NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - In one of the biggest ever bank heists, a global cyber crime ring stole $45 million from two Middle Eastern banks by hacking into their credit card processing firms and withdrawing money from ATMs in 27 countries, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

New York federal prosecutors accused eight men of allegedly forming the New York-based cell of the organization, and said seven of them have been arrested. The eighth defendant was reported to have been murdered in the Dominican Republic on April 27, according to U.S. prosecutors.

He was allegedly a leader of the cell and reported to ringleaders believed to be outside the United States.

"In the place of guns and masks, this cyber crime organization used laptops and the Internet," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch said at a news conference. "Moving as swiftly as data over the Internet, the organization worked its way from the computer systems of international corporations to the streets of New York City."

The case demonstrates the major threat that cyber crime poses to banks around the world. Prosecutors said the international crime ring used an attack known as "Unlimited Operations" in the cyber underworld.

According to the complaint, they used sophisticated hacking techniques to break into the computers of two credit card processors, one in India in December 2012 and the other in the United States this February. The complaint did not identify the companies.

In both cases, the hackers increased the available balance and eliminated the withdrawal limits on prepaid MasterCard debit cards issued by Bank of Muscat of Oman, and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah PSC (RAKBANK) of the United Arab Emirates.

They then allegedly distributed counterfeit debit cards to the New York cell and other teams around the world - known as "cashers" - enabling them to siphon millions of dollars from ATMs in a matter of hours, according to the complaint.

Cashers pulled some $40 million during the Bank of Muscat operation and stole another $5 million during the RAKBANK operation, prosecutors said. In total, cashers made some 40,500 withdrawals in 27 countries during the two coordinated incidents.

Representatives for the two banks could not be reached for comment outside of regular business hours.

In late February, Bank Muscat disclosed that it would take an impairment charge of up to 15 million rials ($39 million) because it had been defrauded overseas by 12 prepaid debit cards used for travel. That charge was equal to more than half of the 25 million rials profit it posted in its first quarter ended March 31.

HIGHLY SKILLED HACKERS

Cyber experts said they believe the operation likely required the work of several hundred people, at least several of whom were highly skilled hackers capable of devising ways to penetrate well-protected financial systems.

"Hackers only need to find one vulnerability to cause millions of dollars of damage," said Mark Rasch, a former federal cyber crimes prosecutor, based in Bethesda, Maryland.

A single account number, for instance, yielded nearly $9 million in profits, including an alleged $2.4 million from the cell in New York City, prosecutors said.

The eight defendants - all U.S. citizens and residents of Yonkers, New York - were charged with withdrawing cash from the ATMs and transporting money, not hacking into the credit card processing firms or managing the operation.

The seven arrested are: Jael Mejia Collado, Joan Luis Minier Lara, Evan Jose Pea, Jose Familia Reyes, Elvis Rafael Rodriguez, Emir Yasser Yeje and Chung Yu-Holguin (known as "Chino El Abusador"). All except for Rodriguez were arraigned on Thursday and pleaded not guilty. Rodriguez's attorney was unavailable. Only Pena has been released on bail.

The defendant, who reportedly had been killed was Alberto Yusi Lajud-Pea, also known as "Prime" and "Albertico." Lynch said it was unclear whether the murder was related to this case.

Prosecutors said cashers often laundered their proceeds by purchasing luxury goods, and sending a portion of the money back to the organization's leaders. They said they seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and bank accounts, as well as two Rolex watches and a Mercedes SUV, from the New York defendants.

Investigators said that they found an email exchange with an account associated with a criminal money laundering operation in St. Petersburg, Russia, describing wire transfers.

An investigation is ongoing to see if other cells are operating in the country, Lynch said, adding that U.S. law enforcement had worked with counterparts in Japan, Canada, Germany, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, United Kingdom, Latvia, Estonia, Thailand, and Malaysia to uncover the ring.

No individual bank accounts were compromised by the scheme, Lynch said.

(Editing by Noeleen Walder, Tiffany Wu and Leslie Gevirtz)

Broadcaster NBC also said it would not be bringing back its weekly news magazine show "Rock Center" for the 2013-14 fall schedule, along with five other low-rated comedies.

The comedy "Go On," in which Perry played a sports radio host who joins a grief counseling group after the death of his wife, was one of a slew of low-rated NBC television shows that will not be renewed, the network said.

