The major college football conference commissioners named the new postseason system that starts in 2014 on Tuesday, the first of three days of meetings at a resort hotel in the Rose Bowl's backyard.

Out with the Bowl Championship Series and in with the College Football Playoff.

"I don't think you can ever go too wrong calling something what it is," Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said. "Things that make sense tend to stand the test of time."

Next on the agenda is to pick three more bowls for the six-bowl semifinal rotation the Rose, Orange and Sugar are already in and where the first championship game will be held on Jan. 12, 2015. That comes Wednesday.

Four bowls have bid to be part of the rotation. The clear front-runners are the Cotton, Chick-fil-A and Fiesta. The Holiday Bowl in San Diego also put in a bid, but even its organizers acknowledged they are a long shot at best.

The finalists to host the first championship game are Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the billion dollar home of the NFL team and the Cotton Bowl, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., home of the NFL's Buccaneers and the Outback Bowl.

Arlington is the favorite, but the competition has been serious.

"I'm glad it has," Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Tuesday. "I think it will give us a better outcome."

Even before an official announcement about the name was made on Tuesday, the website www.collegefootballplayoff.com was up and running and allowing fans to vote on a new logo. And there also was a Twitter handle: (at)cfbplayoff.

"It's really simple. It gets right to the point," BCS executive director Bill Hancock, who will hold the same position in the playoff system, said at a short news conference.

"Nothing cute. Nothing fancy. We decided it would be best to call it what it is."

Premiere Sports Management in Overland Park, Kan., was hired to help come up with a name and brand the new system. A committee of commissioners handled the naming of the new system, and Hancock said they ran through "in the neighborhood of three dozen" names.

Scott said: "We're clearly trying to make a clear break from the BCS."

The new postseason format will create two national semifinals to be played New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, with the winners advancing. The six bowls in the playoff rotation will host marquee, BCS-type games on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day during the seasons they do not host a semifinal.

The first semifinals will be played at the Rose and Sugar bowls on Jan. 1, 2015.

Also on the agenda this week for the commissioners will be the composition of the selection committee that will set the field for the playoff. They have said they would like the committee to be similar to the one that picks the teams for the NCAA basketball tournament, made up of conference commissioners and athletic directors.

Bowlsby said he expected both current and former administrators to have a spot on the committee.

"The hardest thing is making sure we're arming whoever is on the committee with the tools that it takes to differentiate among closely proximal teams," Bowlsby said. "You have to have some metrics available to differentiate between three, four, five, six and seven.

"You can't just say we like blue uniforms and not gold uniforms. You've got to arm the committee with the tools that it takes to do their job."

The attendees came to the first-ever Space Hacker Workshop on Saturday and Sunday (May 4 and 5) to learn about how they could build and fly experiments on a new generation of manned suborbital vehicles such as XCOR Aerospace's .

The event, which was sponsored by the Silicon Valley Space Center and Citizens in Space, attracted high-school and college students, university professors, space professionals, scientists, technology experts and others interested in this emerging field. []

New reusable vehicles slated to come online soon will provide affordable and repeated access to space for professional and amateur scientists and help to revolutionizeand science education, said Citizens in Space founder Ed Wright.

"With the suborbital vehicles being developed...there's going to be an opportunity to fly many thousands of small payloads on suborbital vehicles every year," Wright said.

Citizen space scientists

Citizens in Space is a program run by Wright's Texas-based organization, the U.S. Rocket Academy, which has purchased 10 flights aboard the two-seat Lynx just for research. Ten lucky citizen scientists will get to fly in the passenger seat of the vehicle and operate the experiments that they have designed and built. Five of those slots already have been filled.

So, just how cheap will it be to fly experiments in space? Wright said that while a typical tinymight cost between $3,000 and $5,000 to build and another $100,000 or more to launch into orbit, developing and flying scientific payloads aboard the Lynx will be many orders of magnitude cheaper.

"At the base level, you're going to have people who are able to build an experiment for $200 or less and have an opportunity to fly in space through programs such as Citizens in Space, and I think this is just going to change everything," Wright said.

"We may reach the point in five or 10 years where every high school science major will have the opportunity to build and fly a payload in space during the course of his academic career before he graduates, he added.

The development of suborbital vehicles such as the Lynx andis coming at a time when maker spaces are popping up all over the country. Wright said these joint work spaces are perfect places for people to build the types of do-it-yourself science experiments that Citizens in Space wants to fly.

