Tigers owner Mike Ilitch driven to rebuild Detroit

DETROIT – Michael Prather walks unevenly down Montcalm Street past Comerica Park, where the Detroit Tigers will play in a few hours. He holds a whiskey bottle, clumsily covered by a brown paper bag, in his right hand. He requests handouts with his left.

Prather, 54, who says he's an unemployed general laborer, is wearing a stained black sweatshirt. His gray paints are torn. The reek of alcohol is overpowered only by the stench of his clothing.

"I know I don't look so good, and the city don't look good, either," Prather says. "But things will be better. They got to. There are good people trying to make this city better. The man over there, the one that runs the Tigers and our hockey team, he's trying. He's trying real hard. You got to admire that man."

That man is 82-year-old pizza baron Mike Ilitch, owner of the Tigers and Red Wings. He is fervently trying to resurrect life in his hometown of Detroit.

His downtown office might be surrounded by poverty and despair on the streets, but when Ilitch looks outside all he sees is resurrection and revival. Once the fourth-largest city in the country, Detroit lost 25% of its residents in the last decade, and nearly one-quarter of its homes are unoccupied. But he thinks his city will return to prominence.

Ilitch and his wife, Marian, are worth about $2 billion, but he realizes it will take more than money for the city to fully recover. It will likely take more years than he has left. Yet he has a baseball team ready to jump-start the movement.

The Tigers, off to a 5-1 start and loaded with superstars Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, might just be the entity to help repair a city's self-esteem.

"I want to win the World Series," Ilitch, the son of Macedonian immigrants, tells USA TODAY Sports in a rare interview. "But not for me. For our community. Baseball has such a tremendous effect on a city. It would bring so much joy. It would mean everything."

Ilitch is synonymous with Detroit. He owns Little Caesars Pizza. The Fox Theatre. Motor City Casino. The family holdings alone are responsible for bringing 10 million people into downtown every year, and his sports teams are worth an annual economic impact of $443 million, according to the Detroit Regional Chamber.

"If not for Mike Ilitch," says Emmett Moten, director of economic development for late Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, "there may not be a Detroit.

"He believed in us at a time when the city was fighting for survival. He brought the Tigers downtown and got the Lions to come along with him. He brought Fox Theatre back to life. If we didn't have all of that, what would Detroit have? I'm afraid we'd have nothing."

Says Bud Selig, Major League Baseball commissioner: "What Mike Ilitch has done for that city, sociologically, is stunning. Here is an owner that understood the social responsibilities as well as anybody could. Not everything might have been in his best interest, but it was in the best interest of Detroit and Michigan.

"It's hard to articulate just how much the Tigers mean to Detroit."

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After amassing a fortune, winning four Stanley Cup championships and qualifying for the NHL playoffs in 21 consecutive years, Ilitch is desperate to win a World Series. He's paying the price. The Tigers' payroll of $132.3 million ranks fifth in baseball. And he stunned the industry when he invested $214 million on free agent first baseman Prince Fielder in January despite already having an MVP-caliber first baseman, Miguel Cabrera, who will make $21 million in 2012.

"Fans want to see the stars," Ilitch says. "And if you want stars, you have to pay the price."

It might defy accounting logic, but Ilitch thinks the Tigers' first title since 1984 could lead the way to reinventing Detroit, returning vibrancy and faith to the city.

"I'm up in years, as you know, so it would really be special," Ilitch says. "It's been a great life.

"But winning a World Series, it would be like a banana split with a cherry on top."

The parking lot at Elizabeth and Witherell, across the street from the Fox Theatre, is nearly deserted at 8 in the morning. The only vehicle is a white Ford F-150 pickup.

It is the truck where seven men are tailgating eight hours before game time, cooking breakfast burritos and drinking Fireball liquor.

"This is what it's all about to be a Tiger fan," says Brad Henderson, 32, an electrician wearing a Brandon Inge jersey.

A city's self-esteem

Chris Chelios, the oldest NHL player to ever win a Stanley Cup, walks by and takes pictures with the tailgaters before heading back to his bar, Cheli's. The Hockeytown Café, featuring five floors and a rooftop, is soon packed. This is a big day. The Red Wings are playing the Chicago Blackhawks at 1 p.m., the Tigers are at 4, and Flashdance is playing at 7 at the Fox Theatre.

