New Zealand Earthquake 2010, 7.2 Magnitude
A strong earthquake rattled New Zealand at 4:35 a.m. local time Saturday morning. The USGS posted a magnitude of 7.2.
The quake epicenter was four miles south-southeast from Christchurch, New Zealand, on the nation’s south island. Local media reports there have been strong aftershocks and power outages throughout the city.
Christchurch is New Zealand’s second largest city with a population of approximately 372,000.
Some Twitter users in Christchurch were awoken by the earthquake and tweeted about it:
@mojomathers: OMG! That was a freakin big earthquake. Stuff broken. Ongoin aftershocks. Hope everyone ok
@the4avenues: CRAZY earthquake in #Christchurch this morning! That got me out of bed faster than any alarm-clock.
@julierodenberg: 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch. It shook the water out of the toilet bowl. Crazy!
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Professor Stephen Hawking says no God created Universe
There is no place for God in theories on the creation of the Universe, Professor Stephen Hawking has said.
He had previously argued belief in a creator was not incompatible with science but in a new book, he concludes the Big Bang was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics.
The Grand Design, part serialised in the Times, says there is no need to invoke God to set the Universe going.
“Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something,” he concluded.
In his new book, an extract of which appears in the Times, Britain’s most famous physicist sets out to contest Sir Isaac Newton’s belief that the universe must have been designed by God as it could not have sprung out of chaos.
Citing the 1992 discovery of a planet orbiting a star other than our Sun, he said: “That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions – the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass – far less remarkable, and far less compelling as evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings.”
He adds: “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.
“Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.
“It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.”
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2010 NFL Predictions: Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks were the cream of the crop in the NFC West when they made five straight playoff appearances from 2003-2007, winning the division title four of those years. That run of success has made the last two seasons especially tough to take. The Seahawks managed only four wins in 2008, and just five [...]
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Saturday NCAA: Purdue at Notre Dame
Brian Kelly makes his debut as Notre Dame coach on Saturday in South Bend when the Irish host state-rival Purdue as 11-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
The Irish had several problems under Charlie Weis last year, but the defense was the main one. So Kelly brought defensive coordinator Bob Diaco with him from Cincinnati. He is charged with improving a defense that allowed 397.8 yards per game, including 170.2 rushing. In that final month, Navy, Pitt, Connecticut and Stanford all had great success running against the Irish. Diaco is switching the team to a 3-4 scheme from the 4-3.
The Irish return 17 combined starters from offense, defense and special teams from last year’s 6-6 team. Six members of one of the highest-powered offenses in school history (451.8 yards per game in ’09) are back, including likely future NFL players at tailback (Armando Allen), wide receiver (Michael Floyd) and tight end (Kyle Rudolph). Junior Dayne Crist (10 of 20 passing for 130 yards, 1 TD, 1 int. in ’09) takes over for Jimmy Clausen at quarterback. Floyd (44 receptions for 795 yards, 9 TDs) has scored 16 receiving TDs in 18 career games played and his career average of 84.1 receiving yards per game is best among all returning players in the Division I.
Purdue finished 5-7 last year and welcomes a new quarterback in Robert Marve, a former Florida Mr. Football who was the starter as a freshman at Miami (Fla.) in 2008 before transferring. Coach Danny Hope and the Boilers look to build off a strong finish to the 2009 season (4-2). However, the offense will miss Ralph Bolden, last year’s leading rusher, who had ACL surgery in May. On defense, Purdue has finished last among Big Ten teams against the run in three of the past four years. And the Boilers lost all four starters in the secondary.
Notre Dame has won the past two meetings in this series (24-21 last year) and Purdue hasn’t won on the road in this series since 2004.
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Saturday NCAA: No. 5 Texas vs. Rice
The Texas Longhorns begin life without Colt McCoy on Saturday at Reliant Stadium in Houston – although you could argue the Horns began that life early in the national title game when McCoy went out hurt against Alabama – in what should be a blowout of Rice, which is 30.5-point favorite on WagerWeb.com’s betting odds.
Garrett Gilbert is the guy to replace McCoy, and he was introduced to the nation in last seasons BCS National Championship Game as No. 1 Alabama held on for a 37-21 win over No. 2 Texas at the Rose Bowl. But in throwing for 186 yards and two touchdowns (also four picks) in relief of the injured McCoy, Gilbert not only put the Longhorns in position to win the game in the final three minutes, he also provided UT fans with a glimpse of stardom to come, showing why he was a five-star recruit. Gilbert has a stronger arm than either McCoy or Vince Young had.
Still, the Horns have ditched the spread offense and Gilbert will work from under center most times. After a 2009 season when no UT player averaged 40 yards per game, improving the running game was one of the team’s top priorities. A slimmed-down Cody Johnson beat out junior Fozzy Whittaker and sophomore Tre’ Newton for the starting job, but Coach Mack Brown said all three will play.
