Fairmount CA

What. A. Game last week.

All of AA’s columnists have done a great job documenting the fantastic things we saw in that game: A.) The Chiefs sudden rise from the grave B.) Their utter trouncing of the dirtiest, most classless team in the league and C.) Said team’s laughably inept offensive performance.

Now, while point C in some ways detracts from points A and B, it is what I want to focus on, because it is the most important in the long term.

Although Cassel looked far from impressive in that game and the defense did a lot of the work for the Zombie Chiefs, after doing some research, I’ve become a much bigger fan of Zombie Cassel and his insatiable appetite for comeback brains. So much so, that it has made me feel a lot better about that trade that brought him here, especially because it makes the Carson Palmer trade look like a Jedi Ronin Secret Suicide attack.

Read my lips: the Raiders are doomed. Check out why after the break.

Look, I like Matt Cassel. He obviously been the most productive quarterback we’ve had since Trent Green’s prime years and as long as the running game is clicking, the Cassel-Bowe connection is one of the most dangerous in the league. He’s also one tough cookie and you can’t ask for much better leadership qualities.

Still, I think an objective assessment of him is one as a middle-of-the-road quarterback. He’s had chances to distinguish himself as a top 10 QB by putting the game on his back and winning late in games when the running game was suffering. In nearly all of these situations he hasn’t gotten it done. One important exception was his insane 4 TD, 138.9 passer rating performance against the Colts in Week 5 this year. However, even then, you have to take those stats with a grain of salt as they were made against what is arguably the worst team in the NFL.

Therefore, until he proves himself otherwise, I have no qualms about viewing him as the 15^th-or-so best quarterback in the league. And thus, I think he proves a good stick of measure for the quality of other quarterbacks in the league – in particular, the newest comer to the AFC West, Carson Palmer.

How do Cassel and Palmer, former teammates and roommates at USC, stack up?

First-overall-pick Palmer lit the league on fire in his first three years with 78 TDs and nearly 10,000 passing yards. In 2005, he had a Manning-like 101.1 passer rating for the season. Then, he was bedeviled by the traditionally poor Bengals management and injuries to his elbow and knee. A few years later, Cassel came off the bench in New England and threw for 21 TDs and (still) career-high 3,693 yards.

From this point, their careers have taken drastically different paths. As we all know, Cassel was traded to KC for a high second-rounder along with grizzled veteran LB Mike Vrabel. Palmer has now ended up on Cassel’s rival team for either two first-rounds or a first- and a second-round pick. And, if any more evidence is needed that Oakland is managed by a group of drunken teenagers, these numbers should finish it off.

Let’s just forget last game, for statistical purposes. Palmer apparently hadn’t even thrown to his Oakland receivers in pads before that game and never was planning on going into the game. So, I’ll give him a break for being put into an impossible situation.

But before last week, the Raiders’ savior, Carson Palmer, had thrown 57 interceptions in his previous 52 starts. Cassel had 41 INTs in his 65 total career starts and his stats going into the game were 8 TD 5 INT. Not great, but not that bad, considering how putrid the Chiefs offense was in the first two weeks of the season.

Furthermore, Cassels season passer rating going into the game (89.7) is higher than the rating Palmer has put up for the last four seasons, and is also higher than Palmer’s career passer rating.

Thus, if Cassel is a mediocre quarterback, then Palmer is decidedly a bad one. Cassel is also three years younger, and does not have anything closely resembling the injury history of glass-limbs Palmer.

Outisde of AA, I am also the designated Chiefs SuperFan for the ESPN Football Today podcast, and in an argument with the Raiders SuperFan, the best he could come up with in response to these statistics was that “The RAIDS have the leagues best RB.  He just needs to be respectable, so that you cant stack the box.” (-To which I responded of course that McFadden (currently injured) is not the league’s best RB, that honor belongs to a player on the Chiefs’ roster who is currently on IR.)

So, by all accounts, we should all be rejoicing that the Raiders have just bought themselves a “reasonable” quarterback in exchange for their entire future. In fact, even if Palmer plays pretty well, they’ve still screwed themselves for the medium-term.

Here is the best-case scenario for the Raiders: Palmer takes them to the playoffs and wins a couple of games this year. Their team isnt bad, but theyre not a Super Bowl team theyve proven that when theyve gone toe-to-toe with teams like the Patriots. So OK, maybe they make it to the AFC Championship and get brushed aside by New England or Baltimore. Then what? They have one year with basically no draft (not counting compensatory picks, their first pick will be in the 5^th round in 2012). Two full years with no 1st round pick, and by the end of that they have a quarterback who has a long history of injury and who will be 34 by the end of the 2013 regular season.

