Redskins lose to Eagles, 17-14

The Redskins fell to 4-9, assuring Gibbs of a losing season. He had only one losing record in his first 12-year stint in Washington, a 7-9 mark in 1988. At least his team kept Sunday's game closer than the 27-6 loss at Philadelphia three weeks ago. The Redskins had the ball on the Eagles 27 yard line with under 2 minutes left in the game when Patrick Ramsey threw an interception in the end zone. ``They got out of here with this one -- they snuck out of here with this one,'' Washington cornerback Fred Smoot said. ``McNabb told me that at the end of the game: They crept out of here with this one.''

Washington converted an interception from McNabb into a 2-yard TD run from Clinton Portis with 12:04 remaining to make the score 17-14.  But Ramsey's only bad pass of the game, the late interception, halted the Redskins' chance to pull off the upset. They did a good job of covering it,'' Ramsey said. `I was hoping Cooley would go up and get the ball, and it just didn't work out.''
Ramsey went 29-for-42 for 251 yards for the Redskins, and Laveranues Coles caught 12 passes for 100 yards despite a chronic toe injury that kept him out of practice for most of the week. Washington was hurt by 12 penalties for 137 yards. Mike Sellers was whistled for three personals, all on special teams. Clinton Portis, wearing "illegal" red socks, gained 80 yards on 23 carries.

The Eagles (12-1), who clinched the NFC East two weeks ago, secured a first-round bye earlier Sunday when Atlanta beat Oakland. They had won their last four games by at least 21 points and had beaten every NFC team they'd played this year by at least 10 points, until this game. The victory also moved Andy Reid ahead of Joe Gibbs into first place in winning percentage among active coaches. Reid's record is 68-34 (.667), ahead of Hall of Fame coach Gibbs' 144-74 (.661).

Tight jeans break cellphones

  A survey of 300 retailers in Sweden found that squeezing handsets into snug-fitting pants is the second leading cause of broken phones. Apparently, the phones simply can't handle the pressure, and screens break or covers bend or crack.To put it in perspective, tight pants break more phones than dogs, children, rain, snow, acts of forgetfulness and throwing phones to the ground in a rage, according to a report on the survey by cell-phone news Web site Celluar News. The site said Siemens conducted the survey.

According to the survey, the most common reason for a phone to break is that you simply drop it on the floor.It might be surprising to hear that people have thrown their unit on the ground in rage, this is of course alarming, but obviously not uncommon says Titti Hagenfeldt, Marketing Manager at Siemens.

The most common reasons for "Mobile accidents" according to 300 Swedish retailers.

1)Dropped the mobile on the ground.
2)Squeezed the cellphone in tight jeans/pockets.
3)Used the handset in the rain.
4)Throw the device on the ground in rage.
5)The dog/child got hold of the mobile.
6)Dropped the cellphone in the toilette.
7)Dropped the handset into the sea.
8)Forgot the cellphone on the roof of the car.
9)Perspiration on the mobile during workout.
10)Dropped the handset in the snow.

Internet file-sharing not a problem

Most musicians and artists say the Internet has helped them make more money from their work despite online file-trading services that allow users to copy songs and other material for free, according to a study released on Sunday.

Recording labels and movie studios have hired phalanxes of lawyers to pursue "peer to peer" networks like Kazaa, and have sued thousands of individuals who distribute copyrighted material through such networks. But most of the artists surveyed by the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project said online file sharing did not concern them much.

Artists were split on the merits of peer-to-peer networks, with 47 percent saying that they prevent artists from earning royalties for their work and another 43 percent saying they helped promote and distribute their material. But two-thirds of those surveyed said file sharing posed little threat to them, and less than one-third of those surveyed said file sharing was a major threat to creative industries. Only 3 percent said the Internet hurt their ability to protect their creative works.

Redskins finally get Offensive, 31-7

All it took was some red socks and a load of work to get Clinton Portis and the Washington Redskins past the 20-point barrier, and finally playing "Redskin football". Using ball control, short passes and an outstanding defense, the Redskins beat the New York Giants 31-7.
Having been held to a few carries and a few yards during the team's three-game losing streak, Portis got the ball early and often Sunday. He gained 148 yards on 31 carries, running for one touchdown and scoring another on a shovel pass in the Redskins' victory over the New York Giants. ``I knew the team was going to be depending on me, and we finally went out and gave the defense what they wanted -- that was 21 points,'' Portis said. ``At halftime, we told them they'd better not blow the game for us.'' And Portis decided to go with red socks instead of the uniform white just to mix things up. And it must have worked.

The Redskins (4-8) led 21-0 at halftime and scored 20 in a game for the first time since Joe Gibbs returned as coach, ending their longest such drought since the 1930s. They scored more points than in their last three games combined, and they hit 30 for the first time since Week 2 of last season. Patrick Ramsey, making his third start since Mark Brunell was benched, completed 19 of 22 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns. The first two scoring drives went 93 and 91 yards against a Giants defensive line missing three-quarters of its opening day starters.

Portis had only six carries in last week's loss at Pittsburgh, but Gibbs gave him the ball on the first five plays and seven times in the opening drive. Portis has 1,093 yards on the season, giving him 1,000-plus in each of his first three years.The Redskins are 4-0 when Portis runs for 100 yards, 0-8 when he doesn't. ``He really wanted the ball, he always does,'' Gibbs said. ``I think after a couple of weeks of us not doing very well with the running game, I think he was really fired up. A lot of things that haven't been going well for us during the year went well for us tonight.''

Closer

Go see this movie.

Pretty people with potty mouths practice infidelity in one of the most buzzed-about productions of the year. Two couples -- Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, and Jude Law and Natalie Portman -- love, lie, and cruelly betray one another in this $40 million adaptation of Patrick Marber's much praised 1997 play. Directed by Mike Nichols. Watch trailer here...

Suitland wins Maryland Football Title

There was never any question who was getting the ball for Suitland(13-1) after Damascus scored a game-tying touchdown early in the final quarter. Standout junior Navorro Bowman had led the No. 8 Rams this far and, though Coach Nick Lynch tried to rest him as much as possible to be fresh to play linebacker, it was clearly Bowman's time.

Everyone seemed to know it, including Damascus Coach Dan Makosy, but the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Bowman simply kept plowing ahead. He carried nine times on the ensuing drive, converting three third downs, to set up Marta Harley's touchdown run with 3 1/2 minutes left, a one-yard quarterback sneak that proved decisive in Suitland's 14-7 victory over No. 4 Damascus in the Maryland 4A title game Thursday night before 6,000 at M&T Bank Stadium.

As the final seconds elapsed with the defending champion Swarmin' Hornets unable to stop the clock, several Suitland players sprinted toward midfield, undoing their chin straps and removing their helmets to celebrate the school's first state title. Bowman lay near midfield where, fittingly, he never let go of the game ball.        Read more here....

Everybody's blogging

Hoping to keep more Internet users in its branded universe, Microsoft Corp. has become the latest company to offer blogging to the masses. MSN Spaces, which debuts in test form Thursday, makes it easy to set up Web journals without needing highly technical skills. It is targeted at home users who want to share vacation pictures, text journals or a list of favorite songs. It is free to anyone with a Hotmail e-mail or MSN Messenger account, both of which also are free. MSN Spaces will be supported by banner ads. Read more here...

"Blog" is now the most popular search word in the online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Last year was the first that the company kept a list of the top words looked up online. As with this year, the most popular words were frequently in the news. Last year's winner was "democracy." As for a blog, Merriam-Webster defines the noun as "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer. Read more here...