Kurt Busch's final appeal denied

Updated: February 22, 2015, 9:33 AM ET

By Bob Pockrass | ESPN.comKurt Busch's Final Appeal Denied

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kurt Busch lost his final NASCAR appeal Saturday night to get his indefinite suspension rescinded prior to the Daytona 500, the sport's biggest race that is set to go green Sunday afternoon.

NASCAR suspended the Stewart-Haas Racing driver Friday after the release of a Kent County (Delaware) Family Court commissioner opinion that detailed why he believed Busch had committed an act of domestic violence against ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll.

Busch lost his initial appeal to a three-member NASCAR-appointed panel Saturday afternoon and then made an appeal Saturday night to NASCAR Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss. A former president of Gulfstream who was named as NASCAR's top appeals boss in 2014, Moss had not ruled on any final appeal until Saturday night.

Source: http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/12359632/kurt-busch-loses-appeal-indefinite-suspension

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Kyle Busch Will Not Race In Daytona 500

Updated: February 22, 2015, 2:08 AM ET

By Bob Pockrass | ESPN.comKyle Busch Will Not Race In Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kyle Buschwill miss the Daytona 500 after suffering a broken right leg and left foot following a hard crash into an interior concrete wall during an Xfinity Series race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

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Brian Lawdermilk/Getty ImagesKyle Busch was stretchered off after his car slammed into an infield concrete wall during the Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch needed assistance getting out of his car after it slammed into a wall that did not have an energy-absorbing steel-and-foam energy reduction (SAFER) barrier. His right leg was placed in an air cast before he was transported by ambulance to nearby Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where he underwent surgery Saturday night for a compound fracture of his lower right leg. He also suffered a mid-foot fracture in his left foot.

The team reported late Saturday night the surgery was successful and that Busch would remain hospitalized for observation.

Busch's wife, Samantha, offered an update on Twitter early Sunday morning: "In the recovery room with Kyle he's alert n chatting. Surgery went well. We thank you all for the support, prayers and love during this time."

Daytona track president Joie Chitwood said the speedway failed for not having the soft walls and will start next week on having them installed "on every inch of our property."

"The Daytona International Speedway did not live up to its responsibility today," Chitwood said. "We should have had SAFER barrier there. We're going to fix that. We're going to fix that right now."

Busch was supposed to start fourth Sunday in the Daytona 500. Matt Crafton, a two-time Truck Series champion who has never raced in the Daytona 500, will replace Busch in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

More from ESPN.com

Many think SAFER barriers -- the so-called soft walls -- should be on every inch of a track. For myriad reasons, it's not so simple. As Marty Smith writes, the question remains: Is NASCAR SAFER enough? Story

Kyle Busch suffered a broken right leg and a fractured left foot when his race car struck a cement wall Saturday night at Daytona. The million-dollar question: When will we learn? Story

Busch will be out for an unspecified period of time. JGR officials said he was in good spirits Saturday night. It was not immediately clear whether he would need additional surgery.

The accident occurred when Busch was racing directly behind JGR teammate Erik Jones. Jones got turned and Busch got clipped. Busch's car sped left across an area of the track used as an entrance to the road course portion of the speedway and then slammed hard into an interior concrete wall.

Busch climbed out of the car before laying down on the grass near his car.His wife was crying as she left the infield care center with team owner Joe Gibbs and team president J.D. Gibbs. Samantha Busch is pregnant with the couple's first child, a boy, due in May.

The wall did not have a SAFER barrier, which NASCAR has had installed in the turns and other areas at tracks. NASCAR has consistently been criticized for not having the barriers everywhere on the inside and outside walls on ovals.

This is the second consecutive year that Daytona International Speedway, a track where the cars are limited in horsepower because of the high speeds, has been criticized for not having enough SAFER barrier.

Kevin Harvick hit a concrete wall just beyond the pit exit last year -- not too far from where Busch hit Saturday.

The track added 2,400 feet of SAFER barrier before its race in July, but only to areas of the outside wall and not in the area where Harvick hit.

"This is not going to happen again," Chitwood said. "We did not live up to our responsibility, and the fix starts right now."

Chitwood said the speedway would install tire packs Saturday night along the 850-linear-foot section of concrete wall where Busch crashed so it will be padded in time for Sunday's 500.

He said DIS already has "tens of thousands" linear feet of walls covered in SAFER barrier -- added during five separate installations.

