Chargers drop 49ers in OT to stay in playoff race

(Photo: Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Philip Rivers looked at the 21-point deficit on the scoreboard at halftime and even he wondered whether the San Diego Chargers had it in them to come back. The season depended on it, so Rivers took charge.
He prevailed through a balky back and a sore chest to keep San Diego's slim playoff chances alive, rallying his team to tie it in the final minute and setting up Nick Novak's 40-yard field goal nearly 5 minutes into overtime in a 38-35 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night.
"Obviously, an unbelievable finish," coach Mike McCoy said. "We had about as bad a first half as we could possibly play. …You saw a lot of emotion on the sideline throughout that second half — the excitement, the energy, the way we play football."
Rivers found playmakers in Antonio Gates and Eddie Royal when two of San Diego's offensive stars were down with injuries.
Read More http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/chargers/2014/12/20/novaks-40-yard-fg-lifts-chargers-past-49ers/20711753/

Today the Sun Stands Still

Happy December solstice! There may be a few more months of this, though.

Photo by Phil Plait

Today is the real reason for the season: It’s the winter solstice! If you’re a purist, then raise your glass at 23:03 UTC (18:03 Eastern US time), because that's the moment the solstice occurs.

There are a lot of ways to look at this, but they all boil down to the Earth’s axis being tilted with respect to its orbit. You’ve seen this with classroom globes; they’re tipped by about 23.5°. As it orbits the Sun, the north pole of the Earth’s axis is always pointed pretty close to Polaris in the sky, which means that sometimes the axis is tipped toward the Sun, sometimes away. When it’s tipped as far from the Sun as it can be, that’s the moment of the winter solstice.
Read more http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/12/21/winter_solstice_dec_21_2014.html

Two N.Y.P.D. Officers Are Killed in Brooklyn Ambush; Suspect Commits Suicide

Two police officers sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn were shot at point-blank range and killed on Saturday afternoon by a man who, officials said, had traveled to the city from Baltimore vowing to kill officers. The suspect then committed suicide with the same gun, the authorities said.

The officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, were in the car near Myrtle and Tompkins Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant in the shadow of a tall housing project when the gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, walked up to the passenger-side window and assumed a firing stance, Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said. Mr. Brinsley shot several rounds into the heads and upper bodies of the officers, who never drew their weapons, the authorities said.

Mr. Brinsley, 28, then fled down the street and onto the platform of a nearby subway station, where he killed himself as officers closed in. The police recovered a silver semiautomatic handgun, Mr. Bratton said.

Investigators at the scene where Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot and killed on Saturday. Credit John Minchillo/Associated Press

Mr. Brinsley, who had a long rap sheet of crimes that included robbery and carrying a concealed gun, is believed to have shot his former girlfriend near Baltimore before traveling to Brooklyn, the authorities said. He made statements on social media suggesting that he planned to kill police officers and was angered about the Eric Garner and Michael Brown cases.

Authorities in Baltimore sent a warning that Mr. Brinsley had made these threats, but it was received in New York at essentially the same time as the killings, officials said.

The shootings, the chase, the suicide of Mr. Brinsley and the desperate but failed bid to save the lives of the officers — their uniforms soaked in blood — turned a busy commercial intersection on the Saturday before Christmas into a scene of pandemonium.

The manager of a liquor store at the corner, Charlie Hu, said the two police officers were slouched over in the front seat of their patrol car. Both of them appeared to have been shot in the head, Mr. Hu said, and one of the officers had blood spilling out of his face.

“Today two of New York’s finest were shot and killed with no warning, no provocation,” Mr. Bratton said at Woodhull Hospital in Williamsburg, where the officers were declared dead. “They were, quite simply, assassinated — targeted for their uniform and for the responsibility they embraced to keep the people of this city safe.”

