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Thursday, August 8, 2013

Three winning tickets for $448 million Powerball jackpot sold in Minnesota ... - NBCNews.com (blog)

John Brecher / NBC News

Win Thu, right, buys a powerball ticket from Sheila Dey in the Queens borough of New York City.

By Andrew Rafferty, Erin McClam, Elisha Fieldstadt and Gillian Spear, NBC News

Chances are you didn't win, but at least three people were celebrating being propelled into the ranks of the super-rich early Thursday.

Lottery officials announced that three winning tickets were sold for Wednesday's Powerball jackpot of $448 million, the fourth largest lotto jackpot ever - - two in New Jersey and one in Minnesota.

The winning numbers were 5-25-30-58-59 with Powerball 32.

The New Jersey winning tickets were sold at Super Stop n Shop in South Brunswick and Acme Markets #7858 in Little Egg Harbor, officials said early Thursday. The Minnesota outlet's location was not immediately announced.

Sue Dooley, senior drawing manager production coordinator for the Multi-State Lottery Association, said late Wednesday that it wasn't yet clear who the winners where. She said that information would come from the individual states' lottery officials.

A string of no-win weeks in the past year have allowed jackpots to grow to dizzying heights. The top four lottery prizes ever in the United States have come since March 2012, when the record was set with a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot. The next three top jackpots, all for Powerball, have come in the past nine months and follow that lottery's January 2012 revamp, which changed the price of a ticket from $1 to $2.

The pricing move was designed to boost both revenue and jackpots, with the understanding that fewer people would play because the cost of a ticket doubled, Chuck Strutt, head of the Multi-State Lottery Association, said. Lotto officials estimated that Powerball participation would decrease around 35 percent as a result in the price increase.

But Strutt said the headlines nabbed by these life-altering sums of money have helped pull in players who may otherwise have sat on the sidelines.

"It's been a lucky year for the Power ball," he said.

Profits have increased more than 50 percent since the rules change, with the game raking in $5.9 billion last fiscal year.

"A lottery game does depend on luck. A year with a lot of hits of small jackpots, that would have probably kept a lot of people from buying," he added.

John Brecher / NBC News

Left: Shirley Marano, after purchasing a Powerball ticket in Flushing, Queens in New York City. "Number one, I like to gamble. And if I win, my husband and I will share it. Travel maybe, buy a car. I wouldn't buy a house. At my age, 76, it doesn't pay to buy a house. I'd probably give it to my grand niece. Once in a while I buy a lottery ticket. I like to take chances. I like to travel. I'm an Aries, Aries people like to travel. I'd probably take a trip to Hawaii. You get a different kind of tan I heard, why is that?"

Right: Ryan Zhang, after purchasing a Powerball ticket in Flushing, Queens in New York City. "I'm not a regular buyer. Just for fun - my wife just sent me a text saying 'powerball is 425 Million.' Two dollars is nothing, why not?"

The high numbers bring out players like Garrick Montenegro, who on Wednesday had just bought his ticket in New York City.

He said he only plays when "my wife says you gotta go play, at probably like 250." He bought $22 worth after asking the clerk how much it cost to for a ticket.

"I don't really pay attention to it because I know I'm not going to win," the pessimist lamented.

But the $200 million mark is the "magic number" to get even the biggest Debbie-downers motivated enough to buy a ticket, said Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa lottery and a Powerball board member.

"The occasional players are just huge when sums are at these high levels," he said.

The numbers can make a player's mind drift away to that dream vacation or an entirely new life.

"If I win, my husband and I will share it. Travel maybe, buy a car. I wouldn't buy a house. At my age, 76, it doesn't pay to buy a house," said Shirley Marano, who bought a ticket in New York City on Wednesday.

Stella Eastman, a mother of three, promised her kids something fun if her ticket turned out to have the winning numbers.

"They're little," she said. "So maybe Disneyland."

Jamie Wheeler picked up $20 worth of tickets and had a simpler plan: "I would drink a lot."

Some chose their numbers — five picks, plus the Powerball — at cash registers where they hoped lightning would strike twice. The big prize drew customers to a grocery store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that sold a $241 million Powerball ticket last year.

"I do have customers that they do come here specifically when the numbers get higher," Jason Busswitz, manager of the store, a Hy-Vee, told The Associated Press. "For some individuals, it does create a little more excitement around the Powerball machine."

John Brecher / NBC News

Left: Norm Chin after buying a Powerball ticket in Flushing, Queens in New York City. "I only play when it's big, when it gets past $200 million. At $100 million I might as well just play my Mega [rather than Powerball], I think t he odds are better. Probably I'd travel, I love to travel. Spain or Portugal, I haven't been there."

Right: Wallace Washington, after buying a Powerball ticket in Flushing, Queens in New York City. "I'm a lottery junkie, I play all of 'em. If I could win $5 I'd be happy. Chances are so slim, but if I'm in it, I'm happy. I'd retire. Family would be right there, lost cousins. But family comes first."

Mike Lugo of New York, who bought $20 worth of tickets for himself and put $60 into an office pool, has a different strategy — he spreads his purchases around.

"I guess I don't have a lucky spot," he said, "'cause I seem to keep missing it."

The fattest payout to a single winner was earlier this year, in May, when a woman in line at a Publix supermarket in Florida allowed an 84-year-old widow named Gloria McKenzie to go ahead of her in line.

McKenzie chose the randomized Quick Pick option and hit the $590 million jackpot.

Winners in Missouri and Arizona split a $587 million Powerball prize in November 2012.

At a Pennsylvania 7-Eleven that sold a $1 million Powerball ticket last week, customers hoped the good luck would continue.