Perry, 43, has struggled to follow up his success as the hapless Chandler Bing in NBC's "Friends," which ended in 2004.

"Go On" received favorable reviews and attracted an audience of more than 16 million when it made its debut in August 2012. But audiences dropped off and the season finale in April was watched by less than 3 million people.

"Go On" followed the dark and short-lived 2011 series "Mr. Sunshine," in which Perry starred as well as co-created, and the 2006-07 "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" that was canceled after one season.

Perry's "Friends" co-star Jennifer Aniston has launched a second career as a romantic comedy movie actress, while Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox have made several movies and TV shows, David Schwimmer has appeared on stage and tried his hand at directing, and Matt LeBlanc won a Golden Globe in 2012 for playing a version of his skirt-chasing "Friends" bachelor character Joey in the Showtime and BBC comedy "Episodes."

NBC, which has struggled to replace 1990s' hits like "Friends," "Cheers," "Frasier," and "Will & Grace," has also axed White House-based comedy "1600 Penn," the Jimmy Fallon-created comedy "Guys With Kids," "Whitney" and "Up All Night."

"Rock Center," hosted by veteran NBC News journalist Brian Williams, made its debut in October 2011 in what the network hoped would be a fast-paced but serious approach to news. But it struggled to find an audience and viewership has fallen in recent weeks to around 4 million after NBC switched the hourlong show to several different time slots.

The fate of NBC's expensive behind-the-scenes musical drama "Smash," starring Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston and Katharine McPhee, is still undecided after audiences for its second season slumped to under 2 million people.

NBC is a unit of Comcast Corp

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Peter Cooney and Doina Chiacu)

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sometimes you just can't wait for Comic-Con whether you're a fan or a filmmaker.

With the summer movie season now beginning in early May ("Iron Man 3" opens Friday), studios are co-opting the July pop-culture convention's model of stoking interest in anticipated films by bringing sneak-peeks of new material directly to super fans, who then, it is hoped, spread their enthusiasm via word-of-mouth and social media.

For "Star Trek: Into Darkness," which opens May 17, Paramount shared early photos and videos with Trekkies devoted enough to download an iPhone or Android app. Other aspiring blockbusters, including Disney's "The Lone Ranger" and Sony's "Elysium," were subjects of their own individual Comic-Con-style events recently: Studios invited fans to local theaters, where they heard directly from the films' stars and were the first to see the action-packed trailers and other select scenes.

Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer took questions from fans at "The Lone Ranger" event in Las Vegas in a segment streamed live online. Matt Damon and "District 9" writer-director Neill Blomkamp participated in the "Elyisum" showcase, held simultaneously in theaters in Los Angeles and Berlin. Only those who regularly follow the films online find out about such special events.

Studios value the approach because it allows them to reward devoted fans while building early buzz for their films. It also circumvents, in a way, the more traditional method of staging promotional events for entertainment media and then depending on those outlets to spread the news to fans.

There are no better ambassadors to get word-of-mouth going," said Marc Weinstock, Sony's co-president of worldwide marketing. "Movies are such a viral thing."

Asad Ayaz, senior vice president of marketing for Disney, said one aim of "The Lone Ranger" Las Vegas event last month was to generate as much international interest as possible in the film's trailer, which made its public debut there. Fans from as far away as China submitted questions for Depp, Hammer, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer via Twitter during the online broadcast.

One wanted to know what other characters Depp wants to play.

"Carol Channing," the actor said. "I mean that. She's fantastic... Another guy that I would love to do the life story of is Don Rickles, which I don't know if he's well-known in China."

Such starry mini-screenings can help raise a film's social-media profile in the crowded summer marketplace, Ayaz said.

"When we did our event for 'The Lone Ranger,' 'Lone Ranger' was trending on Twitter worldwide and in the U.S. for several hours during and after the event, and that's because of fans tweeting," he said. "It's all about getting eyeballs on our trailer and getting people to see this amazing film, so the social-media aspect just makes it. It's a giant halo and it spreads the word."

"The Lone Ranger" opens July 3.

Weinstock said the positive Twitter response to the "Elysium" event was just what the studio had hoped for.

The film's writer-director, though, confessed that he'd rather keep its content under wraps until the movie opens in August, but that's not the way the marketplace works.

