Blame it on the rain: Nadal-Djokovic U.S. Open mens final moved to Monday

NEW YORK — A Monday men's final is becoming a U.S. Open tradition.

The championship match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic was postponed a day because of persistent rain Sunday, the third consecutive year that the season's last major tournament won't finish on schedule.

The No. 1-seeded Nadal, bidding to complete a career Grand Slam, and No. 3 Djokovic were supposed to begin playing at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, but showers began more than 1 1/2 hours earlier and hadn't stopped by 6:15 p.m., when tournament officials decided to call it a night.

The final was rescheduled for 4 p.m. Monday, when the forecast calls for a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms.

Before 2008, the U.S. Open men's final hadn't been pushed to Monday since 1987. But Roger Federer beat Andy Murray on a Monday two years ago, then lost to Juan Martin del Potro on a Monday last year. This marks the first three-year string of delayed finishes at the tournament since the men's and women's singles competitions were combined and played at the same site in 1935.

"It was a very uncertain forecast, and had been shifting over the course of the day. We are in a band of showers that potentially could stretch until 1 (a.m.)," U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier said. "There may be breaks in there, but it was such an uncertain forecast that we felt the right thing to do for the players — and certainly for the fans — was to postpone the remaining matches until tomorrow."

Nadal and Djokovic were told a little before 6:30 p.m. that they wouldn't be playing Sunday, Widmaier said.

At 3 p.m., Djokovic was warming up on a practice court right outside Arthur Ashe Stadium as scattered drops fell. A few dozen fans — some holding aloft umbrellas — gathered outside the fence, catching a glimpse of the 2008 Australian Open champion.

He probably doesn't mind having to wait until Monday to play for real. That's because he reached the final with a grueling, five-set victory over Federer that lasted about 1 1/2 hours more than Nadal's straightforward, three-set win against Mikhail Youzhny in Saturday's first semifinal.

The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that schedules its men's singles semifinals and finals on back-to-back days, which could have proved to be a disadvantage for Djokovic. Indeed, after upsetting Federer on Saturday to reach his third Grand Slam final, Djokovic opened his eyes wide and rubbed his hands together when he was told about the possibility of rain affecting the final.

"I don't know the rituals; how to invite the rain," he said. "An extra day would be great."

Well, now he got it.

Nadal, meanwhile, will have to wait at least a day for his shot at history. Playing in his first U.S. Open final, the Spaniard is seeking to become the seventh man to own at least one singles title for each of tennis' four more prestigious tournaments.

He takes a 20-match Grand Slam winning streak into Monday, having won the French Open and Wimbledon to raise his major title total to eight. A victory over Djokovic also would make the 24-year-old Nadal the first man since Rod Laver's true, calendar-year Grand Slam in 1969 to win at Paris, London and New York in the same season. And it would send Nadal to the Australian Open in January with a chance to pull off a Rafa Slam of four major titles in a row, something no man has done since Laver.

There was only one interruption of play because of rain during the first 13 days of the tournament, a delay of about 25 minutes on the first Friday, when the outer bands of Hurricane Earl passed through the area. Otherwise, Week 1 was all about the heat, with the temperature reaching into the mid-90s, and Week 2 was all about the wind, with gusts topping 30 mph.

While Djokovic was training Sunday afternoon, the women's doubles final was halted in progress, with Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova three points from victory at 5-4 in the third set against Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. Tournament referee Brian Earley and tournament director Brian Curley went on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to check the conditions, and eventually, the players were sent to the locker room.

About 45 minutes later, heavier rain began falling, and the doubles final was scheduled to resume Monday at 3 p.m. — weather permitting.

There were some matches completed before the rain set in Sunday, including the first all-American U.S. Open boys' final in a decade. Jack Sock, a 17-year-old high school senior who grew up in Lincoln, Neb., beat Denis Kudla 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to become the first player representing the United States to win the title since Andy Roddick in 2000.