At night, just a few blocks away at the historic Cliff Bell's jazz club, the tables are jammed. This is where New York businessman Anthony Haralson, 44, and Detroit coffee shop owner Josh Greenberg, 40, are sitting. They are talking politics. They are talking Tigers. And they are talking Detroit, which soon will have its first downtown grocery store in generations, Whole Foods.

"I call myself a Detroit refugee," said Haralson, who traveled to Detroit to take his four nephews to the Tigers' home-opener. "My heart is here. It will always be here. But when you're living in your folks' basement, and can't find work, you've got to leave."

Said Greenberg, who has lived downtown for 19 years: "People are saying so much stuff about us, they want to us to die. They want us to crumble. We refuse."

Brian Johnson, 44, a former Stanford catcher who played for eight years in the major leagues, has lived in an affluent downtown neighborhood for 13 years. He bought his home for $485,000 and had it appraised a few years later at $650,000. Three years later, when he tried to refinance, the appraisal staggered him: $36,000.

"Our collective self-esteem is pretty low," says Johnson, who played for the Tigers in 1997. "Our city leadership is pretty bad. Our last mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick (charged with 38 felony counts, including perjury, obstruction of justice and corruption) was like a black Al Capone.

"But it's kind of a bunker mentality here. You don't want to leave. There's a lot of good people here. And sports provide a backbone for the city.

"It's like people are saying, 'We may live in a city that's (expletive), but our sports teams can kick your (expletive).' "

This is the strength and passion Ilitch envisions. Last Saturday morning the city was eerily vacant, but by nightfall the Red Wings had their 69th consecutive sellout, the Tigers sold out and had their largest crowd for a second game of a season since at least 1947 and the 5,000-seat Fox Theatre also was sold out.

"You're so appreciative, because the dollars are not easy around here," Ilitch said. "To draw 3 million people here (for the Tigers), wow. You put two and two together here, and it doesn't make sense. But it does here in Detroit."

Another auto bailout

Ilitch, relying on his own instincts, has made plenty of decisions that initially made little financial sense.

He moved his family headquarters' offices into downtown when everyone else was fleeing the city. He moved the Tigers downtown when he could have made more money moving to Ann Arbor or suburban Dearborn. He purposely limited stadium parking spots, forcing fans to park in neighborhoods and on downtown streets. He could make a fortune moving his Red Wings out of Joe Louis Arena. He vows to soon move, but they will be downtown and not in the affluent suburbs.

Ilitch cost himself perhaps $1 million in 2009 when the struggling automakers could no longer afford their lucrative advertising signage in center field at Comerica. Ilitch says he had plenty of companies offering to buy the spot. He told the Big Three automakers they could have the advertising for free.

"We were going though our darkest hours there," says Joel Ewanick, chief marketing officer for General Motors. "We told Mr. Ilitch, 'We've got to pull down our sign because we can't make the payments.' He said, 'You pay us when you can.' "

The spot now has two Chevrolet cars sitting proudly in center field, a symbol for the automakers' resurgence.

"I told Mr. Ilitch on opening day," Ewanick says, " 'I will never, ever, let anybody forget what you did for our company.' "

Ilitch's commitment is no different for his baseball team. Dave Dombrowski, Tigers president, broke the news to Ilitch on Jan. 17 that DH Victor Martinez was out for the season with a torn knee ligament. Ilitch listened quietly, conceded it was a cruel blow and said they'd talk contingencies the next day.

"I told him, 'There are some names that will appeal to you, but a lot are past the prime of their careers,' " Dombrowski recalls. "I said, 'There's only one difference-maker out there: Prince Fielder.' "

Says Ilitch: "I didn't get that (gut) feel initially. I'm thinking, 'It's going to be very, very expensive.' But all of a sudden I got that message, that gut instinct. I called Dave back and said, 'Let's see what we can do.' "

Fielder signed within a week. He received the largest contract in Detroit sports history, returning to where his dad, Cecil, became a star and ate barbeque after games with Ilitch.

