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For the past eight years, a first-round defeat for Alex Bogdanovic at Wimbledon has been as much a part of the summer season as Royal Ascot or Henley, yet when the All England Club announced their first batch of wild cards for this summers Championships, the highest ranked Briton after Andy Murray was not on the list. Bogdanovic, who is ranked 166 in the world, has had eight wild cards in the past, and every time he has been unable to make the second round. The only other man to have registered eight defeats from eight appearances at the grass-court slam is Patricio Cornejo, a Chilean who played in the 1960s and 1970s.Five of the eight wild cards for the main draw of the men´s tournament were announced on Monday. Jamie Baker, the British No 3, has been given one, as have Russians Teimuraz Gabashvili and Andrey Kuznetsov, Nicholas Kiefer, of Germany, and Japan´s Kei Nishikori. If Bogdanovic does not receive one of the remaining three, he will have to enter the qualifying competition if he is to make a ninth attempt at winning at Wimbledon. If Bogdanovic was also feeling a bit unloved at Queen´s, you could hardly blame him, as he did not receive a wild card into the pre-Wimbledon AEGON Championships.

To make the main draw, Bogdanovic had come through three rounds of the qualifying competition. His opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, meanwhile, was given a wild card. By taking the first set 6-4 against the Bulgarian teenager and a former junior Wimbledon champion, Bogdanovic had already performed better than the two British players who had been given a wild card at Queen´s, as Baker lost 6-1, 6-4 to Uzbekistan´s Denis Istomin and James Ward was beaten 6-3, 7-5 by Robby Ginepri, of the United States. Rain forced the suspension of play with the scores 6-4, 3-6 and with British No 2 Bogdanovic 2-1 ahead in the third set which had gone with service. If he loses that third set against Dimitrov, Murray will be the only British player left in the singles tournament.

Watching England warm up today, there was a overriding feeling that something was missing.

It was an eager Labrador of a player, whose spindly legs invariably protrude from a pair of shorts as he bats, bowls and fields with the sprightliness of someone 10 years younger, encourages players in his Geordie twang and makes the odd self-deprecating remark to a passing hack. I am talking of course of Paul Collingwood.Collingwood is the heart and soul of the England team, someone for whom nothing is too much trouble, who will stoically bowl in the nets when all the other players have dragged their enormous kit bags back to the dressing room, and linger afterwards for extra slip catching practice to the slow bowlers or a bit of throwing at a stump. He is never knowingly underprepared.

That is why it is right to give him a rest for this match and presumably series. He has nothing to prove and quite a lot to lose. His body is willing but his mind will be running on empty. After the exertions of the last 12 months, he will have been existing on adrenalin during the world T20. Now back in the real world he will need the nourishment of a bit of time off to rejuvenate his cricketing appetite.

There will be those who say that a month of his exertion was spent in sole self-advancement at the IPL. But his time in India wasn´t without benefit for England. He spoke before he went of the positive influences and sharing of ideas that involvement in the IPL brings, and the development of a different mindset it imbues. In short it banishes fearlessness, which, in a T20 match, translates as not worrying about losing your wicket. It was the hallmark of England´s approach and the reason they won their first world title. Keeping the scoreboard moving was more important than keeping your wicket intact. It´s a big step for naturally cautious, technique-obsessed English players to take. As a result of Collingwood, and Andy Flower´s input, they took it and it paid off. Even Kevin Pietersen reaped the benefit.

SATURDAY morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above it, was green with vegetation and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.

Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did it again; compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged. Jim came skipping out at the gate with a tin pail, and singing Buffalo Gals. Bringing water from the town pump had always been hateful work in Tom eyes, before, but now it did not strike him so. He remembered that there was company at the pump. White, mulatto, and negro boys and girls were always there waiting their turns, resting, trading playthings, quarrelling, fighting, skylarking.

PHOENIX — Hundreds of people supporting Arizonas new law cracking down on illegal immigration gathered near the state Capitol on Saturday as soaring temperatures were expected to hit 107 degrees. The Pennsylvania-based group Voice of the People USA organized the demonstration, which it touts as a grass-roots effort. Attendees came from every region of the U.S., Voice of the People President Daniel Smeriglio said. The rally turnout fell far short of the march organized by opponents of the law last weekend, when an estimated 20,000 people gathered.The immigration law requires that police conducting traffic stops or questioning people about possible legal violations ask them about their immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that theyre in the country illegally. Reasonable suspicion is not defined. The law also makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally or to impede traffic while hiring day laborers, regardless of the workers immigration status. It would become a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit work. The law takes effect July 29 unless blocked by a court as requested under pending legal challenges. Hundreds of motorcycle riders kicked off the rally by riding in a procession around the Capitol.The rally at a park in downtown Phoenix follows dueling events last weekend that drew thousands of opponents and supporters of the law to the area.

