XEcutioner's blog: "Interesting stories from the NET!"

updated 3:01 a.m. HT, Fri., March. 27, 2009 TRENTON, N.J. - A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted. The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail. Legal experts, though, could not recall another case of a child porn charge resulting from a teen's posting to a social networking site. MySpace would not comment on the New Jersey investigation, but the News Corp.-owned company has a team that reviews its network for inappropriate images. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off a state task force, which alerted the Passaic County Sheriff's Office.

DALLAS -- A police officer was placed on administrative leave Thursday over a traffic stop involving an NFL player whom he kept in a hospital parking lot and threatened to arrest while his mother-in-law died inside the building. Officer Robert Powell also drew his gun during the March 18 incident involving Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats in the Dallas suburb of Plano, police said. Moats "I can screw you over," he said at one point in the videotaped incident. When another officer came with word that Moats' mother-in-law was indeed dying, Powell's response was: "All right. I'm almost done." Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle apologized to the family and announced that Powell would be on paid leave pending an internal investigation. "When we at the command staff reviewed the tape, we were embarrassed, disappointed," Kunkle said. "It's hard to find the right word and still be professional in my role as the police chief. But the behavior was not appropriate." Powell, 25, a three-year member of the force, stopped Moats' SUV outside Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano after Moats rolled through a red light. Police officials said Powell told his commanders he believed he was doing his job, and that he drew his gun but did not point it. Kunkle said Powell was not necessarily acting improperly when he pulled his weapon out, but that once he realized what was happening should have put the gun back, apologized and offered to help the family in any way. "His behavior, in my opinion, did not exhibit the common sense, the discretion, the compassion that we expect our officers to exhibit," Kunkle said. Moats' wife, who was in the car along with other relatives, said Powell pointed his weapon at her. Video: NFL player pulled over On the Web site of the Dallas Morning News, video from a police dashboard camera shows a Dallas police officer stopping Texans running back Ryan Moats in front of the hospital where his mother-in-law lay dying of cancer. Watch "He was pointing a gun at me as soon as I got out of the car," Tamishia Moats told The Dallas Morning News. The Moats family did not immediately return messages left by The Associated Press. Powell did not respond to requests for comment through the Dallas police union. Video from a dashboard camera inside the officer's vehicle, obtained by Dallas-Fort Worth station WFAA-TV, revealed an intense exchange in which the officer threatened to jail Moats. He ordered Tamishia Moats, 27, to get back in the SUV, but after pausing for a few seconds, she and another woman rushed into the hospital. She was by the side of her mother, 45-year-old Jonetta Collinsworth, when she died a short time later from breast cancer. "Get in there," said Powell, yelling at Tamishia Moats as she exited the vehicle. "Let me see your hands!" "Excuse me, my mom is dying," Tamishia Moats said. "Do you understand?" Ryan Moats explained that he waited until there was no traffic before proceeding through the red light. When Powell asked for proof of insurance, Moats grew more agitated and told the officer to go find it. "My mother-in-law is dying! Right now! You're wasting my time!" Moats yelled. "I don't understand why you can't understand that." As they argued, the officer got irritated. "Shut your mouth," the officer said. "You can either settle down and cooperate or I can just take you to jail for running a red light." By the time the 26-year-old NFL player received a ticket and a lecture from Powell, about 13 minutes had passed. When he and Collinsworth's father entered the hospital, they learned Collinsworth was dead. Kunkle said the video showed that Moats and his wife "exercised extraordinary patience, restraint in dealing with the behavior of our officer." "At no time did Mr. Moats identify himself as an NFL football player or expect any kind of special consideration," Kunkle said. "He handled himself very, very well." The Moats family, who are black, said they can't help but think that race might have played a part in the white officer's behavior. "I think he should lose his job," Ryan Moats said. When the exchange was at its most contentious, Powell said he could tow Moats' SUV if he didn't have insurance and that he could arrest him for fleeing because he didn't immediately stop when Powell turned on his sirens. The pursuit lasted a little more than a minute. "I can screw you over," Powell said. "I'd rather not do that. Your attitude will dictate everything that happens." The ticket issued to Moats was dismissed, Dallas police spokesman Lt. Andy Harvey said. Texans spokesman Kevin Cooper said the team had no comment. Moats, a third-round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005 out of Louisiana Tech, was cut by the Eagles in August and later signed with the Texans. In three seasons as a backup, he's rushed for 441 yards and scored four touchdowns. He was a standout at Bishop Lynch High School, a private school in Dallas, rushing for more than 2,600 yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