"It means so much to me to be here," Fielder says. "It just shows you that we have an owner that will do whatever it takes. That means a lot to players. You just don't find that in the game."

Ilitch has never cared about bucking the trend, whether paying exorbitant salaries for his hockey players, taking on high-risk baseball players or even overpaying in the amateur draft when the Tigers gave Verlander a five-year, $4.5 million major league contract. Look who's laughing now, with Verlander winning the 2011 MVP and Cy Young awards and dominant again this year.

"I got balled out, we got wailed at by the commissioner (Selig)," Ilitch says. "But, hey, we got another star."

The right people

Ilitch, a former minor league shortstop for the Tigers, doesn't wear any of his Stanley Cup rings. He wears an NHL Hall of Fame ring on his left hand and a commemorative 2006 All-Star ring on his right.

He did have a Stanley Cup ring in his pocket once. It was during All-Star outfielder Magglio Ordonez's negotiations. Ordonez asked Ilitch just what he expected out of his team.

"I dug into my picket, and I pulled a Stanley Cup ring out," Ilitch says. "I told him, 'I want one of these in baseball.' "

If the Tigers do win the World Series, Ilitch vows, that championship ring will indeed be worn.

"Right in my nose," Ilitch says.

Says Ken Holland, general manager of the Red Wings: "I know he's proud of what we've done with the Red Wings. But after everything he's already accomplished in his life, winning a World Series would be bigger to him than anything. And I understand that."

Ilitch, who says he hates that the NHL collective bargaining agreement imposes a salary cap, ending his days of buying the game's greatest stars, is ecstatic that there are no restrictions in baseball.

MLB never had a salary cap; but until catcher Ivan Rodriguez signed a four-year, $40 million contract in 2004 with the Tigers, they couldn't get stars to Detroit. All-Star outfielder Juan Gonzalez was so eager to flee town after the 2000 season that he actually rejected an eight-year, $140 million extension.

The Tigers were dreadful, losing a combined 225 games in 2002 and 2003, and Ilitch blames himself. He didn't have the right front-office people, he says.

He changed that when he hired Dombrowski and then manager Jim Leyland. They won the American League pennant in 2006, one year after Illitch lured Ordonez.

Last year they won their first division title since 1987. Now they're among the favorites to win the World Series.

"You've got to have the right people in place," Ilitch says, pounding the table for effect, "or it's not going to work. It took me 10 years to figure that out here. If you bring in someone who's not qualified, you're in trouble. Deep, deep trouble.

"I've got good people now."

Ilitch brought back Tigers great Willie Horton, the only one he regularly permits to sit with him during games. He couldn't convince Hall of Famer Al Kaline to play on his professional softball team but persuaded him to be one of his special assistants.

He employs a highly diverse front office, with 50% (58 of 116) of the employees minorities or women.

He says he'd like to see a similarly robust leadership group within the city of Detroit; last week the city agreed to a state-guided debt-restructuring plan.

"We've got the business groups here, the government there, and everyone has their opinions," Ilitch says. "They're confused what to do. It just hasn't been run well. I like (Mayor) Dave Bing. A great guy. But stepping in cold, there's not many people who could handle something like this.

"Once this all gets settled, we're going to surprise people. "

It will be a proud, vibrant city again, one Ilitch will forever cherish, he says, alongside the memories of the man who symbolized its prominence.

"When this city was great, it had Joe Louis," Ilitch says of the late heavyweight boxer. "He was a great champion. And a very humble man. Forget the auto industry. He had this city.

"He rubbed off on me. Try to be humble, be a good listener, and I think you'll have a happy life.

"I've had a wonderful life. It would be nice to have that final piece, but in sports anything can happen. Just like in life. There are no guarantees.

"We found that out, right here in Detroit."

Prayers and silence mark Titanic centenary

Cruise ship passengers and crew said prayers Sunday at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank 100 years ago with the loss of more than 1,500 lives, while the city that built the vessel looked back with a mixture of sorrow and pride.

Exactly a century after the ship went down, passengers lined the decks of MS Balmoral, which has been retracing the route of the doomed voyage. After a moment of silence, three floral wreaths were cast onto the waves as the ship's whistle sounded in the dark.

