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HubSpot Launches a Marketing Effectiveness Dashboard

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –Just in time for the Facebook IPO, there’s now an app for tracking Facebook fan growth (and much more!) vs. the competition. All-in-one marketing software company HubSpot, Inc. launched a dashboard web app based on its popular Marketing Grader tool. This new interactive dashboard quickly answers marketer’s burning questions at a glance. Are competitors accruing more Facebook fans faster? Did growth of inbound links take a nosedive? Does the competition suddenly have a lot more indexed pages? Has the last 3 months of marketing effort improved effectiveness?

The Marketing Grader App immediately identifies and compares competitors’ marketing performance relative to your own. The dashboard gives specific analytics including changes in indexed pages, linking domains, Facebook fans, Twitter followers and overall grade. It also notifies users of important changes in these metrics – both their own and their competition’s.

“We noticed people coming back and re-running their scores monthly, weekly, even daily. They clearly wanted to see performance over time and versus the competition, and they wanted to know which actions were improving their scores,” said Mike Volpe, CMO of the all-in-one marketing software provider. “So we built a dashboard for marketing effectiveness.”

The Marketing Grader tool was launched in December and has since graded over 580,000 websites and run 1.2 million reports. Marketing Grader analyzes 40+ measures of marketing effectiveness and grades the business on a 1-100 scale. It replaced Website Grader, which has graded over 4 million websites in the last 4 years.

The app takes the tool a step further to allow users to make an account and track progress over time. Each time a user logs in, they will be able to see the changes to the report, monitor these changes, and share them with others in their company or on social media. This change allows marketers to pinpoint where they are improving and fix areas that are not as strong.

“Marketing Grader and Website Grader before that has always been a useful tool to marketers to see where they can improve in their marketing,” said Dharmesh Shah, CTO and developer behind several of HubSpot’s Graders. “Now they will be able to visually analyze – and painlessly report on – their marketing in comparison to competitors, which is a huge advantage.”

HubSpot, Inc. offers an all-in-one marketing software platform that has helped more than 6,800 companies in 46 countries increase the number of visitors to their websites and convert more of those visitors to leads and customers. Applications in the software platform include website management, blogging, search engine optimization, lead management, marketing analytics, email marketing, landing pages, and social media monitoring. HubSpot is also the developer of the popular marketing analysis tool, MarketingGrader.com, which grades the marketing efforts of over 250,000 companies a month. In the last year, HubSpot has been named the second fastest growing software company by the Inc. 500, one of the 20 most promising companies in America by Forbes, and the eighth fastest growing technology company in the world by the Deloitte Fast 500. HubSpot, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Find them at HubSpot.com . Is HubSpot software right for your business? Apply for a free inbound marketing assessment.

SOURCE HubSpot, Inc.

Opportunistic Dem Targeting of Facebook Tax Dodger Eduardo Saverin Has Some Value

This Eduardo Saverin story is just the kind of link-bait in which Chuck Schumer specializes. He would make a good search engine optimization chief at a website. But there is a larger point, and not just bad Facebook puns, to be made in the controversy over Facebook co-founder Saverin’s renunciation of citizenship to avoid tax liability derived from the social network’s upcoming IPO.

In a press release, Schumer and Casey called Saverin’s move an “avoidance scheme.” The plan they will introduce later on Thursday specifically takes aim at individuals like Saverin who “flee” the country and become residents of another, taking measures to re-impose taxes on expatriates and bar them from re-entering the country.

Schumer and Casey charge that Saverin is looking to save up to $67 million in taxes by renouncing his citizenship. The amount was calculated by Bloomberg as Saverin’s initial capital gains bill, but denied by Saverin’s spokesman.

Specifically, the ex-PATRIOT Act, which stands for “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” would “impose a mandatory 30 percent tax on the capital gains,” as well as attempt to re-impose the taxes on any expats found to have left the country simply to avoid taxes. This would only apply to people with a net worth over $2 million or an average tax liability over a five-year period of $148,000 and up. The bill would also add to the existing rule that those who renounce their citizenship for tax purposes be barred from entry into the United States again, increasing the enforcement of that rule.

This is not a widespread practice. Last year 1,700 people renounced their citizenship, and not all to avoid taxes. Since taxes on the rich are incredibly low in America compared to the rest of the world, it would be odd to see a rash of expats like this unless they all really like Singapore, Saverin’s destination. And at the state level, where there is some variance in tax rates, the studies show that rich people moving to capitalize on tax treatment is a very rare occurrence.