The Owls were 2-10 last year and their best player, defensive lineman Scott Solomon, won’t play. He broke his foot during summer workouts and is lost for the season. He was an all-conference player in 2009. Rice did a fairly good job against the run in 2009; the Owls held opposing runners to a 4.7 average, the best mark since 2004. No team in all of the FBS allowed more points per game last year than Rice (43.1).
Rice’s QB is Nick Fanuzzi, who was recruited by Texas out of high school. Fanuzzi originally signed with Alabama before transferring to Rice in 2008. He passed for nearly 1,600 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, completing 60 percent of his throws. He became Rice’s second quarterback to top 60 percent for a season.
Meanwhile, former Texas high school phenom running back Sam McGuffie will make his Rice debut. As a freshman with Michigan in 2008, he ranked second in rushing and third on the team in receiving. But he missed home and transferred to Rice, sitting out last year.
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Saturday NCAA: Miami (Ohio) at No. 4 Florida
There’s obviously little drama surround who will win Saturday’s game between Miami (Ohio), one of the worst teams in the Mid-American Conference, and Florida, the No. 4 team in the country. The Gators are 36.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
The drama comes from the fact Florida will start someone other than Tim Tebow at quarterback for the first time in four seasons. Starting now will be John Brantley, who was as highly recruited as Tebow was and is considered more of a polished passer than the former Heisman winner.
The redshirt junior has thrown for 645 yards and 10 touchdowns in 16 appearances as a backup to Tebow. He has a huge arm and all of the tangible tools the Gators expect out of their starting quarterback. But Tebow also had the intangible of being one of the best leaders ever, and no one knows if Brantley has that yet.
The Gators have won 10 in a row at home and coach Urban Meyer is 35-1 during the first four games of the season, including 19-1 at Florida.
Miami was just 1-11 last season. It has opened its last two seasons against SEC teams, losing last year in Cincinnati to Kentucky (42-0) and in 2008 vs. Vanderbilt (34-13). The Gators are the highest-ranked opponent Miami has ever played. But Miami is 1-0 all-time against Florida! Of course that came via a 1973 win in the Tangerine Bowl. Things have changed a bit since then.
The RedHawks do return four of five starters on the offensive line. And also back is QB Zac Dysert, who is regarded as one of the MAC’s top signal-callers. Despite the team winning just one game, Dysert flourished as a freshman last year, throwing for over 2,600 yards. The running game was one of the worst in the nation in 2009.
The Gators bring back five defensive starters from 2009, including Ahmad Black (DB), Omar Hunter (DL), Janoris Jenkins (DB), A.J. Jones (LB) and Terron Sanders (DL). Florida finished 2009 as fourth-best in total defense (252.6 ypg), fourth-best in scoring defense (12.4 ppg) and second-best in pass defense (152.8 ypg).
The Gators have won 20 consecutive season openers and their last 13 at Florida Field. They’ve also won 15 straight over unranked opponents, while Miami has been outscored by an average of 28.0 points while losing five in a row to Top 25 teams.
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Freshman Bolden wins Penn State QB job
Pretty big surprise at Penn State as true freshman quarterback Robert Bolden has won the starting quarterback job. The Nittany Lions open their season against Youngstown State before a huge one at Alabama next week – bet on the game at WagerWeb.com.
Bolden, who didn’t even arrive on campus until this summer, beat out sophomore contenders Matt McGloin and Kevin Newsome for the job. Shortly after Wednesday’s practice, Joe Paterno made it official. The four-star recruit from Orchard Lake, Mich., had been ranked the second-best dual-threat quarterback by Rivals.com.
“Based on what we have seen to this point, Bolden has a slight edge right now, but we are confident all three quarterbacks are ready to go and hope to give them an opportunity to play until we settle on the one that gives us the best chance to win,” Paterno said.
Bolden will be the first true freshman quarterback to start a game under Paterno since Wally Richardson was pressed into action because of injuries against Cincinnati in 1992. Tony Sacca (1988) is the only other true freshman QB to start under Paterno. Zack Mills was a redshirt freshman when he played most of the 2001 season.
Paterno did add that that at least two, and possibly all three quarterback candidates could play Saturday. Paterno called Bolden “1A” on the depth chart, with McGloin as “1B” and Newsome “1C.” he even said three of his quarterbacks still have the chance to win the starting job for the season. Newsome threw only 11 passes as a backup last year. McGloin threw only two.
Bolden will follow Daryll Clark, the two-year starter who set Penn State quarterback records guiding the “spread HD” offense. Newsome was the top backup last year as a freshman, while McGloin, a former walk-on, was the third-stringer.