In terms of the game's hallowed numbers, it doesn't quite resonate like, let's say, 50.4 -- Wilt Chamberlain's historic scoring average in 1961-62 -- or Oscar Robertson's 30-12-11 triple-double that same season. But it's a big one at Hollinger HQ, anyway. That 31.89 mark is Michael Jordan's PER (player efficiency rating) from the 1987-88 season, the top mark for any season since the league started tracking individual turnovers in 1973-74. (We don't have enough information for seasons prior to that, unfortunately, so we can't properly evaluate Wilt or the Big O.) And it's an important figure at the moment because it's under assault this season from LeBron James. That James is playing well is hardly a secret -- virtually every writer in the country has him either first or second on the MVP ballot heading into the season's final stretch. But the vagaries of the game's stats have made it difficult to appreciate what a historically great season he's having. James doesn't lead the league in a single individual category, and his scoring and rebounding numbers are both down from a year ago. Yet when one looks at his accomplishments in total, and adjusts for both his minutes and his team's pace, he's having one of the greatest seasons in league history. On a per-minute basis, he's averaging more points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals than he did last season -- when he already was having a sensational season that included the league's best PER -- and is shooting better from the field, from the line and from 3-point range. Somehow, he's averaging fewer turnovers, too. Add it all up and James' 31.69 PER through Sunday's games isn't only the best in the league, holding off a stern late charge by Miami's Dwyane Wade -- it's second only to Jordan in the past 35 years, and if James has a strong closing finish, it could end up as the best. Even if he fails to match Jordan's all-time mark, he's already on hallowed ground. While Jordan's PER exceeded 31.0 on four different occasions, no other player in history had done it until James this season. Nonetheless, the historic nature of James' campaign hasn't received nearly enough attention. His averages of 28.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists are impressive, all right, but they don't look all that different from other seasons of recent vintage -- James' 30.0, 7.9 and 7.2 from a season earlier, for instance, or Larry Bird's 28.7, 10.6 and 6.5 in 1984-85, or Kobe Bryant's 35.4 points per game in 2005-06. And on pure per-game totals, they pale beside Jordan's 32.5, 8.0 and 8.0 in 1988-89 ... let alone the Big O's triple-double in 1961-62. TOP ALL-TIME PER SEASONS Player Year PPG RPG APG MPG PER Michael Jordan 1987-88 35.0 5.5 5.9 40.4 31.89 Michael Jordan 1990-91 31.5 6.0 5.5 37.0 31.79 LeBron James 2008-09 28.6 7.6 7.3 38.6 31.69 Michael Jordan 1989-90 33.6 6.9 6.3 39.0 31.31 Michael Jordan 1988-89 32.5 8.0 8.0 40.2 31.29 But that's one of the reasons I created PER -- it enables us to make comparisons between seasons much more easily than we could do otherwise, because it scales to the same league average each season (15.0) and automatically adjusts for factors like pace, minutes, and whether offense or defense was ascendant at the time. Unfortunately for James, he plays in one of the slowest-paced eras in the league's history. Though things have picked up a bit the past few seasons, even run-and-gun teams like Golden State and Phoenix would be considered walk-it-up outfits if they played in the 1980s or '90s. Jordan's 1987-88 Bulls, for instance, were the league's slowest-paced team at a pace factor of 98.2 -- one that would rank fourth from the top in 2008-09, just ahead of the fabled Suns. The comparisons get even more lopsided once you go further back in history -- when Chamberlain averaged his 50.4 points, for instance, the Celtics were the only team to give up fewer than 116 points per game. Just for fun, then, I decided to convert everyone's numbers into the same terms as Jordan's 1987-88 season, just so we could have an apples-to-apples comparison of some of the league's greatest seasons in the "triple crown' categories of points, rebounds and assists; as a guidepost, I also included each players' minutes per game and PER. Historic seasons: Per-40-Minute stats at Chicago's 1987-88 Pace Player Year PPG RPG APG MPG PER Michael Jordan 1987-88 35.0 5.5 5.9 40.4 31.89 LeBron James 2008-09 32.2 8.6 8.2 38.1 31.69 Shaquille O'Neal 1999-00 30.4 13.9 3.9 40.0 30.62 Kobe Bryant 2005-06 36.3 5.4 4.6 41.0 28.11 Larry Bird 1984-85 27.3 10.0 6.3 39.5 26.54 As the chart shows, putting LeBron's current campaign at the pace of the 1987-88 season and pushing him back up to 40 minutes produces some extraordinary numbers -- on a per-possession basis, he's actually scoring nearly as much as Jordan did, with far superior ancillary numbers. And if you want to go further back in history, check out