But I don’t necessarily mind making an example out of someone who thinks the rules don’t apply to them. I’ve seen enough highlighting of welfare queens and undocumented immigrants to be OK with a big press conference for a billionaire tax dodger. This new legislation would probably not apply to Saverin, since he’s already renounced his citizenship. It is, I suppose, a warning to others to not follow him down the same path. But more than that, it just points out, at an anecdotal level, a certain hubris on the part of one member of the global elite. Maybe populism is a dirty word in Washington, but I still see a bit of value in that.

Berkshire Hathaway buys Media General newspapers

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to pay $142 million for Media General Inc.’s newspapers, including the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, as Warren Buffett bets that community-focused publications will weather an advertising slump.

Berkshire will also provide Media General a $400 million loan with an interest rate of 10.5 percent, the newspaper company said Thursday. The deal includes all of the company’s newspapers except for the Tampa, Fla., group.

Berkshire is expanding in newspapers after purchasing Buffett’s hometown paper, the Omaha World-Herald Co., last year. The company is also the largest holder of Washington Post Co. and owns the Buffalo News of New York. Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and chief executive officer, is expanding his holdings in the industry after telling shareholders in 2009 that newspapers have “potential for unending losses” and that he wouldn’t buy most of them “at any price.”

“I think there is a future for newspapers that exist in an area where there’s a sense of community,” Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual meeting on May 5.

Berkshire will also get warrants for about 4.6 million Class A shares representing 19.9 percent of Media General and the option to nominate a board member, the company said.

The deal includes 63 daily and weekly newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama and is expected to be completed on June 25, Media General said. The properties include the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina and the Dothan Eagle in Alabama. Berkshire will also provide the company with a $45 million revolving credit line.

The sale allows Media General to focus on its television business, according to the company.

The newspaper industry has suffered advertising declines as marketers shift budgets toward digital media. New York Times Co. reported an 8.1 percent drop in ad revenue in the quarter that ended in March and Gannett Co., publisher of 82 daily newspapers including USA Today, saw an 8.4 percent drop in ad sales for the same period.

“I have a hard time seeing the long-term value of print media,” said Meyer Shields, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. who covers Berkshire. “There may be one ‘puff’ left, but to me, newspapers are the antithesis” of companies with a competitive advantage.

This article appeared on page D – 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Despite high finish in Derby, Optimizer will run in Preakness

BALTIMORE (AP) — D. Wayne Lukas didn’t waste much time after the Kentucky Derby deciding that Optimizer would run in the Preakness.

“About 30 seconds,” the Hall of Fame trainer and five-time Preakness winner said. “I like coming here and I’ve got a good sound horse.”

Optimizer was 42-1 in the Derby where he finished 11th. He drew post No. 10 for the Preakness on Saturday and is again an outsider at 30-1 on the morning line.

Only 1 for 10 in his career, Optimizer needs to improve to compete at this level. Lukas is banking on the Derby experience and a rider change from Jon Court to Corey Nakatani to close the gap.

“When you see a little brilliance in a horse, as a trainer, you are always trying to fine tune it and get it altogether,” Lukas said. “Sometimes it comes together and sometimes it doesn’t. I know he’s got the ability to run with these horses. He’s got to put it together.”

Lukas holds the Preakness record with 36 starters.

R.W. Walden holds the Preakness training record, saddling seven winners from 1875-1888.

OUT OF ACTION: Guyana Star Dweej was withdrawn from Preakness consideration Wednesday morning with a left front foot injury.

He was battling a quarter crack, an injury to the hoof wall.

“It was still not properly healed,” trainer Doodnauth Shivmangal said from Belmont Park. “… So we decided we’re going to have to skip this one.”

Only 1 for 9, Guyana Star Dweej would have been the longest shot in the Preakness. He has never run in a stakes and finished second most recently in an allowance race at Belmont.

REUNITED: Julien Leparoux will be back aboard Daddy Nose Best for the Preakness.

They have been an effective team, combining to win the El Camino Real Derby and the Sunland Park Derby. Leparoux was in the saddle for all four of the colt’s wins.

They split up for the Derby with Leparoux opting to ride Union Rags. It didn’t work well for either party.

After a terrible start, Union Rags rallied to get seventh. Daddy Nose Best ran 10th with Garrett Gomez aboard.

