World Series guarantee: There will be a hero and a goat Read more

The 107th edition of baseball’s modern World Series begins Wednesday.

At its conclusion, a committee of baseball insiders will glance at the stats and officially anoint a fall hero, who will be named Series MVP and presented with a car he wouldn’t be seen driving.

Last year — if anyone remembers — it was San Francisco Giants shortstop Edgar Renteria, a 35-year-old veteran on the downside of his career, who batted .412 with a couple of home runs in the Series.

Nice, but hardly the stuff of baseball legend.

What is the stuff of baseball legend are the characters chosen not after the fact by some backroom committee, but instantly and irrevocably on the field of play by fate itself.

Regardless of whatever else you’ve done — or will do — in the game, one timely play, one untimely strikeout, one good hop or one bonehead play in a World Series and you, too, can become a permanent part of baseball lore.

• It’s Bill Wambsganss’ unassisted triple-play for the Indians against the Dodgers in 1920.

(“Funny thing,” ‘Wamby’ once said, “I played in the big leagues for 13 years … and the only thing that anybody seems to remember is that once I made an unassisted triple-play in a World Series. … You’d think I was born on the day before and died on the day after.”)

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/World+Series+guarantee+There+will+hero+goat/5558278/story.html#ixzz1b0FF2v6G

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NLCS: Cardinals, Red Hot Pujols Win Game 3

A four-run first inning for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Milwaukee Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo was enough to give the wildcard red birds a 2-1 lead in the NL championship series Wednesday night.

Chris Carpenter matched a franchise record set by Bob Gibson with a most un-Gibson-like outing.

Far from his best, the Cardinals ace lasted just five innings in a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night that gave St. Louis a 2-1 edge in the NL championship series.

The bullpen that got no work in Carpenter's division-series clinching win over Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies came up aces with four relievers retiring the last 12 Milwaukee batters in order.

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Broncos start Tim Tebow in 2nd half

DENVER -- The Denver Broncos went with Tim Tebow at quarterback to start the second half Sunday against San Diego and he nearly led them to a comeback win.

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Williamson Broncos coach John Fox has played his hand and now he has to stick with it. It's "Tebow Time" in Denver, writes Bill Williamson. Blog

Tebow ran for a touchdown and threw for another after replacing Kyle Orton to start the third quarter and had one final shot for the win before his pass fell incomplete in the end zone on the final play. The Chargers held on to win 29-24.

"Tim Tebow sparked the team today. (But) we haven't had a chance to watch the tape, we haven't had a chance to watch the film, we haven't had a chance to visit as a staff," coach John Fox said after the game. "So, I think at this point -- we have a bye week -- we do need to improve offensively, and it will all be up for discussion."

Denver doesn't play again until Oct. 23 when they'll visit Miami.

"I have no idea," Tebow said. "Thankfully, I don't have to make those decisions. Other people do that and I just go play football."

A fan favorite, Tebow was instantly greeted with a chorus of cheers as he trotted onto the field. The crowd was so loud that Tebow couldn't hear the play call in his helmet.

"He came and gave us a spark," running back Willis McGahee said. "That's Tim Tebow. Everybody has been cheering for him for the longest. Now he finally got in and moved the ball for us."

Tebow went three-and-out in his first series and finished 4 for 10 for 79 yards. He also ran six times for 38 yards.

Orton had a horrible first half, completing 6 of 13 passes for 34 yards. He also threw one interception.

Tebow was involved in one play during the first half, gaining 2 yards on a carry.

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Columbus Day weekend arts fest in Northampton

t wouldn't be Columbus Day weekend without a trip to the Paradise City Arts Festival at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton. Founded in 1995 by Geoffrey and Linda Post, this year's edition on Oct. 8-10 boasts 275 professional craftspeople and visual artists from around the country who drive the creative economy. The array of original designs in blown glass, pottery, jewelry, furniture, wearable and decorative fiber, photographs, paintings, sculptures, and mixed media is a feast for the eyes. The hard part is deciding what to buy. An outdoor sculpture garden by exhibitors, a special "Picturing the Music" exhibit, live music, children's art activities, a silent auction benefit, and local restaurants' fare in the food tent complete the experience of a day at the fest.

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Bill Gates Considers the Nuclear Options

“I’m an optimist,” Bill Gates says, on the subject of nuclear power. “I see materials advances, simulations, better understanding of the scientific phenomena.”

Two things hold up innovation in the nuclear sector: First, the enormous lead-time it takes to research new technology and deploy it. And secondly, a global potpourri of regulations that can constrain innovative technology in favor of tried-and-true reactor design.

U.S. Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman got Bill Gates on the video-chat line for the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation meeting in Warsaw, and the resulting interview is now posted on Gates Notes. The theme of the conversation is “Nuclear Energy after Fukushima,” and Gates finds two controversial lessons there.

While acknowledging that the Fukushima reactors’ failure post-earthquake-and-tsunami was a “tragedy,” Gates gingerly characterizes to the overall safety record of Fukushima as being commendable for a plant commissioned in 1971. This leads to his second point: that governmental regulation is biased toward the devil of known reactor design, rather than innovative solutions that take into account advances in software simulation (making it possible to assess virtual performance in a hurricane, earthquake, or tsunami).

“As I look at the energy sector I see that in some ways it’s more complicated than the IT sector where I spent most of my career,” says Gates. He lists the drawbacks of global regulatory complexity, the lead time before return on investment, the necessarily high bar for safety.

Though people may think of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as health-driven, its mission is to improve lives globally through innovation. As he considered the challenges the world’s poor face, says Gates, “I realized the very central role that energy plays in improving their livelihood. We need breakthroughs.”

