TOP 10 BOXER

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Evans

10. Rashad Evans
Points: 17
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Record: 16-1-1, 1 no-contest
Last month’s ranking: T-9
Most recent result: Def. Tito Ortiz, R2 TKO, Aug. 6
Analysis: At the rate things are going, Evans will meet Jones sometime around UFC 250. The latest setback is Evans’ lingering hand injury.

Melendez

T-8. Gilbert Melendez
Points: 37
Affiliation: Strikeforce (lightweight champion)
Weight class: Lightweight
Hometown: San Francisco
Record: 19-2 (won past five)
Last month’s ranking: Unranked
Most recent result: Def. Tatsuya Kawajiri, R1 TKO, April 9
Analysis: A win over Jorge Masvidal in his Dec. 17 Strikeforce swan song should set up what promises to be one of 2012’s best bouts: Edgar vs. Melendez.

Fitch

T-8. Jon Fitch
Points: 37
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.
Record: 23-3-1, 1 no-contest (draw in previous fight)
Last month’s ranking: 8
Most recent result: Majority draw vs. B.J. Penn, Feb. 21
Analysis: Finally returns to the cage on Dec. 30, where he’ll meet 11-1 Johny Hendricks.

Velasquez

7. Cain Velasquez
Points: 77
Affiliation: UFC (heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Heavyweight
Hometown: Salinas, Calif.
Record: 9-0 (won past nine)
Last month’s ranking: 7
Most recent result: Def. Brock Lesnar, R1 TKO, Oct. 23
Analysis: Has more to gain, and more to lose, than any other top 10 fighter when he headlines the first UFC on Fox event Nov. 12.

Cruz

6. Dominick Cruz
Points: 112
Affiliation: UFC (bantamweight champion)
Weight class: Bantamweight
Hometown: San Diego
Record: 18-1 (won past eight)
Last month’s ranking: 6
Most recent result: Def. Demetrious Johnson, unanimous decision, Oct. 1
Analysis: Stayed put in the rankings after an impressive, but by no means dominant, victory over undersized Demetrious Johnson.

Aldo

5. Jose Aldo
Points: 140
Affiliation: UFC (featherweight champion)
Weight class: Featherweight
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro
Record: 20-1 (won past 13)
Last month’s ranking: 4
Most recent result: def. Kenny Florian, unanimous decision, Oct. 8
Analysis: A methodical victory over Florian wasn’t enough to stop his slow slide down the rankings.

Edgar

4. Frankie Edgar
Points: 152
Affiliation: UFC (lightweight champion)
Weight class: Lightweight
Hometown: Toms River, N.J.
Record: 14-1-1 (won past one)
Last month’s ranking: 5
Most recent result: Def. Gray Maynard, R4 KO, Oct. 8
Analysis: Edgar’s vote breakdown: 10 third-place ballots; five fourths; four fifths; two sixths and a seventh.

Jones

3. Jon Jones
Points: 160
Affiliation: UFC (light heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Endicott, N.Y.
Record: 14-1 (won previous five)
Last month’s ranking: 3
Most recent result: Def. Quinton Jackson, R4 submission, Sept. 24
Analysis: Will fight his third consecutive former light heavyweight champion when he meets Lyoto Machida on Dec. 10.

St. Pierre

2. Georges St. Pierre
Points: 198
Affiliation: UFC (welterweight champion)
Weight class: Welterweight
Hometown: Saint-Isidore, Quebec
Record: 22-2 (won past nine)
Last month’s ranking: 2
Most recent result: Def. Jake Shields, unanimous decision, April 30
Analysis: Was White’s “Edgar is No. 2” rant designed to light a fire under St. Pierre, who has fought conservatively in recent years and is known to take criticism to heart?

Silva

1. Anderson Silva
Points: 220 (22 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC (middleweight champion)
Weight class: Middleweight
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 29-4 (won past 14)
Last month’s ranking: 1
Most recent result: Def. Yushin Okami, R2 TKO, Aug. 27
Analysis: Happy fifth anniversary to the champ, who likely has another bout with Chael Sonnen on the way.

The most anticipated cars of 2012

The redesigned 2012 Toyota Camry SE was unveiled on the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood.

With an eye on the delicate economy, American car buyers are lining up to test drive fuel-efficient four-doors.

Pent-up demand for automobiles, coupled with a comeback in production for Japanese carmakers,  means the auto industry is heating up. Car sales in September sold at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 13 million units, well above last year and higher than most analysts had expected.
For car buyers hopping off the fence and into showrooms, there are plenty of great models to choose from, from domestic as well as import brands. Yet there's always that nagging feeling: is it worth waiting for something even better just around the corner?

If you're looking for a mid-sized family car, you just might want to wait until 2012, when most of the biggest sellers in this category will be redesigned and updated with more efficient engines and advanced technologies. Toyota Motors is just now rolling out a new version of  its flagship Camry, and next year, virtually all of its major rivals will be updated too. That will be the best opportunity to shop around. General Motors is aiming to get a jump on the rest of the pack by moving up the debut of the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu ECO by three months, to early 2012. It's a so-called "mild hybrid" that gets 38 miles per gallon through the use of an electric-motor generator and features like regenerative braking and start-stop technology,  providing nice fuel economy without the price premium of some other hybrids on the market. Other versions of the restyled Malibu, featuring an all-new, high-powered four-cylinder gas engine, go on sale next summer.