Top-seeded Daria Gavrilova beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Russian girls' final, while Esther Vergeer won her 396th consecutive match by defeating Daniela di Toro 6-0, 6-0 in the women's wheelchair final.

Tropical Storm Earl

Hurricane Earl skirted North Carolina’s Outer Banks, with the eye of the storm passing just 85 miles offshore of Cape Hatteras Thursday night into early Friday morning. However, the Outer Banks were still hit hard by storm surge flooding and hurricane-force wind gusts. Some local highways were closed, scattered power outages reported, and at least 400 people spent the night in shelters.

The now downgraded Tropical Storm Earl is passing by southeastern New England on its way into Canada.

Below you'll find various maps from current storm information to satellite and the all-important "projected path". Click on each of the maps to enlarge and get the information you need!

Family Drinks Milk Containing Dead Mouse For 3 Days, Sues Walmart

I've never tasted milk that contained the corpse of a dead mouse, so I can't say whether or not it would be noticeable, but a couple in Kentucky claim they drank three days' worth of moused-up milk they'd purchased at Sam's Club before ever noticing the rotting rodent inside. Now, as happens in these situations, they have filed a lawsuit.

The suit, which was filed earlier this week against Sam's Club's parent company Walmart, says the couple purchased the jug of milk at Sam's and then, with the help of their 23-month-old granddaughter, spent the next three days drinking from it.

On the third day, the woman involved went to pour some milk and "discovered a dead mouse" in the jug.

The gallon of milk -- along with the rodent -- was taken to the Kentucky Department of Public Health where the couple filed a written complaint.

According to the suit, the family "suffered embarrassment, humiliation and emotional distress."

The plaintiffs also claim that their granddaughter had blood in her stool after consuming the allegedly contaminated milk.

"This has been a traumatic experience for the Grants," says their lawyer. "They were completely shocked."

In addition to Walmart, the suit names Superior Dairy Inc., of Ohio, as a defendant. The family is seeking non-economic and punitive damages through a trial by jury.

Without having much to go on here, what's your gut instinct on the plaintiffs' allegations -- scam or the real deal?

Koran Burning ‘Suspended’ Not Cancelled

*Terry Jones, the radical Florida pastor who, on Thursday, cancelled his burning of Korans, now says the burning may be back on. The 9/11 event isn’t canceled, merely “suspended” for the time being.

Jones announced his reversal of his reversal while angrily accusing a Florida imam of lying to him about reaching a deal to move the Islamic center near Ground Zero. The imam involved with that project said no such deal ever existed.

“Given what we are now hearing, we are forced to rethink our decision,” Jones said. “So as of right now, we are not canceling the event, but we are suspending it.”

The confusing chain of events started when Jones called a news conference, alongside Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, to say a deal had been struck to move the NYC mosque. Musri, however, said after the news conference that the agreement was only for him and Jones to travel to New York and meet Saturday with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is overseeing those plans.

Marvin Sapp Wife Cancer

Marvin Sapp Wife Cancer, Female gospel singer Marvin Sapp has unfortunately Malinda died today after losing the battle against colon cancer. 92.1 Praise of Houston’s first outbreak of the sad story and issued a statement saying:“It is with our deepest sympathy that we inform you that the pastor’s wife Malinda Sapp Marvin Sapp happened today after fighting colon cancer.
It was confirmed in today’s program Lonnie Williams. An official press release has not been published yet, but more details will come in the morning show Yolanda Adams tomorrow morning!
Earlier this year, Marvin Sapp was testifying about how his wife, Malinda, received a clean bill of health by doctors after being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 2009. But then, health problems resurfaced and Marvin Sapp called for intense prayer all day. ”
Marvin Sapp became popular as a Commissioner and member of the group is best remembered for his gospel hits “I never would have done” and “the best of me.”

