The AL West might not be the deepest division in baseball, but the contending teams sure make it one of the most interesting ones.
From the Texas Rangers, who went to back-to-back World Series before a collapse last season; to the Los Angeles Angels, who are feeling a bit envious of their L.A. brethren; to the A’s, the small-market team with a band of characters that shockingly won the division in 2012, this year promises to be chock-full of twists and turns good enough for any supermarket tabloid.
Read More
When it comes to Hollywood, the glitzier the better.
At least that is what all the marketing folks will say.
But when it comes to a baseball team, is that true? The new-look Los Angeles Dodgers are trying out that methodology to the extreme.
With a flashy new ownership group headlined by Los Angeles Lakers icon Magic Johnson beginning its first full season, the Dodgers have gone out and purchased big-ticket items in the hope of taking down their rival, the Giants, who have won two of the past three World Series.
Read More
They were called the Dream Team last year, having hauled in Pro Bowl players at a few positions and becoming the odds-on favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
But a funny thing happened to the Philadelphia Eagles. They didn’t mesh. After winning the opener, Philly lost four straight, then split the next four. The Eagles were toast after Week 10.
Read More
New prodigy Andrew Luck is in Indianapolis, which forced a banged-up Peyton Manning to Denver, which led to golden child Tim Tebow going to the Big Apple.
It has been quite the offseason for quarterbacks in the AFC. In addition to those three headline-grabbing moves, two AFC rookies are poised to start Week 1 (Ryan Tannehill in Miami and Brandon Weeden in Cleveland), while three first-rounders from last year are in the spotlight (Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton, Jacksonville’s Blaine Gabbert and Tennessee’s Jake Locker).
Read More
All you have to know about the American League in 2012 can be summed up in one word: Stacked.Both premier free-agent first basemen bolted from National League playoff teams for the AL, which also imported a young Japanese right-hander to take over the role of ace for the team that lost the World Series the past two years. The team with the most-interesting talent hasn’t been to the playoffs since 1985.And we haven’t touched on any teams in baseball’s division of death, the AL East.Each night figures to be a heavyweight fight, regardless of the matchup.
Read More
If the National League was a beauty contest, there would be the one contestant that stood out from all the others — in this case, the Philadelphia Phillies.There are a slew of contenders, but they all come with their warts — not that the Phillies don’t have any.
Read More
Bruno Bowden, the lead engineering elf on Google’s Santa Tracker project with NORAD, explains how enhancements will let Google Earth and Google Maps mobile help kids of all ages track the whereabouts of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Follow jolly ol’ St. Nick at www.noradsanta.org.How do you track Santa? With GPS or Rudolph’s nose? Rudolph’s nose gives off a unique heat signal and so we use that, and a number of satellites positioned in space detect the heat signal.
Read More
Felony drug charges were filed in federal court Thursday against Deborah Madden, the disgraced former technician at the San Francisco Police Department’s crime lab.In a one-sentence indictment, federal prosecutors allege that Madden did “knowingly and intentionally acquire and obtain possession of, by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge” cocaine from the lab.
Read More
The bar manager at the Blackthorn Tavern keeps the Inner Sunset watering hole hopping each Monday at 9 p.m. with trivia night. The bar, located at 834 Irving St., keeps it low-tech with a host calling out questions and contestants writing answers in a book.How many people participate? We have about 15 to 20 teams with anywhere from three to 10 people per team. So we have a good 50 to 60 people.Any strange questions or team names? You should hear some of the team names. We had one called bin Laden Double Tap.
Read More
Jeff Sheehan, the associate dean for international relations at The Wharton School, is helping to host Wharton’s Global Alumni Forum, which runs Wednesday through Friday at the Westin St. Francis. It is the first time the event, featuring top business speakers, is being held in the U.S.
Why choose this location for your conference? San Francisco is home to our West Coast campus and was a natural choice. In addition, 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Wharton San Francisco, so the timing was perfect.
Read More
Kerrie Holley is one of 69 active IBM Fellows (there have been 231 since the program started in 1962) and was one of the speakers as the company celebrated its 100th birthday with an event in The City. He helps spread the word and develop internally and externally technical advances.
How do you like your role with IBM? I love the role. It is a chance to engage with IBMers across the world and mentor great young and senior professionals. I get to see a lot of what’s coming up in the world.
Read More
Third-year midfielder Sam Cronin and the San Jose Earthquakes take a 4-4-4 record into Saturday’s Major League Soccer road match against the D.C. United. The 24-year-old and Quakes forward Chris Wondolowski were called up to the U.S. national men’s soccer team, but Cronin did not make the cut for the Gold Cup roster after playing in the 2009 event.
How has this season gone for the Quakes? It has been a little up-and-down for us, but I think we finally have a formula down.
Read More
The heptalogist at California Pacific Medical Center was part of helping Vertex receive Federal Drug Administration approval Monday for Incivek, a “groundbreaking” drug that doubles the chance of curing hepatitis C cases (up from 40 to 80 percent).What does the drug do? Incivek is a drug that works directly on the virus and it helps to prevent replication of the virus. ... It marks a turning point in the treatment of hep C, which kills 5,000 to 12,000 Americans a year.
Read More
William Hynes, was recently inaugurated as the 17th president of Holy Names University in Oakland, a former women-only college that focuses on how students can make a social impact in addition to their chosen education field. Hynes’ fourth book, “Principles of Entrepreneurship,” is due out this year.What did it mean to you to be named president?
Read More
Toni Knorr is the board of directors chairwoman of the San Francisco Travel Association. Knorr has a keen interest in The City’s tourism industry as the general manager of the St. Regis hotel, 125 Third St.Who has been the biggest inspiration in your life? My mother: total can-do attitude about life, with a very charming, curious nature.Where do you find motivation?
Read More
URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/people/steve-drumwright