His advice for governments? You’re under-funding investment in pure energy research by a factor of three or more. This wouldn’t require a gigantic tax on the energy sector, just a few percent, and certainly a lower number than a carbon tax would likely impose. Energy innovation is unlike other areas because of its lengthy time-to-market–if you try to offer incentives on the scale of other industries, you’ll fail.

“We need to have hundreds of companies trying out different things in each sector,” Gates argues, including solar, nuclear, wind, clean coal, and more. Cheap energy that doesn’t carry the greenhouse gas burden of today’s energy sources needs to come pretty quickly.

That preference for implementation seems to have established Gates’ primary bet on nuclear power (he namechecks TerraPower twice). “When you look at the numbers and you say, what could be significantly cheaper than what we have today, and located in every area, nuclear is one of the few that may be able to achieve that.”

He has invested in solar power, but is troubled by its disadvantages as a global solution: The “solar guys” still need to make solar power ten times as cheap, and solve storage and transmission challenges.

In nuclear, “I think you have to go for a big win, because you’re going to have your money tied up for decades.” It will be crucial to harmonize regulations globally, because you need a global market size to justify the size of private investment. Urges Gates: “We’re not gonna have a ton of nuclear start-ups, but we need more.”

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Brewers eye NLCS berth in Arizona

The Milwaukee Brewers try to secure their first trip to the League Championship Series since 1982 when they attempt to finish off the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4 of the NLDS at Chase Field.

Milwaukee was denied a sweep in this best-of-five set on Tuesday, as rookies Paul Goldschmidt and Josh Collmenter came up big for Arizona, which staved off elimination with an 8-1 victory.

Goldschmidt hit a grand slam in the fifth inning and tied a Diamondbacks postseason record with five runs batted in.

The 24-year-old Goldschmidt hit the first grand slam in D'Backs postseason history and became only the second MLB rookie since 1998 to hit one in the playoffs (Ricky Ledee for the Yankees in '99).

Collmenter (1-0), who went 10-10 with a 3.38 ERA in the regular season, gave up one run on two hits over seven innings -- a Corey Hart homer and Jerry Hairston Jr. single. He struck out six and walked two.

"That's what the coaching staff is asking ourselves is why is this guy so tough," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of Collmenter's success against Milwaukee. "But you're right, we haven't hit him three games now, and just two hits off him. We didn't square up too many other balls, Corey Hart lined out to third. Besides that, we didn't square up a lot of balls."

Shaun Marcum (0-1), who went 13-7 with a 3.54 ERA in the regular season, allowed seven runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings for the Brewers, who won the first two games by scores of 4-1 and 9-4.

The Brewers, though, are still one win away from advancing to their first championship series since 1982, when they beat the Angels in the ALCS before falling to St. Louis in the World Series.

Tonight they turn to veteran lefty Randy Wolf, who was 13-10 on the year with a 3.69 ERA, but hasn't pitched since September 27. He also led Milwaukee's rotation in innings pitched (212 1/3).

"He had some huge games for us when we really needed him to win," Roenicke said. "Wolfy has experience. When his command is on and he's got his rhythm going, he can really throw a great ballgame."

Wolf didn't record a decision in either of his two previous postseason starts with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but did pitch to a 5.00 ERA in those games.

"I feel like, for the most part, I've been pretty consistent," Wolf said. "I think that's what I want to do when I'm out there is, day in and day out, you have a good idea what you're going to get."

Wolf is 10-5 with a 4.64 ERA in 20 games against Arizona, but allowed nine earned runs on 18 hits against the D-backs this season. He's also 7-2 with a 3.43 ERA in nine starts at Chase Field.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, will counter with a southpaw of their own in Joe Saunders, who was 12-13 with a 3.69 ERA this past season. Saunders is the only starter on Arizona's staff with any postseason experience, as he went 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three playoff starts for the Angels.

"There's a ton of adrenaline," Saunders said. "I remember my first experience ... in Boston, and I just had adrenaline flowing through every inch of my body. And when you do it and you get through it and you realize it's just another baseball game, you kind of settle in and you kind of try to slow everything down."

He's faced the Brewers twice and is 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA.

Arizona won four of its seven meetings with the Brewers in the regular season.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/10/05/brewers-eye-nlcs-berth-in-arizona/#ixzz1ZyNjEfYq

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Apple Unveils iPhone 4S With Voice-Recognition Features

Tim Cook is back on stage. He’s reviewing everything we’ve heard today. Now he’s pivoting from the devices to the company. “Only Apple could make such hardware and services…”

“I am so incredibly proud of this company and all of the teams that worked so hard to bring all the amazing things you’ve seen to reality.”

And that’s your Apple press event. Mr. Cook exits, stage left. “Layla” now playing over the speakers.

So, in spite of the many mockups that circulated online, and “new cases” that were “revealed,” the iPhone 4S looks exactly the same as the iPhone 4.

Investors seem unhappy with what they’ve heard. Apple’s stock is down 2.6 percent on heavy volume.

We’ll have more coverage soon. Thanks for reading.

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‘Bohemian Treasure’ found in the woods

Alberto Anton of Berwyn stormed into the Suburban Life offices in Downers Grove like a Forty Niner who had just hit the motherload today.
Nestled carefully in a wicker basket was a 25-pound mushroom commonly known as the Chicken of the Woods, Sulfur Shelf, or Chicken mushroom, that Anton found in the woods near Harlem Avenue and 45th Street.
He added the mushroom also has a nickname, the “Bohemian.”
“You don’t find them this big all the time,” Anton said.  Every year, I go out to look for the giant.”
This is mushroom season, the seasoned mushroom hunter said. Picking is best between September and December, after the temperature drops to the 50s and it rains. It’s an annual ritual for Anton.
To prepare the shroom, he boils it in salted water for three minutes and it’s then ready to prepare to taste. Frozen, the mushroom will keep for months, he said.

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