an unknown soldier, Carlos Hollifield says laying a wreath is appropriate. "Our mission is to ensure that in the future we have no unknowns." Hollifield says there are still more than 100,000 Americans from all wars still unaccounted for. "We work to make sure that political leaders and citizens never forget our prisoners of war and our missing in action." The riders also placed a wreath at the gravesite of several War of 1812 veterans. Congressional Cemetery was the first national cemetery established in 1807.
K, N.J. -- With Martin Brodeur nearing his 40th birthday and entering the final year of his contract, this season at first had the look of a last hurrah for the New Jersey Devils' goalie great. Well, the hurrah part was right. It's been one hurrah after another, reaching a high point Friday night. Brodeur made 33 saves to help the Devils defeat the rival New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime in Game 6 to advance to the Stanley Cup finals against the Los Angeles Kings. Game 1 will be Wednesday in New Jersey. After the Devils missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1996, no one might have been put under the microscope more than Brodeur. Longtime president and general manager Lou Lamoriello certainly had questions to answer after the early-season stumble under new coach John MacLean, but Brodeur was the focal point after a so-so season nagged by injuries. Now at 40, he's back after outdueling Henrik Lundqvist in the first Eastern Conference finals between the teams since their memorable showdown in 1994. New York won that one in seven games with Stephane Matteau scoring the series-clincher in double overtime. Rookie Adam Henrique did the honors for New Jersey on Friday night with a shot from just about the same spot where Matteau scored, from the right edge of the crease. "It's been a lot of fun this season, playing on a really good team, and I'm enjoying this ride," Brodeur said. "And I know what I can do, try to compete as hard as I can every night and try to give these guys a chance to win hockey games. And they've been scoring a lot of goals for me in the playoffs so far, and it's been great." Brodeur was the difference in the Devils' wins in Games 5 and 6, when the Rangers controlled most of the play in the final two periods. "He was outstanding, all playoffs," Devils forward David Clarkson said. "He kept us in games, stood on his head. It's amazing to see what he's doing right now and our bench just feeds off it." Brodeur was at his best Friday with the game tied 2-all in the third period. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards while prone on the ice and made a save on a shot by Artem Anisimov from between the circles. He also used his stick to poke check the puck off Anisimov's stick on a semi breakaway and again used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute of regulation just before it got to Marian Gaborik on the edge of the crease. "Actually, it was fun," Brodeur said. "But at the end of the day, we were in a position that the next goal is going to win. So in my head, the overtime started in the third period. And that's the way I approached the third period coming in. So every save was important. Every shot that we took on Lundqvist was important." Lamoriello enjoyed it, too. Any win over the Rangers is a good one for Lou. "It was two competitive teams that worked very hard at their game and paid a price for success," Lamoriello said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Saturday. "This was a very competitive series. Put aside the rivalry, it was a competitive series." He scoffed when asked about Brodeur performing so well at 40. He pointed out that some 30-year-old people act like they are 50, and vice versa. He said the same holds true for athletes, adding athleticism and genetics also play a part. "[Brodeur] is just a real thoroughbred athlete," Lamoriello said. "He loves the game. His mind is 100 percent there and he feels good. It's Mariano Rivera." Brodeur refused to compare this Devils team to the ones that won Cups in 1995, 2000 and '03, or to the one that lost the Cup in seven games to Colorado in 2001. "Every team writes its own story," the Montreal native said. "I was fortunate to be part of great teams that had success, and I was part of great teams that didn't have success. ... It's not just a one-man show out there. A lot of guys are contributing, and there's a good feeling. But until you finish out these playoffs, we'll see then." Up next will be the Kings. They have posted a 12-2 record in beating Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix, the top three seeds in the Western Conference. The Devils were given Saturday and Sunday off while the coaches worked on their game plan. "They have played well at home and away and we just have to take a step back," Lamoriello said. "We haven't seen much of them except the games on TV."
Theater veterans Michael McKean, David Selby, and Peter Weller are among the actors who will lend their voice to the upcoming two-part animated adaptation of Frank Miller's 1986 graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns. Titled Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, the first part will hit shelves in fall 2012, with the second released in early 2013, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Weller will star as Batman/Bruce Wayne, with Modern Family star Ariel Winter voicing Robin. McKean will lend his voice to Dr. Wolper, with Wade Williams as Harvey Dent/Two-Face.
The screenplay will be penned by Bob Goodman, with Jay Olivia, who storyboarded the upcoming Superman film Man of Steel, directing. The films will be released by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, and Warner Home Video.
Wouldn't you love to see Ian Somerhalder and girlfriend/co-star Nina Dobrev get hot and heavy together in a film adaptation of the steamy novel Fifty Shades of Grey? Don't hold your breath.totally wants to play smoldering sexpot Christian Grey in whatever film adaptation of the hit light S&M novelFifty Shades of Greymight be made -- but someone very close to the actor isn't so keen on the idea.