"The manager said people were pouring into her store wanting to buy lottery tickets," Margaret Chabris, a spokeswoman for the convenience store chain, told the AP. "They were of course really excited that one of their customers had won."

The $425 million Powerball jackpot has thousands lining up to buy tickets across the country, but it's Pennsylvania that has the history of being the luckiest state with 16 winners. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

The drama perhaps pales only to Spain, where the annual Christmas lottery, known as El Gordo, or The Fat One, paid about $3.3 billion in tax-free awards last year. The top prize for each winner was $529,000.

In Spain, tens of mil lions of people watch on TV as schoolchildren sing the winning numbers. In the United States, it's the standard ping-pong balls bouncing around a machine.

But prizes that reach high into the hundreds of millions of dollars have the potential to hurt the lottery in the long run. Officials worry about what they call "lottery fatigue," the idea that once people keep seeing these amounts, they lose interest in lesser jackpots.

"People do become jaded, they lose interest in the smaller amounts," said Strutt.

To help overcome that, the rules change also created the opportunity for million dollar winners who match all five white balls but not the Powerball. Since the new rule went into place, 767 million dollar tickets have been sold.

And the odds are long to say the least. The chances of picking a winning Powerball ticket are roughly one in about 175 million. You are exponentially more likely to die of a hornet sting or be born with an extra finge r.

Powerball is played in 43 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

NBC News' Christopher Nelson and Jason Cumming and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Wed Aug 7, 2013 8:17 AM EDT

Eileen Brennan, Stalwart of Film and Stage, Dies at 80 - New York Times (blog)

By ANITA GATES

Published: July 30, 2013

Eileen Brennan, a smoky-voiced actress who had worked in show business for more than 20 years before gaining her widest attention as a gleefully tough Army captain in both the film and television versions of "Private Benjamin," died on Sunday at her home in Burbank, Calif. She was 80.

Her manager, Kim Vasilakis, confirmed the death on Tuesday, saying the cause was bladder cancer.

Ms. Brennan had had a solid career on the New York stage and in films like "The Last Picture Show" and "The Sting" when she was cast for the film "Private Benjamin," a 1980 box-office hit starring Goldie Hawn in the title role.

Ms. Brennan played Capt. Doreen Lewis, the slow-burning commanding officer of a pampered, privileged young woman who joins the Army and finds that she isn't anybody's little princess anymore. The performance brought Ms. Brennan an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. She reprised the role in 1981 in a CBS sitcom based on the film, with Lorna Patterson in the Goldie Hawn role. The TV performance brought Ms. Brennan the Emmy Award for best supporting actress in a comedy, variety or music series.

But she was forced to leave "Private Benjamin" when she was hit by a car and critically injured in Venice, Calif. Without her, the series died in 1983.

While recovering Ms. Brennan became addicted to pain medication and underwent treatment. She later developed breast cancer.

She returned to television in 1985 in a new sitcom, "Off the Rack," with Edward Asner, but the show lasted only six episodes. Afterward she made guest appearances on other shows, but she never recaptured the attention she had known in the past — as the toast of Off Broadway in "Little Mary Sunshine," as a film actress in the 1970s, and as an honored comedy star just before her accident.

Verla Eileen Regina Brennen was born on Sept. 3, 1932, and grew up in Los Angeles, the daughter of a newspaper reporter who also worked in sales and a former actress. Later in life, dealing with her own alcohol dependency, she talked about the alcoholism in her family when she was a child.

After attending Georgetown University, she studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, performed in summer stock and worked as a singing waitress.

Her first big role was as the title character in Rick Besoyan's "Little Mary Sunshine," a 1959 parody of operettas that played at the Orpheum Theater. She won an Obie Award for her portrayal of the show's spunky, fluttery-eyed heroine. A year later she complained to The New York Times that she had been "hopelessly typecast as that kookie girl."

Perhaps to prove otherwise, she promptly starred in the national tour of "The Miracle Worker," as Helen Keller's gravely serious teacher, Annie Sullivan.

In 1963, Ms. Brennan earned positive reviews as Anna in a City Center revival of "The King and I." In 1964, she was cast as Irene Molloy, the young widow, in the original Broadway production of "Hello, Dolly!," with Carol Channing.

Among later stage performances, she appeared in John Ford Noonan's "A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking," a critically praised 1980 two-woman show with Susan Sarandon, and Martin McDonagh's dark comedy "The Cripple of Inishmaan" (1998), in which she played an alcoholic Irishwoman.

Ms. Brennan made her television debut in "The Star Wagon," a 1966 PBS special, based on Maxwell Anderson's play about a man who invented a time machine. Her film debut came a year later, in "Divorce American Style," a comedy starring Debbie Reynolds and Dick Van Dyke.

After a brief stint as an original cast member (along with Ms. Hawn) of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," the 1960s sketch-comedy series, she did her first picture, playing a world-weary Texas waitress in "The Last Picture Show" (1971), directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

Mr. Bogdanovich cast her again in "Daisy Miller" (1974), as a society hostess, and in "At Long Last Love" (1975), as a singing maid.

Ms. Brennan played a madam with a heart of gold in the Oscar-winning 1973 film "The Sting" and appeared in two comedy-noir films written by Neil Simon, "Murder by Death" (1976) and "The Cheap Detective" (1978).

In later years, she appeared in "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous" (2005), as William Shatner's mother (despite being a year younger than he was). But she was most visible making guest appearances on television.

In addition to the Emmy she won, Ms. Brennan received six other Emmy nominations. Two were for "Private Benjamin." The others were for her work in "Taxi," "Newhart," "Thirtysomething" and "Will & Grace," in which she played Sean Hayes's formidable acting teacher.