Reaction from the crash was swift on social media from drivers, including six-time championJimmie Johnson, who called on NASCAR to install the energy-absorbing material everywhere at race tracks.

Man I hope @KyleBusch is alright... It's beyond me why we don't have soft walls everywhere. #nascar @DISupdates

Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) February 21, 2015

Fellow Sprint Cup drivers Denny Hamlin, Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse all visited Busch in the hospital Saturday night.

NASCAR executive vice president Steve O'Donnell said Saturday that the organization will step up talks with tracks about adding SAFER barriers to all areas surrounding the racing surface.

"We always have these conversations with the racetracks," O'Donnell said. "The racetracks know that and work together with us on the SAFER barrier recommendations. We will accelerate those talks with the tracks. We want this sport to be as safe as possible, for not only our drivers but everyone who participates in this sport and the race fans as well."

Former driver Jeff Burton, now a television analyst, called on NASCAR to overcome costs: "It's very expensive but we have to find a way."

And Regan Smith, who earlier in Saturday's race rolled his car for the first time in his career, said it was inexcusable in 2015 for tracks hosting national events not to have SAFER barriers everywhere.

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Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY SportsKurt Busch's Xfinity Series car is hauled off after crashing head-first into an interior concrete wall just past the pit-road exit.

"I'm genuinely furious right now," Smith tweeted.

Ty Dillon, the grandson of Richard Childress, said after Saturday's race that NASCAR should have SAFER barriers "everywhere."

"We're going so fast," Dillon said. "... I think we can probably afford it. I hate to hear about anybody in our sport getting injured. The sport's advanced so far in safety that we shouldn't have any crazy, bad injuries."

Busch has 29 career Sprint Cup wins in 365 career starts. His best finish in the standings was fourth in 2013.

Busch will not be awarded any points for Sunday's race. NASCAR, which requires drivers to compete each week to be eligible for its season-long championship, would have to grant Busch an exemption to not start a race he qualified for as well as to miss any future events and still be eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Ryan Reed won the Xfinity race with a late pass of Brad Keselowski.

John Oreovicz of ESPN.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/xfinity/story/_/id/12360665/kyle-busch-taken-hospital-following-wreck-xfinity-series-race-daytona

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Hundreds gather to honor Malcolm X on anniversary of assassination

Activists, actors and politicians gathered Saturday in New York City to honor civil rights leader Malcolm X with a ceremony at the Harlem site where he was killed 50 years ago.

About 300 people converged to hear remarks from one of Malcolm Xs six daughters, Ilyasah Shabazz, as well as elected officials. The ceremony was held at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, formerly known as the Audubon Ballroom.

A blue light shone onto the floor in the exact spot where he was killed. A mural with images of Malcolm X adorned a wall.

He was just a young man who gave all that he possibly could, Shabazz said after a moment of silence marking the time of his death.

Malcolm X, whose full name was El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was 39 when he was shot in the theater on Feb. 21, 1965, as he was preparing to address several hundred of his followers.

By the time he died, the Muslim leader had moderated his militant message of black separatism and pride but was still very much a passionate advocate of black unity, self-respect and self-reliance. Three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of murder in his death. He had repudiated the Nation of Islam less than a year earlier.

In an interview with The Associated Press on the eve of the anniversary observance, Shabazz said she was pleased that the site is now a place for people to get a sense of empowerment.

One of the great things about Malcolm is that he redefined the civil rights movement to include a human rights agenda, she said. So while we are focusing on integrating schools, integrating housing and all these other things, Malcolm said that we demand our human rights by any means necessary. And that means that we have to address these problems. That we have to identify them, and absolutely discuss them.

Social and political activist Ron Daniels delivered the keynote address, calling Malcolm X a man of honesty and integrity. He ended his speech with chants of Long Live Malcolm X! as people stood and clapped.

The ceremony concluded with a reading by actor Delroy Lindo of a eulogy for Malcolm X that was written by the late actor and activist Ossie Davis.

Source: http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article10894682.html

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Pope: Danica Patrick, Denny Hamlin not of like minds

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Need some relief from the cold? Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin might be able to work on that for you.

The past couple of days at Daytona International Speedway, temps - and blood pressures heat up whenever Denny Hamlin and Danica Patrick have gotten close to each other at Daytona International Speedway this week.