They then have no quality young players, no quarterback, no future. Maybe theyve gotten themselves a Lombardi trophy during that stint, but I would bet the farm they dont. They have no cap room and hardly any draft picks for the next two years meaning right now is the best they are going to be talent-wise, as they essentially have no ammunition to grab talent for the next two years. Is this a Super Bowl team?

No.

Wrap your head around this fact: Due to trades and the supplemental draft, three of their top four picks in the next draft are quarterbacks currently on the roster – 1^st pick Carson Palmer, 3^rd (currently suspended total project QB) Terrelle Pryor, 4^th Jason Campbell, who is currently in a contract year and on IR. It’s inconceivable that Campbell, who has starting quality talent, would resign or be resigned by Oakland last year.

Thus, they’ve essentially thrown a year’s-worth of draft picks to fill a position with a bad quarterback.

All of this not only makes the controversial Cassel trade look a whole hell of a lot smarter, but we can all take solace in the fact that  as the Chiefs continue to toughen up through a rough season, the Raiders will be joining the Broncos as a team to beat up on in division games for the next several years.

There are still a lot of hard games to play in this season, but imagine this: If the Chiefs can upset the suddenly accident-prone Chargers at home this week and can roll the awful Dolphins and Broncos in subsequent weeks, we will be 6-3. After that, the schedule gets very difficult, but it’s still very realistic to finish 8-8 or 9-7. By then, Kansas City, the team with the lowest cap number in the NFL, will have a corps of young players who have learned how to play through adversity and will know what to do to get those tough, close wins.

We’ll have plenty of money to spend, and we’ll be getting back Charles, Moeaki and Berry. Due to their self-inflicted wounds, the Raiders, by weakening themselves, have made the AFC West a division primed to be dominated by what will be a scary Chiefs team in 2012.

I, for one, can’t wait.

Tags: 2012 season, Carson Palmer, Chiefs, matt cassel, raiders, trades, utter stupidity

HARRISBURG – One might think the fight to open the fields and forests of Pennsylvania to Sunday hunting would pit guns against religion.

After all, the ban on shooting on the Sabbath has its roots in the blue laws of the 19th century.

Instead, it is shaping up to be a face-off between arguably the two most powerful lobbies in the state: sportsmen and farmers.

The National Rifle Association and other firearms and hunting groups are making a big push this fall for legislation to overturn a 138-year-old ban on Sunday hunting, arguing that they should have the right to hunt seven days a week during hunting seasons.

They cite economic advantages for expanding hunting, pointing to a new study completed by a legislative commission that predicts that adding days will create thousands of new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue.

But those involved in the states number-one industry – agriculture – and recreation groups say they simply want a day of peace in the countryside each week.

Farmers say they want to preserve the one day when they dont have to worry about trespassers, while hikers, bikers, and horseback riders want to continue enjoying public land on Sundays without the fear of getting shot.

The legislation – still being debated in a House committee – would not open all Sundays to hunting. Rather, it calls for the Pennsylvania Game Commission – which voted, 4-3, last spring to support the bill – to determine which Sundays, in which hunting seasons, would be open to shooting.

For instance, the commission could designate Sunday hunting only during the peak two-week open deer season beginning at the end of November, or extend it to all Sundays from the start of the Canada goose-hunting seasons in September through the snow goose season that ends in April.

Thirty-nine states allow some form of hunting on Sundays, including New Jersey.

Still, the committee chairman and bill sponsor, Rep. John Evans (R., Erie), said he was not sure a bill will get voted out of committee.

Right now its pretty close – we have members who are on the fence, Evans said after a four-hour hearing on his bill Thursday.

Gov. Corbett said he wanted to review any legislation before determining whether or not he would support it.

Im not going to weigh in on it right now, Corbett said Thursday. I want to see the bill.

Friction between the warring factions spilled over during a contentious hearing Thursday before the House Game and Fisheries Committee.

Joel Rotz, the chief lobbyist for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, testified that proponents have failed to make the case that the interests of all Pennsylvanians are better served by removing the current restrictions.

We are hearing a growing voice among them who wish to be outdoors on Sunday enjoying a broad range of activities, Rotz said. They say that one day a week should be preserved for their pleasure without the concern of encountering hunters or hearing gunfire.

One after another, pro-Sunday hunting lawmakers assailed the farm bureau and its position, contending it was not representing the will of its 52,000 members. One, Rep. Mark Gergely (R., Allegheny), mocked the bureaus defense of the rights of leaf peepers, also known as foliage watchers.

Rotz responded that a majority of the bureaus membership has consistently voted against Sunday hunting.

The committee members hammered representatives of the hiking and horseback-riding communities for not having any proof that outdoors enthusiasts or their animals had been shot at or killed by hunters.

