NEW YORK (AP) — Electronic Arts is bringing its popular “Madden” football game to Facebook. “Madden NFL Superstars” launches as a free application Tuesday. The game lets players create fantasy teams and compete against other players on Facebook. Electronic Arts Inc. plans to make money from the game by letting players pay nominal amounts of money for better players and other game content. Those microtransactions are expected to add up. “NFL Superstars” was created by EA Sports and Playfish, the social game company EA bought last year for $275 million. ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
August 31, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=9787&cache=true " alt="Cape Coral soldier meets President, awarded Purple Heart" class="alignleft" />
CAPE CORAL, Fla. – President Obama presented Corey Kent with his Purple Heart Monday. Corey’s parents said it was an honor for Corey and the President was great. They talked some football since the President is a Bears fan and Corey is a Packers fan. Kent was severely injured in Afghanistan. Private Corey Kent lost both his legs and some of his fingers in an explosion. Related Articles Canal clean-up in the Cape Cape Coral Councilman Eric Grill officially resigns City of Cape Coral victim to a crime Cold blasts in summer killing Fla. coral reefs
August 30, 2010 | Posted in
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Glee” is about to learn if the Emmys care to sing its praises. The hit musical-comedy show about a high school glee club was a leading nominee at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, including bids for best comedy series and cast members Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer. “Modern Family” was another freshman comedy front-runner, while “30 Rock” was trying for its fourth consecutive best comedy series Emmy and “Mad Men” competed for its third drama series trophy. Others defending their title included Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad” and Glenn Close of “Damages,” who claimed drama series acting honors last year, and, on the comedy side, Toni Collette of “The United States of Tara” and Alec Baldwin of “30 Rock.” Jimmy Fallon was hosting the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards on NBC, airing live nationwide after three decades of tape-delay broadcasts for the West Coast. The public had a hand in writing some of Fallon’s material. He planned to bring many celebrity presenters onstage with introductions submitted through Twitter. Other Emmy contenders included Conan O’Brien’s short-lived “Tonight,” which was nominated as best variety, music or comedy series while the show with Jay Leno back in charge was snubbed. David Letterman’s “Late Show” also missed out on a nod, but 2009 winner “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” was nominated. The final season of “Lost” competed for best drama series and for acting honors for star Matthew Fox and supporting cast members Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson, chosen as best supporting drama actor last year. HBO came into the ceremony as the kingpin after claiming 17 awards at the Aug. 21 creative arts Emmys, followed by ABC with 15 and Fox with nine. CBS, NBC and PBS each claimed seven. “The Pacific,” the World War II miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, was the top nominee and captured a leading seven creative arts awards, which recognize technical and other achievements. Ratings for the awards have increased importance: The TV academy’s contract is up for renewal with the four major networks that had been airing the show in rotation for eight years, and the academy hopes last year’s 8 percent audience increase is a trend after an all-time low in 2008. The show’s live nationwide broadcast and scheduling could be factors. The Emmys typically have aired immediately before TV’s mid-September kickoff, but NBC pushed up the awards telecast to avoid a conflict with its Sunday night National Football League games that begin Sept. 12. But fewer people tend to watch summertime TV, and the 5 p.m. PDT pre-primetime slot for the Emmys on the West Coast also tends to draw a smaller audience. — Online: http://wwww.emmys.tv http://www.nbc.com ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
August 29, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=9692&cache=true " alt="Severe weather causes damage in Cape Coral" class="alignleft" />
Severe thunderstorms with intense lightning and reports of a possible tornado rocked Cape coral Friday night. According to Cape Coral’s Public Information Office…traffic signals were knocked out along Del Prado Boulevard and construction cones were blown around making travel hazardous.? Power lines have also been reported down in the SE and NE Cape.? Cape Coral officials are also reporting ponding and standing water on many area roads and urge drivers to use caution. WINK News viewers reported seeing? funnel clouds and dangerous lightning..? There are uprooted trees and minor damage to homes in the 900 block of SE 34th street. As of 8 p.m. Lee County Electric Cooperative was reporting scattered outages.? About 1,300 customers were without power.? Crews were working on repairs.? And Florida Power and Light was reporting 270 customers without power. High school football games were also delayed because of the dangerous lightning and heavy downpours. Keep checking with WINK News for the latest on the storm and its damage. Mariner High School photo coutesy of the News-Press. Related Articles Water bills in the Cape go up… when nobody is home School bus accident in Cape Coral Cape Coral cold case to get national attention Man arrested in Cape Coral triple shooting
August 27, 2010 | Posted in
Naples News |