Jane Allen from Devon in southwest England, whose great-uncle perished on the Titanic, said the moment vividly reminded her of the horror of the disaster.






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"All you could hear was the swell splashing against the side of the ship. You could see the white breakers stretching out to sea," she told the BBC. "You are in the middle of nowhere. And then you look down over the side of the ship and you realize that every man and every woman who didn't make it into a lifeboat had to make that decision, of when to jump or stay on the ship as the lights went out."

Another cruise ship, Journey, which has traveled from New York, also held a service at the site of the disaster, 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.

The Titanic, the world's largest and most luxurious ocean liner, was traveling from England to New York when it struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. It sank less than three hours later, with the loss of all but 700 of the 2,208 passengers and crew.

A century on, events around the globe are marking a tragedy that retains its grip on the world's imagination.

In Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the Titanic was built, a memorial monument was unveiled Sunday at a ceremony attended by local dignitaries, relatives of the dead and explorer Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic on the ocean floor in 1985.

A brass band played as the granite plinth bearing bronze plaques was uncovered beside Belfast City Hall. Officials say it is the first Titanic memorial to list all victims alphabetically, with no distinction between passengers and crew members, or between first-, second- and third-class travelers.

"We remember all those who perished and whose names are herein inscribed — men, women and children who loved and we loved, their loss still poignantly felt by their descendants," the Rev. Ian Gilpin told the crowd.

After a minute's silence, a choir sang Nearer My God To Thee— the hymn Titanic's band is reported to have played as the ship went down.

Belfast spent decades scarred by its link to the disaster, but has come to take pride in the feats of engineering and industry involved in building the ship. Last month, a gleaming new visitor attraction, Titanic Belfast, opened on the site of the shipyard where the doomed vessel was built.

"The focus of the world is on Belfast and we are doing her proud," said Una Reilly, chair of the Belfast Titanic Society. "We are all proud of this ship. What happened was a disaster; she was not."

On Saturday, thousands attended a memorial concert in Belfast featuring performances by Bryan Ferry and soul singer Joss Stone. At St. Anne's Cathedral in the city, a performance of composer Philip Hammond's The Requiem for the Lost Souls of the Titanic was followed by a torch-lit procession to the Titanic memorial garden in the grounds of city hall.

The requiem — performed by male choristers dressed as ship's crew and female performers in black — also included words by Belfast novelist Glenn Patterson, who imagined the victims reflecting on all they had missed in the last 100 years.

"We passed instead into myth, launched a library full of books, enough film to cross the Atlantic three times over, more conspiracy theories than Kennedy, 97 million web pages, a tourist industry, a requiem or two," Patterson said. "We will live longer than every one of you."

Remembrance ceremonies also were being held in the ship's departure port of Southampton, southern England — home to hundreds of Titanic crew who perished — and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where more than 100 victims of the tragedy are buried.

The most famous maritime disaster in history was being marked even in places without direct links to it.

Venues in Las Vegas, San Diego, Houston and Singapore are hosting Titanic exhibitions that include artifacts recovered from the site of the wreck. Among the items: bottles of perfume, porcelain dishes, and a 17-foot piece of hull.

Helen Edwards, one of 1,309 passengers on the Balmoral memorial cruise who have spent the past week steeped in the Titanic's history and symbolism, said the story's continuing appeal was due to its strong mixture of romance and tragedy, history and fate.

"(There are) all the factors that came together for the ship to be right there, then, to hit that iceberg. All the stories of the passengers who ended up on the ship," said Edwards, a 62-year-old retiree from Silver Spring, Md. "It's just a microcosm of social history, personal histories, nautical histories.

"Romance is an appropriate word right up until the time of the tragedy — the band playing, the clothes. And then there's the tragedy."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Toshiba Perkenalkan Tablet PC Terbesar di Dunia

Toshiba baru saja meluncurkan komputer tablet baru dari keluarga Excite. Tablet baru ini diberi nama Excite 13 yang tentu saja memiliki bentang layar 13 inci, dan disebut sebagai tablet dengan ukuran terbesar.