They are now reunited, thanks to a late decision to run in the race by owner Bob Zollars in consultation with trainer Steve Asmussen.

“We feel like he completely bounced back,” Zollars said. “He’s very perky so we think he’s ready to run again.”

Asmussen will be looking for his third Preakness win following Curlin (2007) and the filly Rachel Alexandra (2009).

Daddy Nose Best was 12-1 on the morning line from post No. 8.

LONG JOURNEY: Creative Cause, fifth in the Derby, completed a lengthy round trip when he flew into Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon.

He returned to California following the Derby and caught a 5 a.m. PDT flight for the trip East.

“He’s a good traveler,” trainer Mike Harrington said.

Creative Cause will have to be. This is his third flight from the West Coast, having shipped to Churchill Downs to run third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November.

He was 6-1, a co-third choice with Went the Day Well, from post No. 6.

KTUL.com – Tulsa’s Channel 8 – News, Weather & SportsObama requesting help to pay for Afghan army

By ANNE GEARANAP National Security Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – Mapping the way out of an unpopular war, the United States and NATO are trying to build an Afghan army that can defend the country after 130,000 international troops pull out. The alliance's plans for arm's-length support for Afghanistan will be a central focus of the summit President Barack Obama is hosting Sunday and Monday in Chicago.

The problem with the exit strategy is that someone has to pay for that army in an era of austerity budgets and defense cutbacks.

The problem for the United States is how to avoid getting stuck with the check for $4.1 billion a year.

“This has to be a multilateral funding effort,” said Pentagon spokesman George Little. “We think there should be contributions from other countries.”

That's partly why so many non-NATO nations are getting invitations to the summit. About 60 countries and organizations are expected to be represented, including nations such as Japan that are far removed from the trans-Atlantic defense pact's home ground.

More than 20 nations have already agreed to help fund the Afghan army and more are expected to announce their commitments at the Chicago summit. U.S. and other NATO leaders claim that fundraising is on track, although the totals publicly announced so far are small.

A senior Obama administration official said the U.S. and its partners would seek to set targets at the summit for the size and scope of the Afghan security forces after 2014, when foreign forces pull out. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to preview the upcoming summit, would not detail pledges expected in Chicago.

That force is now projected to be smaller – and cheaper – than NATO had planned only a year ago. The decision to trim the goal for an Afghan force from about 350,000 to roughly 230,000 was driven more by economic reality than a shift in thinking about Afghanistan's security needs after 2014, U.S. military officials and NATO diplomats said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. The larger force had been projected to cost $7 billion a year.

Obama is unlikely to say so, but outside estimates of the U.S. share of the bill for Afghan defense after 2014 range from a quarter to well more than half the total bill. The U.S. will also be on the hook for other support to Afghanistan, but the amount is unclear. The United States is the richest and best-equipped nation in the NATO alliance and long Afghanistan's largest patron.

Obama signed a pledge with Afghan President Hamid Karzai this month that would obligate the U.S. for a decade. Several other nations have signed similar long-term deals, and NATO is to sign one with Afghanistan at the Chicago meeting. The agreements cover a range of assistance to Afghanistan, but underwriting the military is the largest line item.

The summit in Obama's adopted hometown is not a pledging conference, but it will be a platform for Obama to invite other nations to step up.

Follow-up conferences are planned for Kabul and Tokyo later this year, where specific pledges are expected.

U.S. officials have had their tin cups out for months. Marc Grossman, the top State Department official for Afghanistan, recently hit up European nations, and others are lobbying Russia, Central Asian and Asian nations. U.S. officials are asking for pledges to sustain the Afghan force during the first three years after the NATO-led international force departs.

The argument is fairly straightforward. Even $4 billion a year to prop up the Afghan military is cheaper than the cost of maintaining a foreign army in Afghanistan, and a lot easier for war-weary publics to swallow.

Some of the requests appear to be largely symbolic. For example, U.S. officials asked some of Afghanistan's neighbors for initial pledges of about $5 million annually, said Richard Weitz of the Hudson Institute in Washington.

“That's nothing, but it's something, too,” Weitz said, since it serves the diplomatic goal of showing broad support for Afghan stability.

Afghanistan has said it will contribute $500 million toward its own army. The goal is $2.3 billion from the U.S. and nations outside the fighting coalition, and $1.3 billion from coalition nations other than the U.S.