Curt Ashenfelter, executive director of the Keystone Trails Association, said the Sunday prohibition makes the outdoors available for hikers, bird-watchers, mountain bikers, and others without the perception they are in danger.

But Carl Roe, executive director of the Game Commission, which has seen a decline in hunting licenses in recent years, said that expanded hunting will help generate revenue and give young people more opportunities to get involved in the sport.

Theres no doubt in our mind that including Sunday hunting will certainly have a positive impact on the hunting industry, Roe told the committee.

Hunting is big business in Pennsylvania, which issues more than 900,000 licenses to shoot deer, waterfowl, elk, bear, and other animals each year, among the highest number in the nation.

In 2010, hunting generated roughly $1.7 billion in retail spending, a figure that would grow by 27 percent with Sunday hunting, according to the study prepared for the Legislative Finance and Budget Commission.

Plot

Shot entirely using motion capture techniques, The Adventures of Tintin sees Steven Spielberg bring Herges comic book character to life in a film which merges three of his most famous stories – The Crab With The Golden Claws, The Secret of The Unicorn and Red Rackhams Treasure.

Jamie Bell takes on the role of the bequiffed title character, who becomes caught up in an edge-of-the-seat adventure after he and Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) head off in search of treasure lost on a sunken ship by the latters ancestor. However theyre not the only ones after the loot…

Anonymous sees director Roland Emmerich – the man behind such blockbusters as Independence Day and 2012 – opting for a change of pace as he explores the theory long held by some historians that William Shakespeare did not write his own plays.

The movie follows the life of Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans) – who is portrayed as the illegitimate son of Queen Elizabeth I (Vanessa Redgrave) and something of a writing genius – while Shakespeare is seen as a drunken, illiterate bit-part actor who, through a series of contrivances, ends up passing himself off as the author of De Veres works.

Winner: Anonymous. Tintin fans may have been waiting for years to see their hero brought to life on screen but the plot is nothing new – while Anonymous tackles a thorny subject matter which has fascinated historians for years.

What we say

The Adventures of Tintin: If you want big kids spectacle, this visually dazzling family fare has all the flair and fizz that was missing from the fourth Indiana Jones movie, Spielbergs last outing as director… However, in the headlong rush for the next thrill, opportunities for lighter or quieter moments are crushed. For all Tintins frenzied globetrotting, there is no real mystery to solve. (Colin Kennedy)

Anonymous: Its not exactly Shakespeare, and the premise is utterly preposterous, but with lashings of intrigue and genuinely clever touches Anonymous is no disaster either… What should be a silly period romp is far too long and feels as if Emmerich cannot decide if this Shakespeare play is history, tragedy or comedy. (Colin Kennedy)

Winner: Tintin. Both score mixed reviews, but the Belgian hero wins the day on the fun factor and giving the fans what they want. Anonymous, on the other hand, sounds as if it could – and should – have been better.

What they say

(All via Twitter)

The Adventures of Tintin:

sarahdrinkwater: In case you wanted to know, the
Tintin films actually really fun. Blistering barnacles all round

LATherocomplex: I really want to see
Tintin again. That says a lot…

TheBig_Spoon: Saw
TinTin with the wife, well thats my favourite film of the year sorted.

Anonymous:

Curt_Holman: I saw
ANONYMOUS, the
film about Shakespearean authorship by the director of ID4. I loved the part when the aliens blew up the Globe Theatre.

LadyJE: B4 viewing the
film
ANONYMOUS, please leave your brain in the lobby, u wont be needing it amp; the
film will hurt less w/o it.

FilmFan1971: I hope that in 500 years, someone attempts to prove that
Roland
Emmerich didnt really direct any of his films. It would serve him right.

Winner: Tintin. Anonymous is getting a mixed reaction among social networkers, who seem to love it or hate it – but Tintin seems to have been universally popular.

Overall winner: The Adventures of Tintin snatches victory from under the nose of Anonymous – while the latter may have the originality factor, the former takes the honours for its sheer entertainment value and generally positive reception.

Who should win this weeks Film Face-Off?

Trade Minister Craig Emerson says the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) has delivered good outcomes for the Australian and global economy.

The final communique, released at the Perth forum on Sunday, stated a commitment to avoid trade protectionism.

It also reaffirmed support for a successful end to the Doha round of trade talks, noting grave concerns about the current impasse in the talks.

Dr Emerson told AAP that, as CHOGM would be followed by the G20 leaders summit, by APEC, by the East Asia Summit and by the trade ministers meeting in Geneva, it was important that Commonwealth nations sent the right signal on free trade.

If a group as diverse as CHOGM can agree we shouldnt be embracing protectionism then thats a good thing, that has value, he said.

Dr Emerson said the announcement during the CHOGM lead-up events of a Australia-Nigeria Trade and Investment Council, with offices in Perth and Lagos, was an important step.