what James' numbers would be if he was playing at the pace Robertson did back in 1961-62 -- we don't have exact figures because the NBA didn't keep very detailed numbers back then, but based on the shot data alone it would be in the range of a jaw-dropping 40, 10 and 10, as Neal Paine of Basketball-Reference.com found when he crunched the numbers. Of course, pace is just one aspect of the comparison. We also have to deal with minutes, and this is one area where James falls short of his peers, believe it or not. Jordan averaged 40.4 minutes per game in 1987-88, and Bird played 39.5 in 1984-85; at the extreme end, Chamberlain played virtually every second of every game in 1961-62 -- because of games going to OT, he actually averaged 48.5 minutes per game that season. This is partly because of how many blowout wins James' Cavs have had, but it's mostly a reflection of his era -- James' total, low as it seems in the chart, is actually fifth in the NBA this season. Teams have begun emulating the San Antonio Spurs' style of not overloading their best players with minutes and keeping them fresh for the postseason -- in fact, not one player averages as many as 40 minutes per game, an unthinkable state of affairs as recently as half a decade ago. Unfortunately for James, it's another area where his numbers take a hit in historical comparisons. A season of 28.6, 7.6 and 7.3 sounds decent. A season of 30.3, 8.1 and 7.7 -- which is what his numbers extrapolate to if he played as many minutes as Jordan did in 1987-88 -- sounds downright amazing. And a season of 32.5, 8.7 and 8.3 -- which is what his numbers extrapolate to at the same pace and the same minutes -- is mind-blowing. Back to PER for a moment. You can argue about whether James is having the greatest individual season ever -- to seal the deal, presumably it would have to be capped by a title, for starters, and there are a variety of subjective criteria one can add to the discussion that goes far beyond the limits of PER. What's very clear, however, is that LeBron's campaign belongs on the short list. Few players in history have had a season approaching this one, and as of today only one player has exceeded it. And James still has a shot at breaking the mark. I'm estimating James will play 270 more minutes this season, based on the Playoff Odds' current guess that Cleveland won't clinch home court throughout the playoffs until the final day of the season. If so, James would need a PER of roughly 33.0 for the remainder of the season to surpass Jordan during the Cavs' final dozen games -- a feat that is difficult but hardly impossible. So while it may not have the panache of a hitter's chasing .400 or an NFL player's setting a new rushing record, the chase is on. The conventional wisdom is that James is having a great season, but the reality is much deeper -- he's having what is arguably the greatest individual season in history, and it's time we gave him his due for it.

Lakers' Bryant released from jury dutyComment Email Print Share Associated Press SANTA ANA, Calif. -- For once, Kobe Bryant wasn't needed at court. The Los Angeles Lakers star spent several hours on jury duty Wednesday before being excused from an Orange County courtroom. He was quizzed for potential service on a misdemeanor vehicle tampering case, but attorneys agreed on a panel before his turn in the jury box came up. The Orange County Register reports the judge got some laughs when he looked at the basketball superstar and asked, "Bryant?" Bryant told attorneys he was a good listener and thought he could be a fair juror. During an afternoon recess, Bryant said, "Everyone has to do their duty." Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Florida St. upsets No. 1 North Carolina in ACC semifinals Facebook Digg Reddit Newsvine Buzz up! By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer ATLANTA — North Carolina can start focusing on a national championship. The nation's top-ranked team was denied a shot at its third straight Atlantic Coast Conference title. Toney Douglas scored 27 points, including the go-ahead free throws, and No. 22 Florida State held on for a 73-70 victory over the Tar Heels in the ACC semifinals today. Tyler Hansbrough had 22 points and 12 rebounds, but the reigning national player of the year lost control of the ball trying to get inside for a shot with about 20 seconds remaining and North Carolina trailing 71-70. Florida State's Derwin Kitchen scooped it up, was fouled and hit two clutch free throws. The Tar Heels (28-4) came down for a final shot — and got two of them. Wayne Ellington, who led North Carolina with 24 points, missed from beyond the arc. Danny Green chased down the rebound, stepped outside the line and fired up another 3 at the buzzer. It came up short, and the Seminoles erupted in a raucous celebration. North Carolina played without ACC player of the year Ty Lawson, who missed his second straight game with an injured big right toe. Florida State (25-8) advanced to its first ACC final in school history. The Seminoles will meet with Maryland or Duke on Sunday. Despite the loss, North Carolina is still likely to get a top seed in the NCAA tournament, especially after No. 2 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Connecticut both lost in their opening games at the Big East