I said it early in the show and I am saying it again. Katherine McPhee should be the next American Idol. With five remaining, the competition gets tougher but I'm sticking with "Kat". She did a great job on Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" Tuesday night and the judges finally admitted it on Wednesday night's results show.
Speculative books such as "Secrets of the Widow's Son" and "The Solomon Key and Beyond," as well as fan Web sites, have been trying to crack the plot, which Brown himself has hinted will deal with the ancient society of Masons.
Brown, 41, was vindicated earlier this month in a British court battle with two historians who accused him of plagiarizing their book to write "The Da Vinci Code." A U.S. appeals court on Thursday also upheld a lower court's ruling that Brown did not copy elements of another author's work.
"The Da Vinci Code" is one of the most successful novels of all time, having sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Brown's earlier books, including "Deception Point" and "Angels & Demons," also have become and remain bestsellers on the heels of the theological thriller's success. ...Read more here
Ovechkin picked up his 52nd assist in the second period, setting up a power-play goal for Darius Zubrus with a perfect cross-ice pass.
Teemu Selanne was the first rookie to reach the double milestone. He set first-year records that still stand with 76 goals and 132 points for the Winnipeg Jets in 1992-93.
With three games remaining after Thursday, Ovechkin had no chance of breaking either of Selanne's records. But he was just three goals behind Mike Bossy, who had 53 for the New York Islanders in 1977-78 to rank second on the rookie list. had Joe Nieuwendyk 51 goals in his rookie season.
With his 101st and 102nd points, Ovechkin broke a fifth-place tie with Mario Lemeiux on the rookie list and pulled even with four-place Joe Juneau, who scored 102 in 1992-93. The only rookies to score more points were Selanne, Peter Stastny (109 in 1980-81) and Dale Hawerchuk (103 in 1981-82).
The Maryland Terps won the 2006 National Cheerleaders Association Division I National Championship with a score of 9.31 out of a possible 10. They edged the five-time consecutive national champion Louisville Cardinals by .13 and scored higher than 28 other Division I cheer teams for the win.
The win is incredibly impressive considering the perennial powerhouse Louisville Cardinals have won the title for the past five consecutive years. Maryland won the title in 1999, but had not come close since last year's second place finish.
This was the Maryland University's fourth National title this academic year. The Terps won the Men's Soccer and Women's Field Hockey National tiltle's last Fall, and they have just won the Women's Basketball National title last week.
Maryland's players celebrated on the court, laughing and hugging and bouncing up and down. Never mind that they still had overtime to play.
"Overtime is our time," Terrapins forward Marissa Coleman said. "What a better way to win a national championship than in overtime, which was our time all season long?"
Too young to fear the pressure and too experienced to succumb to it, the Terrapins won their first NCAA women's title Tuesday night, coming back from a 13-point deficit to force overtime and beat Duke 78-75.
Freshman Kristi Toliver hit a 3-pointer at the end of regulation, then made two free throws with 35 seconds left in overtime to give Maryland the decisive lead. Maryland (34-4) is 6-0 in overtime games this season — the first five on the road and the last in the championship to cap the second-largest comeback in a women's final. It was the first time the title was determined in overtime since Tennessee beat Virginia in 1991.
Toliver's 3-pointer at the end of regulation sent the Terrapins into a frenzy and deflated the Duke bench. But the real party came after Blue Devils guard Jessica Foley's desperation, well-covered 3-point attempt nicked the front of the rim at the overtime buzzer.
Piling up on the court, hugging and bumping chests, the Terrapins reveled in the youth that had been the biggest doubt surrounding them coming into the tournament. Even coach Brenda Frese, who was the coach of the year at 32 and a national champion at 35, is on the precocious side.
"Age is just a number," she said. "When you got kids that believe and they believe in each other and they've got that kind of confidence, you can accomplish anything as a team."
Toliver, who had 12 turnovers in the semifinal victory over North Carolina, brought the ball down and veered to the right. With Duke's Alison Bales in her face and 6.1 seconds left, she lofted the 3 that would spark the first of the Terps' two celebrations.
"And I even felt her fingertips as I was holding my follow through," Toliver said. "So, she did a great job contesting. I just had a lot of confidence. And I knew I wanted to take the big shot so I just took it."
Duke (31-4) opted not to call a timeout; Lindsey Harding brought the ball down the court and put up a desperation leaner from the right baseline that went off the rim. After that, the usually frenetic Frese just let her players take over.
"I didn't have to say a word," said the coach, who took over a 10-18 team four years ago after winning the 2002 coach of the year award with Minnesota. Maryland was a charter member of the Final Four 25 years ago but struggled before Frese took over the program in 2002.
"Who would have ever thought in my wildest dreams I would have gotten two rings this year?" Frese said. "One getting married and the other a national championship." Duke took a 75-74 lead before Toliver sank two free throws to put Maryland ahead for good. Coleman, who bounced back from Frese's furious first-half tongue-lashing to finish with 10 points and 14 rebounds, hit the last two free throws for Maryland with 13.4 seconds left before Foley's 3 barely hit iron.
Toliver had 16 points, four assists and just three turnovers in the title game. Final Four Most Outstanding Player Laura Harper and Shay Doron also scored 16 for the Terrapins.
Maryland also becomes the first school to win national titles in football (1953), men's basketball (2002) and women's basketball. It's the third NCAA title Maryland teams have won in 2005-06 (field hockey and men's soccer were won in the fall), and it appropriately comes during the 150th anniversary year of the university. ...Go here for slide show