Nigeria is Australias second-largest trading partner in Africa and its GDP is growing at a rate of seven per cent a year.

Six Australian mining companies are already active in Nigeria, as is Macquarie Bank.

The co-chairs of the new council are Hugh Morgan, CEO of First Charnock Australia, and Pascal Dozie, chairman of the Diamond Group Advisory Board.

Its patrons are Dr Emerson and Nigerias Minister for Trade and Investment Olusegun Aganga.

Dr Emerson said a similar council set up by Bob Hawke and Rajiv Ghandi in 1986 to build ties with India proved the value of such bodies.

It will be a useful and memorable decision, he said.

These relationships need to start somewhere, and this will see a more energetic engagement in a country of 150 million people that has been growing very strongly.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has met with leaders from a range of countries on the sidelines of CHOGM, with trade on the agenda.

Negotiations with Malaysia on a free trade agreement are under way and, according to a government source, there have been preliminary high-level talks with Canada on an FTA.

Looking ahead to other global summits, Dr Emerson said the government remained committed to regional and multi-lateral trade negotiations, including the Doha round of talks and the Trans-Pacific Partnership which will be a focus of the APEC meeting in Hawaii.

Dr Emerson said while Doha was at an impasse, Australia would be pushing the idea of tackling specific industries and issues, rather than seeking a more ambitious overall deal in coming forums.

It would be better to break it into manageable pieces and bring them home, rather than say nothing is agreed, he said.

A professor of psychology at Boise State University, Elizabeth Morgan, found that straight women often feel more than a friendly affection for other women.

Other data suggests upwards of 20 percent of women are attracted to other women. Its claimed this could be linked to the way women socialise from chatting on the phone for hours to snuggling during chick flicks.

It is said that often womens friendships are barely distinguishable from romantic relationships.

Women are encouraged to be emotionally close to each other, the Daily Mail quoted the professor as saying.

That provides an opportunity for intimacy and romantic feelings to develop, she added.

Another psychologist, Lisa Diamond said that the older they got, the more likely they were to choose unlabeled, which meant that they felt their sexuality didnt fit into tidy boxes.

There is no denying that Google AdWords is a critical part of the online marketing mix and has been a long-time leader. Does AdWords support and integrate with the most current trends? Or does it fall short? Three key online marketing trends, mobile, +1, and offers are explored and how they can benefit AdWords PPC programs.

Mobile and Tablet Reach

Growing faster than any other technology, mobile is a hot topic. According to Google, US mobile queries have experienced four times growth in just the past year, making it a prime opportunity to leverage for AdWords advertising.

Currently in AdWords, advertisers can target mobile devices with full browsers and tablets with full browsers, including a few advanced settings for operating systems and mobile carriers. This targeting provides a base and points advertisers in the right direction to create mobile-only campaigns.

Click-to-call ads, launched last year, are available only for mobile as either a location extension or call extension. This feature allows searchers to conveniently call directly from ads that are displayed on mobile devices.

Going beyond click-to-call, this month Google introduced a new conversion tracking metric to help advertisers track calls placed from mobile landing pages through their AdWords accounts. By installing a snippet of code on the landing pages, advertisers can see which campaigns, ad groups, and keywords attributed to the call. This new metric enables advertisers to see more comprehensive call data (both from search results + landing page) as well as leverage existing AdWords tools to optimize for calls.

Even with the tremendous growth and potential for mobile, current volume for most advertisers is rather low. By reviewing existing performance data and creating several mobile-only campaigns (separate mobile devices and tablets), advertisers can begin to collect intelligence on how their audiences interact with ads in mobile. With AdWords current mobile advertising options, advertisers can participate and find success in this top trend.

+1 Ad Endorsement

Googles +1 allows people to share link recommendations with friends on the search results pages with the press of a button. In addition to the ability to recommend entries in the organic results, searchers can also recommend AdWords ads.

This month Google released the +1 capability for Display Network ads. Google believes incorporating personal recommendations into display ads has the potential to change the way people view advertising.

Of course, this is similar to PPC social ads in Facebook that can accumulate likes. A display ad on the Google Display Network has the potential to link social connections and increase ad visibility to those who can see that a friend or contact has chosen to endorse it.

One of the big downfalls of this capability is the current lack of reporting or feedback loop to the advertiser on +1 responses. Advertisers have no idea if or how many times an AdWords ad may be +1d, clearly leaving them unable to optimize for social connections and feeling a bit anti-social.

Offers and Big Deals

Even Google couldnt avoid the coupon fever of the last few years. Its coupon program, Google Offers, delivers deals daily via email for those who sign up. For advertisers that link their Offers to AdWords, wide-eyed Offer Ads are born. While Offer Ads are currently in Beta and Google Offers is available in limited cities, expansion is planned in the future. I discovered the example below in a market not on the current list.