"I try to show as little as I can," Blomkamp told reporters after the fan screening. "The thing is, if you're a responsible, functioning filmmaker in the 21st century, you can't spend $100 million and then try to behave as though you're going to wrap it under a blanket... Rationally, I understand that people have to get to know about the film and word has to get out there. Personally, I don't really like it."

Not all film marketing experts are sold on the ultimate value of fan events. Ben Carlson, president of market tracking firm Fizziology, believes the biggest social-media boost still comes from online trailer releases.

"As soon as you put a good trailer out, it almost immediately becomes a trending topic on Twitter," he said, adding that in-person showcases like those held by Disney and Sony don't have the same social media impact.

"It's more for the influential film bloggers. It does some nice heavy-lifting there," he said. "I don't think the mainstream moviegoer who might be in Kansas City or Memphis or Helena, Mont., is going to necessarily be paying attention to what's happening at an event with a few thousand people, but they will read about it on Ain't It Cool News."

Carlson said the trailer for another anticipated summer release, Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim," premiered for a group of fans before making its online debut, and it was the latter that resulted in a palpable Twitter bump.

"Instantly thousands and thousands of people were talking about it, and that's without any kind of special push to it at all," he said. "People just love the content."

Still, in a hyper-saturated media world, there's something about being the first to see something really cool, never mind seeing movie stars like Depp and Damon in person. Disney's Ayaz said he expects the studio to hold fan-focused events for future "tent pole" releases such as "Thor," ''Captain America" and "Maleficent." Sony previously held an event for "The Amazing Spider-Man," and is releasing the sequel next year.

"People are more distracted than ever before and they have a lot of different mediums to get access to our content, and what is more basic and more powerful than having a live event where you have your creative (people) the actual filmmakers and the actors and the talent from your film directly answering questions and showing their work to the fans?" Ayaz said. "It's a basic idea but it's still one of the most powerful ideas when you've got the goods and you've got a really good movie."

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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Online:

The Lone Ranger: http://disney.go.com/the-lone-ranger/

Elysium:http://www.itsbetterupthere.com/site/

Star Trek: Into Darkness: http://www.startrekmovie.com/

Pacific Rim: http://www.pacificrimmovie.net/

In an age where bigger is seen as better when it comes to smartphones, and 5- or 6-inch screens are becoming more common, Mozilla -- the nonprofit organization which leads development of the-- made it a goal to help smartphone manufacturers producewith itsMost of these gadgets are about the size of the original iPhone, with low-end hardware specs and price tags to match.

There still aren't any Firefox OS phones being sold new in the United States, through wireless carrier partnerships. However, app developers and technology enthusiasts can now purchase an entry-level Firefox phone from Geeksphone in Spain,

"A developer device with a developer build"

According to Mozilla's Director of Websites and Developer Engagement, Stormy Peters, "The software here [in the Keon] is not necessarily 100% representative of what will ship into customer's [sic] hands." Those customers being the people who will eventually buy Firefox phones new from wireless carriers, when they launch in different markets worldwide later this year.

Anyone can buy a Keon, app developer or not; there isn't a check to see if you know Javascript. If you aren't planning to work on Firefox apps or the OS itself, though ...

"We would urge them to wait"

The "full [Firefox] experience" isn't ready yet on the Keon, according to Peters, although it is expected to receive updates "every couple of weeks" to add new features and performance improvements. The latter may be sorely needed; CNet editor Rich Trenholm said that the Alcatel One Touch Fire, a Firefox OS handsetto the Keon,even for "basic functions."

What exactly is under the Keon's hood?

The One Touch Fire has a 1 GHz processor and an HVGA (320x480) screen, the same as the Keon's. It has only 256 MB of RAM compared to the Keon's 512, though, which would slow it down as it opened new apps and web browser tabs.

The Keon also has 4 GB of internal storage, and a microSD slot to add a memory card.

Are there any more powerful Firefox phones for sale?

Geeksphone is also offering the Peak, a 4.3 inch smartphone with a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor (but the same 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage). It is much more powerful than the cheap Firefox OS devices which will be sold at retail later this year, and is designed "for developers wanting to experiment with apps for devices that might be commercially available in the future."

The Peak costs $194 plus shipping.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

- - -

Sharks 4, Canucks 3 (overtime)

Patrick Marleau scored a power-play goal at 13:18 of overtime as hosts San Jose completed a sweep of their Western Conference first-round series against Northwest Division champions Vancouver.