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Source: http://www.fayobserver.com/sports/columns/pope-danica-patrick-denny-hamlin-not-of-like-minds/article_ae65477d-fdaf-5c06-8639-356e3a11281a.html

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Watch Kevin Garnett's 'Coming Home' video

Yesterday, it was announced that Kevin Garnett will waive his no trade clause and will accept a trade sending him back to his old stomping grounds: the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he played his first 12 NBA seasons.

In honor of his homecoming, one fan even made him a video. Take a look, above.

(Thanks to Barstool for bringing this to our attention.)

Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA

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Source: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/watch-kevin-garnetts-coming-home-video

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ALESSANDRO VOLTA: Father of the electrical battery sparks inspiration for ...

(Courtesy of Google 2015)

NEW KIDs got spark. Google just plugged him into the lineup, and he delivered.

The tech titans newest charge is Mark Holmes, and today, the artist trots out one beautiful Doodle his second one ever.

Googles homepage Wednesday celebrates the 270th anniversary of Alessandro Voltas birth with an animated illustration befitting the father of the first electrical battery.

Holmes writes about his creative process, and you can just feel the new-assignment energy. Render a Doodle for the 18th-century Italian science pioneer, came the call. The artist calls the opportunity particularly thrilling.

A Doodle most always begins with the homework information before inspiration and so the artist read up on how the physicist/chemist was in friendly competition with his professor pal Luigi Galvani. Galvani, an anatomy man, discovered while dissecting a frog that its legs, even in death, would twitch if touched by an electric current.

For Galvanis part, this research would reportedly be a spark of inspiration that led Mary Shelley to create Frankenstein. But Volta who a quarter-century earlier had designed his first invention to create static electricity had his own takeaway from the amphibians last spasm, and it involved the touching of two metals.

Volta, a physics professor at the University of Pavia, created a voltaic pile a stack of alternating zinc and copper discs with interstitial pieces of brine-soaked cardboard. Just like that voila, Doc Volta! the electrical battery was born. For the first time, in 1800, scientists could tap a steady flow of electric energy; the revelation was a revolution, as the battery sparked a new era of invention and discovery.

By immersing himself in Voltas creations like so much salty cardboard, Holmes seems pretty charged up by the challenge of transferring a scientists legacy into a representational Doodle. Something to illustrate a little measure of the man for whom a measure of electromotive force (the volt) is named.

Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta, who received the Legion of Honor and the Order of the Iron Crown (as well as the admiration of Napoleon), died in Como, Italy, in 1827. He was 82.

Congrats, Google, on your latest art. And your latest artist.

[PERCY JULIAN: Google Doodle salutes pioneering chemist as a man utterly in his elements]

[MARIE CURIE: Art celebrates birthday of Nobel Prize-winning pioneer]

[GREGOR MENDEL: Google goes green for the father of genetics]

Writer/artist/visual storyteller Michael Cavna is creator of the "Comic Riffs" column and graphic-novel reviewer for The Post's Book World. He relishes sharp-eyed satire in most any form.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/02/18/alessandro-volta-father-of-the-electrical-battery-sparks-inspiration-for-team-google-doodles-new-artist/

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Duke Basketball: Blue Devils' 5 Best Moments in Rivalry with UNC

Duke and North Carolina.

There is no other explanation needed outside of those words. This is the best rivalry in all of college basketball and arguably all of sports, and the illustrious history comes rushing back any time the two programs lace it up for another chapter in the storied book.

Between the iconic stadiums, the legendary coaches, the raucous student sections, the Hall of Fame players and the championship banners, this rivalry has a little bit of everything.

It pits brother against brother, sister against sister and an entire state against each other for two or three nights a year and determines bragging rights for the rest of the season and beyond.

The first 2015 clash between the Blue Devils (22-3, 9-3 ACC) and Tar Heels (18-7, 8-4 ACC) takes place Wednesday in Cameron Indoor Stadium as the two squads battle for positioning in the ACC standings.

However, this rivalry is about more than just an individual season or game. With that in mind, here is a look at the best moments in the history of the series from Dukes perspective.

No. 5: Demolition Before the Title

Sometimes its just fun to destroy your archrival, and that is exactly what Duke did on March 6, 2010.