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BEIJING (AP) — Kevin Garnett wore his affection for China’s booming sportswear market on his back as the NBA star arrived in Beijing in August. “Love China” declared the Boston Celtics power forward’s T shirt. On the front: The angular red slash logo of Anta, the athletic shoe producer that brought Garnett to China for a weeklong promotional tour. “Garnett in China is the definition of a basketball superstar. His image and influence among Chinese young people are very big,” said Zheng Jie, Anta’s senior vice president. To reach worldly young Chinese consumers, the country’s new but ambitious brands are scouring the globe for athletes, film stars and other celebrity spokespeople like Garnett who might have no personal link to China but are stars here. Chinese companies’ embrace of foreign spokespeople is especially striking in a country that had almost no advertising industry 20 years ago. But after three decades of breakneck economic growth, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts that China should pass Japan by 2014 as the second-biggest advertising market after the United States. China’s advertising spending on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines rose 14 percent last year over 2008 to 597 billion yuan ($88 billion), according to research firm Nielsen Co. This rapid growth is also making China attractive as a business opportunity for sports stars and other celebrities. “Lord of the Rings” star Orlando Bloom and English fashion model Agyness Deyn appear in advertising for Me & City, a 2-year-old Chinese fashion brand. NBA player Baron Davis and Russian pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, a gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, smile down from billboards for Anta’s sports gear rival, Li Ning. Chinese companies that competed a decade ago on price alone are becoming more savvy about brand-building, said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. “A lot of Chinese firms, like Anta, think being a good brand is having a global celebrity,” Rein said. “It makes them feel they are more of premium brand and have a global image.” Anta, established in 1994, has 7,854 stores throughout China and hopes Garnett can help it achieve its goal of becoming the country’s biggest seller of basketball-related products by 2013, Zheng said. “He plays with a spirit of fearlessness and never gives up on court. This matches with the Anta spirit of ‘keep moving,’” Zheng said. During his visit, Garnett taught young fans ball-handling tricks at public appearances and visited Anta factories. Garnett will appear in Anta TV commercials and the company plans to launch a “KG” line of shoes, clothes and accessories. Anta said Garnett will wear his “KG” shoes for NBA games next season and make annual return visits to China during his three-year contract. Zheng declined to say how much the NBA star is being paid. Garnett is not the company’s first endorsed foreign celebrity, following NBA player Luis Scola and Serbian tennis player Jelena Jankovic. Former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury also plans to do marketing in China – for his own brand. Marbury joined Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association last season and plans to sell his own line of “Starbury” athletic clothes and shoes with help from a company to be set up by his team. Such celebrity links could help to reach Chinese consumers who a McKinsey & Co. survey released this month found to be “extremely brand conscious.” The consulting firm found 45 percent of 15,000 Chinese consumers surveyed think well-known brands are of better quality. That was up from 41 percent just three years ago and nearly triple the U.S. level of 16 percent. Me & City hired Bloom and Deyn following an ad campaign last year starring Wentworth Miller of the American TV series “Prison Break.” The company’s sales revenue hit 1 billion yuan ($147 million) in 2009. American fashion photographer Terry Richardson shot Bloom and Deyn’s billboard ads. Me & City’s brand director, Zhou Long, said Deyn and Bloom were picked because she is the best-known model in China while his casual image fits the definition of success among Chinese consumers aged 25 to 35: “interesting, rather than boringly rich.” Zhou said the two stars’ payment was “pretty high,” but declined to give details. Me & City is promoting an image that transcends national boundaries, with no Chinese equivalent for its English name and no reference to its roots in China. Zhou said the company would consider using Chinese celebrities if they fit its image. “We are standing on a global platform, and we can use whoever we want – say, a London photographer, take pictures in Paris, find models in New York or celebrities in L.A.,” Zhou said. China’s biggest domestic automaker, Chery Automobile Co., signed up Argentine football star Lionel Messi in April as its “international ambassador” to promote its premium Riich brand in China, Russia, Ukraine and Chile. The 23-year-old FIFA Player of the Year 2009 appears on billboards in Beijing subway stations. Chery refused to say how much Messi is paid, but Chinese media say it could be as much as 5 million euro ($6.4 million). Chery exports to 70 developing countries in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, and hopes to double foreign sales to 100,000 cars this year. Some analysts questioned Chery’s strategy, saying it was unclear what Messi will do for the company. They noted he failed to score at this year’s World Cup in South Africa. “It is not that simple for a company to succeed by just putting on some celebrities,” said auto analyst Zhang Xin of Guotai Junan Securities in Beijing. Internet companies also are jumping on the trend. An online gamemaker, 9you, brought former Japanese porn star Sora Aoi to Shanghai for the June debut of its new game, Dungeon & Heroes. Aoi is popular in China even though her movies are banned and the government tries to block Internet users from seeing sexually explicit material. Chinese companies can’t necessarily afford top-tier global celebrities because most are tied into long-term contracts with global companies, said Anta’s Zheng. “But it doesn’t mean we don’t have chances in the future,” Zheng said. “You have seen our aggressiveness and aspiration for development.” — Anta Sports Products Ltd.: http://www.anta.cn/en/home.php Chery Automobile Co.: http://www.cheryglobal.com Me & City : http://www.me-city.com/ 9you: http://www.9you.com ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