“You'll see a strong commitment from allies and partners, and from the Afghan government” in Chicago, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

The White House said Obama discussed continued support for Afghan forces during pre-summit phone calls Tuesday with the leaders of Australia and Italy.

Germany announced Thursday that it will contribute $190 million annually beginning in 2015. Britain had already pledged $110 million annually beginning in 2015, and on Wednesday Australia announced that it will contribute $100 million annually for three years.

Afghanistan will dominate the agenda for the Chicago meeting, although there is likely to be little discussion of the military campaign itself. Karzai is attending and this week NATO invited Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

NATO is eager to bring forces home but is pledged to a calendar agreed the last time the leaders met, in 2010. Under that agreement, NATO forces will remain in Afghanistan into 2014 and depart that year.

In Chicago, Obama and other NATO leaders will sign up anew to that schedule, even though a majority of Europeans and Americans now tell pollsters the war is not worth fighting and should end as quickly as possible. In Afghanistan this month, Obama said the war must end “responsibly,” which cannot mean suddenly.

U.S. and other NATO officials have said there will be no new announcement of troop withdrawals during the Chicago conference. Largely because of public opposition to the war, NATO nations quietly tweaked the 2014 plan earlier this year. The overall deadline holds, but U.S. and other allied forces will shift into largely noncombat roles next year.

The Chicago summit had once been viewed as a possible showcase for progress toward peace talks and a political settlement between Karzai's government and the Taliban. There is no real gain to show, however. The insurgents walked away from U.S.-led talks in March. U.S.-backed peace initiatives to open a Taliban political office and transfer Taliban prisoners from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are in limbo. Insurgents have assassinated the leader and a top lieutenant of the Afghan peace council.

Talking to One of Jamaica’s Most Exciting Dancer-Choreographers – Neila Ebanks

YE: Why are you an artist/dancer and when did you first become one?

Neila: I think I was born one. My dance story starts when I was about 3 or 4 years old. My mother sent me to dance classes to rehabilitate my extreme pigeon-toes and I have danced ever since. It’s a language as natural to me as breath.

My art chose me. I was not the instigator of the relationship. But daily I make the choice to affirm my soul through my connection with Dance. It really is soul-affirmation for me.

YE: How would you describe your work?

Neila: Psychological, cathartic, layered. I rarely go for the easy or obvious. I find I use my choreography to grapple with and work through my own ideas about life and living. My favourite form to choreograph in has always been contemporary Dance because it can be almost anything you make it.

YE: What type of dance do you do?

Neila: I am a contemporary dancer who LOVES to improvise.

YE: Which company/group do you dance with, if any?

Neila: At present I dance with eNKompan.E, which is my own company. of one. I have previously performed and guested with the Stella Maris Dance Ensemble, The University Dance Society, The NDTC, L’ACADCO, Dance Theatre Xaymaca and a number of companies in the UK.

YE: What artists/dancers have influenced you and how?

Neila: I have much to owe to so many. My foundation influences have been my first dance teachers, Monika Lawrence, Carol Murdock (now deceased) and Patsy Ricketts, all of whom nurtured my zest and passion for dance at a very young age without being patronizing.

I was treated as a young artist in the making and learnt so much professionalism and regard for my art from these teachers. Patsy, in particular, gave me such excellent examples of how to embody a performance. I carry that with me to this day. I also have been influenced by Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson, now Director of the School of Dance. Through her example I have come to understand the fundamental importance of the educative potential of the art of Dance.

My years at UWI saw me working with Joseph Robinson, L’Antoinette Stines and Howard Daly, each of whom widened the scope of dance for me, showing me another angle, another side of the prism, another possibility – L’Antoinette with her deep connection through dance to the spiritual and ancestral; Joe, with his consistently energetic proposals of the impossible; Howard, with his willingness to take risks with content and presentation.

It goes without saying (though I will say it), that I have also been influenced by Professor Rex Nettleford and the NDTC. Every summer of my formative dance years was spent @ the NDTC’s season of Dance, soaking up the visual lessons in choreography, stagecraft and performance. Further, Professor Nettleford’s bi-lingual intellect (artistic and verbal) helped me to own both aspects of myself and see the wonderful fit of the critical mind and the moving body.

The tutelage of Arsenio Andrade, principal dancer of the NDTC and lecturer in the Cuban-Modern technique has also played and important part in the way I now understand he body’s connection to rhythm and space. I have been blessed also to have contemporaries such as Chris Walker, Shelley-Ann Maxwell, Marlon Simms, Michael Holgate and Oniel Pryce, who, through their willingness to find voice through choreography and performance strengthen my own resolve, daily.