Daniel Sedin received a questionable penalty for boarding Tommy Wingels, and the sixth-seeded Sharks needed only 15 seconds to take advantage.

Cory Schneider stopped captain Joe Thornton's shot from the high slot, but Marleau pounced on the loose puck in the crease and poked it in to complete the first playoff sweep in franchise history.

Joe Pavelski scored two power-play goals, Brent Burns also tallied and Antti Niemi made 32 saves for San Jose.

Mason Raymond and Alex Burrows each recorded a goal and an assist, defenseman Alex Edler also scored and Schneider turned aside 43 shots for the Canucks, who were winless in seven meetings with the Sharks in 2013.

- - -

Islanders 6 Penguins 4

John Tavares' second goal in as many contests snapped a tie midway through the third period as eighth-seeded New York evened its Eastern Conference first-round series with visiting Pittsburgh at two games apiece.

Captain Mark Streit collected two goals and an assist, Casey Cizikas tallied and set up two scores and Kyle Okposo scored for the third straight game.

Evgeni Malkin collected a goal and an assist for his fourth straight two-point performance of the series for Pittsburgh.

James Neal scored in his return from a two-game absence and Brandon Sutter and Pascal Dupuis also tallied for the top-seeded Penguins, who host Game Five on Thursday.

Pittsburgh scored its first third-period goal in the series 41 seconds into the session to claim a 4-3 edge but Former Penguins defenseman Brian Strait tied it up before Tavares' decider.

- -

Senators 3 Canadiens 2 (overtime)

Cory Conacher tied the game with 22.6 seconds remaining in the third period and Kyle Turris scored at 2:32 of overtime as hosts Ottawa edged second-seeded Montreal to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

After Conacher forged a 2-2 tie by burying a loose puck at the top of the crease, Turris beat goaltender Peter Budaj to put the seventh-seeded Senators within one victory of advancing.

It was just the second shot faced by Budaj, who started the overtime session after Carey Price (30 saves) suffered an undisclosed injury at the end of the third period.

After a scoreless first session, Defenseman P.K. Subban and rookie Alex Galchenyuk tallied to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead. Ottawa halved the deficit with 8:05 remaining in the third

Game Five is Thursday in Montreal.

- - -

Blackhawks 3, Wild 0

Patrick Sharp scored twice and Corey Crawford made 25 saves for his second career playoff shutout as visiting Chicago took a commanding 3-1 lead in its Western Conference first-round series.

The top-seeded Blackhawks will try to end the series when they hosts Game 5 on Thursday. Bryan Bickell added his third tally of the postseason with 7:14 remaining in the contest.

Josh Harding, who has started every game of the series for eighth-seeded Minnesota with Niklas Backstrom injured, stopped five of six shots but left at the end of the first period following a collision with Chicago captain Jonathan Toews.

Rookie Darcy Kuemper allowed two goals on 18 shots in relief.

- - -

(Editing by Jahmal Corner)

By John Mehaffey

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - Unprecedented levels of skill, intensity and endurance have transformed global sport into spectacular mass entertainment and handsomely rewarded its leading exponents.

Now that the euphoria of last year's acclaimed London Olympics has dissipated, however, a spate of troubling stories in the first quarter of 2013 show an altogether darker and more disturbing side to a glamorous, multi-billion-dollar industry.

In January, American cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted in a television interview that he had doped before each of his record seven Tour de France victories.

His confession after years of denial followed the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) decision to strip him of the title and accuse him of being at the centre of the "most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".

A report from Australia's top criminal intelligence unit linked doping in sport with money-laundering and match-fixing after a year-long investigation. Six leading rugby league clubs, from one of the country's four football codes in a sports-obsessed nation, confirmed they were under scrutiny.

And Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, on trial in Madrid for allegedly running a doping ring in cycling, said in his opening testimony that he also had clients in soccer, tennis, athletics and boxing.

Fuentes, who said outside the court this month that he might be willing to co-operate with anti-doping authorities, is appearing in court almost seven years after steroids and blood bags were seized in an investigation code-named Operation Puerto.

"The same people who are trafficking in steroids and encouraging athletes to cheat by doping are the ones who are engaged in illegal betting," said World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) director general David Howman.