In a new segmentation feature released for testing a few weeks ago, Google began to collect information to help deliver more personalized deals. People signing up for Offers can choose from several main categories and subcategories to define their preferences for the type of deals they want to receive. The ability to integrate this data with AdWords would potentially be a great opportunity for AdWords advertisers to leverage the extreme coupon trend. Until these products and AdWords features are fully released, advertisers will have to stick to promoting offers the old-fashioned way, in the copy of their ads.

Within each hot trend, we see that features and testing are actively being released – several this month. This should give AdWords advertisers a clearer vision for future PPC account expansion and their upcoming 2012 strategic plans.

The Orlando Magic are nearing a crucial moment in their franchise history.  Is Dwight Howard going to remain with the team and sign an extension or is he going to bolt to a larger market after he opts-out of his current contract in the summer of 2012?

If Howard leaves, this will be the second time the Magic have lost the game’s premier big man.  In 1996, after leading the Magic to the Eastern Conference Finals, Shaquille O’Neal bolted for Hollywood and the Los Angeles Lakers.  The Magic received nothing in return for O’Neal’s departure to LA and it took the Magic years before they were able to rebuild the franchise.

This has to weigh on the minds of the decision makers for the Magic, if Orlando loses Howard for nothing the franchise will likely be lottery bound for the foreseeable future.  The Magic are currently over the salary cap and were one of the few teams that paid the luxury tax last season.  They are likely going to be over the cap for the next two years regardless of what they do, so losing Howard would be devastating to the franchise.

The debate over whether to trade Howard now and guarantee the Magic get something for him or to let Howard play out his contract has been made here on HOOPSWORLD.  However, Howard’s recent interview with Scott Raab of Esquire magazine throws doubt on whether there is any chance he will return to the Magic.

If Howard has indeed decided to leave the Magic, then the team needs to strike as soon as possible to move Howard for the best possible deal.  A couple of things to keep in mind, Howard is arguably the best player in the league and it will be virtually impossible for the Magic to get anything near fair value for him, especially because he seems determined to enter free agency in 2012.

If the Magic do in fact decide to trade Howard, they will have several options, from acquiring veterans who might help the team make the playoffs the next few seasons, to young talent and draft picks that will help the Magic build for the future.  No matter what option the Magic pursues, they should definitely be looking at shedding salary by adding a long-term contract to any trade scenario, like Hedo Turkoglu.

Without further ado, here is a look at some of the more realistic possibilities the Magic should be thinking about if they decide to trade Howard.  All trade scenarios work under the just-expired CBA and are listed in no particular order.

The Los Angeles Clippers send Chris Kaman, DeAndre Jordan, Al-Farouq Aminu, Brian Cook and the Minnesota Timberwolves unprotected first round pick in 2012 to the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu.

This trade provides the Magic with an instant savings of 12 million dollars.  If the Magic decide to bite the bullet and buyout Gilbert Arenas’ contract with the rumored Amnesty Clause, the Magic could be under the cap by the start of the 2012-13 season.  Few teams can offer the Magic this kind of savings.

Cook is an expiring contract as is Kaman.  Kaman is still a starting caliber center in the NBA and could be flipped for another player; he has been linked to rumors involving Monta Ellis and Andre Iguodala.  The other option is for the Magic to allow his contract to expire and free up more cap space that they could use in free agency.

In Jordan, the Magic would get a young, athletic center who could be the team’s starter for the next 5-10 years and in Aminu the Magic would receive a mostly unknown player that would be given plenty of minutes in Orlando and have the opportunity to prove he belongs.

The biggest part of this trade though, is the first rounder the Magic would be acquiring.  It’s probable the T-Wolves are going to struggle this year and the pick is likely to turn into a lottery pick, if not top five pick, in a loaded draft.

Also, if the Magic make this trade, then buyout Arenas and then trade Jameer Nelson for expiring contracts and/or picks, the Magic are likely to be one of the worst teams in the league.  It’s hard to sell a fan base on losing, but if ever there was a year to have two lottery picks in the draft, it is this year.  If the Magic can land two top ten picks, Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger, Austin Rivers, Anthony Davis, or Andre Drummond could make the fans forget all about Howard in just a few years.

Between the cap savings, two young players in Jordan and Aminu, and a potential lottery pick, this is arguably the best deal the Magic could hope to get.  It might also make Howard happy landing in Los Angeles and getting to play next to two young stars in Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon, which could increase the chance that Howard avoids free agency and is willing to sign an extension.

The Los Angeles Lakers send Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and draft picks to the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu.