Internationally I have been influenced by the work of a number of contemporary choreographers including Jiri Kylian, Lloyd Newson (DV8 Physical Theatre), Ulysses Dove, Bill T. Jones, Twyla Tharp and Mia Michaels.

YE: What other interests do you have outside of dance?

Neila: I enjoy reading almost anything. I am also crazy about yoga. I’m planning to take up horseback riding and karate.

YE: What inspires you to keep motivated when things get tough?

Neila: The dream that was put into my soul. When things get tough, I have to turn within and call to mind that dream and the feeling of rightness that the dream brings forth.

YE: Who are some dance companies that you admire?

Neila: I have always enjoyed specific pieces from each of our major Jamaican dance companies – newer and older works. As regards Jamaican dancers, a few of those who have really moved my heart include Patsy Ricketts, Arlene Richards, Natalie Chung, Arsenio Andrade, N’Jelle Gage, Simone Harris, Marlon Simms, Chris Walker, Shelley-Ann Maxwell, Anika Jobson, Sade Bully, Guy Thorne. Their commitment to the stage and to their own honesty when on that stage is truly admirable.

Internationally I enjoy the work of DV8 Physical Theatre, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Kettly Noel and Urban Bush Women among others.

YE: What’s the best and worst parts of being an dancer?

Neila: Dance can fill you with such exhilaration. When you have put in the time and effort in rehearsals and classes, more often than not your emotional reward is so fulfilling. To know that you can effectively communicate ideas large and small without words and further, touch another’s heart through your art is what keeps me coming back to Dance. Additionally, it is wonderful to have such a thorough and connected understanding of your body and its potential.

The same body focus can be the worst part, if one does not handle transition and rest well. Dance is first and foremost a physical art, and so the body will wear down, become injured, need to heal. For some, it will never be as it was before injury and so the dancer has to be able to wrap her mind around this reality and continue to live. Sounds easy, but it’s very difficult.

YE: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Neila: In 10 years I would have just entered my 40s. I will be in my prime and still be on stages internationally, performing and leading workshops. enriching lives through Dance. My company will be in full-fledged swing and will be creating opportunities for others who wish to dance their lives.

YE: How would you describe the state of the dance world in Jamaica?

Neila: Rich and fertile in ideas, but too fragmented to grow in a sound way. We have a plethora of choreographers who enjoy the challenges of expressing their views through bodies, but I find that most are trying to express in the same way. I don’t see real chances being taken often enough (I am guilty of this too). I feel we are holding back and trying to maintain a status quo of sorts. There is, as yet, no forum for dialogue and cooperation on its deepest level.

YE: If you could be doing anything you wanted, what would that be?

Neila: I’m doing it now. The only thing I would increase is the international travel and the earnings.

YE: How have you developed your skill?

Neila: I have formally studied dance and performance-making in Jamaica and in the UK, at the Edna Manley College and at the University of Surrey (MA Physical Theatre). Every day, though, I develop my skill, as every day I am actively learning more about my craft.

YE: Do you dance professionally? i.e. Get paid to dance? Do you want to?

Neila: I dance professionally, I choreograph professionally, I lecture professionally.

YE: What’s going on in your head when you’re performing?

Neila: Difficult question. Sometimes there is an inner narrative, images which I call to mind which help me to perform the movements with interpretive sensitivity. Sometimes there are counts. Sometimes I am listening for music cues, watching for movement cues. Sometimes I am actively connecting with an audience member or someone else on stage. Sometimes there is a costume malfunction or some other error and I am many steps ahead in my mind, fixing it. Sometimes there is the bliss of my body being on autopilot. And all this can happen in 30 seconds or less of dance.

YE: What makes you want to get up out of bed in the morning?

Neila: God’s gift of life. Recognising that the first breath in the morning means I’ve got something to do. I’m not done yet.

Neila: If there is a song in your heart, please sing it.. A dance, please do it all the way down the street. not matter how many people think you strange. We all come here with our talents and society tells us we are to hide them because they make us too hard to fit with everyone else. I say do what your heart asks you to and then everyone else will want to fit in with you. That’s why you were made in the first place.

NBA playoffs don’t get right to the points

And now, in a word, the offensive flavor of a good many NBA playoff games:

Yes, the postseason is rolling along nicely, so long as you don’t mind the sound of shots clanging off rims. Ferocious competition, close scores and Metta World Peace hasn’t elbowed anyone else yet.