Throughout her career she talked openly about addiction. "It's so horrible and it can be so disastrous, yet there's something about the sensitivity of the human being that has to face it," she said in a 1996 interview. "We're very sensitive people with a lot of introspection, and you get saved or you don't get saved."

Ms. Brennan was married from 1968 to 1974 to David John Lampson, an aspiring actor. Their two sons, Patrick and Sam, survive her, along with a sister, Kathleen Howard, and two grandchildren.

Singer Randy Travis out of surgery, still critical - USA TODAY

Randy Travis performs on day 2 of the 2013 CMA Music festival at the LP Field in Nashville.(Photo: Wade Payne)

Story Highlights

He'd previously received a booster device to help his heart pump blood
Travis underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain
He was being treated Wednesday for congestive heart failure

NASHVILLE — Randy Travis' publicist says the country music singer is out of surgery after suffering a stroke in a Texas hospital. He still remains in critical condition.

Publicist Kirt Webster said Wednesday night that Travis, 54, suffered the stroke while he was being treated for congestive heart fai lure.

Webster said Travis underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.

"His family and friends here with him at the hospital request your prayers and support," Webster's statement said.

Doctors said earlier Wednesday that Travis was in good health until three weeks before he was hospitalized, when he contracted a viral upper respiratory infection.

That information was released via video by physicians William Gray and Michael Mack of the Baylor Health Care System. Before Travis suffered the stroke, Mack said the singer's condition had stabilized "and he has shown signs of improvement."

REPORT: Travis' heart trouble could be life-threatening

MORE: How the booster device works

The Grammy winner, best known for his hits Forever and Ever, Amen and Three Wooden Crosses, was admitted to a Texas hospital Sunday with viral cardiomyopathy, a condition that can lead to heart failure. The cardiomyopathy caused his heart to weaken and enlarge, so it could not pump properly. To assist his heart function, Travis received an IMPELLA peripheral left ventricular assist device.

On Monday, Travis' sister-in-law Teresa Trawick told People.com that his family has a history of heart problems. "(His mother) passed away at an early age with her heart, so it is like these boys are following right in their footsteps," she said.

Travis, who pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated in Texas earlier this year, was hospitalized in 2012 after a fight near a church in Plano, Texas.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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Asiana pilot saw bright light | USA NOW video

Jul 11, 2013

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Powerball jackpot at $425 million and approaching 'world record territory' - NBCNews.com (blog)

John Brecher / NBC News

Win Thu, right, buys a powerball ticket from Sheila Dey in the Queens borough of New York City.

By Andrew Rafferty, Erin McClam, Elisha Fieldstadt and Gillian Spear, NBC News

Americans in 43 states lined up Wednesday for a shot at a mind-blowing $425 million Powerball jackpot, as lotto officials said they're the ones feeling lucky in a year of gargantuan prizes and big profits.

A string of no-win weeks in the past year have allowed jackpots to grow to dizzying hei ghts. The top four lottery prizes ever in the United States have come since March 2012, when the record was set with a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot. The next three top jackpots, all for Powerball, have come in the past nine months and follow that lottery's January 2012 revamp, which changed the price of a ticket from $1 to $2.

Wednesday's Powerball total is the fourth largest lotto jackpot ever. If someone does hit the right numbers, he or she can claim a single payment of $244 million after taxes.

And if no one walks away a winner, it is possible the next drawing on Saturday might be close to "world record territory," said Chuck Strutt, head of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

The pricing move was designed to boost both revenue and jackpots, with the understanding that fewer people would play because the cost of a ticket doubled, Strutt said. Lotto officials estimated that Powerball participation would decrease around 35 percent as a result in the price increase.

But, Strutt said, the headlines nabbed by these life-altering sums of money have helped pull in players who may otherwise have sat on the sidelines.

"It's been a lucky year for the Powerball," he said.

Profits have increased more than 50 percent since the rules change, with the game raking in $5.9 billion last fiscal year.

"A lottery game does depend on luck. A year with a lot of hits of small jackpots, that would have probably kept a lot of people from buying," he added.

John Brecher / NBC News

The high numbers bring out players like Garrick Montenegro, who on Wednesday had just bought his ticket in New York City.

He said he only plays when "my wife says you gotta go play, at probably like 250." He bought $22 worth after asking the clerk how much it cost to for a ticket.

"I don't really pay attention to it because I know I'm not going to win," the pessimist lamented.

But the $200 million mark is the "magic number" to get even the biggest Debbie-downers motivated enough to buy a ticket, said Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa lottery and a Powerball board member.

"The occasional players are just huge when sums are at these high levels," he said.

The numbers can make a player's mind drift away to that dream vacation or an entirely new life.

Stella Eastman, a mother of three, promised her kids something fun if her ticket turned out to have the winning numbers.

"They're little," she said. "So maybe Disneyland."

Jamie Wheeler picked up $20 worth of tickets and had a simpler plan: "I would drink a lot."

John Brecher / NBC News

Left: Norm Chin after buying a Powerball ticket in Flushing, Queens in New York City. "I only play when it's big, when it gets past $200 million. At $100 million I might as well just play my Mega [rather than Powerball], I think the odds are better. Probably I'd travel, I love to travel. Spain or Portugal, I haven't been there."

Mike Lugo of New York, who bought $20 worth of tickets for himself and put $60 into an office pool, has a different strategy — he spreads his purchases around.

"I guess I don't have a lucky spot," he said, "'cause I seem to keep missing it."