If the Magic want a potential all-star center in return for Howard, this is their best bet.  Bynum has all of the tools to be a star in the league for years to come, unfortunately he hasn’t been able to stay healthy; he has played more than 65 games just once in his career.

Bynum is an offensive and defensive threat.  For his career he is a 57% shooter from the field and has averaged 1.5 blocks per game.  The biggest question is whether or not he can stay on the floor, and whether the Magic would be willing to take that risk?

Odom is a solid player who can play the power forward and small forward positions, but his best days are probably behind him.  He turns 32 on November 6 and if the Magic go into rebuilding mode, how long would Odom be able to play at an elite level?

Any draft picks the Magic acquired from the Lakers are likely to be either late first rounders or second round picks.  It’s hard to build for the future when a team doesn’t have cap space or early draft picks.  This trade for the magic is risky, it could land them a future all-star center, or could keep the team maxed out while their best player sits in a suit on the sidelines because of injury.

The Chicago Bulls Send Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Keith Bogans, Jannero Pargo, John Lucas, Taj Gibson, and a future first round draft pick from the Charlotte Bobcats to the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu.

This is the one trade that is likely to keep the Magic in the playoffs for the next several years.  The downside is, unless Gilbert Arenas returns to all-star status, it is unlikely the Magic will be anything more than a first round playoff team.

Noah is a solid center, but has dealt with injury issues the last two seasons.  When healthy he is one of the best defensive and rebounding big men in the game and can affect the outcome without ever scoring a point.  Noah could also help the Magic retain fans after losing Howard, because he won two national championships at the University of Florida.

Deng is a solid, but not flashy small forward that can score and guard the opposing team’s best perimeter player.  He has dealt with injuries in the past, but seems to have put it behind him; he was one of the leaders in total minutes played last season.

Bogans, Pargo, and Lucas each have non-guaranteed contracts that could be waived immediately and would save the Magic millions of dollars this season.

Gibson proved he could be a starting power forward when he began last season in the starting lineup in place of an injured Carlos Boozer for the Bulls.  During his time as a starter, Gibson averaged over ten points a game and blocked almost two shots.  He is still under his rookie contract and would be the Magic’s starting power forward for the foreseeable future.

The pick the Magic would acquire from the Bulls is a protected future first rounder from the Bobcats that could wind up being a lottery pick in a few years.  For a veteran team like the Magic, having a lottery pick in 2013 or 2014 could help them rebuild on the fly, or help them take the next step in the playoffs.

This may not be the best offer on the table for the Magic, but if Howard agrees to sign an extension with the Bulls, this deal would help the Magic stay competitive for the next several years.  Few teams can offer the Magic a trade that lands them three starters, like the bulls can.  The Magic could have a starting lineup of Arenas, JJ Redick, Deng, Gibson, and Noah.  Barring injury, that should be a playoff team for several years.

The New Jersey Nets send Brook Lopez and draft picks to the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard.

If Howard pulls a Carmelo Anthony and demands to be traded to the New Jersey Nets, there is only one trade that makes any sense for the Magic, Brook Lopez and draft picks.

Lopez is a solid player, despite regressing some in his sophomore season, but there isn’t another player on the roster that the Magic should target, assuming Deron Williams is off the table.  The Nets sent several picks to the Utah Jazz in last year’s deal to acquire Williams, so any picks the Magic receive aren’t likely to be future lottery picks.

If Howard says he won’t sign an extension with any team but the Nets, which will all but eliminate the market for Howard, the Magic would probably be better served to hold onto Howard for the season and make one last playoff run.

The New York Knicks send Chauncey Billups, Landry Fields, Ronny Turiaf, Bill Walker, Toney Douglas, and draft picks to the Orlando Magic for Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson.

This is another situation where the Magic might be better served just holding onto Howard and playing out the season rather than trading him for expiring contracts and a fringe starting shooting guard in Fields.

If Howard demands to be traded to the Knicks, this is the best offer the Magic could hope to receive.  This deal does provide about five million in instant savings off their cap, and with Billups, Turiaf, and Walker all being on the last year of their deals, it’s possible the Magic could be under the cap by the start of the 2012-13 season.

The question is whether that cap space is worth trading Howard for?  If the Magic keep Howard they are all but guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, but is that playoff run worth the potential of losing him for nothing?

Other Options

If the Magic do make Howard available every team in the NBA will be after him, the problem is most teams aren’t likely to give up anything close to fair value unless they know Howard will agree to an extension with them.  If Howard continues to insist on becoming a free agent, the Magic’s options will be very limited.

In fact, it’s unlikely any team would trade anything more than draft picks and expiring contracts for Howard, even though he all but guarantees that team a spot in the playoffs.  If Howard were to agree to an extension though, several other teams could be in play.