The Oklahoma City Thunder look young, the Los Angeles Lakers look old, the Miami Heat look confident — if one star short at the moment — and the Philadelphia 76ers look plucky.

But, for anyone who likes points with their playoffs, why are so many games as pretty as a landfill?

A team could not break 80 points 15 times in the first round. Last year, that happened only seven times the entire postseason.

Philadelphia has managed to average only 81.5 points its last six games — and won four. Isn’t 76ers supposed to be their nickname, not their final score?

Nothing particularly exhilarating about 44% team shooting, but 12 of the 16 playoff teams have not been able to average even that.

They’re asking you to stay up late some nights to see if anyone gets really hot and tops 90. Care to revisit some of the lows? It’s like a tour of a brick yard:

•Miami 100, New York 67. The Knicks had two more turnovers than field goals.

•Orlando 81, Indiana 77. The Pacers went scoreless the last 4:05, missing all nine shots and both free throws.

•Atlanta 83, Boston 74. The Celtics were 0-for-11 on three-pointers.

•Miami 87 New York 70. The Heat went 10 minutes without a field goal in the first half and still won by 17.

•Boston 90, Atlanta 84. Not bad, but consider the teams needed overtime to score that many.

•Philadelphia 79, Chicago 74. The Sixers had 51 points after three quarters and made one of their 14 three-point attempts. They won anyway.

•San Antonio 87, Utah 81. Facing a sweep, the Jazz responded by going 0-for-13 in three-pointers. Maybe someone moved the line further out.

•Chicago 77, Philadelphia 69. The Bulls missed seven of 11 free throws, and those aren’t even guarded.

•Philadelphia 79, Chicago 78. By then, this Eastern Conference first round had clearly become a matter of first team to 80 points wins.

•Los Angeles Clippers 82, Memphis 72. The Grizzlies were at home for Game 7, ready to celebrate the finest day in their history. Then they went 0-for-13 in three-pointers, while their guards were 6-for-33 overall. Splat.

•Philadelphia 82, Boston 81. The perfection summation from 76ers’ coach Doug Collins: “Baskets were hard to come by.”

So what’s the explanation?

Start with the nature of playoff basketball. Higher stakes, beefier defense, sweatier palms on shooting hands, heavier contact, draining intensity. Nothing comes easily, as it did at that January game in Sacramento.

“When you’re playing at that high level and every shot and every play and every pass is contested, guys get tired,” Collins said in his Monday news conference. “In the playoffs, the game gets rougher. It just does. You’ve got to be ready to play through it. You’re going to get hit. If you want to complain, you might as well go sit down.”

Then add this spring’s casualty report. Just guessing, but the Bulls might have found points more conveniently with a healthy Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Same for Orlando with Dwight Howard, New York with full steam from Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert, etc. etc.

So we have been left many nights with a game that grinds. That is not to say the basketball can’t be compelling, or the storylines dramatic. But the aesthetics sometimes aren’t much, and that might not play well with casual fans. It is a harsh landscape, where air balls can be forgiven, but not lack of will or purpose or muscle.

“Anytime you defend, and don’t turn the ball over, and rebound, you’ve got a chance,” Collins said.

Besides, to those who fight to survive, is there any such thing as an ugly playoff victory?

SAD NEWS Disco diva Donna Summer is dead at 63

The I Feel Love singer passes away

Donna Summer's dance tunes were 1970s disco favourites

Singer Donna Summer has died after battling cancer.

Donna – real name LaDonna Gaines – passed away in Florida after returning to the recording studio to work on a new album.

Best known for 70s hits I Feel Love, Love To Love You Baby, Last Dance and Bad Girls, Donna won 5 Grammy Awards.

She was one of 7 children born into a devout Christian family in Boston, Massachusetts and began singing in church.

'Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith,' reads a statement from her loved ones.

'While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.

'Words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time.'

VIDEO See Donna Summer interviewed about her work…

My Playlist on MUZU.TV.

2012 Preakness Post Positions: Draw Set For 6 P.M. On HRTV

Edit: Here are the 2012 Preakness post positions.

The pole positions for the 2012 Preakness Stakes will be set via a draw today at 6 p.m. ET. The draw will be broadcast on HRTV.