McKenzie chose the randomized Quick Pick option and hit the $590 million jackpot.

Winners in Missouri and Arizona split a $587 million Powerball prize in November 2012.

At a Pennsylvania 7-Eleven that sold a $1 million Powerball ticket last week, customers hoped the good luck would continue.

In Spain, tens of millions of people watch on TV as schoolchildren sing the winning numbers. In the United States, it's the standard ping-pong balls bouncing around a machine.

"People do become jaded, they lose interest in the smaller amounts," said Strutt.

This story was originally published on Wed Aug 7, 2013 8:17 AM EDT

A-Rod on Yanks: 'If I'm productive, I think they want me' - USA TODAY

The New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez will be stuck with each other for the foreseeable future, an arrangement that only figures to get more uncomfortable.

Major League Baseball on Monday suspended Rodriguez for 211 games, citing multiple violations of its drug policy and an alleged effort by the player to "obstruct and frustrate" the league's investigation into performance-enhancing drugs supplied by Biogenesis, a now-closed South Florida anti-aging clinic. Rodriguez appealed the decision and is permitted to play at least until his appeal is heard, which probably won't happen until the offseason.

Monday evening, at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field, Rodriguez probably summed up the feelings of both franchise and player when asked if he felt the Yankees want him to return.

"If I'm productive," he said, "I think they want me back."

Calling the last seven months of his life "a nightmare," thanks in part to January hip surgery in a year he turned 38, Rod riguez did his best to play the part of aggrieved athlete rather than the performance-enhancing drug abuser MLB has portrayed him in levying its suspension.

"If I don't defend myself," he said, "no one will."

It probably won't be the Yankees, not at this point.

The war of words between Rodriguez and the team that's played out both in public and behind the scenes.

STATEMENT: A-Rod Will fight through the process

Monday, manager Joe Girardi did not hesitate to pencil Rodriguez - who hasn't played this season due to hip surgery and a quadriceps strain - into his lineup, batting fourth and playing third base in his season debut.

The front office took a slightly different approach.

The Yankees took the occasion of Rodriguez's suspension to lash out at their third baseman and his associates for apparently insinuating that the club did not have his best interests and recovery from hip surgery at heart, and that the team somehow aided MLB's investigation in hopes of not having to pay the more than $100 million remaining on Rodriguez's contract.

PUNISHED: A-Rod, 12 others suspended

Another Yankees player, catcher Francisco Cervelli, who is currently on the disabled list, accepted a 50-game MLB ban for his role in the Biogenesis scandal.

"We are compelled," the club said in a statement, "to address certain reckless and false allegations concerning the Yankees' role in this matter. The New York Yankees in no way instituted and/or assisted MLB in the direction of this investigation; or used the investigation as an attempt to avoid its responsibilities under a player contract; or did its medical staff fail to provide the appropriate standard of care to Alex Rodriguez.

"Separately, we are disappointed with the news today of the suspension of Francisco Cervelli. It's clear that he used bad judgment."

The difference in wording was noticeable: The Yankees said they were "di sappointed" in Cervelli while terming both public and private proclamations regarding Rodriguez as "reckless and false."

Friday night, after playing in a minor-league game in Trenton, N.J., as he recovers from a quad injury, Rodriguez strongly insinuated what had been bubbling beneath the surface: His belief the Yankees would rather he not return.

"There are a lot of layers to it," Rodriguez said. "My job is to be able to take the field. As far as the legal stuff, I can't answer that. There are a lot of fans and teammates wondering and asking what is going on.

"There is more than one party that benefits from me not stepping on the field. It is not my teammates, it is not the Yankees. People have been trying to get creative trying to cancel my contract."

When asked who the party was, Rodriguez said, "What do you think?"

Asked to clarify these comments Monday, Rodriguez eased off, if only a little.

"I said what I said," Rodriguez said. "That 's Friday night; today is another day. I'm focused on what my job is, my responsibility to the New York Yankees, the fan base of New York."

PHOTOS: Alex Rodriguez through the years

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Earlier Monday, Rodriguez and attorney David Cornwell released statements tha t expressed more disdain for MLB's penalty than the Yankees, though Friday's outburst by Rodriguez and Monday's statement together illustrate the battle he's fighting on two fronts.

"I am disappointed with the penalty and intend to appeal and fight this through the process," Rodriguez said. "I am eager to get back on the field and be with my teammates in Chicago tonight. I want to thank my family, friends and fans who have stood by myself through all this.

Said Cornwell: "It is regrettable that the Commissioner's office has taken this unprecedented action. Major League Baseball has gone well beyond the authority granted to it in its Joint Drug Agreement and the Basic Agreement. Consequently, we will appeal the discipline and pursue all legal remedies available to Alex."

For Rodriguez, there is plenty at stake. After this season, he has at least $86 million remaining on a contract that runs through 2017. In fact, Rodriguez entered Monday wiht 647 home runs; he will receive a $6 million bonus if he hits 13 more to tie Willie Mays for fourth place on baseball's all-time list.

He should get support on the ground level for that quest; Rodriguez's teammates have largely stood by him him as he's rehabbed from hip surgery.

The enmity, instead, has been between player and front office, with GM Brian Cashman famously telling Rodriguez to "shut up" in profane fashion when Rodriguez tweeted news of his impending rehab games.

Now, that player is returning to the field as Cashman's third baseman for the foreseeable future.

Anthony Weiner Admits to Sending More Sexy Texts and Photos, Because He Is ... - Slate Magazine (blog)

Carlos Danger, is that you?