The Miami HEAT may consider offering LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Chris Bosh for Howard.  James or Wade is as good a deal as the Magic could ever dream of getting for Howard, while Bosh may not be on the same level, he is only 27 and has proven he can lead a team to the playoffs.

The Oklahoma City Thunder could put together a package of players and picks that includes James Harden, Serge Ibaka, and Kendrick Perkins.  The Thunder could provide the Magic with cap space and several players to build around in Ibaka and Harden.

The Utah Jazz could also offer draft picks and young players.  They could offer Al Jefferson, Derrick Favors, Mehmet Okur’s expiring contract and draft picks for Howard and Turkoglu.

There is no right answer in all of this, and time will tell if Howard demands to be traded, leads the Magic to believe he will return, or if he says nothing at all about his impending free agency.  One thing is certain though, whenever the season starts, the Magic are going to have a very difficult decision to make regarding their franchise center.

Have questions for Mark Nugent? Be sure and drop by HOOPSWORLD on Wednesdays at 5PM Eastern for his weekly basketball chat.

Follow me on Twitter @MarkNugentNBA

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C., Oct 21, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
USA Technologies, Inc.

/quotes/zigman/99788/quotes/nls/usat USAT
-2.58%

, a leader of wireless, cashless
payment and M2M telemetry solutions for self-serve, small-ticket retail
industries, today announced that it will showcase its leading-edge ePort
Cashless Payments and Telemetry solution at the Atlantic
Coast Exposition (ACE) conference, October 20th through 22nd in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. USA Technologies will be in booth number
411 during the conference.

“ACE gives us a great opportunity to meet directly with vending
operators who are interested in our turn-key cashless payments and
telemetry system,” said Mike Lawlor, Sr. VP Sales and Business
Development. “The ACE conference places a heavy emphasis on education
and training, and the operators attending are looking for the kind of
information that we can provide on consumer trends and business analysis
resulting from the cashless vending phenomena. We are pleased to be a
part of it this year, and look forward to a great show.”

USA Technologies is hosting two education sessions at the ACE conference
on the latest cashless vending results and what we believe is driving
consumer trends and their effect on vending companies’ business. The
sessions run 45 minutes each and are being held Friday, October 21 at
8:00AM and 9:00AM in Windsor C of the Embassy Suites hotel.

USA Technologies offers a one-stop, turn-key cashless payments and
telemetry system in the small-ticket, unattended market.

The Company recently announced that it had ranked 5th in the
US and 19th in the world among the leading shippers of
point-of-sale (POS) terminals for 2010, according to The Nilson Report,
a leading source of research on consumer payment systems worldwide. The
Company was also recently named to the Deloitte Fast 500 for
fastest-growing technology companies in North America.

About ACE:

The Atlantic Coast Exposition (ACE) is a trade show featuring suppliers
to the food service industry, industry machinery, vended and dining
products, electronic components, communication equipment, customized
vehicles and much more. ACE is sponsored by the North Carolina Vending
Association (NCVA), the South Carolina Vending Association (SCVA) and
the Virginia Automatic Merchandising Association (VAMA).

About USA Technologies:

USA Technologies is a leader in the networking of wireless non-cash
transactions, associated financial/network services and energy
management. USA Technologies provides networked credit card and other
non-cash systems in the vending, commercial laundry, hospitality and
digital imaging industries. The Company has been granted 79 patents and
has agreements with Verizon, Visa, Compass and others. Visit our website
at
www.usatech.com .

Forward-looking Statements:

“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995: All statements other than statements of historical fact
included in this release, including without limitation the financial
position, anticipated connections to our network, business strategy and
the plans and objectives of the Company’s management for future
operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this release,
words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”,
and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its
management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking
statements are based on the beliefs of the Company’s management, as well
as assumptions made by and information currently available to the
Company’s management. Actual results could differ materially from those
contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain
factors, including but not limited to, business, financial market and
economic conditions, including but not limited to, the ability of the
Company to retain key customers from whom a significant portion of its
revenues is derived; whether the Company’s customers continue to operate
or commence operating ePorts(R) received under the Jumpstart program or
otherwise at levels currently anticipated by the Company; the ability of
the Company to compete with its competitors to obtain market share; the
ability of the Company to obtain widespread commercial acceptance of it
products; and whether the Company’s existing or anticipated customers
purchase ePort(R) devices in the future at levels currently anticipated by
the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in
this release speaks only as of the date of this release. Unless required
by law, the Company does not undertake to release publicly any revisions
to these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or
circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE: USA Technologies, Inc.