August 26, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=9144&cache=true " alt="FIU looking forward, yet still with Berry in mind" class="alignleft" />
MIAMI (AP) – Mario Cristobal says this FIU football team is the strongest he’s had in his four seasons with the Panthers. He means that two ways. There’s a glistening new weight room behind one end zone at FIU’s stadium, a 14,000-square-foot space filled with high-tech equipment. There’s also the strength that the team was forced to develop last spring after the on-campus killing of promising running back Kendall Berry. Cristobal says “not a day goes by” when the Panthers don’t think of Berry, and his teammates say they’ve gotten incredibly close from dealing with the loss. Related Articles Naples residents want rare panthers relocated Son charged with killing mother in argument Steinbrenner’s initials on Tampa football helmets Man gets year in jail for killing 2 dogs
August 19, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=9145&cache=true " alt="FIU looking forward, yet still with Berry in mind" class="alignleft" />
MIAMI (AP) – Mario Cristobal says this FIU football team is the strongest he’s had in his four seasons with the Panthers. He means that two ways. There’s a glistening new weight room behind one end zone at FIU’s stadium, a 14,000-square-foot space filled with high-tech equipment. There’s also the strength that the team was forced to develop last spring after the on-campus killing of promising running back Kendall Berry. Cristobal says “not a day goes by” when the Panthers don’t think of Berry, and his teammates say they’ve gotten incredibly close from dealing with the loss. Related Articles Naples residents want rare panthers relocated Son charged with killing mother in argument Steinbrenner’s initials on Tampa football helmets Man gets year in jail for killing 2 dogs
August 19, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=8881&cache=true " alt="Teen gets 25 years for cheerleader’s death" class="alignleft" />
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – A teen has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting a Manatee County high school student. As part of a plea deal, 19-year-old Daniel Floyd Williams pleaded no contest Monday to manslaughter with a firearm. He could have faced life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder at a trial scheduled for next month. Authorities say Williams shot 17-year-old Jazmine Thompson, a cheerleader at Bayshore High School, while she was sitting in the back of a car after a football game last fall. Police say Williams became involved in a verbal confrontation with other girls in the car and then fired at least four shots at the vehicle while he was walking away. The girls in the car reportedly didn’t realize that Thompson had been shot until they drove to her home. Related Articles Congressman Mack holding voters forum Monday night Be on alert as students go back to school 70-year-old SWFL man jumps from 2nd story apartment Some school supplies may be toxic
August 16, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=8760&cache=true " alt="Steinbrenner’s initials on Tampa football helmets" class="alignleft" />
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – High school football teams in southwest Florida will honor the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner by placing his initials on their helmets this season. Hillsborough High coach Earl Garcia, who displayed the stickers at practice Friday, said it’s a small way to honor a man who gave so much to the community. ???? ? Most of his donations were anonymous, but a few became public. Steinbrenner helped complete Tampa Catholic’s football stadium. ???? ? He replaced stolen equipment for little league teams and aided in the purchase of commemorative rings for the University of Tampa’s first national baseball championship. In the 1970s Steinbrenner paid for lights at a South Florida’s baseball field so teams could play night games. ???? ? Steinbrenner died of a heart attack last month. Related Articles Arkansas man dies trying to save boys off Florida coast Toddler drowns in Florida swimming pool Should school board keep superintendent or move on? Kendrick Meek rides better poll numbers on visit to SW Florida
August 14, 2010 | Posted in
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BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) — The dog really did eat the homework, or, in this case, the petition a South Carolina man was going to file to run for school board. The Beaufort Gazette reported Friday that Terry Thomas of Ladys Island had a petition with almost 200 signatures when he went out to check the mail. But when he returned from the mail box, Spencer, his 8-month-old Labrador and bull mastiff mix, had chewed up the petition. Now Thomas won’t be able to run for in November for a spot on the Beaufort County School Board. The retiree is a substitute teacher and an assistant football coach at Beaufort High. But he said when students use the old “the dog ate my homework” excuse in class, he just might believe them. — Information from: The Beaufort Gazette, http://www.beaufortgazette.com ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
August 14, 2010 | Posted in
Weird |
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