Wright's academy is developing the Lynx Cub Payload Carrier, a unit that can hold up to a dozen small experiments in a space behind the pilot's seat. The carrier will give XCOR the ability to flyin the passenger's seat while also carrying scientific experiments as secondary payloads.

A seat on Lynx costs $95,000, while a ticket to fly on SpaceShipTwo which last week made its will set you back $200,000 at the moment. (Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson said recently that ticket prices would soon temporarily rise to $250,000.) []

A range of experiments

Four XCOR employees traveled 300 miles (500 kilometers) north from the town of Mojave, where they are building the first Lynx, to address the Space Hacker audience and answer questions.

Khaki Rodway, XCOR's director of payload sales and operations, gave an overview of Lynx's capabilities and a progress update on the assembly of the first vehicle, which could fly by the end of this year.

"We're doing it because there's lots of stuff to do," Rodway said of the emerging market for experiments.

During the two-day workshop, participants heard talks about the experiments that will be carried out in the microgravity environment and vacuum of space. These experiments will range across many different fields, including materials processing, fluid dynamics, life sciences, protein crystal growth and technology demonstrations.

NASA astronaut Yvonne Cagle talked about sending odd "water bears" into space. Water bears, also known as tardigrades, are tiny organisms that are virtually impervious to heat, radiation and vacuum conditions. Cagle believes that by studying water bears, scientists can learn a great deal about how to help humans adapt to space.

Jason Reimuller, president of the company Integrated Spaceflight Services, told the audience about his Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere (PoSSUM) campaign, which will use a Lynx to study the dynamics of clouds over the North Pole. The vehicle will operate out of a high-altitude spaceport in either Alaska or Sweden, Reimuller said.

Ryan Gillespie, an aerospace engineer from Sunnyvale, Calif., said he is interested in pursuing Citizens in Space's High Altitude Astrobiology Challenge, which is offering cash prizes of up to $10,000 for the development of a device that will collect micro-organisms living at the edge of space.

I'm not so much interested in the $10,000 it's more the fact that when you come up with anything, it needs a purpose," Gillespie said. "Here's something that actually has a purpose for mankind."

Driving technology forward

Richard Mains of Mains Associates, who works with the NASA Flight Opportunities Program that funds experiments on , said these new spaceships are driving technology development at a much faster rate than traditional NASA programs tend to do.

"I think what's actually going on here with these reusable suborbital launch vehicles is kind of a whole new paradigm where you're not putting a payload up onfor six months," Mains said. "And these vehicles aren't that big. But they are flying very often, So these payloads now have to be small, smart, autonomous very very easy to kind of activate and deactivate, reprogram, get data out of."

"I see all of that driving technology in a very, very interesting fashion," Mains added, mentioning the emergence of open-source platforms as another powerful driver. "So I'm very excited about what I've heard here."

Silicon Valley was a perfect location to hold the workshop given that it's at the leading edge of technology development, Mains said.

Wright said he was extremely pleased with the workshop, which sold all of its 95 tickets and had a waiting list on Saturday morning.

"I think it's gone very well," Wright said. "It's really been a great turnout. It's been very exciting for everyone here. The people from the NASA Flight Opportunities program were very excited about this. XCOR was very excited about this."

Wright says he hopes to conduct five or six additional workshops in cities across the country over the next year.

Follow us , or . Original article at .

Stampede officials say astronaut Chris Hadfield has agree to head the parade on July 5.

Hadfield is currently the commander on the International Space Station and Stampede officials extended their invitation via Twitter.

Hadfield accepted with the comment: "A great reason to come back to Earth."

He also included a picture of Calgary from space.

Hadfield is scheduled to return to Earth on Monday.

Hadfield is one of the few people who have been parade marshal at the parade twice he fulfilled that duty in 2001 as well.

This year's Calgary Stampede, also known as the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, runs from July 5 to July 14.

(CHQR, The Canadian Press)

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Warner Bros. Pictures has announced a change of release dates for two of its most-anticipated event films: All You Need is Kill, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, and 300: Rise of an Empire, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

All You Need is Kill has been moved to the Summer release corridor, opening on June 6, 2014, with select international markets predating the domestic release, starting the weekend of May 30, 2014. The earlier international release date was specifically chosen to put the opening two weeks ahead of the start of the World Cup. The move reflects the studios already strong belief in the huge science fiction actioner, which marks the first collaboration between two proven hit-makers, Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman.