"This is essentially money-laundering, bribery and corruption in relation to match-fixing and spot-fixing."

BLACK MARKETS

At a WADA media symposium in London in February, Howman said at least 25 percent of international sport was controlled by the underworld.

"The black markets supply a lot of pharmaceutical products before they are out on the white market," he said. "That's run by the criminal underworld, so a lot of the pharmaceutical stuff comes out in that way."

Rob Koehler, the director of education and programme development at WADA, told an anti-doping conference in London this month the drugs problem in sport reflected the problems of society as a whole.

"We are always trying to push the limit," he said. "Adults are cheating. Students are cheating, in fact they think they are smart if they don't get caught."

Koehler said one percent of the population as a whole was rich while the middle class was shrinking and the lower class growing. The position was similar in sport.

"Top athletes are making millions, some athletes make a modest living, most barely get by," he said. "But what some athletes used to make in their career they are now making in one year."

Doping's black heartland has traditionally been in the speed and strength sports of track and field, weightlifting and cycling.

But it has also become increasingly apparent that the nature of ball sports, which rely on a unique set of skills peculiar to their disciplines, has changed.

Baseball, with its explosion of home runs in the 1990s, is an obvious example and this year slugger Barry Bonds, the record holder for home runs, and pitcher Roger Clemens, a seven-times Cy Young winner, were not elected to the Hall of Fame.

WIDESPREAD DOPING

The pair, appearing on the ballot for the first time after waiting five years following their retirements, were linked with performance-enhancing drugs in the Mitchell report which detailed widespread doping in the sport.

Baseball is similar in nature to Twenty20 cricket, where strength as well as technique is necessary to repeatedly clear the boundaries. Rugby union players, who used to be a mixture of the big and the powerful and the small and the speedy, are now uniformly bulked up.

Tennis, as the five-set marathons now common in the men's game demonstrate, demands sustained power and endurance to an extent once unimaginable.

Even golfers, as the modern breed of players headed by Tiger Woods demonstrates, are now athletes working out in the gym as well as frequenting the driving range.

In England, the Football Association reacted to concerns expressed by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger about the possible use of EPO by announcing it would bring in testing for the blood booster, which was introduced into cycling in the 1990s.

"We have had some players come to us at Arsenal from other clubs abroad and their red blood cell count has been abnormally high. That kind of thing makes you wonder," Wenger said.

Wenger also called for blood testing in soccer, adding: "I don't think we do enough. It is very difficult for me to believe that you have 740 players in the World Cup and you come out with zero problems."

Roger Federer, a 17-times grand-slam tennis champion, also called for the introduction of biological passports, pioneered in cycling and subsequently introduced in athletics, which track changes in a competitor's blood profile which could be caused only by doping.

"A blood passport will be necessary as some substances can't be discovered right now but might in the future, and that risk of discovery can chase cheats away," the Swiss said.

"But there also should be more blood tests and out-of- competition controls in tennis."

WADA and its president John Fahey, whose six-year term ends this year, have never been busier and he told the London symposium there was no sign the bad news would end any time soon.

"As long as there is sporting competition there will be athletes who choose to cheat, and consequently a need to lead the fight against this global threat to sport's integrity," Fahey said.

"And, if the last eight months are anything to go by, that need is increasing in its urgency rather than receding." (Editing by Clare Fallon)

The Big Ten is giving them the boot and following a more conventional route for its division names.

The conference is going with "East" and "West" instead and switching to a nine-game scheduling format after presidents and chancellors approved the moves on Sunday.

The new division alignments will begin in 2014 when Rutgers and Maryland join the conference, meaning "Legends" and "Leaders" will be a thing of the past.That will probably come as good news for fans who have criticized those names ever since the league unveiled them in 2010. To many, they were confusing and didn't help identify where teams play, but that won't be an issue any more.

Besides the new division alignment, teams will go from playing eight conference games to nine in 2016.

"Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography," commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement."The directors of athletics also relied on the results of a fan survey commissioned by BTN last December to arrive at their recommendation, which is consistent with the public sentiment expressed in the poll."

Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers will be in the East division. The West will consist of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Schools will play six division games plus two against teams from the other division in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, they'll play three cross-division games.

Indiana and Purdue will meet on an annual basis. But Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said each school had to make compromises.

