That made him the favorite among bookies

McIlroy has won twice and finished no worse than third in nine of his last 12 tournaments, and his win at the Honda Classic a month ago made him the second-youngest player (behind Woods) to be No. 1 in the world, even if the top ranking lasted only two weeks.

That made him the favorite among bookies _until Woods ended a 30-month drought on the PGA Tour by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks later.

Here they come again.

My middle-class family was bathed in Louisville

The Kentucky state flag shows a city guy and a country guy who are shaking hands, but you don't see the country guy's left hand, something that my eighth-grade history teacher ominously noted.

"That's because he has a knife in it," said Mr. Young.

My middle-class family was bathed in Louisville. It's work ethic fit us. It's underdog status defined us.

My father once threw a shoe into our television set when Terry Howard cruelly missed his first free throw of the season in the final seconds of a 1975 national semifinals loss to UCLA. My older brother Brad attended Kentucky, transferred, and now has a Louisville license plate. Several of my relatives attended Louisville at night or on weekends, including cousin Art, who became a family hero by working his way through school to become a noted radiologist.

My best grade-school friend, Charlie Gabriel, received two degrees from Louisville, played in their pep band, began the "C-A-R-D-S" cheer, in which the name is spelled out by body parts, and today cannot even begin to describe Kentucky.

"I can't talk about them without seeming mean and stupid and small," he said this week. "Let's just say it's all about how you were brought up."

All this extracurricular banter started Jan. 25

"People talking ... that doesn't matter," Thibodeau said. "It's what happens out there. Some guys talk more than others. Some guys don't talk at all. It's all meaningless stuff. Just be ready when the ball goes up. That's all."
All this extracurricular banter started Jan. 25, when the Pacers handed the Bulls their first home loss. Rose and Co. took exception to the Pacers' postgame posturing. Two physical teams who engaged in last season's memorable first-round playoff series pointed to this rematch.
"I do look at this game differently, not because of any talk but because they're the best in the league," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "And we want to be the best. Anytime you play against the best, you have to raise your level and show you belong."

Practice rounds at the Accenture Match Play Championship

Practice rounds at the Accenture Match Play Championship proved to be a great opportunity for fans to get within just a few yards from their favorite professional golfer.
Eight-year-old Lucas Hughes from Oregon waited for more than an hour to get an autograph from Steve Stricker but he never got it, "He probably just didn't see me," Lucas said.
Also standing by in the Kids' Zone near the driving range were brothers Jacob and Cade Nikitis, one brother explained how fans can score an autorgraph, "when they walk by, they'll just sign it if you stick it out." The other said, "I have Sergio, Choi and I don't know this last signature."

Gail Cogdill caught two touchdown passes from Milt Plum

Gail Cogdill caught two touchdown passes from Milt Plum, and it was 26-0 before Green Bay scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the final score respectable.
This season, it's Calvin Johnson making big plays at wide receiver. Cogdill called Johnson "an absolute stud."
"The guy is just awesome," Cogdill said. "I think he's one of the great weapons the Lions have."
Suh is another weapon for Detroit on the defensive line, and Brown scoffs at all the controversy over whether Suh plays too rough.
"I'm proud of him. ... I could never get anybody to call me dirty when I played, even if I threw dirt in somebody's face," Brown said. "You're not playing tiddlywinks. This is football."
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The Nittany Lions rolled past Indiana State, 41-7, in the season opener for both schools

The Nittany Lions rolled past Indiana State, 41-7, in the season opener for both schools. Paterno coached from the press box then, following orders of doctors who encouraged him to play it safe following injuries to his right shoulder and pelvis. Devon Smith, a 155-pound receiver, accidentally bowled over the 84-year-old Paterno at a practice on Aug. 7.
At Tuesday's weekly press conference, Paterno was still using a crutch, according to The Associated Press. He sounded hopeful that he could be on the sideline for the Alabama game, but that's looking more and more unlikely.
"So, I'm like you guys, I'm anxious to see us play. ... I know they've worked hard," Paterno said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "We've been looking forward to playing against a team the caliber of Alabama with ... the tradition and the way they play."
At the same time, the notoriously stubborn Paterno remained optimistic.
"But I've got my fingers crossed," he said. "I think I've got a good chance to be on the sideline." 

Mr Oppenheimer and Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer

Mr Oppenheimer and Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, announced record profits during the call with analysts. Apple reached $28.57bn in revenue in the second quarter of this year, selling more than 20 million iPhones and 9 million iPads along the way. 

The new operating system goes live now and will cost £20.99. OS X Lion will be available only through the Mac App Store and not available on disk. This is the first time that Apple has released an update to its operating system as a download-only. 

Other features of Lion include a system-wide auto-save feature, which means that every app will perform regular background saves, eliminating the risk of lost work, and AirDrop, a simple means of transferring files between Macs.