Somerhalder has expressed a huge amount of interest in the role, telling Ryan Seacrest last month, "I absolutely would be up for that. It could be very, very amazing," Somerhalder said. "I have the book and I just started reading it. That would be a pretty incredible thing, and hopefully that could pan out."
The actor's Vampire Diaries co-star and real life girlfriend Nina Dobrev is rumored to be under consideration to play Grey's submissive sex partner Anastasia Steele, but frankly she isn't too keen on it.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," she told MTV News. "I think it's best for any of the actors on theVampire Diaries to kind of do their own things... and create new characters. And as much as you try when you shoot a movie, if it's two of the same people, the fans will always see you as... they'll see me as Elena and they'll see him as Damon if we do a film together."
"I think it would be better [if] either he should get it or I should get it," she said. "I know that apparently he's really great for the role, so I hope that he gets it."
Harumph. That's a bummer, because seeing these two get down and dirty on-screen would totes give fans a peek at what they're like under the sheets in real life, wouldn't it? She's such a party pooper.
Nina Dobrev shops the day away with her mom Michaela on Saturday (May 12) in the Soho area of New York City.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old actress’ boyfriend Ian Somerhalder (in John Varvatos sunglasses) was spotted showing off his rockin’ biceps exiting a taxi cab in Soho.
“Good bye LA: good bye palm trees, friends- your been very good to me.I have a feeling the Big Apple will do the same. Good night world” Ian tweeted that day.
“Happy Mothers Day amazing mamas. Love to you all” Ian added the next day in honor of Mother’s Day!
He may look tough on the outside, but 50 Cent isn't opposed to having a few cuddly creatures keep him company while he's on the mend. The rapper — who was admitted into the hospital on May 16 for an unknown ailment — took to Twitter recently to give his 6.5 million followers a glimpse at his recovery. And it turns out he's not alone. Take a good look at this, folks, because images like this only come around once in a lifetime. We hope he and his furry friends get well soon!
The too-cute ‘Vampire Diaries’ couple heads out with an old-school camera to enjoy the day — they’re so adorable!
Nina Dobrev & Ian Somerhalder are one of the sweetest couples in Hollywood, and on a trip toNew York City they decided to take in the beauty of the city with an old-fashioned sightseeing trip!
Nina, 23, and Ian, 33, were spotted leaving the Trump SoHo hotel on May 8, eager to spend quality time with each other and enjoy the start of summer. Their attraction is undeniable!
Do YOU think Ian and Nina will be together forever, HollywoodLifers?
Ian Somerhalder steps out of his hotel to go shopping on Monday (May 7) in the SoHo neighborhood of NYC.
“Hola NY,” the 33-year-old actor wrote on his Twitter account.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics ofIan Somerhalder
Later in the day, Ian and his girlfriendNina Dobrev attended the 2012 Met Ball after party at the Boom Boom Room.
“You know you are at a very cool party when Mick Jagger is dancing by himself next to you chilling and grooving in his own world,” Ian tweeted. “Genius.”
Ian Somerhalder Hits 2M on Twitter Weeks after Nina Dobrev
an Somerhalder has reached 2 million followers on Twitter just weeks after his girlfriend, Nina Dobrev. The Vampire Diaries actor was so happy to accomplish this amazing feat and he let all of his "online family" know just how he feels about it.
"Wow!!!! Just realized! 2 million twitter family members! Thank you all, I feel oddly connected to every one of you. Really," Ian tweeted adding, "and by ODDLY I mean, connected in the coolest way. Just my way of explaining things." As previously reported, Nina hit 2 million a few weeks back and many assumed that Ian wouldn't be far behind—and alas those fans were right.
Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev's popularity is increasing the more that people learn who they are. Not only are they both fine actors but they both do a lot to help the world and the environment and they seem like really great people all-around. The more films they do, the more people will learn about them and their Twitter numbers will continue to steadily increase.
Somerhalder had been using his Twitter account to promote BloodNight Con. However, the actor later learned promoters in Portugal were ripping off fans seeking tickets. When it comes to an event this massive, there will always be liars and thieves looking to make a quick buck off of devote fans.
Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev are in Barcelona, Spain promoting The Vampire Diaries' BloodyNight Con which is the largest convention for TVD in Europe. Fortunately, event coordinators have managed to mix work with play because who ever said you can't have some fun while being productive? Unfortunately, some issues have arisen.
On his Twitter, Somerhalder tweeted, "Just learned this: apparently many in Portugal who paid for tickets for con got ripped off.Give them their money back!!!!This must be fixed!"
There hasn't been word about whether or not the problem has been fixed. Meanwhile, Dobrev continued with her work at the convention by posing for photo ops with fans and doing interviews with Somerhalder. She was dressed in a bright sun dress and he was in jeans, a T-shirt and his trademark fedora.