tournament. Tar Heels coach Roy Williams made clear his top priority when he decided to sit Lawson at the ACC tournament, trying to ensure he's as healthy as possible to make a run at a national title. Still, it was a stunning defeat for the team that had won the last two ACC tournaments, eliminating Florida State each time. The Seminoles picked up their first win over North Carolina since 2004 and their first postseason victory against the Tar Heels since the 1972 Final Four. Green who had two miserable games in Atlanta, did come up with a steal with just over 2 minutes remaining, was fouled and hit both free throws for a 69-all tie. After both teams missed shots, Douglas was called for a loose-ball trying to come up with a steal on Lawson's replacement, Bobby Frasor. The fill-in point guard made only one of two free throws, putting North Carolina up 70-69 with 1:03 to go. But Douglas, trying to dribble along the sideline in front of the Florida State bench, was tripped up by Ed Davis. The Florida State star calmly went to the line and sank two free throws with 47 seconds to go. North Carolina tried to go to its star, but Hansbrough couldn't hang on to the ball underneath. Florida State shook off a dismal stretch of shooting early in the game, missing 16 of 17. North Carolina also struggled, but the Tar Heels looked to be pulling away late in the half when Hansbrough worked inside for his first basket of the game and a 30-21 lead. The Seminoles closed the period on an 8-2 run, however. Douglas swished a 3-pointer, then hit another jumper while being fouled. He failed to convert the three-point play, but Florida State chased down the rebound and Kitchen scored to pull the Seminoles to 32-29 going to the locker room. The game was briefly halted with about 14 minutes remaining while Ellington was in the middle of shooting a pair of free throws. Banks of lighting went out at each end of the court, briefly raising the thought of another storm hitting the Georgia Dome on a rainy day in Atlanta. A tornado struck the building during last year's Southeastern Conference tournament. But it was merely a mechanical malfunction, and the game resumed as a delay of less than 5 minutes after the lights failed to come back on. Both coaches agreed to play in a slightly darkened arena.

Ex-WWE champ, Andrew Martin, found dead in Florida TAMPA, Fla. — Authorities say former professional wrestler Andrew Martin, who was known as "Test" and "The Punisher" to fans, has died at his Tampa home. He was 33. The former World Wrestling Entertainment champion was found dead at his apartment Friday night. Police say a neighbor reported that she could see into his apartment window and that Martin appeared motionless for several hours. Police say there was no indication of foul play. A cause of death will be determined after an autopsy. During his time with Stamford, Conn.-based World Wrestling Entertainment, Martin held the Intercontinental, European and Hardcore belts. He was also a tag-team champion. Martin most recently worked for TNA Wrestling under the name "The Punisher."

By Jemele Hill ESPN.com Archive ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Bruce Cooper arrived in Tampa at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. Somehow, he managed to sleep for two hours on his flight from Phoenix, bringing his grand total to five since being told early Sunday that his son, Marquis, was missing. [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Chris O'Meara Bruce Cooper, father of Marquis Cooper, left, hugs his nephew Ray Sanchez after talking to reporters Tuesday at the U.S. Coast Guard station in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Coast Guard suspended the search for Cooper, Corey Smith and Will Bleakley. "I'm clinging to hope," Cooper said, standing in front of his son's home in Odessa, Fla., north of St. Petersburg. "Marquis was an undersized [linebacker] at [the University of Washington] and in the NFL. The kid does not back down. I know he's out on the water fighting." Cooper thought of their deep-sea fishing trip a couple of years ago in Clearwater, a memory that only made it more difficult to accept that 26-year-old Marquis was one of the two missing NFL players lost at sea after Marquis' boat capsized 38 miles from shore. Marquis Cooper was an avid fisherman. When he played at Washington, he considered majoring in marine biology -- until he looked at the math requirements. Still, Marquis was a guppy at heart. His father believed if you plucked a fish out of the water, Marquis could tell you what it was. In fact, when Bruce and Marquis ventured out on their father-and-son trip, Bruce admitted he was a bit on edge because they had gone so far from the shore -- at least 50 miles, Bruce said. His son, though, was at ease. [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Chris O'Meara Cooper said his son was an avid fisherman. "I looked in all four directions and saw nothing but water," said Cooper, a sportscaster for Phoenix's KPNX-TV, "but he knew the sun sets in the west and we came in the east." The Coast Guard said Tuesday afternoon that it was suspending the search for Marquis, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former University of South Florida football player Will Bleakley. Until then, all these families