After a weekend of blowouts and another upset, the men’s NCAA Final Four is set.Top overall seed Louisville will face Wichita State next Saturday, while Michigan takes on Syracuse in the other national semifinal.In regional playoffs for the women’s tourney, Kentucky plays UConn and Georgia faces California on Monday. Notre Dame faces Duke and Tennessee plays Louisville on Tuesday. The winners advance to their national semifinal.Continue Reading… … Read More
Six shot, four killed in Upstate New York: Suspect still at large
Police say a gunman opened fire Wednesday near a car wash inHerkimer County, New York, halfway between Syracuse and Albany. Twopeople were shot dead on the scene, and two others were fatallywounded nearby on South Washington Street in Mohawk, State Policepress liaison Jack Keller tells the Little Falls Times.According to the authorities, six people were shot in all, withfour succumbing to their wounds as of 11:18 a.m. Wednesday morning.Police were still searching for their suspect as of 11:45, but thelatest reports courtesy of a local newspaper suggest theauthorities may have narrowed in on a possible culprit.The Utica Observer-Dispatch reports that Swat teams and a policehelicopter have surrounded a jewelry store in downtown Herkimer,NY, but it is still not yet clear if the suspect is inside. Thepaper adds that Mohawk officials believe the suspect may be onfoot, and other reports cite the possibility that he was picked upby a taxi.Ilion, NY resident Jason Ackler, 39, tells the Utica OD that hethinks the suspect is “trying toprove a point.” Ackler’s friend was among the six shotWednesday morning, and his condition is unknown. He says, however,that he thinks the suspect began the shooting spree with clearintention as to what he wanted to accomplish.“It definitely seems like heknew what he was doing,” adds Ackler.Speaking to the Associated Press, the Herkimer Village Policewould only say that there was a shooting and a manhunt, and wouldnot offer any further official comment. Area schools includingHerkimer County Community College have been placed on lockdown,however.Police also believe the suspect may have been responsible for anapartment building fire that was reported to authorities in Mohawk,NY at around 9:45 a.m. The Utica Observer-Dispatch reports that thefire was extinguished by around 11 a.m., and law enforcementauthorities were able to remove “about half a dozen long guns” fromthe residence. The Utica OD says preliminary reports suggest thesuspect responsible for the four deaths resided in that unit.The suspect has been described in early reports as a 50- to60-year-old white male last seen wearing a flannel shirt. … Read More
Syracuse Police Say Their Budget is a Secret
City councilors in Syracuse, New York summoned
the chief of police to a public hearing yesterday to shed a little
light on the department’s use of asset forfeiture to fund its
operations. They did not learn much.From the
Post-Standard:
Faced with a $1.3 million request from police to buy new
vehicles, councilors sought information about the off-budget cash,
cars or other assets that come to the police department after being
seized from [alleged! -ed.] criminals.
…Police Chief Frank Fowler repeatedly told the five councilors
at the meeting he would not publicly divulge information about
vehicles or equipment obtained through asset forfeiture
programs.
…The money is not accounted for in the city budget.
…“Most of this stuff is used in a covert fashion,’’ Fowler
said. “We don’t want the general public or the bad guys to know
what we possess.’’
Both New York and federal law allow local police to seize
property from suspects and keep most of the proceeds. However, the
law does not require the government to actually prove that a
property owner committed a crime—mere suspicion can
suffice. Unsurprisingly, that means police
often rip off innocent people. And they would rather not tell
anyone about it.
“I’m never going to talk about it in specific terms,’’ Fowler
said.… “But there are some good things that are taking place within
our community with asset forfeiture (funds), and they will
continue.’’
…Fowler insisted that discussing details publicly—even
divulging the number of asset-seizure cars—would put his officers
at risk.
That is rank nonsense, and Fowler knows it. A simple accounting
of forfeiture revenues would not jeopardize officer safety in the
slightest. Or perhaps Fowler thinks that this publicly
available spreadsheet somehow puts police in the District of
Columbia in imminent danger.Sadly, it doesn’t appear city councilors called the meeting to
explore ways to protect innocent people from forfeiture. Rather,
they just wanted to know if maybe they could redirect a little of
the money to the city’s general fund.Good luck with that.For more Reason coverage of asset forfeiture abuse,
click
here and
here. … Read More
Nick Gillespie Talks Performance-Enhancing Drugs, Lance Armstrong on Stossel Tonight!
Tune into John
Stossel’s eponymous
Fox Business show tonight for a pre-Super Bowl special titled,
Big Sports…Big Business. If you’re into sports at all -
especially the particularly awesome and awful form of vassalage
known as college sports – you’re in for a real treat.I’ll be talking with Stossel about performance-enhancing drugs
and whether they should be treated as categorically different from
other forms of potentional advantage. And whether it’s more
dangerous to take steroids or slam your body into heavily armored
300-lb. men or fly down a mountainside clad mostly in Lycra. And I
recommend the performance-enhancing drug that Congress ought to
popping (it sure ain’t Viagra).Here’s the rundown of the show, which airs tonight onf Fox
Business at 9pm ET and will be rebroadcast at various
times over the next few days.
Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest gambling day of the year. Have
you placed your bets? Be careful, even friendly bets between
friends are illegal in about half the states.
Former professional poker player, Annie Duke, joins the show to argue
that it’s not the government’s job to police decisions between
consenting adults. Patrick Basham,
author of Gambling: A Healthy Bet, says gambling is
actually good for you.
Big money is made in college sports, but the athletes don’t get
a cut. Dr. Boyce Watkins,
Syracuse University Professor, says they should.
Lance Armstrong is an evil jerk because he
bullied and threatened weaker people, not because he used
performance enhancing drugs. I say, if he used performance
enhancers, so what? These drugs are similar to Lasik eye surgery
and other ways people seek competitive advantages.
Reason’s Nick
Gillespie argues that they make sports more
interesting.
Politicians like Chuck Schumer want to ban ticket
scalping. Many Americans agree with him. But
economist, JC
Bradbury, says scalpers receive a bad rap for providing a
service that people actually want.
One of my favorite sports, MMA….is illegal in my own state!
UFC Chief Operating Officer, Lawrence Epstein, talks about his battles
with New York politicians.
Finally, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks,
billionaire Mark Cuban,
plays with this thought experiment: what if government ran
sports?
Read more. … Read More
Villanova Upsets Syracuse 75-71 In Overtime (VIDEO)
PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Arcidiacono hit the tying 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in regulation, and James Bell hit consecutive 3s in overtime to send Villanova to its second win over a Top 5 team this week, 75-71 over No. 3 Syracuse on Saturday.The Wildcats defeated No. 5 Louisville 73-64 on Tuesday and became the first unranked team to beat two Top 5 teams in the same season since Florida State in 2011-12, according to STATS LLC.Read More…
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Syracuse Upsets Louisville 70-68: No. 1 Cardinals Fall, Orange Get 3rd Straight Win
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville’s reign at No. 1 is likely over after one week.
The Cardinals’ focus now is on reclaiming the top spot and holding on when it matters — through the season’s end in April — after falling to No. 6 Syracuse 70-68 on Saturday.
“That doesn’t bother me at all,” Cardinals senior guard Peyton Siva said of the team’s expected slip when the new poll is announced Monday.
Read More…
More on AP
George Saunders Has Written The Best Book You’ll Read This Year – NYTimes.com
In a little sushi restaurant in Syracuse, George Saunders conceded that, sure, one reality was that he and I were a couple guys talking fiction and eating avocado salad and listening to Alanis Morissette coming from the speaker above our heads. Another was that we were walking corpses.Read More…