Menurut Carl Pinto, Wakil Presiden Pengembangan Produk Divisi Produk Digital Toshiba, Excite 13 dibuat atas pertimbangan matang karena didesain untuk penggunaan di rumah. Sehingga, unsur mobilitasnya kurang diutamakan.

Meski ukurannya besar, namun Excite 13 cukup tipis dengan ketebalan hanya 0,4 inci. Spesifikasi hardware-nya pun cukup mumpuni, yakni prosesor quad core Nvidia Tegra 3 dengan grafis GeForce, RAM 1GB, layar dengan teknologi IPS beresolusi 1.600 x 900 piksel dan rasio 16:9.

Sistem operasi telah menggunakan Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), kamera 5MP dan kamera depan 2MP.

Untuk konektivitas, tersedia port MicroUSB, MicroSD, dan HDMI.

Hal unik lain dari Excite 13 ada pada kualitas audio, yang memiliki 4 buah speaker sound sistem. Uniknya, tablet ini juga mendukung sentuhan 10 jari. Toshiba pun mengklaim, daya tahan baterai tablet ini bisa bertahan hingga 13 jam.

Excite 13 akan dipasarkan secara global mulai Juni 2012. Excite 13 dengan kapasitas memori internal 32GB dibanderol 649,99 dollar AS, sedang yang 64GB dijual 749,99 dollar AS.

Selain Excite 13, Toshiba juga meluncurkan varian lain yakni Excite 7,7 dan Excite 10.

Iran nuclear talks to resume Saturday

Iran has been under pressure to accept international demands to restrict its nuclear 

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Iranian nuclear negotiators arrived Friday and began consultations with Chinese and Russian counterparts on the eve of international talks on the country's nuclear program, state media reported.


Iran's top negotiator, Saeed Jalili, has said he intends to bring "new initiatives" to talks Saturday with delegates from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the United States, France, Russia, China, and Britain -- and Germany.


That group has spearheaded diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to rein in its nuclear program, which Iran has said is purely peaceful but which U.N. and Western leaders suspect of having military aims, including a possible nuclear weapon.


On Friday, Iran's official Press TV cited a source close to the Iranian delegation in reporting that Iran sees little encouraging coming from the remarks of European and U.S. officials ahead of the talks.

Iran has been under increasing pressure to accept international demands to restrict its nuclear program, including a series of increasingly harsh economic sanctions imposed by European nations and the United States.
Iran nuke talks drawing closer
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Last month, Iranian officials signaled they were ready to engage with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, over the issue. The European Union said Monday that Iran had agreed to Saturday's talks in Istanbul.

Iran suggested last week that one proposal may be a reduction in the amount of uranium it enriches to 20%, but it was unclear Friday if such a proposal was still on the table.

While the enrichment isn't enough to create nuclear weapons, which require a uranium content of 90% or more, analysts and inspectors say it is step toward being able to create a nuclear weapon.

Last month, the IAEA noted what it called a sharp and troubling increase in Iran's uranium enrichment capabilities.

Iran says the enrichment is for research and medical needs.

As a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Iran has the right, like other countries, to enrich uranium for commercial and research reactors. But the same facilities that are used for peaceful enrichment can be used to enrich uranium for a bomb, and inspectors say they have not been able to fully gauge Iran's intentions.

IAEA inspectors traveled to Iran in January and again in February to discuss the issue but said Iran refused to grant inspectors access to a military base the agency believes may have been used to test explosives that could be used to detonate a nuclear bomb.

Last month, IAEA director Yukiya Amano said the agency has credible information that Iran has engaged in "activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devices."

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admonished Iranian officials to come to Istanbul willing to make progress on international demands.

"This is a chance for Iran to credibly address the concerns of the international community," Clinton said. "Iran, coming to the table, needs to demonstrate that they are serious."

A top Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani, countered Friday that Western leaders should back off, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

They should, instead, "react to Iran's proposals logically and stop the current unconstructive accusations against the Islamic Republic," IRNA quoted him as saying.