had to go on the past few days were their hopes. They were given enormous encouragement when Nick Schuyler, Bleakley's teammate at USF, was rescued Monday afternoon. Authorities found Nick clinging to the propellers of Marquis' 21-foot boat. Somehow, he overcame choppy waters, wind gusts of more than 20 mph and waves experts say likely climbed as high as 10 feet. After hours of fear and anticipation, Nick's rescue was the first real sign that something miraculous could happen. The relief was short-lived. Shortly after the Coast Guard rushed Nick to Tampa General Hospital, a report surfaced that Marquis had been found alive, too. "I thought it would just be a matter of minutes before they found the rest of the guys," said Troy Asmus, one of Marquis' agents. [+] EnlargeAP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard Nick Schuyler clings to the engine of the overturned boat. The former South Florida football player told rescuers that the boat was anchored when it flipped Saturday evening in rough seas and that the others got separated from the boat. A Tampa television station reported Marquis survived, but it was inaccurate. Bruce, however, remained hopeful. "Marquis is not going to quit out there," he said. "That's what's comforting me." Other family members struggled to find comfort. A snowstorm in the Northeast hampered the Smiths' attempt to reach Florida by plane. They drove 12 hours, only to find out discomforting news. Bob Bleakley, Will's father, spent five years in the Navy and, by late Tuesday morning, he and his family already had accepted the worst. He told a local funeral director to get the paperwork to declare Will legally deceased. "We haven't totally given up," Bob Bleakley said, "but we've consoled ourselves that Will is gone." Trying to put the pieces together was frustrating for all the families, but especially for the Bleakleys. Will, 25, told his father on Friday that he was going on a fishing trip with three of his buddies, and his father was immediately concerned. The forecast called for cool, windy weather, which might make the sea particularly difficult to navigate. But Will had made up his mind. "Will's not a second-guesser," his dad said. "We would go into the toy stores when he was little, and some kids will pick stuff up and say, 'I want this,' or, 'No, I want this.' Will wasn't that way. He'd say, 'Yep, I want this.' And that was it. That was Will." [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Jeff Chiu,file Corey Smith, an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina State, spent the past three seasons with the Detroit Lions. The men left shortly after 6 a.m. from the Seminole Boat Ramp in Clearwater Pass. The weather was mild early on, but as the day progressed, the winds and waves became increasingly worse. At some point that afternoon, the men anchored the boat to begin fishing. What isn't so clear is why they were unable to detach the anchor cleanly and escape the blustery conditions. The troublesome anchor and cranky seas are the authorities' best guess as to what might have caused the boat to flip over, but they might not know for sure until the boat is brought to the Coast Guard for investigation. What happened once the boat capsized is chilling. According to a report in The Seattle Times, Will was the one who retrieved the three life jackets and a cushion from underwater. The Coast Guard believes that strong waves eventually broke up the foursome, with Corey and Marquis drifting away first. Will and Nick clung to the boat. Nick told investigators Will thought he saw rescue lights and decided to swim for help. Because of Nick's physical condition -- the 24-year-old was dehydrated and showed signs of hypothermia, but he was upgraded from serious to fair condition Tuesday -- the Coast Guard was unable to give a full account of what happened. "It's all theory," said Wyman Smith, Corey's older brother, referring to what happened with Corey and Marquis. [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Brian Myrick,file Tampa Bay drafted Cooper in the third round in 2004. He spent his first two seasons there, then changed teams six times in three seasons. The Coast Guard started searching for the men about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. It was rough in the early phases. They used a cutter crew and a 47-foot lifeboat, all while contending with 14-foot seas and unrelenting winds. The families were confident in the Coast Guard's efforts, but Bob Bleakley couldn't shake the words of Capt. Timothy Close, the commander of Sector St. Petersburg. "He told me, 'When we've determined there's no survivors, we don't look for bodies,'" Bleakely said. In an exhaustive three-day search, the Coast Guard used 10 vessels and received assistance from the Pinellas County Sheriff and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. At the search's conclusion, the Coast Guard had covered 24,000 square miles. "It's just surprising that he would be lost in such a scenario," Will's father said. "He would know not to leave the boat." The circumstances that brought these men together went beyond just a Saturday fishing trip. They were all underdogs. They worked out together and were guys who ground their way into football because they weren't blessed with extraordinary talent. Marquis