The 2012 Preakness field is made up of 11 horses including Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another. I’ll Have Another will face some stiff competition as he tries to complete the second leg of the Triple Crown. Bodemeister, who finished second to I’ll Have Another in the Kentucky Derby, will also be in the field.

Pole position can be vital to a horse’s success and, while it may not be as important in the Preakness as in other races, it is still a factor. Via And Down The Stretch They Come.

Due to the smaller field in the Preakness, and the gate set-up, the rail isn’t the “death draw” that it tends to be at Churchill Downs. However, we haven’t seen a horse win the Preakness from inside the 4-hole since 1994 when Tabasco Cat won from the rail. Additionally, prior to Tabasco Cat’s win in 1994, the Preakness hadn’t had a horse win from the rail since Belly Ache in 1960.

For more on the Preakness, stay tuned to this StoryStream or check out SB Nation’s horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come.

The Point Forward » Posts Dwyane Wade gets off easy after foul «

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The Heat caught an expected break Wednesday when the league decided not to suspended Dwyane Wade for his flagrant foul on Darren Collison, according to ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst.

Here’s the foul in question:

We all knew this was coming, even though Wade’s dangerous shoulder-check was not so different from Jason Smith’s takedown of Blake Griffin during a March game in New Orleans:

The league suspended Smith two games for this. What’s the difference? There are a few, but only some of them should have played any role in the league’s decision to let Wade skate.

The factors that deserve real consideration:

• Griffin had the ball and Collison did not, though he was about to catch an awkward pass from Danny Granger when Wade leveled him. The difference is meaningful only in the sense that it gives Wade the flimsiest of alibis here. It does not appear that Collison expected Granger to pass him the ball, since Granger is open on the left side, while Wade and Collison are in the same general lane on the right side of the floor. As Granger scrambles to pick up the ball and Collison starts his run out, Collison actually veers slightly to the right, as if intending to get in Wade’s way and protect Granger from a possible chase-down block. If taken under the NBA’s interrogation lights, Wade might be able to keep a straight face while arguing that he was simply chasing Granger, and that he did not expect Collison to appear in his path.

Granger had to slow down to pick the ball off the floor, and he likely passed to Collison because he feared he wasn’t moving fast enough to outrun Wade’s attempt at a block. The fear Wade inspires as a fast-break shot-blocker might have contributed to this play looking as bad as it does, since it probably motivated Collison’s slight change in direction and Granger’s decision to pass.

Again, it’s a flimsy alibi, and probably one that would not hold up under oath. Wade was frustrated by a no-call on the other end, and he clearly extends his forearm into Collison’s lower back — a dangerous move. (As an aside, the clip of the Wade foul includes two wonderful little bonuses: the lone Pacers fan wearing a Roy Hibbert jersey standing in protest, and the fact that Granger’s pass ends up conking Wade in the head. Poetic justice, via the basketball gods.)

Smith had no such alibi. Griffin had the ball, and Smith just ran right into him. The NBA doesn’t want Wade out for two playoff games, and Miami would be in dire straights without him. Both need a small out, a tiny difference between the Wade and Smith hits, and the circumstances provide one.

• The playoffs mean more than the regular season. A playoff game is worth significantly more, and suspensions should probably reflect that reality. The league suspended Rajon Rondo two regular-season games for tossing a ball at an official, but for only one game after Rondo bumped referee Marc Davis in Atlanta during Game 2 of Boston’s first-round series. Multi-game playoff suspensions are very rare, Metta World Peace notwithstanding.

The only possibility here was a one-game suspension, and the league, for whatever reason, decided this foul was not quite worthy of a one-game postseason absence.

• Speaking of World Peace: It clearly does and should matter that Wade did not go at Collison’s head.

And now, things that should not have factored into this decision:

• That Wade is famous, while Smith and Collison are not

• That Griffin is famous, while Smith and Collison are not

• That Collison popped right back up, while Griffin stayed down for a bit

And two tricky factors that may or may not matter here:

• That Griffin is the frequent target of hard fouls, due in part to his poor free throw shooting;

• That Smith egged on the crowd and waived his arms like a WWE villain (or hero?) after the foul, while Wade more or less removed himself from the situation, chewed his gum and maintained that oh-so-cool steely look.

If you argued those two factors should mitigate Wade’s punishment, I would listen. But taken all together, it’s not immediately clear why this foul would not result in a one-game suspension. There are cases to be made either way, but fans, media and the Pacers deserve to hear the case for the NBA’s official decision.

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