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Earlier today, TheDirty.com started publishing online conversations between Anthony Weiner and an unnamed woman—time stamps also scrubbed. According to the woman, in the summer of 2012, Weiner was talking about "a Chicago sex condo and having sexual conversations," and two of them "would send naked images to each other and have phone sex." His pseudonym was Carlos Danger; his mission, at one point, was to help his online friend get into a Politico Arena panel; the age difference between them was 26 years.

After the story breathed online for a few hours, Weiner put out a statement confirming the gist, but not the timing:

"I said that other texts and photos were likely to come out, and today they have. As I have said in the past, these things that I did were wrong and hurtful to my wife and caused us to go through challenges in our marriage that extended past my resignation from Congress.While some things that have been posted today are true and some are not, there is no question that what I did was wrong. This behavior is behind me. I've apologized to Huma and am grateful that she has worked through these issues with me and for her forgiveness. I want to again say that I am very sorry to anyone who was on the receiving end of these messages and the disruption that this has caused. As my wife and I have said, we are focused on moving forward."

He did say that "other texts" would come out during the run-up to his campaign launch. The reasonable assumption was that other exchanges would be unearthed from his Lost Years, up to his 2011 resignation. You don't have to endorse the finger-wagging theory of politics to ask whether continuing sexy conversations with blackmail-ready women Weiner didn't know sort of complicates the guy's redemption narrative. The pitch, basically, was that Weiner learned his lesson. Not that he resigned and then kept trawling the Internet for girls who'd find him impressive.

UPDATE: As luck would have it, when this story broke I was in a rules committee meeting in the North Carolina Senate, covering the far-less-imporant story of a coming voter ID law.* The Weiner story is so overwhelmingly pathetic that I had tried to avoid some of the guy's explanations for himself. Those explanations look stranger today. In that New York Times Magazine cover story that launched his comeback attempt, again and again Weiner offers the impression of a changed and chastened man. "Weiner started seeing a therapist almost immediately after the scandal broke," reported Jonathan Van Meter. And the therapy-talk flowed out of him.

There just wasn't much of me who was smart enough, sensitive enough, in touch with my own things, understanding enough about the disrespect and how dishonorable it was to be doing that. It didn't seem to occupy a real space in my feelings. I think it would be pretty surprising to a lot of people: What was he thinking? I wasn't really thinking. What does this mean that I'm doing this? Is this risky behavior? Is this smart behavior? To me, it was just another way to feed this notion that I want to be liked and admired.

A close read of that sympathetic story suggests that Huma Abedin, too, thought that Weiner had changed. "Here was a man I respected, I loved, was the father of this child inside of me, and he was asking me for a second chance," she said. "And I'm not going to say that was an easy or fast decision that I made. It's been almost two years now."

Almost two years—i.e., he didn't keep this up in 2012. Speaking of which, the NYT story wasn't actually Weiner's first media since his scandal. On Aug. 18, People magazine published a cute photo of Weiner, Abedin, and their son. "Anthony has spent every day since [the scandal] trying to be the best dad and husband he can be," said Abedin.

According to the Dirty's timeline, in August 2012 Weiner was hitting on a mysterious 22-year-old, the two of them having found each other on Formspring.** I mean, I suppose it's possible Weiner was on Peapod, ordering diapers, and he clicked the wrong link.

Possible, but unlikely. That's why this scandal scars Weiner in a way his 2011 scandal didn't. Do people make mistakes, get drunk with power, and resign? Pretty frequently. We're familar with the apology-and-redeem plotline. The current story makes Weiner look not only venal, but stupid, and unimaginably narcissitic. Maybe he believes, as a lot of people believe, that his original scandal was punished too severely. Why go ahead and re-enter the public sphere knowing that he'd humiliate himself and his family again?

UPDATE II: From the press conference:

REPORTER: When was the last time you did this?

WEINER: I can't say exactly, sometime last summer I think.

Around the time he was sitting for the People story.

**Correction, July 23, 2013: David Weigel misidentified Formspring as Springform.

Brennan: Alex Rodriguez like the party guest who won't leave - USA TODAY

In nailing Alex Rodriguez, Major League Baseball has caught the man it believes is the worst cheater of the Steroids Era, at least so far, but the league can't make a clean getaway from a dirty player. He won't leave. He refuses to do what so many others have done: accept his fate.

He's like the guest who stays past midnight at a party that was supposed to end at 10.

NIGHTENGALE: Ban of A-Rod not the end of this saga

MLB: Suspends A-Rod, 12 others

Yes, he is suspended, effective Thursday. But Rodriguez said he will appeal, so he can keep playing, possibly for the rest of the season, depending on when his case goes before an arbitrator.

A dozen other Biogenesis Boys, including big names such as Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta and Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, agreed to serve their 50-game punishments. A 13th, Ryan Braun, accepted a 65-game suspension two weeks ago.

But A-Rod? Oh no, not A-Rod. We might be don e with him, but he's certainly not done with us. We simply get to bounce from one A-Rod soap opera to another, from the Biogenesis saga to his upcoming arbitration follies.

A-Rod is facing a suspension through the 2014 season, the longest for a player in Major League Baseball history except for the lifetime bans handed out to former Cincinnati Red Pete Rose and the players involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Yet Rodriguez started at third base on Monday night in Chicago, where the Yankees played the White Sox.

And here we thought the prospect of Peralta and Cruz returning from their suspensions in time for possible postseason appearances would be dreadful. It is, of course, but it's nothing like the circus in Chicago: a banished ballplayer, a pariah to MLB, starting a game hours after his extraordinary suspension was announced.

MORE: A-Rod expected in lineup Monday night

The only thing worse would be if Barry Bonds had announced on Monday t hat he was coming out of retirement.