The Lakers went away from their strength, 7-footers Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, in the fourth quarter of Game 2 loss. They say they intend to go back to trying to exploit their size advantage in the low post Tuesday in Boston.
Reporting from Boston The Lakers were dominant down low, the Boston Celtics unable to stop Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, when good fortune smiled on the Celtics as a most unusual event took place, something called the start of the fourth quarter.

Gasol had one shot, Bynum had two over the final 12 minutes and the Celtics evened up the NBA Finals with a 103-94 victory in Game 2 on Sunday.

Gasol had 25 points in the game, only one in the fourth quarter, and Bynum had 21 in the game, four in the fourth quarter, part of the reason the Lakers headed to Boston in a deadlocked series that resumes Tuesday with Game 3 at certain-to-be-raucous TD Garden.Neither Garnett (six points) nor Paul Pierce (10 points) were problems for the Lakers in Game 2, though Pierce could be heard proclaiming, “Aint coming back to L.A.,” after helping up Kendrick Perkins near the baseline on a play late in the game.

The Lakers issues, more specifically, were Ray Allen hitting from the outside, which is never a shocker, and Rajon Rondo also shooting well from the perimeter, somewhat surprising for the 24-year-old who drives and rebounds as well as any guard in the league but isnt known for his steady shotThe Lakers are looking internally, however, at getting more touches for their big men.

Gasol made seven of 10 shots and Bynum made six of 10, but should Ron Artest really have taken 10 shots, especially since he made only one?

Our big guys played great, Bynum and Paul Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. We didnt get the ball often enough to them.

Both post players took the diplomatic approach, presumably because the series is so young.

Obviously, we can get more touches Bynum said. But thats still not going to help us beat this team because you cant beat them one on one.

Gasol, to his credit, said the work he and Bynum did down low was not wasted.

I think our effort was a positive thing, Gasol said. And its going to have to be even better, greater in Boston, because its going to be tougher to play there.

The Lakers were also dominant defensively in the paint.

Journey, Young MC and Cyndi Lauper. The show grooves to the 80s while turning stereotypes on their head. Finally, the music of tail-end boomers is heard.
still till she asked who did the mischief; and then he would tell, and there would be nothing so good in the world as to see that pet model catch it. Glees first season has included such musical blasts from the past as Aerosmiths Dream On, performed by series lead Matthew Morrison, left, and guest star Neil Patrick Harris. Glee allows this particular sliver of between-generations a nostalgia that is, for once, neither borrowed nor assigned.Foxs musical comedy hit Glee has revolutionized TV in many ways (including the fact that TV critics can now write the term musical comedy hit, and who thought that would ever happen?). But watching the recent Safety Dance episode, it all came together: Here is a show celebrating popular music and there isnt even a whiff of boomage.

Those of us who had the misfortune to be born in the first half of the 1960s are truly a lost generation. Not quite boomers, not quite Gen X, we came of age as the Carter White House succumbed to the Reagan years, when women rediscovered shoulder pads and men wore penny loafers with no socks, when everyone found the conceits of Bosom Buddies and Threes Company racy and hilarious. Our musical taste, as I remember it, was eclectic – yes, there was Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith and Genesis, but there was also Duran Duran, the Go-Gos, Stray Cats, Wham and Men Without Hats.

Steve Jobs took the stage at Apple Incs Worldwide Developers Conference to announce new features and products from the company.

The chief executive began by giving an update on the iPad. The tablet computing device sold 2 million units in the first two months since its debut and has 8,500 apps on Apples online store. So far, 35 million apps have been downloaded, he said, which breaks down to 17 apps per iPad.In an update on the iPads built-in book software, Jobs said the iBookstore platform had sold more than 5 million books in the first 65 days — or about 2.5 books per iPad.Further, Jobs said that for five of the six largest publishers, about 22% of e-book purchases are being sold through the iPads bookstore.In an addition to the iBook reading apps functionality, the app will allow users to do inline note-taking.Jobs also invited Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to the stage to announce a new, free Netflix application for the iPhone. Hastings said the Netflix app for iPad has been among the most popular apps in Apples App Store, and No. 1 in the entertainment category.

Its been a tremendous success for us, Hastings said. Its our fastest growing platform.The Netflix iPhone app will be available starting this summer. Marc Pincus, the CEO of Zynga, came to the stage to announce an iPad version of Farmville, which is played by 35 million people every day, largely on Facebook. Jobs said the company crossed 5 billion downloads. He followed that comment with what he called his favorite stat of the whole show, which is that Apple has paid out $1 billion to its app developers. We were thrilled about it, he said. Jobs announces the iPhone 4. Stop me if you have already seen this, he said, referring to the leak of the phone by Gizmodo. But believe me, you aint seen it. Its one of the most beautiful designs you have ever seen. Its beyond a doubt the most precise things and one of the most beautiful things we have ever made. Jobs shows photos of the phone, familiar from the leak. He calls it the thinnest smart phone on the planet, noting that the iPhone 4 is 24% thinner than its predecessor.