Then there's the new Ford Fusion, featuring a sleek design previewed in the EVOS concept form. The production version will debut in January at the Detroit auto show, and will go on sale later in 2012. Also expected next year are redesigned versions of the Honda Accord and Nissan Altima, two other big players in the mid-sized segment. No doubt it'll be a buyers' market for mid-sized cars.

There will also be a lot of action in the compact crossover-utility segment. Later this year, Honda will be rolling out its 2012 CR-V, with more aggressive styling and better fuel economy, and Ford will be introducing a redesigned 2012 Escape, with three new fuel-efficient engine choices, including a 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine that is expected to get better highway mileage than the current 31-mpg Escape Hybrid. Toyota is also expected to introduce a new version of the Rav4, including a plug-in version developed with electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors.

Tesla's Model S proves practical doesn't have to mean boring.

Speaking of Tesla, the creator of the $100,000 plug-in Tesla roadster will start selling a more affordable electric sedan, the $50,000 Model S, in mid-2012. It'll debut with a 300-mile range battery, followed by smaller batteries later next year. The Model S will go a long way toward establishing whether Tesla has staying power as an independent carmaker. There are a number of other plug-ins and hybrid-electric vehicles coming to market in 2012, including a plug-in version of Toyota's Prius hybrid. It goes on sale in early 2012, operating on electricity alone for the first 15 miles after which Toyota's hybrid powertrain kicks on. Toyota has two other Prius derivatives also launching in 2012. Meanwhile Ford, which is launching its Focus EV before the end of the year, will add two new plug-in vehicles in 2012, the C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi. Both are small, five-passenger minivans.
If  it's speed you want, you won't have to wait long for the redesigned 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera. It goes on sale starting in February. Chevrolet is also introducing the fastest Camaro convertible ever, the 2013 ZL1, with 580 horsepower, but it won't be in showrooms until late 2012.
Source: yahoo.com

Statistically speaking: Team held to -21 total yards in loss

Statistically speaking: Team held to -21 total yards in loss

By Cameron Smith

At first glance, Dallas (Texas) Skyline High's victory against Dallas (Texas) Samuell High wasn't the biggest blowout of the football season. Sure, the 54-0 final score was a bit of an eyesore, but it hardly registered on the national scale trounce-o-meter.

Yet, when one looks deeper, Skyline's win might have been as comprehensive as any in the nation this year, all because of one shocking stat: Skyline held Samuell's offense to -21 yards of offense.
Yes, you read that last sentence correctly: As documented by the Dallas Morning News, Samuell somehow went backwards an aggregate 21 yards in the course of its football game on Thursday night. Those losses were spread out among five different players, the teams two quarterbacks -- Bobby Whitaker (who finished with -10 yards rushing) and Kamron Jones (who lost 1 yard) -- and three running backs. Keith Hill had the roughest day on the ground for the Spartans, losing a total of 15 yards on three carries.
While Samuell struggled, the Raiders cruised, rushing out to a 20-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and 48-0 by halftime. That's when Skyline reined in its regular offense, holding its output to six points in the second half.
Of course, that restraint couldn't help Samuell, which still couldn't find a way through Skyline's tough defensive front.

The defensive accomplishment is made even more impressive when one considers the fact that Samuell didn't even enter the game winless, either. Unlike most teams that suffer the ignominy of a brutal defeat, the Spartans entered having won an earlier game, knocking off Dallas (Texas) Sunset by a score of 35-14 in the team's final game in September.
Considering the fact that Samuell finished with negative total yardage, it's terrifying to think what Skyline could do against Sunset. We won't have to wait long to find out, either: The Raiders are scheduled to visit Sunset next Thursday.
Source:yahoo.com

Blood and Gores: Louisiana's Brutal Prison Rodeo is Back

It's Angola Rodeo time again. If you're not sure what that means, just watch this video, in which prisoners in Louisiana are gored by a bull to the delight of an audience noshing on fried food. Since 1965, Louisiana's Angola prison has held the Angola Rodeo every Sunday in October. To participate, prisoners volunteer for a a series of wildly dangerous stunts for which their compensation is the cheers of the audience members, each of whom pay $15 for the opportunity to see imprisoned men get attacked by giant farm animals.
Angola makes it a point to note that the prisoners are "inexperienced" at rodeo events, meaning they're more likely to be injured by the animals than trained rodeo performers, and the events themselves are designed to be dangerous for the men. In "Guts and Glory," a poker chip is tied to the "meanest, toughest" bull possible. Prisoners are then tasked with taking the chip off the bull while avoiding horns and hooves. Then there's "Convict Poker," in which a raging bull is released onto a circle of inmates. There is no actual card game, the inmates just have to conquer their fear and remain seated while the bull tears apart their opponents. Last man sitting wins.
  Angola Rodeo proponents, some of whom are prisoners themselves, say the event allows the men to experience freedom they wouldn't otherwise experience. And the funds raised from the rodeo go toward inmate education programs and funerals for prisoners. But one would think there has to be a better way to raise funds for people in prison than setting them before one-ton animals in bloodsport. We thought the days in which prisoners fought animals for hooting crowds ended with the fall of Rome.
source:good.is/