“Officer Ramos and Officer Liu never had the opportunity to draw their weapons,” he continued. “They may have never even seen the assailant, their murderer.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio, standing beside the police commissioner, said, “It is an attack on all of us; it’s an attack on everything we hold dear.”

Mr. de Blasio said he had met with the officers’ families, including Officer Ramos’s 13-year-old son, who “couldn’t comprehend what had happened to his father.”

Read More http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/nyregion/two-police-officers-shot-in-their-patrol-car-in-brooklyn.html?_r=0

South Plainfield crowns four champs, wins Morris Knolls title

The South Plainfield High School wrestling team crowned four individual champions and freshman Joe Heilmann had an impressive debut for the Tigers, who captured their eighth consecutive Morris Knolls Invitational Tournament title on Saturday.
The Tigers amassed 218 team points, besting the host school, which tallied 198 points.
Ryan Walsh (126), Kyle Bythell (132) and Dan Hedden (138) strung together individual crowns for South Plainfield, while teammate Jordan Handwerger won the 160-pound title.
Heilmann, the younger brother of former South Plainfield and current University of North Carolina standout Nick, dropped a 3-0 decision in the opening round to West Morris sophomore Shane Metlzer, who InterMat ranks No. 19 in the nation at 106 pounds.
Heilmann rebounded from the defeat, wrestling his way back to third place.
Max Meyer (113), Alex Murray (152) and Ben Gomes (182) finished second for Watchung Hills, which placed fifth as a team with 124 points.
Perth Amboy, which did not boast a finalist, placed seventh.
Team scores: 1. South Plainfield (218); 2. Morris Knolls (198); 3. West Morris (195.5); 4. Montville (148.5); 5. Watchung Hills (124); 6. Seton Hall Prep (123); 7. Perth Amboy (75.5); 8. Newark Academy (67); 9. Wallkill Valley 62; 10. Morris Hills 21.
106—Shane Metzler (West Morris) dec. Austin Perrault (Morris Knolls), 9-3.
113—Garrett O’Shea (Morris Knolls) tech. fall Max Meyer (Watchung Hills), 17-2 (4:47).
120—Dylan Luciano (West Morris) dec. Nick Fierro (Seton Hall Prep), 3-0.
126—Ryan Walsh (South Plainfield) maj.dec. Marco Gaita (West Morris), 11-2.
132—Kyle Bythell (South Plainfield) dec. Michael Glasser (Montville), 6-2.
138—Dan Hedden (South Plainfield) dec. T.J. Calas (Seton Hall Prep), 5-0.
145—David Migliaccio (West Morris) dec. Brandon Seyffried (Newark Academy), 4-1.
152—Anthony Fano (Montville) dec. Alex Murray (Watchung Hills), 7-3.
160—Jordan Handwerger (South Plainfield) dec. Joey Schiele (Morris Hills), 1-0.
170—Luke Drugac (Morris Knolls) tech. fall Charles Austin (Newark Academy), 15-0 (2:53).
182—Dean Drugac (Morris Knolls) pin. Ben Gomes (Watchung Hills), 3:29.
195—Kevin Sears (West Morris) dec. Donovan Monteverdi (Seton Hall Prep), 8-1.
220—Joe Lascala (Montville) dec. Kevin Van Dyne (Morris Knolls), 7-1.
285—Parker Fox (Montville) dec. Jake Baker (Seton Hall Prep), 7-2.
Read More http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/sports/high-school/wrestling/2014/12/20/south-plainfield-crowns-four-champs-wins-morris-knolls-title/20707893/