'Here You Have...' a Major Computer Virus

If your internet seemed a little slower today, or perhaps not even there at all at times, blame this: a major computer virus spread via email slamming servers at some heavy-duty websites. Affected sites include Google, NASA and Comcast. Computer World reports the virus is spread via a worm that comes attached to an email that typically has a subject line reading, "Here you have..." Anyone unwary enough to click on what looks like a link to a PDF embedded in the message is directed to a site that asks to download a screensaver file onto your computer. Users who are truly asleep at the wheel and click okay to install the screensaver are gifted with a worm that then propagates to the victim's contact list.
Admins who confronted this cyber-disaster today must have felt like it was 2001 all over again:
The worm is similar to the ILoveYou and Anna Kournikova worms, which spread in 2000 and 2001, and is a type of malware that has not been a major problem since around 2002 [...]
The worm's specific name is VBMania. It basically leads to a flood of spam, which then overloads servers, taking them offline.

Super Bowl 2010

Super Bowl 2010 New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts were almost all already know what is in what is arguably regarded as one of the most anticipated nights of the year. Hosted by Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida, Super Bowl, ended yesterday with a great victory for the New Orleans Saints with an overwhelming score 31-17 to the Indianapolis Colts.A player playing for the Super Bowl scores for each quarter as follows: in the first quarter opened with Colt Stover pushing the 1:38 yard field goal with 5:53 left, followed by a touchdown from Colt Garcons after a 19-yard pass from Colt Manning. Hartley shot 46-yard and 44 yards in goal for 6:02 and 0:35, respectively.
The Saints kept the pressure on, pumping in a touchdown by Thomas over a 16-yard pass from Breese, along with the 47-yard field goal by Hartley. Porter was able to land a second, returned 74 meters of an interception. Some have said they believe that the saints will suffer from a “Super Bowl hangover” that many teams are facing the season after they win.

Colbie Caillat

Colbie Caillat:Olbie Marie Caillat American pop and country singer, songwriter and guitarist from Malibu, California. She debuted in 2007 with Coco, which included hits “Bubbly”, “implementation” and “Little Things”. In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, “Lucky“, which received a Grammy.
On December 2, 2009, a breakthrough was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album for 52 Grammy Awards. She was also nominated twice for best pop collaboration for her featured vocals on “Lucky Jason Mraz” and her background vocals and writing on Breathe Taylor Swift, and is part of the team, which won Album of the Year for her vocals and the inscriptions Taylor Swift Fearless. Total U.S. sales of its first two albums is about 2.5 million 4 million sold worldwide.Caillat was born in Newbury Park, Calif., and grew up in Malibu, California. Her father, Ken Caillat, co-produced Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (1977) and Tusk (1979) album. Producer Mikal Blue hired teenagers Caillat singing in the background of techno music, which will be used for fashion shows. Caillat started writing songs Blue in 2004 . Currently she is on Twitter @ ColbieCaillat.The popularity of Caillat MySpace profile led her to become the number one unsigned singer in her genre of 4 months in a row.Her debut single, “Bubbly” and peaked at # 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 2 in the Pop 100. “Bubble” also reached # 58 in the UK Singles Chart in September 2008 after 11 months on the chart. Two other singles after “implementation” (# 20, Hot 100) and “Little Things” (# 94, Pop 100) .
In May 2008, Caillat recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, entitled “Lucky”, on his album We Sing, We Dance, We steal things . That same month, Caillat recorded a cover version of the song “Kiss Girl” from The Little Mermaid for Disney DisneyMania that. 6 CD. After touring with the Goo Goo Dolls and Lifehouse in 2007, she was opening for John Mayer at his Summer Tour 2008.second album, Caillat, entitled “Breakthrough was released on August 21, 2009, in Germany, on August 24 in the rest of Europe, and the day after the United States. Most of the album was co-written by Jason Reeves, American signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records and features the world famous Guitarist David Becker on two fronts. Becker worked with the singer’s father Ken a few of their records. The first single from the breakthrough “, Fallin ‘for You”, was released on June 29, 2009. On August 4, 2009 the album was submitted to the reservation through ITunes with a bonus song “Hold Your Head High”. This configuration also comes with a reggae version of “Begin Again”. In “Breakthrough” Colbie block was a writer so she brought her friends, Kara DioGuardi, Jason Reeves, and they went to Hawaii in Within three weeks, rented a beach house and write songs about love, relationships and breakups. Caillat has released two Christmas songs in the 2009 holiday season, “Do yourself a merry Christmas” and “Merry Christmas, Baby”. She and Officer Stacey Blue, (speaking co Caillat 2007 holiday single “Mistletoe”) also plans to write new songs Christmas. Archie Comics released issue with her as a guest.