"Fourteen athletic directors came to the table with different objectives and our goal was to compromise to the point that we could move together with one plan," he said. "Each of us had things that were extremely important and things on our wish list. I wanted us to play Michigan State and Ohio State every year and for the Michigan-Ohio State game to be the last one ever year. I'm pleased we're going to be able to do those three things.

"But it's not a perfect setup because no school got everything they wanted."

East division teams will host five conference games during even-numbered years starting in 2016, with West teams hosting five in odd-numbered seasons. Under that format, teams will be guaranteed to play each other at least once every four years, and in a statement, Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman called that "an important feature."

He also praised the changes, saying they are "the best option" and "will serve us well."

Brandon said a 10-game format was "carefully considered to even out the home-and-away problem," but that would have hindered nonconference scheduling.

"If you take away another nonconference game, it would have a detrimental impact financially for everybody in the conference, and we would've taken the biggest hit because we have the largest stadium," he said.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini praised the division alignment and the nine-game format.

"Geography seems to be a logical way to determine the divisions, and it should allow for easier travel for our fans," he said in a statement. "The nine-game conference schedule will help improve the strength of schedules across the board in the Big Ten, and I think everyone anticipates strength of schedule being a key component for choosing teams to participate in the new playoff system."

Delany said athletic directors met in person or talked on conference calls six times from December to March to discuss the changes.

"The level of cooperation and collaboration was reflective of what we've come to expect from this group of administrators who have worked extremely well together on a number of complex matters over the past several years," he said. "We are all looking forward to ushering in this new era of Big Ten football."

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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) will be released in May. Yahoo is featuring first-person stories from Americans who are diagnosed with some of the most common mental health disorders in the United States. Here's one story.

FIRST PERSON | I penned depressing, dark poems and suicidal short stories as a teenager. Living in a small town, I participated in drugs and alcohol. It could have been "typical" teenage behavior. I thought so, even though I'd dropped out of high school and continued the sex, drugs, and drinking.

At 17, I left home with a man 12 years older than myself, continuing the pattern; notebooks were filled with poems on loneliness, self-loathing, and abuse. I amped myself up on drugs for the energy to work. I cared about nothing but the constant irrational fears itching inside my head. Even the abuse that man I'd left home for was nothing but fodder for a pen and paper.

Within a year, I tried to kill myself. It was a simple thing; I wasn't in a state of panic or heartbreak. I was terrified of death. But I'd decided I wouldn't allow the abuse to kill me and give someone else the satisfaction of having done it.

I swallowed a bottle of high-end pain killers and closed my eyes.

After the incident -- which I didn't care had failed -- I went to a psychiatrist once. A dreary place in Denver stinking of mold, catering to drifters with no money or home address; I answered questions that showed a total lack of interest, very poor self-esteem, little to no energy, and withdrawal from society at every opportunity.

Depression. It sounds so self-pitying, just a word filled with stigma and angst. I never returned.

Teenage years blurred into official adulthood. Believing I had no prospects, I remained with the man who'd come and go from prison, stints of time during which I wrote letters that expressed all the right emotions of longing and love. Promises to remain faithful and to be waiting; everything I knew I should feel but didn't.

Pregnancy drove me to seek help and leave the abuse behind. Since I was seeing a physician, I assumed that they would be able to help me. Depression reconfirmed, I went from one anti-depressant to another as they stopped working and I'd be floored by fear and depression. Bouts of energy broke in, an escape, and the diagnosis became bipolar.

The series of drugs that came after this diagnosis spun me into an anxiety breakdown of horror that paralyzed me.

Fifteen years later, I've dropped the stigmas and see a psychiatrist. Dysthymia was the problem all along, a sneaky form of depression that is acute and chronic. I deal with its common co-disorder, anxiety, with therapy. And I find myself optimistic, wistful, wishing I'd had the chance to have a life before.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said the SEC network will produce 1,000 live events each year, including 450 televised on the network and 550 distributed digitally. Slive says the network will carry approximately 45 SEC football games each year "and a depth of content across all sports."

No financial terms were released for the deal, which continues through 2034.

The announcement came at a news conference attended by Slive, ESPN President John Skipper, 32 SEC coaches and each of the league's 14 athletic directors. The emphasis was this is to be a national network.