With any luck, The Vampire Diaries' BloodyNight Con will end on a good night which isn't hard to accomplish since both Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev are there.
Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, known to most as MCA, died on Friday at the age of 47. The news was met with an outpouring of griefand respect from fans, writers, and musicians. The group began as Jewish white boys from New York City who rapped about girls and parties. Over the next 30 years the Beastie Boys grew up, made the seminal record "Paul's Boutique" with the Dust Brothers, embraced politics—in particular the movement to free Tibet—and earned a place as one of the most influential acts in hip hop.
In 2009, Yauch announced that he'd been diagnosed with cancer. He played Bonnaroo with the Beastie Boys that year, in what would be his last concert.
Alan Light was a senior editor at Rolling Stone, founding music editor and editor-in-chief ofVibe, and editor-in-chief of Spin magazine. In 2006 he published a book about the Beastie Boys, Skills to Pay the Bills. He talked with us about Yauch's legacy and his transformation from a talented-yet-obnoxious New York City rapper to the conscience of the Beastie Boys.
Mother Jones: Do you have a favorite memory of MCA?
Alan Light: They did only a couple of shows when "Paul's Boutique" came out, and I remember they did a show at the really crappy club in Chelsea called The Building. It was packed and sweaty and people were hanging from the pipes. They did an incredible show. They were still recovering from "Licensed to Ill," trying to figure out life after, and "Paul's Boutique" was so unappreciated. There was a clear purpose they had, even if the world hadn't figured it out. That was the best show I saw them do—though I never saw them do a bad show.
The Bonnaroo show was their last performance, I guess. Which is strange to think about. And how great that was. They canceled Lollapalooza after that and other festivals.
When I used to live downtown in New York, we lived near each other and I remember running into him on the sidewalk sometimes. With all of those guys, obviously, they changed and they evolved in so many ways. But who they really were and what they were about? That didn't change. You'd still see them on the subway, on a bike, or skateboard, on the block. They could just move around freely themselves and still be those guys.
If you look at the way the band evolved and transformed and think about the unbelievably surprising ways they were able to transform from what they started as, nobody really embodied that more than Yauch. In the beginning, he was the most obnoxious, and then he became the conscience of the band and was one of the leading political activists of his musical generation. He changed more than any of them.
MJ: What was that about? Was it because he'd converted to Buddhism?
You never know what's the cause and what's the effect. I think that he went through a very concrete and step by step transformation. He got deep into his snowboarding and that side of his life, which took him to Nepal, which then led him to awareness of the Tibetan cause, which led him to the Buddhist way of thinking. And each of those happened a step at a time. It wasn't a sudden enlightenment; he was very thrown by the "Licensed to Ill" experience and they were trying to find a way to live their lives after that. It wasn't a weird phase, it genuinely was an evolution.
MJ: I've been sort of amazed at how touched so many people are. I feel surprised, even though I knew he had cancer.
AL: You get used to early deaths from rock stars—overdoses or plane crashes, sudden results of this crazy lifestyle. You don't really think of them getting sick like other people do and not making it. It's a different thing to respond to than Tupac or Michael Jackson.
We probably all should have paid more attention to him not going to the Hall of Fame. Obviously in retrospect that was a more significant sign that more was going on than most of us took it for. The last things that were reported were that he was improving, and he was able to finish the record.
MJ: When you think of MCA, as a musician, a rapper, what comes to mind now?
AL: The thing I keep thinking of is "A Year and a Day" on "Paul's Boutique." In the middle of the medley there's that solo that he does with the Isley Brothers sample.
That's where it feels like he started to put out his spiritual thing, where he seeded where he was going. He actually was the best rhymer. He was the music bass line, but also the base of the group.
I always really liked him. He wasn't the biggest talker of the three, but he was always the best interview. It was hard to get [Adam] Horowitz not to do schtick, but in the end the most interesting thing from when you would sit and talk to them came from Yauch. Whenever I wrote about them it would always surprise me it was quotes from him I was leaning on the hardest.