A-Rod certainly has the right to go to arbitration to try to get his suspension reduced or overturned, even though MLB, in announcing his suspension, said he was guilty of doping over the "course of multiple years" and also engaged in a "cover-up" designed to "obstruct and frustrate" the league's investigation into the Biogenesis scandal.

VIDEO: Breaking down the suspension

A-Rod previously admitted to doping from 2001 to 2003, making him a repeat offender. Continuing to fight his banishment means that details of his alleged drug use will almost certainly come out, but that's the risk he wants to take to keep playing, and to keep collecting his huge salary.

The game's highest-paid player, the $275 million man who was supposed to save baseball's career home-run record from the tainted Bonds, is now himself nothing but another stain on the record book. His once-legendary career is in tatters.

ANALYSIS : Was cheating just 'Alex being Alex?'

A-Rod assumes the infamous mantle of being the worst steroid user to be documented in the history of baseball. That's a title Rodriguez never wanted, but it's one he'll live with for the rest of his life.

He had company in his misery Monday. But among all the players who were suspended, A-Rod's is the most important name. At 38, having had surgery on both hips, this 211-game suspension nearly takes him to his 40th birthday. At his age, and with his health record, it is tantamount to a lifetime ban. If we know that, he knows it, which is undoubtedly another reason for him to fight, regardless of whether he ultimately loses.

What a sports tragedy this is, the young man with all that potential, starting his career in Seattle, hopscotching to Texas, then to the vaunted Yankees, now caught, disgraced and fighting for his baseball life. He was the youngest player to hit 500 home runs, then the youngest player to reach 60 0. He was a two-time American League MVP.

All that promise makes what he became all the more appalling.

STUNNED: Rangers shocked by Cruz decision

Then again, it's quite likely that he was that good at least in part because of the drugs he used. How many of those home runs were enhanced by doping? We shouldn't have believed him then, or now. In many ways, he is nothing more than a test-tube slugger.

VIDEO: Do players want A-Rod as teammate?

If he, or the players' union, in conjunction with the owners, had any gumption, they would strike A-Rod from the record book — and all his juiced-up colleagues as well, just as international sports leaders have done with Lance Armstrong, Ben Johnson, Marion Jones and their ilk.

That's the next step for MLB and the players' union: remove these names from the records. It's shocking, really, that all the active and retired players who are believed to be clean don't demand it immediately.

Whatever it decides about its past, MLB is definitely moving ahead on its future. The league intends to toughen penalties for its cheaters, likely after this season. The relatively soft punishment of 50 games for a first offense, 100 games for a second and a lifetime ban for a third should be replaced by the Olympic model: two years for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second.

In the meantime, A-Rod plays on. The game that once loved him has turned on him and correctly told him to go away. He should have taken the hint and never come back.

He didn't, so if you weren't sick of him before, you will be now.

Follow Christine Brennan @cbrennansports

GALLERY: Alex Rodriguez through the years

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Cooper Welcomed Back To Eagles' Camp - ESPN

Updated: August 7, 2013, 12:31 PM ET

By Field Yates | ESPN.com

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper, who returned to practice on Tuesday after a brief stint away from the team, said that he's spoken with each of his teammates individually since a video capturing him using a derogatory racial remark went viral, asking them not to forgive him for his actions, but to judge him by his future.

"I talked to everyone individually," he said following the team's joint practice with the New England Patriots. "I told them, 'I don't want you to forgive me, because that puts the burden on you. I want it all on me.' I told them that and I told them I apologize. They could tell it was from the heart, they know I'm not that kind of person. It feels good to have support from the guys."

He added that he felt that 100 percent of his teammates were in support of him, something he sensed on the field in his return.

"It felt good to be out there with the guys and catching and running and making some plays and them coming up to you, supporting you, high-fiving you, chest-bumping you like Jason Avant did in the end zone when I had that TD," Cooper said. "It just felt good to be back out here with the guys."

The Eagles had excused Cooper on Friday and sent him for sensitivity training after video of his remark, made at a Kenny Chesney concert in June, surfaced last week.

His goal now is to earn the respect back from his teammates that he may have lost since the video surfaced. Running back LeSean McCoy recently said that he had lost respect for Cooper after the remarks.

"Absolutely, just by my actions," Cooper said of gaining respect back. "Don't judge me for the past, more so the future and just watch my daily moves and what I'm doing."

Fellow wide receiver Avant, among the team leaders spotlighted by coach Chip Kelly, said that the Eagles are over the situation as a team.

"I think you guys [the media] need the healing process more than the team," Avant said. "You guys got to cover it, so you keeping going, making the story go, but as far as our team, I think guys are definitely over it and we talked, we've had dialogue, we've accepted his apology. The only thing he can do is apologize. What else can he do? When a situation happens like that, there's not too many things you can do but apologize and be sincere about it. Now you guys have to get over it."

Asked whether or not a situation could arise where the team would part ways with Cooper due to the fallout from the situation, Kelly squashed the notion.

"I don't see that happening," he said. "After talking to our players, I think our players really understand the situation ... I don't envision that happening."

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement Tuesday that Cooper's slur was "totally unacceptable" but that the receiver was working to regain trust with the team and community. Cooper was fined by the Eagles after his slur became known last week.

"His words may have been directed at one person but they hurt everyone. Riley has apologized to the team and community and has made a personal commitment to work hard to try and gain their trust and earn his position on the team," Lurie said in the statement.

Cooper, a fifth-round pick of the team in 2010, remains hopeful that he has a future on the field in Philadelphia.