Fire crews pouring into San Bruno as huge blaze continues to rage

As flames continued to rage out of control in San Bruno, fire crews from outlying cities and agencies were responding to help fight the massive blaze that has left at least nine people burned and destroyed a number of homes.Four air-tankers, two smaller attack planes and 25 fire engines from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection were headed to the blaze, the agency said.Off-duty firefighters, some of them without their protective gear, were battling the blaze alongside overwhelmed crews from the small San Bruno Fire Department, according to news reports.Huge orange balls of flames were billowing into the nighttime sky. Residents reported a huge shake, as if an earthquake struck when the blaze broke out.The radiant heat from the flames could be felt several blocks away, according to residents.The blaze, which broke out shortly after 6 p.m., may have been caused by a large gas line explosion, said a spokesman with Pacific Gas and Electric.The Blood Center of the Pacific issued an emergency and asked for people to donate blood Friday morning.At San Francis Hospital in San Francisco, a major burn center, two patients were in critical condition, but medical crews were gearing up to treat more patients.

US Open 2010 Live Schedule on Thursday 9th September

Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco play in an all-Spanish quarter final in the night match at Flushing Meadows
The US Open semi-final line-up is almost complete, with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic already successfully through to the last 4 at Flushing Meadows.
Today Andy Murray's conqueror faces Mikhail Youzhny in the first of the quarter-finals matches on Arthur Ashe, with the Swiss aiming for his first ever Grand Slam semi-final spot.
Later, world number one Rafael Nadal is in action in the night match in New York, as he faces compatriot Fernando Verdasco, in what promises to be a hugel entertaining quarter-final.

‘Google Instant’ feature as “the future of search”

Close on the heels of Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s mention of “new definition of Google” in his keynote address at the IFA show in Berlin, the Internet search giant has announced the launch of ‘Google Instant’ - the search engine’s new interface which is currently being rolled out in the US.
Describing Google Instant as “the future of search”, the company has elucidated that the changed interface offers interactive search results, even before the users finish typing, based on two main considerations: what the users begin typing in the Google search bar; and what Google’s software predicts users are trying to type.
Google Instant facilitates a change of the search results on the fly as users refine their query, with requiring the execution of repeated searches. Similar to Google’s common queries interface, Google Instant also offers a drop-down list of predicted search strings which allow users to select predicted queries simply by scrolling.
Noting that Google is making endeavors to “get you something fast,” Schmidt said in his speech: “Never underestimate the power of fast. Quick, quick, quick-we want to help you right now”; and added in an almost psychic-like fashion: “We can understand things like what you really meant.”
While the Google Instant feature will be available in other countries, browser search fields, and mobile handsets in the forthcoming months, users in the US can go to www.google.com/instant to access the feature.

Dabangg Is A Complete Entertainment Package

Dabangg is a new age Robin Hood kind of a movie. Salman Khan, who is playing the character of Chulbul Pandey rocks through his performance. Pandey is a corrupt police officer who believes in judging people in his own style.
He is living with not so good childhood memories. His mother (Dimple Kapadia) happens to marry Prajapati Pandey (Vinod Khanna) and it so happens that Chulbul’s half brother Makhanchan who is always been given preference in almost everything and the bitterness starts from there.
The character of Makhanchan is portrayed by Salman’s real brother Arbaz Khan. The complete Khan family is involved in the making of the film. Sohail Khan, the third among the brothers has produced the film and Arbaz’s wife, Malaika Arora Khan has done a cameo for an item number, which already became a hit even before the movie was released. The song is “Munni badnam hui.”
Debutante, Sonakshi Sinha daughter of yesteryear’s star Shatrugan Sinha has managed to give a sizzling performance in her first ever project. Overall, everyone has managed to give their best shots and the film is a real treat to be watched. Dabangg indeed deserves a ‘Good’ rating.

