Ricky Rubio

Ricky RubioRicky Rubio, Brandon Jennings on Slam Mag Cover.

On the most recent issue of SLAM Magazine, Spanish phenom Ricky Rubio and last year’s top-American prep point guard Brandon Jennings are featured on the magazine’s cover under the title FUTURE SHOCK: Ricky Rubio & Brandon Jennings Ready to Rock the NBA.

The 18-year old NBA prospects agreed to do the exclusive cover shoot with Lang Whitaker and the SLAM staff.

And Interbasket recently did a piece on Ricky Rubio declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft, and the possibility that the 18 year old impresario could be drafted ahead of Blake Griffin.

Rubio and Jennings are featured on the June 2009 issue of SLAM Magazine.

Original Source : http://www.interbasket.net/news/1838/2009/04/05/ricky-rubio-brandon-jenning-slam-magazinecover/

Megamouth Shark

Megamouth SharkIn just a short time, one of the rarest sharks in the world went from swimming in Philippine waters to simmering in coconut milk.

The 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) megamouth shark (pictured), caught on March 30 by mackerel fishers off the city of Donsol, was only the 41st megamouth shark ever found, according to WWF-Philippines.

Fishers brought the odd creature—which died during its capture—to local project manager Elson Aca of WWF, an international conservation nonprofit.

Aca immediately identified it as a megamouth shark and encouraged the fishers not to eat it.

But the draw of the delicacy was too great: The 1,102-pound (500-kilogram) shark was butchered for a shark-meat dish called kinuout.

The megamouth shark species, discovered in 1976 off Oahu, Hawaii, was so bizarre that scientists had to create a new family and genus to classify it. With its giant mouth but tiny teeth, megamouth, like the whale shark, is a filter feeder that preys on tiny animals and appears to be no danger to humans.

Only 40 megamouth sharks, including 7 in the Philippines, have been found since the initial discovery. The shark is so rare that the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the megamouth species as "data deficient."

(Related shark pictures: "Rare "Prehistoric" Shark Photographed Alive".)

Scientists who examined Megamouth 41—the Philippine specimen's official name, bestowed by the Florida Museum of Natural History—before it was eaten found facial scars from past run-ins with gill nets. The shark's last meal was shrimp larvae.

Other shark species in Donsol are valued for conservation rather than consumption: The region hosts a successful ecotourism project that allows people to swim with whale sharks, according to WWF.

Original Source : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090407-megamouth-shark-eaten-picture.html

Chicago White Sox

Chicago White SoxChicago White Sox dump Kansas City Royals 4-2.

The White Sox waited one extra day, but found bright skies above and Mayor Richard Daley in the front row as they opened defense of their American League Central Division title Tuesday against Kansas City.

Game time temperature was 43 degrees but a capacity crowd of 37,449 was in a mostly festive mood, made even better with a 4-2 victory.

Like they did much of last season, the Sox waited until late in the game to set off fireworks, this time literally setting them off from the center-field scoreboard as Jim Thome socked a three-run homer in the eighth inning.

Down 2-1 entering the eighth, Josh Fields started the inning with a surprise bunt single. With one out, rookie Chris Getz singled for his second hit of the afternoon and, after Carlos Quentin whiffed, Thome launched a 400-foot bomb into center field.

Bobby Jenks pitched the ninth inning.

Sox manager Ozzie Guillen knew the keys to this season would be pitching and a revamped lineup.

"I want to pitch the way we pitched in '05," Guillen said. "That was the key. When you got [Scott] Podsednik and guys getting on base to make things happen, it makes it easy for everyone. That's what I mean when I say we got a lot of speed — first, second and third, six, seven, eight and nine. Having Josh Fields batting ninth with a lot of speed, good at-bats, our offense should be fine."

Mark Buehrle, making his seventh Opening Day start, lasted only five innings and left with a 2-1 deficit. Buehrle, who has been held back in spring training to save wear and tear on his valuable left shoulder, was far from sharp.

He needed 24 pitches to get out of a scoreless first inning when he allowed a hit and walk. For the day, Buehrle gave up three walks and hit two batters.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead off Buehrle in the second when Alex Gordon socked a pitch 418 feet into the center-field greenery.

The Sox tied in the second, although it took four hits to do it. Thome, Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko all singled with no outs, with Thome having to go one base at a time. And after A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez popped out, Fields singled to score Thome, but Dye was thrown out easily at the plate when third base coach Jeff Cox sent him home.

Buehrle left two runners on base in the third and fourth innings but gave up the go-ahead run in the fifth. And the Royals' rally could have been worse if Fields had not made a back-handed stop of a ground ball behind third base and thrown out Mark Tehan at home. After Jose Guillen scored on a ground out, Buehrle escaped further damage when he struck out former batterymate Miguel Oliva.

Meanwhile. Sox hitters were struggling against Kansas City starter Gil Meche, who retired 10 straight hitters in the middle innings.

Original Source : http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-08-white-sox-royals-chicago-apr08,0,1914556.story

Alaska Earthquake Information Center

Alaska Earthquake Information CenterShallow earthquake rattles southcentral Alaska.

A shallow earthquake strongly shook a large swath of Alaska.

The magnitude 4.7 quake struck at 12:13 p.m. Tuesday and was widely felt in southcentral parts of the state.

The earthquake was centered 20 miles north of Anchorage, where it was accompanied with a loud boom.

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center says the quake also was felt in other communities, including Wasilla and Palmer.

Monitors at the center say the temblor was felt in a large area because it was fairly shallow, about 16 miles deep.

The center says there are no reports of injury or damage and no tsunami is expected from the quake.

Original Source : http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h2iR966V721MBttrK1j49ukH4RZAD97DS2EO0