Rossi tackles four-wheeled challenge at Monza

Friday, 13 April 2012

The nine-times World Champion is taking part in the Monza round of the Blancpain Endurance Series, which got underway on Friday, at the controls of a Ferrari 458 Italia.

alentino Rossi will once again test his skills behind the steering wheel as the nine-times World Champion participates in this weekend's Blancpain Endurance Series round at Monza in Italy, which commences on Friday. Rossi will drive a Ferrari 458 Italia for the Kessel Racing team, as he starts his latest adventure on four wheels.

The Ducati Team rider will be joined by his friend and long-time assistant Uccio Salucci in the team, and will hope to match or even improve upon his last performance in an Endurance outing. Rossi finished third in his category and 11th overall at the Six Hours of Vallelunga in 2009, behind the wheel of a Ferrari F430 GT3 of the Kessel Racing team.

Others taking part in this weekend's Monza round will be Le Mans 24 winner David Brabham, former F1 drivers Mark Blundell and Karl Wendlinger, and a number of Endurance specialists.

Rossi and his fellow competitors will take part in Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying sessions on Friday, before the formal Qualifying session on Saturday and the three-hour race on Sunday.

Jerez test concludes with CRT improvements

 Wednesday, 22 February 2012

The private three-day test at the Circuito de Jerez concluded on Wednesday, with Randy De Puniet and Aleix Espargaró the fastest CRTs in the field on their Power Electronics Aspar bike. The Test also saw James Ellison and Danilo Petrucci wrapping up the first test on their respective machines.

Power Electronics Aspar riders De Puniet and Espargaró were the CRT pace men on the third and final day of private MotoGP™ testing , the Frenchman recording the best lap of 1'40.3. De Puniet’s time was three tenths off of the time set by the satellite GP12 of Héctor Barberá (Pramac Racing Team), who was in attendance for the last day of the test.
De Puniet spent the final day adjusting the electronics to improve suspension response and the rear grip of his ART, and reported being delighted with the potential of the bike overall. His pace set today was less than one second off the track lap record set by Pedrosa in 2010 (1’39.731), and with room for improvement still present, he expects the ART machines to continue their progress before the opening 2012 round at Qatar on April 8th.
Espargaró managed to lap within eight tenths of the top time set by his team-mate, declaring he didn't expect such a large improvement (1.5s) from day one. The Spaniard told motogp.com that additional room for improvement still remains with the bike’s set-up when using the hard compound Bridgestones, and that he was very satisfied with his final results of the three days.
Héctor Barberá concluded his one day test aboard the satellite GP12, the same test Ducati that caught fire as well as suffering significant additional damaged to the front end and chassis in Karel Abraham’s (Cardion AB Motoracing) crash yesterday. The Ducati technicians worked through the night and presented the Desmosedici to the Spaniard, who was then able to post a best time of 1’40.0 on the repaired machine.
James Ellison completed his first shakedown round on the Paul Bird Motorsport ART, concentrating on getting himself comfortable with the bike without pushing it to the limits. The Briton managed to lap just under two seconds faster than his best lap time yesterday and said that the bike will definitely further improve when the team receives additional parts they are waiting on.
In the Speed Master garage, Mattia Pasini concluded his second test on his team’s ART by shaving an additional seven tenths off his best run from Monday. The Italian told motogp.com that he is more than happy to have dropped nearly a second on each consecutive day of the test.
Danilo Petrucci was another rider to get his first taste of his 2012 race machine, concluding his first test on the Ioda Racing Project CRT with an improvement of 1.7 seconds over his time from yesterday. The Italian had a minor crash in the morning but was able to return to the track to resume working on electronic development of the Ioda bike.
The teams and riders now have one week to work with the data gathered before the next private test session on the 8th and 9th of March at Aragón.
Unofficial lap times Wednesday (recorded by teams):

MotoGP
- Héctor Barberá, Ducati 1’40.0
MotoGP (CRT)
1. Randy De Puniet, ART 1'40.3 (66 laps)
2. Aleix Espargaró, ART 1’41.1 (60 laps)
3. Mattia Pasini, ART 1'41.29 (47 laps)
4. Danilo Petrucci, IODA 1'41.6 (62 laps)
5. James Ellison, ART 1'42.526 (53 laps)