USA Technologies, Inc.
Investor Contact:
Gregory FCA
Joe Hassett
Senior Vice President
610-228-2110
joeh@gregcomm.com
or
Press Contact:
Gregory FCA
Katie Nicolai
Account Executive
610-228-2128
katien@gregcomm.com

Copyright Business Wire 2011

/quotes/zigman/99788/quotes/nls/usat

Add USAT to portfolio

USAT

USA Technologies Inc.

$
1.51

-0.04
-2.58%

Volume: 189,994
Oct. 28, 2011 4:00p

SolarWorld Trade Dispute With China Divides U.S. Solar Industry
October 21, 2011, 4:40 AM EDT

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By Ehren Goossens and Christopher Martin

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — A trade complaint seeking to protect U.S. solar-panel makers from unfair competition from China may harm other parts of the U.S. solar industry, project developers said.

The complaint filed Oct. 19 by the U.S. unit of Bonn-based SolarWorld AG and six other panel companies asked the government to impose duties on more than $1 billion of Chinese imports.

The action may drive up prices for U.S. companies that purchase solar panels and slow the installation of renewable energy systems, said Arno Harris, chief executive officer of Recurrent Energy, the San Francisco-based project development unit of Sharp Corp. Solyndra LLC, the failed panel company that received a $535 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee, cited cheap Chinese products in its September bankruptcy filing.

“You have a group of manufacturers whose product is not competitive and they’re turning to trade mechanisms,” Harris said in an interview yesterday. The dispute may hinder U.S. consumers’ use of solar power, and “is fundamentally a mistake.”

The complaint filed with the International Trade Commission alleges that Chinese companies have sold solar panels below cost. China produced 55 percent of the world’s panels in 2010, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The dispute serves the interests of U.S. manufacturers, not other companies in the solar industry, Harris said. “It’s a bit ‘the pot calling kettle black’ here,” he said. “If their complaint was valid, you’d see Chinese companies benefiting. In fact they are suffering as well.”

China’s ‘Positive Role’

Nor will it help companies build solar projects, said Carlos Domenech, president of SunEdison, the development unit of St. Peters, Missouri-based MEMC Materials Inc.

“I think China is playing a positive role in lowering panel costs for U.S. consumers,” he said yesterday in an interview at the Solar Power International conference in Dallas. “Reducing the cost of panels also helps create green jobs in the U.S.”

The dispute is “a matter of manufacturer versus manufacturer and it’s not the whole industry,” Rhone Resch, chief executive officer of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in an interview.

He said the Washington-based trade group hasn’t taken a position on the trade fight. “We’re not involved so our role is only to keep people informed of what develops.”

The U.S. exported more solar products last year than it imported, by $1.9 billion, according to an August report from SEIA and GTM Research. Polysilicon, the raw material in solar cells, and manufacturing equipment made up the majority of the $5.63 billion in exports, and much of that went to China. The U.S. imported $2.4 billion in solar panels.

Falling Panel Prices

Cuts in incentives in Europe and large increases in production drove down solar-panel prices more than 40 percent this year, breaching the $1-a-watt milestone this month, Aaron Chew, an analyst at Maxim Group, said in a research note yesterday.

SolarWorld is part of the newly formed Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing, whose six other members are also petitioners in the ITC complaint. The company’s SolarWorld Industries America Inc. unit received an $82.2 million clean energy manufacturing tax credit to expand a plant in Hillsboro, Oregon, in January 2010.

The six companies haven’t been identified. “It is not uncommon that companies will support a case and have their identity remain confidential,” Adam Gordon, a partner at Wiley Rein LLP, which filed the petition for SolarWorld, said in an interview.

“This petition is supported by a significant majority of the U.S. industry,” Gordon said, which the petition defines as “the domestic industry producing crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules.”

Suntech Power Holdings Co., the world’s largest solar panel maker, is reviewing the complaint. “Anyone can file one of these actions,” the Wuxi, China-based company said yesterday in a statement. “We are confident in our position and well- prepared to substantiate our strict adherence to fair international trade practices.”

–With assistance from Zachary Tracer in New York. Editors: Will Wade, Charles Siler

To contact the reporters on this story: Ehren Goossens in New York at egoossens1@bloomberg.net; Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net

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READER DISCUSSION

National Leisure and Gaming, which operates 35 pubs in NSW and Queensland, yesterday became the most recent pub group to collapse into receivership, being $157 million in hock to its creditors.

NLG joins pub operators Icon Hospitality and Compass Hotel Group in receivership.

More worrying for the sector is the case of Redcape Property Group, which arose from another collapsed pub group, Hedley Leisure and Gaming, and is teetering on the brink of administration because of a tussle with its lenders.

Redcape is the landlord of 20 of NLGs pubs, and its collapse could force a flood of drinking and gaming venues and bottleshops on to the market. That could cause the values of pubs, many of which are still owned by families or smaller groups, to plummet across the country, analysts said.