America s got talent top 4

The 2010 America's Got Talent Top 4 was just revealed on NBC. The 2010 America's Got Talent Top 4 are singer Michael Grimm, singer Jackie Evancho, performance group Fighting Gravity, and singer/performer Prince Poppycock. These are the four acts that will perform next Tuesday for the chance at the $1 million prize for the 2010 season. That $1 million prize will be announced on Wednesday, bringing an end to the season, and making one of these acts extremely happy that they decided to take part in the 2010 season of America's Got Talent.On Tuesday America's Got Talent was down to its final 10 contestants, and they all performed for voters that got to decide their fates on Tuesday night. Wednesday was the big reveal, as six of those acts were sent home in favor of the final four. The six contestants that have performed for the last time on the AGT stage were dancers Anna and Patryk, Studio One Young Beast Society, trick cyclist Jeremy Vanschoonhoven, magician Michael Grasso, singer Taylor Matthews, and singing duo Christina and Ali. It was a sad night for several of the contestants, especially for Christina and Ali for all they have been through to this point.There are only two episodes of America's Got Talent left this season, and that will bring an end to the highest rated show of the summer season. Once again America's Got Talent has become the most watched show on television, and will certainly see a lot of viewers tune in to see how this season is going to end.

Quran-burning

In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times," Pastor Terry Jones told CNN's Rick Sanchez earlier this week.
Jones wrote a book titled "Islam is of the Devil," and the church sells coffee mugs and shirts featuring the phrase.
Muslims and many other Christians -- including some evangelicals -- are fighting the initiative.
The church launched a YouTube channel to disseminate its messages.
"I mean ask yourself, have you ever really seen a really happy Muslim? As they're on the way to Mecca? As they gather together in the mosque on the floor? Does it look like a real religion of joy?" Jones asks in one of his YouTube posts.
"No, to me it looks like a religion of the devil."
The Islamic advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Muslims and others to host "Share the Quran" dinners to educate the public during the monthlong fast of Ramadan beginning in August. In a news release, the group announced a campaign to give out 100,000 copies of the Quran to local, state and national leaders.
"American Muslims and other people of conscience should support positive educational efforts to prevent the spread of Islamophobia," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper in the release.
The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest umbrella evangelical group, issued a statement urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions.
"The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths. God created human beings in his image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," it said in the statement.
Dove's Facebook page, set up for the September event, has more than 1,600 fans.
"Eternal fire is the only destination the Quran can lead people to, so we want to put the Quran in it's [sic] place -- the fire!" the page says.

The Wayne Rooney 'scandal'

The Wayne Rooney 'scandal' is simply a sex story, but because of the existence of a super-injunction the moral, legal and public interest debates coincide. How confused have things become.
The story's coverage demonstrates that prurience flourishes and that sport is burdened with responsibilities not foisted on other sections of society more relevant to public morality and setting standards.
Super-injunctions are not new, though they previously featured in family law, and newspapers hate them. When one is obtained it scuppers a planned publication date which will be timed to do maximum damage or achieve maximum exposure, depending on which side you are on.
Witness the release of the match-fixing allegations against snooker's John Higgins, now cleared of any impropriety, coincidentally appearing just before the final of this year's World Championship.
The increased use of this remedy, one whose existence is not supposed to be revealed, is to counter the recent tactic used when normal injunctions are in place.
There have been a number of whodunnit whispering campaigns via Twitter, the internet and implications in print, inviting people to speculate and investigate a particular story.
This not only creates another story, by the time the public has used its collective investigative skills, much of what was supposed to be secret is no longer so. Therefore the injunction becomes worthless.