"We believe this conference has national appeal," Skipper said. "This is a national network. This is not a regional network. We understand that in the 11-state footprint is where the most passionate fans are, but there are a lot of SEC fans in California and Texas and New York and Connecticut and Virginia and Nebraska."

The league's coaches and athletic directors said having the national network will make all sports more attractive.

"In volleyball, we may want to go after players in California or in the Midwest," said Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity. "Now they can see the SEC is going to have a broadcast of Georgia-Florida volleyball match on ESPN on Tuesday night at 9 o'clock. That's the type of stuff you can only dream about. Now we have it unfolding.

"Football, obviously, that's already well-populated. What it does for your Olympic sports is just immeasurable."

Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, who already has a national recruiting base, said the network will make all SEC schools more attractive to national recruits.

"Everybody's recruiting stretches out because they already may want to play against Florida and Kentucky and everybody here, but being in the SEC means if you come with us, you're not a regional player, you're national," Calipari said. "You don't have to worry you have to stay home because that's your fan base. Your fan base is national. You don't have to worry about regional fan bases. You can go out and create what you want to create."

Still, there was no doubt what sport drove the deal football.

Calipari acknowledged he felt left out as he sat on the stage and heard only football-related questions. Asked where basketball fit in the SEC picture, Calipari said "I don't know. How many men's basketball questions were there today? Did we have any? No.

"In the room it was either they wanted to know about money, percentages or what it did with football. I was ready to stand up 'Can I ask a basketball question?' I almost did it, just to do it. Then I said no, I don't want to embarrass anybody."

Georgia football coach Mark Richt said the network should be another empowering tool for the SEC, already the national power with seven straight national championships.

"I don't think there's any doubt," Richt said. "It's not a regional network. It's a national network. It's going to appeal to people of all ages, including the people we're going to be recruiting. My guess is there will be content there that will showcase our players, showcase our facilities and showcase our coaching staff and what we've done in recent past and what we want to do in the future. It can only help us."

Slive also would not discuss details of the ownership arrangement with the SEC and ESPN.

"We would not have done this if we did not believe it would be in the long-term benefit of the league, both in terms of distribution and in terms of revenue," Slive said.

"We're both happy," Slive said.

The Big Ten and Pac 12 also have established networks, but Slive said the SEC's partnership with ESPN is different.

"What's unique and never been done before is partnering with our primary rights holder, which will allow us to move events seamlessly between various platforms," Slive said.

The SEC signed a 15-year deal with CBS in 2008. CBS will still have the first choice of SEC football games.

ESPN senior vice president Justin Connolly said AT&T U-Verse has signed on as the network's first distributor. He said talks are just beginning with other possible cable partners.

Connolly said the deal also gives ESPN rights to oversee the league's corporate partner program. In addition, ESPN will manage and run all of the SEC's digital platforms.

* According to the poll, 63 percent of Americans think that having North America free from importing oil from outside the continent is more important than reducing greenhouse gases. Thirty percent of respondents felt that reducing greenhouse gases was the priority of the two issues.

* In Canada, 55 percent selected freeing North America for imported oil as more important, while 38 percent chose addressing greenhouse gases.

* Seventy percent of Americans and 60 percent of Canadians are favorable to the idea of the Keystone pipeline, Nanos' poll revealed, with 74 and 68 percent respectively stating that they support or somewhat support proceeding with the project.

* Seventy-six percent of Americans and 66 percent of Canadians feel that a continental energy strategy should be pursued, and most of those polled from each country felt that there should be common environmental standards.

* When asked about the importance of reducing greenhouse gases separately from the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline, a majority of both Americans and Canadians felt that the issue was important.

* Eighty-eight percent of Americans feel that ensuring a stable energy supply is important, but that number drops to 60 percent in Canada.

* Eleven percent of Americans and 14 percent of Canadians expressed that reducing greenhouse gases is unimportant.

* The survey, which was conducted randomly on 1,007 Americans and 1,013 Canadians in late March and early April, is in sharp contrast to reports of thousands of Americansagainst the Keystone pipeline.

* According to the Houston Chronicle, 60,000 people have stated that they will risk arrest to fight the pipeline.

* Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agencyto the U.S. State Department, urging the department to do a more thorough analysis of the risks of oil spills and alternative pipeline routes, in addition to a study of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the pipeline.

* A State Department draft report of the $7 billion pipeline project in March indicated that it will not create environmental impacts, the Associated Press reported.