was drafted by the Buccaneers in the third round in 2004 and, since his first two seasons with the Bucs, he changed teams six times in three seasons. At 6-foot-3, 213 pounds, he was hardly the size for an ideal NFL linebacker. But somehow he always found a place on an NFL roster. "If you describe Marquis, it's honest, ethical and loyal," said Jack Scharf, Marquis' primary agent. Corey was another overachiever. An undrafted free agent out of North Carolina State, the 29-year-old was with the Detroit Lions the past three seasons. He knew football wouldn't last forever, so he attended a two-week, NFL small business seminar at Harvard in the summer of 2008 because he wanted to open an electronics repair shop someday. Anyone you talk to will tell you the same three things about Corey: He didn't smoke, didn't drink and took excellent care of his body. "He's almost too perfect for words," one member of the Lions organization said. "He is not the classic athlete. He's a guy that really had to make a way for himself. If we could have put his heart in these other guys, no way we would have gone 0-16." Will's heart was equally big. He played baseball, soccer and football at Crystal River High, which is about two hours from where the men began their fishing trip. Despite being Mr. Athlete in high school, Will didn't get a single scholarship offer. Well, he got one offer, but it wasn't to play sports. The Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., offered Will an appointment. AP Photo/Butch Dill Will Bleakley, seen dousing South Florida coach Jim Leavitt after a win at the PapaJohn's.com Bowl in 2006, walked on at USF. Will came to USF because of one phone call. The school was in the process of upgrading from Division II, and Will said he'd go there only if the head coach called him personally. Two days later, coach Jim Leavitt, who was friends with Will's high school coach, called. Leavitt told him he could walk on. Will earned a full scholarship after two seasons. "We looked up to him for what he accomplished," his father said. Like Will, Nick was a walk-on at USF. He was a fitness trainer at LA Fitness, where he, Corey, Will and Marquis often worked out together. Nick was known for his excellent conditioning, and that's probably what saved his life in the treacherous gulf. Nick believed in getting the most out of people he trained. Case in point was a couple of Sundays ago. Geno Perez, Nick's supervisor in Lutz, Fla., overheard Nick chastising Corey, who wanted to blow off a workout because he had been splashed so much on their previous fishing trip and was feeling sick. "No excuses," Nick said to Corey. "You're working out!" It is tragically ironic that the one thing that bonded these four men together -- their ability to overcome and overachieve -- wasn't enough to keep them together out in the gulf. Late Tuesday, the Smiths and Coopers began formulating a new plan that would perhaps include their own rescue mission in Clearwater Pass. The Bleakleys might have resigned themselves early in the day, but the nagging questions and frustrations will likely always persist. Bob Bleakley wondered aloud many times: "How do you have a funeral with no body?"

Children aren't born spoiled. Get the 10 signs your children are brats and what you can do to set them straight. No child is born spoiled or a brat--it's only indulgent parenting can make them that way, Oprah & Friends Radio host Rabbi Shmuley says. "Naturally, children are innocent and have a cuteness which makes people's hearts warm to them and helps bring out our best qualities," he says. "When we raise kids who are spoiled, we snuff out the child's natural attractiveness." If you are guilty of spoiling your children, Rabbi Shmuley says chances are, you have brats on your hands. 10 Signs Your Children Are Brats: They resort to crying or yelling when they want something. They throw themselves on floor and won't get up. They constantly throw tantrums or even hit you when you punish them. They ignore you when you ask a question. They are rude to other adults and even to other children. They refuse to share toys or treats with other children. They are show-offs and are constantly trying to one-up their peers to be the center of attention. They always want whatever everyone else has. Once they have it, they want something new. They keep a messy room and never help out around the house despite your pleas for them to do so. They refuse to go to bed. What to Do if Your Children Are Brats: Reward good behavior and punish bad behavior. If your children yell when they want something, don't give it to them and take away something they like. If they won't get off the floor during a tantrum, pick them up and put them in their room until they calm down and apologize. If they ignore you when you tell them to do something, punish them immediately. Put them in a corner and don't let them out until they apologize. If they won't share, take away the toy or treat. Don't buy them whatever they want. Make them earn things. If they keep a messy room, don't let them out until it's clean. Enforce bedtimes. Continually put them back into their beds. After a while, they'll stop getting out. You must show there is no other option. Compliment your children profusely and give them rewards when they do the right thing.