Eye on the East Bay: PG&E comes to rescue of Antioch tree lighting PG&E TO THE RESCUE: Downtown Antioch's Christmas tree lighting wouldn't have been quite so delightful earlier this month without the last-minute intervention of some hard hats and bucket trucks. An electrician who had volunteered to string lights around the approximately 60-foot tree at City Hall earlier in the week became backlogged in his work, and two days before the living decoration was supposed to be ready for prime time as part of Antioch's "Holiday De Lites" festivities, it was still lacking much of its bling. An officer of the Celebrate Antioch Foundation -- a nonprofit that brought the Christmas parade back this year after the recession forced the city to withdraw its financial support for the event in 2010 -- got on the horn to Pacific Gas & Electric Co., which sent several trucks along with six workers to the site that Friday morning. The crew had the job done in about 90 minutes, festooning the tree with LED lights, silver bells and some ornaments made from recycled DVD discs and vinyl banners cut up to resemble snowflakes. Without the utility company, residents would have seen a trimmed-down tree, said Diane Gibson-Gray, who helped with the decorations. "We would have lit up the tiny little lights that we had and said, 'Sorry,' " she said. Read More http://www.mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_27168254/eye-east-bay-pg-e-comes-rescue-antioch

Legend of Korra: A Fantastic Finale With a Perfect Ending

Korra's finale is a wild ride, even if it is better suited to end a season rather than conclude a series.

The two-part series finale for Legend of Korra pits the expanded Team Avatar against invading dictator Kuvira and her towering mecha-super-weapon. The massive explosions padded with heartfelt moments are immensely satisfying, but even amid all the destruction, tears, and laughter, Korra never faces the global and emotional stakes Aang did at the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
When The Legend of Korra first began production, it was intended as a single season spin-off of the incredibly popular ATLA . Sometime before the last episode aired, Nickelodeon decided to extend the series, which left creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino in a bit of a difficult position. ATLA began with an established antagonist and plans for Aang's development (along with his friends), enough to carry the show for multiple seasons. With Korra, from the beginning the show restricted itself to a Big Bad each season, and as such its finale doesn't have the impact on the universe ATLA's did. This has been a problem the show has faced since its first season, so if Korra's finale feels a little underwhelming, it's not something we didn't see coming.
Still, "Day of the Colossus" and "The Last Stand" are a fantastic pair of episodes. Studio Mir almost always knocks it out of the park with its animation work, and these episodes are some of its best work yet. On top of that, the music is perfect, as usual. Two tracks in particular stand out - one for Mako and another to close out the finale.
Fans of the fight choreography in LoK and ATLA might be disappointed by this finale. While almost every fight sequence is epic, none are as masterfully laid out or precise as earlier confrontations, such as Suyin facing Kuvira in "Operation Beifong." However, while Kuvira's super-weapon may be over the top, none of the combat reaches DBZ levels of ridiculousness. Mostly, it's small strikes against a massive enemy, supporting the narrative of fighting an authoritarian power.
The final portion of the episode provides a quiet conclusion to the series, and while not everyone gets to say their goodbyes, those that do are fitting. Some of the "surprises" of the episode were telegraphed moments before they occurred (or weeks ago, in some cases), but there should be a couple moments that catch you off guard.
The final two minutes of the episode are so far the most talked about, and rightly so. Legend of Korra and Nickelodeon did something unprecedented in Western children's animation in those moments. It's obviously a huge spoiler, so we'll save discussion of the topic for the next page.
Episodes of Legend of Korra: Book Four are released on Nick's website on Friday mornings, with all of the previous episodes available to view now. The first two seasons are available on Amazon, with Book Three on Vudu.
Read more http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/moviesandtv/reviews/12785-Legend-of-Korra-Series-Finale-Review

Kate Upton wins 'Sexiest Woman' at People Magazine Awards

The 22-year-old model took the stage at the magazine’s first-ever award show Thursday and revealed what ‘sexy’ means to her. 

Kevin Winter/PMA2014/Getty Images for dcp Model Kate Upton wins 'Sexiest Woman' award Thursday at the People Magazine Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Kate Upton was awarded "Sexiest Woman" at the first-ever People Magazine Awards Thursday in Beverly Hills, Calif.ore

Read more  http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/kate-upton-wins-sexiest-woman-article-1.2050992