LAS VEGAS — Junior Dos Santos flattened Frank Mir with a huge right hand and finished him on the ground at 3:04 of the second round Saturday night, emphatically defending his heavyweight title at UFC 146 on Saturday night. Dos Santos (15-1) picked apart the two-time ex-champion with superior boxing throughout the fight, eventually stunning Mir before finishing him with one last blow to the head. Dos Santos then wrapped himself in the Brazilian flag while celebrating his first title defense since taking the belt from Cain Velasquez last fall. "I'm feeling awesome!" the ever-smiling Dos Santos shouted to the pro-Brazilian crowd. "It's not bad for a nice guy, huh? ... Frank Mir is a really good fighter, too. I came here to defend my belt, and I did it." Velasquez stopped Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva late in the first round after administering a bloody beating that both thrilled and horrified fans at the MGM Grand Garden. Roy Nelson, Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve also won on a pay-per-view card topped with five heavyweight fights, a first in UFC history. Dos Santos never faced trouble in the fight's eight minutes after easily avoiding an opening-minute takedown attempt by Mir, who hoped his superior jiu-jitsu skills would allow him to avoid Dos Santos' unparalleled striking ability. Mir, who turned 33 on Thursday, has the most heavyweight victories in UFC history, but he couldn't match Dos Santos' skills. "He's a champ," Mir said. "He's fast. I couldn't get out of the way. He hit me hard. There were just too many of them, and they were hard shots. I couldn't do anything about it." Dos Santos kept the fighters on their feet – except when he staggered Mir late in the first round and again midway through the second. Mir stumbled back several steps after Dos Santos' decisive right hand, and Dos Santos added one last head shot before referee Herb Dean saved Mir. "That surprised me a lot," Dos Santos said. "Man, this guy can take a punch. My hand is hurt." Dos Santos downplayed the revenge element of beating Mir, who broke the arm of Dos Santos' mentor, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, in a fight last December. Mir (16-6) had won three straight fights since losing a title shot to Shane Carwin in March 2010, but couldn't reclaim the belt he held in 2004 before getting into a serious motorcycle accident and again in early 2009 before losing to Brock Lesnar. Velasquez (10-1) finished Silva at 3:36 of the first round, but only after pulverizing the 6-foot-4 Brazilian with a relentless series of blows after an early takedown. Silva (16-4) was cut on his face early in the beating, sending streams of blood down his face and onto the canvas, eventually coating both fighters' torsos. "I knew he was going to be a tough guy to finish, and he posed certain threats," Velasquez said. "But I'm happy I was able to go in there and perform. I took my time and waited to get good position to turn it on and finish the fight." The fight was stopped once to allow Silva's corner to clear the blood from his eyes, but Velasquez promptly resumed the beating until the fight was finished. The former Arizona State wrestler was ferociously impressive in his first bout since losing the belt to Dos Santos in just 64 seconds during the UFC's first prime-time Fox show. "What you've done in the past, you've got to get over that," Velasquez said. "This is a step in the right direction." The 32-year-old Silva appeared to be outmatched in his UFC debut after a lengthy MMA career highlighted by his dominant Strikeforce victory over Fedor Emelianenko in February 2011. Earlier, Nelson stopped Dave Herman with an overhand right just 51 seconds into the first round, and Miocic remained unbeaten with a second-round stoppage of fellow heralded prospect Shane Del Rosario. Struve, the 6-foot-11 Dutch heavyweight, stopped Lavar Johnson in the first pay-per-view fight. Nelson (18-7) added another impressive stoppage victory to his list, catching Herman (21-4) with a right hand that sent him sprawling backward onto the canvas. Nelson landed one more shot before the fight was stopped, and then climbed onto the cage to rub his ample belly while his hometown crowd cheered. "My plan was to wrestle, (but) my coaches had a different game plan, which was, `Hit him in the face,'" Nelson said. "Guess it worked. Clearly my hands have dynamite in them, or small rocks or whatever." Nelson had lost three of his previous four fights, including decisions to Dos Santos and Mir. But the portly, heavily bearded heavyweight – who bills himself as a kung fu fighter – is consistently popular and entertaining. Miocic (9-0), a firefighter and EMT from Cleveland, survived a back-and-forth first round before taking control in the second, taking down the previously unbeaten Del Rosario and finishing him off with ground-and-pound elbows. Del Rosario (11-1) had a severe cut over his right eye and a bloody face after his UFC debut and his first fight in 15 months. The Orange County fighter recovered from a back injury sustained when his car was hit by a drunk driver last year. Struve finished Johnson with an armbar just 1:05 into their bout. The 6-foot-11 Dutchman who has lost to Dos Santos and Nelson celebrated his third straight win, while Johnson, the veteran Strikeforce fighter who beat Pat Barry just three weeks earlier, struggled after stepping in as an injury replacement for Australia's Mark Hunt. Early on the UFC 146 card, veteran lightweight Jamie Varner upset previously unbeaten Edson Barboza, stopping the touted Brazilian prospect with a long series of blows to the head. Varner, the former WEC lightweight champion who was released from that promotion after an 0-3-1 skid, made the most of his chance to be an injury replacement for Evan Dunham in his first UFC fight since March 2007. Jason "Mayhem" Miller lost a lackluster decision to middleweight C.B. Dollaway, possibly ending the television host's MMA career. Miller (24-10), who has won just three of his last eight fights, previously said he would retire if he didn't beat Dollaway, who largely controlled the bout on the ground after Miller won the first round. A collection of celebrities including Charlize Theron, MC Hammer and many NFL players, including Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, attended the show in the UFC's hometown.