"I sure do hope, and I'm going to try each and every day to prove that and play as hard as I can and play my game," he said. "I want to stay here."

Regardless of his future with the Eagles, Cooper also understands that this is an incident that he's going to have to live with for the rest of his life.

"It's going to be tough, no doubt about it," he said. "I'm going to live with this every day for the rest of my life. It's one of those things, you can't let it affect your play on the field, and that's what I'm going to strive to do."

Kelly said that the decision for Cooper to return was a mutual one, while Cooper noted that he'll continue to seek guidance on the issue as needed going forward.

"I talked to Chip last night and this morning, and he asked, he said, 'How do you feel? Are you ready to come back?' and I said absolutely," Cooper said. "I love being out here on the field and I love being out there with my guys."

The training, Cooper said, helped him understand the severity of his remarks.

"We just talked about the situation and how big this is," he said of the training. "I realize that, and I realize how many people I've hurt, how many families I've hurt, how many young kids I've hurt, and that's what we talked about, the severity of it. I realize that and I take full responsibility for it."

While Cooper said that all of the players on the field were "great" toward him on Tuesday, he understands that he'll likely continue to hear about this situation from opponents and other players in the future.

"I know people are going to say stuff, but people have always said stuff," he said. "You have to be the bigger man and have to have thick skin, especially in this situation."

The Eagles may have to lean on Cooper more on the field in light on Tuesday's injury to Arrelious Benn.

Benn, acquired by the Eagles in a trade with Tampa Bay, suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during practice. The team also released wide receiver Dave Ball.

Information from ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter was used in this report.

Field Yates has previous experience interning with the New England Patriots on both their coaching and scouting staffs. A graduate of Wesleyan University (CT), he is a regular contributor to ESPN Boston's Patriots coverage and ESPN Insider.

Updated: August 7, 2013, 12:31 PM ET

By Field Yates | ESPN.com

A-Rod calls last 7 months a 'nightmare' after MLB lowers boom on him, 12 others - Fox News

Alex Rodriguez told a news conference Monday the past seven months had been a "nightmare, probably the worst time of my life" but refused to go into specifics about his suspension by Major League Baseball for the remainder of the current season and all of next year for using performance-enhancing drugs,.

He also said he had to stand up for himself because "if I don't defend myself, no one else will."

Rodriguez, the game's highest paid player, said repeatedly he wanted to "let the process play out" as he addressed reporters before taking the field against the Chicago White Sox, where he was jeered by fans as he stepped to the plate.

Rodriguez singled in his first plate appearance in the second inning, but had less success his next three times up, flying out twice and striking out looking as the Yankees lost, 8-1.

"There's nothing about it that's been easy," Rodriguez said. "All of it has been challenging. I'm sure there's been mistakes made along the way. We're here now. I'm a human being. I've had two hip surgeries. I've had two knee surgeries. I'm fighting for my life."

He had said earlier he planned to appeal the suspension, the harshest of some 13 penalties doled out by the league Monday.

"It's not going to get any easier," he said. "It's probably going to get harder." But he added he was "thrilled and humbled to have an opportunity to put on this uniform again and play major league baseball again."

Under the league's collective bargaining agreement, Rodriguez, who has missed the entire season battling injuries and is just now ready to come off the disabled list, can play while appealing the suspension, which is effective Aug. 8.

"I am disappointed with the penalty and intend to appeal and fight this through the process," Rodriguez said in a statement. "I am eager to get back on the field and be with my teammates in Chicago tonight. I want to thank my family, friends and fans who have stood by my side through all this."

Rodriguez's suspension "is based on his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years," and for "engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner's investigation," according to a news release from Major League Baseball. Rodriguez would forfeit his salaries from the remainder of this season and all of next, but is owed $61 million by the Yankees from 2015-17, and could earn millions more as he closes in on the all-time home run record.

The Yankees released a statement after the suspensions came down expressing support for the league but sharply addressing claims that they are trying to get out of what has become a lousy contract.

"The New York Yankees in no way instituted and/or assisted MLB in the direction of this investigation; or used the investigation as an attempt to avoid its responsibilities under a player contract; or did its medical staff fail to provide the appropriate standard of care to Alex Rodriguez," the statement read.

In addition to Rodriguez, baseball handed out 50-game suspensions to a dozen other players for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy. Only Rodriguez was expected to appeal.

Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta, Phillies reliever Antonio Bastardo, Mets outfielder Jordany Valdespin, Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera, free-agent pitcher Jordan Norberto, Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli, Mariners catcher Jesus Montero, Mets outfielder Cesar Puello, Astros pitcher Sergio Escalona, Padres pitcher Fautino De Los Santos and Yankees outfielder Fernando Martinez have accepted their punishments handed out by Major League Baseball, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports, citing unidentified sources close to the matter.

The Texas Rangers said Monday that they were "disappointed" in Cruz. Cruz said in a statement that he had a gastrointestinal infection that went undiagnosed at the beginning of 2012, making him unsure if he would be physically able to play.

"Faced with this situation, I made an error in judgment that I deeply regret, and I accept full responsibility for that error," Cruz said. "I should have handled the situation differently, and my illness was no excuse."

Peralta said he got suspended because he made a "lapse in judgment."

"I apologize to everyone that I have hurt as a result of my mistake, including my teammates, the Tigers' organization, the great fans in Detroit, Major League Baseball, and my family," Peralta said.

The San Diego Padres also said the organization stands behind the league's decision to suspend Cabrera.

"The accepted suspensions announced today are consistent with the punishments set forth in the Joint Drug Agreement, and were arrived at only after hours of intense negotiations between the bargaining parties, the players and their representatives," Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Michael Weiner said Monday afternoon.