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Rangers’ Lee may miss a start or two
The Texas Rangers could probably lose half of the rotation and starting lineup and they’d still win the AL West at this point, but without Cliff Lee the Rangers aren’t going to do squat in the playoffs. Thus now is the time to potentially fix what is wrong with their star lefty.
In his last start, Lee got hammered by a pretty bad Kansas City lineup. Lee has allowed 17 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings in his last three starts. He ends August with a 1-4 record and 6.35 ERA in seven outings. The Rangers are 3-8 in Lee’s starts. That’s a problem.
Thus you would think Texas would give the workhorse maybe a week off, but Lee, who returned to Texas after complaining of back soreness during his most recent start, is still schedule penciled in to pitch Tuesday.
Lee was given an injection to help with the back problem and has no structural damage. He pitched a season-low 4 2/3 innings Tuesday against K.C. and he is 2-5 with a 4.69 ERA in 11 starts since his trade to Texas. Prior that that trade, Lee was 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts for Seattle.
The exam on Wednesday indicated a knot in the muscle. The solution: A “trigger point” injection of cortisone and local anesthetic into the knot. It should quickly eliminate the problem and allow Lee to pitch without missing a turn, though he will be pushed back an extra day to Tuesday at Toronto. After 10 consecutive starts on four days’ rest, Lee will get six days.
He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday to test his back.
“We’ll see how it goes from this point forward,” manager Ron Washington said. “He didn’t have a very good August. If he drops three or four wins for us in September, we’ll forget about all of this.”
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Rangers’ Lee may miss a start or two
The Texas Rangers could probably lose half of the rotation and starting lineup and they’d still win the AL West at this point, but without Cliff Lee the Rangers aren’t going to do squat in the playoffs. Thus now is the time to potentially fix what is wrong with their star lefty.
In his last start, Lee got hammered by a pretty bad Kansas City lineup. Lee has allowed 17 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings in his last three starts. He ends August with a 1-4 record and 6.35 ERA in seven outings. The Rangers are 3-8 in Lee’s starts. That’s a problem.
Thus you would think Texas would give the workhorse maybe a week off, but Lee, who returned to Texas after complaining of back soreness during his most recent start, is still schedule penciled in to pitch Tuesday.
Lee was given an injection to help with the back problem and has no structural damage. He pitched a season-low 4 2/3 innings Tuesday against K.C. and he is 2-5 with a 4.69 ERA in 11 starts since his trade to Texas. Prior that that trade, Lee was 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts for Seattle.
The exam on Wednesday indicated a knot in the muscle. The solution: A “trigger point” injection of cortisone and local anesthetic into the knot. It should quickly eliminate the problem and allow Lee to pitch without missing a turn, though he will be pushed back an extra day to Tuesday at Toronto. After 10 consecutive starts on four days’ rest, Lee will get six days.
He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday to test his back.
“We’ll see how it goes from this point forward,” manager Ron Washington said. “He didn’t have a very good August. If he drops three or four wins for us in September, we’ll forget about all of this.”
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Friday NCAA: Arizona at Toledo
Once Thursday got you all hyped up for the return of college football this season, you only have one option on Friday night before a nearly full opening Saturday and that’s Arizona at Toledo on ESPN. The Wildcats are 16-point favorites on WagerWeb.com’s betting odds.
Toledo is usually one of the better MAC programs but finished 5-7 last year and 3-5 in the conference. Coach Tim Beckman recently announced his starting QB this season and it’s sophomore Austin Dantin. And that was no surprise considering he had been listed as the team’s No. 1 QB throughout the preseason. Dantin played in seven games, starting three, as a true freshman in 2009. He completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 962 yards and four TDs. Rockets WR Eric Page (82 receptions for 1,159 yards in 2009) and RB Morgan Williams (444 yards) key an offense that ranked first in the MAC total offense in 2009. Toledo played at Arizona in 2008 and lost 41-16. The Rockets are 0-4 all-time against the Pac-10.
Meanwhile, Arizona’s trip sort of makes history as it’s the first time a Pac-10 school has played at a MAC school in football. Arizona was 8-5 last year and hopes to take that final step toward contending for the Pac-10 title.
Arizona brings back nine starters on offense, led by QB Nick Foles, who threw for 2,486 yards and 19 TDs in 2009. His top threat is junior WR Juron Criner (45 receptions, 9 TDs). Nic Grigsby, Keola Antolin and Greg Nwoko are a formidable trio at running back. Grigsby is healthy after missing almost all of the Pac-10 season last year with a shoulder injury. He needs 576 yards to become the school’s sixth player to reach 3,000 career rushing yards. Toledo’s run defense wasn’t good last year, allowing 166 yards per game.
“I think our quarterbacks and running backs are the strength of this team,” coach Mike Stoops said late in camp. “I’m impressed with our execution offensively. It’s light years ahead of where it has been at this time.”
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