The Blue Devils beat the Tar Heels 82-50 in the largest margin of victory in the recent history of the rivalry and earned the top spot in the ACC tournament in the process. Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith all cracked the 20-point plateau, and Duke actually scored 53 points in the first half.

Thats right, the Blue Devils scored more points in the first half alone than the Tar Heels did in the entire game. That was a heck of a way to go out in Cameron for the seniors before what ultimately proved to be a title-winning run in the NCAA tournament.

No. 4: Thrill of Defeat

Its not very often that a moment in a rivalry is particularly memorable for the losing team, but Jeff Capels miracle shot in 1995 makes the cut.

While the Tar Heels eventually prevailed 102-100 in double overtime, Duke found itself down six with 10 seconds remaining in the first extra period.The Blue Devils converted on an and-one opportunity to trim the lead to three, North Carolinas Serge Zwikker missed two critical free throws and Capel launched a shot from just inside half court at the buzzer.

Naturally, it went right in, and the Cameron Crazies went absolutely nuts.

The argument can be made that this was the best individual game of the entire rivalry, and it featured a moment that wont soon be forgotten in Duke historyeven if it did come in an eventual loss.

No. 3: Austin Rivers Silences the Crowd

Duke knocked off North Carolina 85-84 in 2012 in the most memorable Duke moment of the rivalry in recent years thanks to the dramatic finish from Austin Rivers.

The Tar Heels appeared to be well on their way to an easy home victory with a 10-point lead with less than four minutes remaining, but Rivers carried the Blue Devils back to within a single basket for the last possession.

Everyone in the state probably knew who was going to take the shot for Duke, but it didnt matter. Rivers drilled a contested three over the outstretched arms of Tyler Zeller to put a metaphorical dagger in the hearts of the Carolina faithful.

He finished the game with 29 points but probably never scored a more important three points in his entire life.

No. 2: Mike Krzyzewski Inspires a Championship

The 2000-01 Blue Devils eventually won the national title, but they didnt appear to be a championship team before their March 4 victory over North Carolina.

The reason for that was the late-season injury to star center Carlos Boozer before this rivalry clash. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski responded by inserting surprise starter Casey Sanders at center to deal with North Carolinas Brendan Haywood and freshman Chris Duhon for Nate James on the perimeter.

The idea was to add quickness to the defense and focus more on three-point shooting on the offensive end.

Star forward Shane Battier commented on Coach Ks move, via Al Featherston of GoDuke.com:

Ill never forget the look on Brendon Haywoods face when Casey stepped into the jumpball circle. He got this sarcastic smile on his face and started shaking his head. He was thinking, "Youre starting this guy?" I looked over at Mike [Dunleavy] and we smiled at each other. We were thinking, "Haywood, you dont know whats coming. You dont know."

Nobody on North Carolina saw what was coming next, and the Blue Devils unleashed 38 three-point attempts on the way to victory to clinch a share of the ACC regular-season title.

Duke repeated the feat and strategy in a rematch against North Carolina in the conference tournament to perfection and won 79-53 before eventually taking home the national championship.

No. 1: Wojo Goes Out a Winner

Let Brett Friedlander of StarNewsOnline.com set the scene for this dramatic showdown in February of 1998:

Senior Day is always an emotional time at Duke. This one was even more over the top than usual because the guest of honor was popular point guard Steve Wojciechowski. Wojo put on what coach Mike Krzyzewski called one of the greatest one-point games in the history of basketball, by recording 11 assists and three steals to go with his single point.

"The victory was Krzyzewskis 500thas a head coach, and produced one of the mostnotable images in Duke Basketball history, as Wojciechowski and Krzyzewski embraced after the game," wrote Ryan Claxton of The Chronicle.

While Steve Wojciechowski was brilliant and the ultimate reason why this 77-75 victory for the Blue Devils will go down in the history books at Duke, freshman Elton Brand may have been the most important player.

In only his third game back from a nasty foot injury, the center scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and helped his squad overcome a 17-point deficit. However, his defense on North Carolinas Antawn Jamison was just as importantif not more sothan the effective offense late in the game.

Naturally, the Cameron Crazies came storming onto the floor, and Wojo'slegendary career in Cameron came to a close just as Brands was getting started.

This rivalry is filled with countless memorable moments, many of which could have been included here. Let me know which ones you think should be on here in the comments.

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Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2367984-duke-basketball-blue-devils-5-best-moments-in-rivalry-with-unc

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