Giants Keep C O'Hara

Signing center was no snap-See My End comment

Reese keeps O'Hara after tough negotiation, giving him five-year deal that stabilizes O-line
BY ARTHUR STAPLE-Newsday

The Giants went down to the free-agency period wire but signed center Shaun O'Hara last night. O'Hara's agent, Tony Agnone, had a face-to-face meeting with general manager Jerry Reese yesterday and the two sides inched together to keep O'Hara, signing him to a five-year deal worth $19 million, with $7.5 million guaranteed, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

O'Hara had been offered a five-year deal worth roughly a million less, but it was a million less guaranteed money. After the Cowboys signed their center, Andre Gurode, to a six-year, $30-million deal with a $10-million signing bonus, O'Hara's demands went up.

Two people familiar with the team's decision-making process said cutting tackle Luke Petitgout last month was solely Reese's idea, and that Tom Coughlin was steadfastly against it. Reese then decided to take a tough stance in negotiations with O'Hara, who'll be 30 June 23.

But the team decided to keep the rest of the offensive line intact. The Giants were believed to have about $20 million in salary-cap room heading into today's start of free agency, but it may be only about half that. If so, O'Hara's contract leaves them with little room to throw big money at the few high-profile free agents available.

The Giants have decided to let kicker Jay Feely go to free agency. He'll have interest from the Dolphins, Cowboys and Falcons and should command a long-term deal. The Giants are interested in giving undrafted free agent Josh Huston, whom they signed in January, a shot at the job.

With O'Hara back, Coughlin needs to do far less shuffling of bodies. David Diehl could be the left tackle next season, or the Giants could pursue Cardinals left tackle Leonard Davis, who will command a big contract. Reese is said to be a fan of Guy Whimper, a fourth-round pick last year who didn't play a down.

The Giants are hosting former Colt Dominic Rhodes today, the first free agent to visit. Rhodes, 28, ran for 113 yards in the Super Bowl, and has expressed a desire to be a complementary rusher instead of a No. 1 back.

This was Probably the Single most important re-signing of the off Season for the Giants. Without O'Hara, Eli Manning would have spent considerable time on his back next season. Now they only need to replace Luke Pettitgout.

Big Apple Bullies Tiny Paul O'Brien, A Blogger Who Posted iPone GUI

Yep. Apple. Never happy with any aspect of its environment it can't control, took its giant foot and stepped on a small blogger this week. Paul O'Brien dared to -- well, he didn't know it was going to be a problem if he posted an image of Apple's iPhone in a converted version for Pocket PC users. All he did..well here's the story:

Apple legal throw their weight around...
Sat, 13/01/2007 - 08:58 — Paul
Can you believe it... yesterday, in this topic, I posted a link to a post on XDA-Developers, where an enterprising member had created a Pocket PC today screen to mimic the Apple iPhone.

It's worth pointing out I just posted a link and a screenshot... NOT the actual files required to DO the installation.

Well, this morning in my mailbox I find a letter from Apple's legal team (O’Melveny & Myers LLP, San Francisco) entitled 'Unauthorized Dissemination of Apple Computer Copyrighted Material by MoDaCo' demanding I remove the said link and the screenshot. Crazy or what? Unfortunately the mail was marked 'NOT FOR POSTING', exactly how bound I am by that i'm not sure.

A bit excessive IMHO... and although I can accept that they can get upset over the screenshot, can they really demand I remove the link too? :-S

Female Gamers Have More Sex - Trendhunter

Again from Trendhunter , this very interesting tidbit about the sex appetites of women who play video games.

A study has proven that women who play video games also have more active sex lives. This is very good news for men who are addicted to gaming. Now they just need to tear themselves away from their XBox systems to meet those ladies and everyone will be happy!

It’s official – women who play video games have sex more often! Gametart, the UK’s largest online games rental company, carried out the survey throughout January to see how the recent influx of the likes of Pink PSPs and DS Lites would affect gamers’ sex lives across the country. Of our sample of 200 women, those who played video games on average had sex 4.3 times a week while those who didn’t play games only had sex just 3.2 times a week. Perhaps even more promising for gamers is the fact that many of the women that we interviewed who have only recently started playing games said that they now have sex more often than before.

Study Shows That Women Feel Empty After Casual Sex

I ran accross this article from the website "Trendhunter" and I do think it rings true just from my personal experience. Many women I meet in the SF Bay Area seem to maintain such a lifestyle, rejecting really good relationships for the thrill of the moment. But then -- as they age -- they find themselves unfulfilled.

Read:

In a world of freedom and choices, naysayers rapping on the dangers of casual sex are not received with open arms. However, studies are showing that casual sex is not all that it’s cracked up to be for young women. In fact, they are often left emotionally and physically empty and they may in fact lead to long term problems that involve an inability to form strong, emotional bonds or to love and trust a life partner.

WHEN Laura Sessions Stepp warned of the potentially damaging effects of “hooking up” in a new book, some people scoffed — particularly those who believe they were unscathed by their own unfettered years of casual sex. In “Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both” (Riverhead), Ms. Sessions Stepp, a Washington Post reporter, writes about how smart, ambitious young women do emotional damage to themselves by getting physical — making out to having sex — with men they are not dating or may have met for the first time. This culture of sexual aggression, she said, often leaves young women physically and emotionally unsatisfied. It leads them to gamble with their health. And by never taking the time to get to know and care about one man, she said, young women may be rendering themselves incapable of forging stable, loving relationships. (nytimes)

Ellen DeGeneres Gives Martin Scorsese A Script At The Academy Awards

This is absolutely funny. I don't know if it was staged or spontaineous, but it made me laugh out loud.

After Months Of Delays Chicago Bears Give Lovie Smith 4-Year, 22-Million Contract

The very deserving Chicago Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith got a new 4-year, 22-million contract. More details below:

By The Associated Press

Mar 1, 2007 (AP)— The Chicago Bears decided Lovie Smith was the right coach to lead the team into the next decade with hopefully a few more Super Bowl appearances.

A week after Smith's agent said negotiations were so stalled the coach would probably leave after the 2007 season, the Bears signed Smith to a four-year contract extension through 2011 on Wednesday.

The lowest-paid coach in the NFL last season at $1.35 million when he led the Bears to the Super Bowl, Smith's deal will average about $4.7 million per season over five years. He'll make $22 million in new money and the total value of the five years is $23.45 million, the Chicago Tribune reported. Smith was scheduled to make $1.45 million this season in the final year of his initial four-year contract.

The deal was announced by the team Wednesday night, as was an extension through 2013 for general manager Jerry Angelo.

Smith, the 2005 NFL coach of the year, led the Bears to a 15-4 record and their first NFC championship in more than two decades last season before they lost 29-17 to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl.

Antonetta Barba - American Idol Star-In-Waiting Has An Exhibitionist Side

It's the hot topic on Technorati and yet another example of how sex and sexual images rule the Internet. Antonetta Barba, an American Idol contestant and favorite, is the subject and image of scores of sexy photos all over the Internet, from blogs to main reporting agencies, to Google itself, she's the Topic De Jour.

But will these photos hurt her chances on American Idol. Nope. I'll bet just the oppostite. The Paris Hilton Rules lives on!