The Union's members have made it clear that they want a clean game," Weiner added. "They support efforts to discipline players, and harshly, to help ensure an even playing field for all."

Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon, Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera and Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal received no additional punishments. They each have served 50-game suspensions following a positive test.

Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez and Orioles infielder Danny Valencia, whose names surfaced in early reports about the now-closed Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic in Florida, have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

"He's in there, and I'm going to play him."

- Joe Girardi, New York Yankees manager

Rodriguez is the most famous player linked to Biogenesis, and the Yankees expect him to be charged with interfering with MLB's investigation, resulting in a harsher penalty than the other 13 players facing discipline.

If Rodriguez challenges the suspension, his appeal would be heard by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz.

Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson was excited Rodriguez could play during an appeal.

"I want him back with us. This is arguably one of the best hitters of all time," he said. "Having him in the lineup is obviously going to be very positive for us."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from FOX Sports.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Alex Rodriguez to play for Yankees while he appeals impending MLB suspension - Yahoo! Sports

Alex Rodriguez is expected to play for the New York Yankees on Monday despite Major League Baseball's plans to suspend him for more than 200 games earlier in the day, the first joust in what could be a long, drawn-out battle over the beleaguered star's future in the sport, sources told Yahoo! Sports on Sunday night.

Rodriguez plans on appealing MLB's suspension through the 2014 season for his role in the Biogenesis scandal, allowing him to play immediately. After long discussions to suspend Rodriguez using the collective-bargaining agreement, which would have kept the 38-year-old off the field immediately, MLB late Sunday was leaning toward using the joint drug agreement, which permits a stay of the suspension pending appeal. While commissioner Bud Selig would prefer to keep Rodriguez off the field, his use of the CBA as the primary reason could be seen as running afoul of the intentions of the JDA and thus is unlikely to be used.

Rodriguez flew to Chicago on Sunday prepared to play his first game since offseason hip surgery, and Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he expected him in the lineup against the White Sox on Monday night despite the expected 214-game penalty, which would be the longest non-lifetime suspension in baseball history.

MLB will announce Rodriguez's suspension, along with about a dozen others, on Monday afternoon. The MLB Players Association has yet to send plea agreements from most of the players expected to take penalties of 50 games for receiving performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis, the south Florida wellness clinic that allegedly served as a doping nerve center for Rodriguez, suspended Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun and other major league starters, including Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz, Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta and San Diego shortstop Everth Cabrera.

Alex Rodriguez reacts after missing a pitch in the fifth inning of a Class AA game on Saturday. (AP)

Despite evidence from Biogenesis owner Anthony Bosch that shows Rodriguez used PEDs consistently over a three-year period, the highest-paid player in American sports refused to strike a deal with MLB, choosing instead to get his suspension overturned or reduced via arbitration. During negotiations, Rodriguez asked to be treated as a first-time offender, which under baseball's drug agreement equals a 50-game suspension. Because MLB gathered evidence of Rodriguez tampering with its investigation into Biogenesis, the league pursued far more severe discipline, arguing that because Rodriguez's violations were non-analytical positives – none of his urine tests triggered positives – they were not subject to typical discipline.

[Related: Alex Rodriguez only concerned about getting his money]

It sets up a fascinating dynamic in which the league could again face an arbitration case against lawyer David Cornwell, who is representing Rodriguez. He was the lead attorney for Braun's case after a test found synthetic testosterone in his urine. The arbitrator, Shyam Das, threw out a 50-game suspension because of chain-of-custody issues in the handling of Braun's sample.

The negotiations between Rodriguez's camp and the league broke down Saturday when MLB refused to meet with Rodriguez a day after he referred obliquely to "people [who] are finding creative ways to cancel [my] contract." According to sources, Rodriguez's camp contacted the players' union Saturday morning in the hopes it could arrange a meeting with MLB officials. Rodriguez's people, according to the same sources, also sought to meet directly with Yankees officials, possibly in an effort to strike a financial settlement.

MLB apparently told the union the time for negotiation had passed and that the league intended to announce discipline for a dozen players on Monday, including some whose names have not been made public.

If the suspension is upheld through arbitration – sources expect the case to be heard sometime within the next month – Rodriguez would lose more than $30 million of the $95 million due him through 2017. Were new arbitrator Frederic Horowitz to uphold the full 214-game penalty, sources said, Rodriguez's penalty would extend into 2015 and lead up to his 40th birthday.

Rodriguez had met previously with MLB investigators and, according to a source, refused to answer their questions. On Friday night in Trenton, where he is rehabbing a quadriceps injury, Rodriguez hit a long home run and then implied he would not give up the fight against MLB or the Yankees. He appeared most concerned with saving as much of his contract as he could, against what he seems to believe is an effort by the Yankees to be rid of him and the largest deal in team sports history.

"I think that's the pink elephant in the room," Rodriguez told reporters in Trenton. "I think we all agree that we want to get rid of PEDs. That's a must. I think all the players feel that way. But when all the stuff is going on in the background and people are finding creative ways to cancel your contract, I think that's concerning for me. It's concerning for present [players] and it should be concerning for future players as well. There is a process. … I'm going to keep fighting."

New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, with his hand to his head, talks during a news conference before the Yankees play the Chicago White Sox in a baseball game at US Cellular Field in Chicago on Monday, Aug. 5, 2013. Rodriguez was suspended through 2014 and All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta and Everth Cabrera were banned 50 games apiece Monday when Major League Baseball disciplined 13 players in a drug case, the most sweeping punishment since the Black Sox scandal nearly a century ago. (AP Photo/Charles Cherney) less

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