The release date of 300: Rise of an Empire, a new chapter in the epic 300 saga, has moved to March 7, 2014, with international territories opening day-and-date, reflecting the global popularity of the franchise. The first 300, which was released in March 2007, went on to earn more than $456 million worldwide.

Fellman stated, We have tremendous confidence in All You Need is Kill and view it as a perfect tent pole for the Summer frame, with its combination of great cast, compelling story and tremendous action.

Fellman also noted, Moving 300: Rise of an Empire to March 7 continues in the tradition of the first 300, and kicks off the Spring movie-going season in epic style. The film is on track to become all that audiences have come to expect from the franchise.

Kwan Vandenberg said, We are thrilled about All You Need is Kill heating up our Summer `14 slate. It is an action-packed adventure, told by an extraordinary cast, which is sure to have global appeal.

We are also excited about the continuation of the 300 saga, Kwan Vandenberg added. The first 300 movie was a huge success internationally, and the day-and-date release of the new film is a great opportunity to turn its opening into a worldwide event.

About 300: Rise of an Empire:

Told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster 300, this new chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefieldon the seaas Greek general Themistokles attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. 300: Rise of an Empire pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes, and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures present, a Cruel and Unusual Films/Mark Canton/Gianni Nunnari Production, 300: Rise of an Empire. The action adventure stars Sullivan Stapleton as Themistokles and Eva Green as Artemisia. Lena Headey reprises her starring role from 300 as the Spartan Queen, Gorgo; Hans Matheson stars as Aeskylos; David Wenham returns as Dilios; and Rodrigo Santoro stars again as the Persian King, Xerxes.

The film is directed by Noam Murro, from a screenplay by Zack Snyder & Kurt Johnstad, based on the graphic novel Xerxes, by Frank Miller. It is produced by Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Bernie Goldmann. Thomas Tull, Frank Miller, Stephen Jones and Jon Jashni serve as executive producers.

Opening in 3D and 2D in select theatres and IMAX on March 7, 2014, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

About All You Need is Kill:

Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt star in All You Need is Kill, directed by Doug Liman.

The story unfolds in a near future in which a hive-like alien race, called Mimics, have hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, shredding great cities to rubble and leaving millions of human casualties in their wake. No army in the world can match the speed, brutality or seeming prescience of the weaponized Mimic fighters or their telepathic Alpha commanders. But now the worlds armies have joined forces for a last stand offensive against the alien horde, with no second chances.

The international cast also includes Bill Paxton, Kick Gurry, Dragomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley, Jonas Armstrong and Franz Drameh.

Liman directed the film from a screenplay by Dante W. Harper and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and Christopher McQuarrie, based on the acclaimed novel All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Erwin Stoff, Tom Lassally, Jason Hoffs, Gregory S. Jacobs and Jeffrey Silver are the producers. The executive producers are Doug Liman, Dave Bartis, Joby Harold, Hidemi Fukuhara and Bruce Berman, with Kim Winther and Tim Lewis serving as co-producers.

All You Need is Kill is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures. Opening domestically on June 6, 2014, the film will be distributed in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow.

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BlackBerry 10 Smartphones Approved for Use On U.S. Department of Defense Networks

[More from BGR: ]

May 2, 2013

Waterloo, ON BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB) today announced the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has approved BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets with BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 to be used on DoD networks. Working with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets have undergone successful testing through DoD labs leading to a subsequent listing on DISAs Unified Communications Approved Product List (UC APL).

The approval allows all DoD customers to use the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones, and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets on DoD networks.

IDC research shows that mobile security continues to be of utmost importance to government agencies around the globe, said Stephen D. Drake, Program Vice President, Mobility & Telecom at IDC. The U.S. Department of Defenses strict security requirements are amongst the highest in the world, and this allows other government bodies to follow suit. The role of BlackBerry including devices and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 continues to be important and relevant for security conscious organizations.

BlackBerry 10 is ideal for our government customers because it offers a rich, highly responsive mobile computing experience, along with BlackBerrys proven and validated security model a combination thats unmatched in the industry, said Scott Totzke, SVP, BlackBerry Security at BlackBerry. This approval will enable DoD customers to connect theirBlackBerry Z10orBlackBerry Q10smartphones to DoD networks and securely access assets from work, while enjoying the wealth of consumer-oriented functionality that BlackBerry 10 brings to market.

For more information aboutBlackBerry 10, please visit:www.blackberry.com/BB10

SAMSUNG KNOX APPROVED BY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR USE IN US GOVERNMENT

In a first for Android powered devices, Samsung smartphones and tabletswith Samsung Knox can be used by the US Government and Military Services

London, United Kingdom May 3rd, 2013 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., today announced that Samsung Knox-enabled devices have been approved by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for use in DoD networks. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has finished successful testing of Samsung Knox devices.

With the official approval, Samsung Knox-enabled devices, including smartphones and tablets, will be listed as approved products for use by U.S. government and military officials within DoD networks. The DoD security requirement guidelines for mobile operation systems are one of the highest security standards in the world and this marks the first time for Android-powered devices to meet such high security requirements.

JK Shin, President and CEO of IT and Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, said, We are very pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Defense has approved Samsung Knox-enabled devices for use in DoD networks. This approval enables other government agencies and regulated industries such as health care and financial services to adopt Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets. This is a significant milestone for Samsung as we work to grow our relationships within government and large corporate enterprises.

Samsung Knox delivers fundamental security at the platform level, while leaving the user experience consistent, said Injong Rhee, Senior Vice President and Head of B2B R&D Group, Samsung Electronics Samsung Galaxy devices powered by Samsung Knox are highly secure mobile devices.

The Samsung Galaxy S4, recently launched in the global market, is the first smartphone to be enabled with Knox. Going forward, Samsungs premium smartphones and tablets will feature Samsung Knox.

In addition to the DoD approval, Samsung is actively seeking certifications from other international government certification bodies for Samsung Knox-enabled devices to be used in government networks worldwide.

This article was

Actually, we were the 15th seed," Miller said.

And ultimately, the last one standing.

Miller capped his brilliant career with a breakaway goal in the third period, Jeff Malcolm stopped all 36 Quinnipiac shots and the Bulldogs won their first NCAA championship with a 4-0 victory Saturday night.

It was sweet revenge for Yale (22-12-3), which lost the three previous meetings with the top-seeded Bobcats by a combined 13-3. The nation's oldest hockey program, however, left no doubt in the final, riding the play of Malcolm and some unlikely offensive contributions to capture a title 117 years in the making.

"Tonight was our turn," Yale coach Keith Allain said.

The Bulldogs have been playing hockey since 1896 but had only made the tournament twice before Allain took over in 2006. The Yale graduate accepted the job with the promise from his bosses the school would do what it takes to be competitive. In seven seasons he guided the Bulldogs all the way to the top.

"I came back to prove you could go to the best university in the world and prove you can play hockey at the highest level," Allain said.

Yale did it throughout the tournament, knocking off three No. 1 seeds, including its Connecticut rivals from just down the street. Quinnipiac (30-8-5) located less than 10 miles from the Yale campus spent most of the year ranked No. 1.

The Bobcats (30-8-5) hardly looked like it after Yale's Clint Bourbonais redirected a shot between goalie Eric Hartzell's legs with 4 seconds left in the second period and freshman Charles Orzetti scored his first goal in four months 3:35 into the third to make it 2-0.

Miller, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, then broke loose and flipped a backhand by Hartzell for his 18th goal of the season. Pittsburgh native Jesse Root added an empty netter to set the coronation in motion.

"You've got to play your game," Miller said. "We had some great players on our team. A lot of guys that don't get noticed, they're our heroes."

Hartzell stopped 27 shots, but the Hobey Baker finalist let in a couple of soft goals that gave Yale all the momentum it would need.

"I thought we were the best team in college hockey for the season," Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. "Unfortunately, we didn't prove it tonight."

The Bobcats dominated the season series, sweeping all three meetings by a combined score of 13-3. Quinnipiac trailed for all of 18 minutes in the three games combined and Hartzell allowed only one goal in the previous eight periods against Yale.

Yet Pecknold insisted the Bulldogs weren't the same team the Bobcats steamrolled 3-0 three weeks ago in the ECAC tournament consolation game. Yale tripped up national powers Minnesota and North Dakota to make the Frozen Four for the first time since 1952, then edged UMass Lowell 3-2 in overtime in the semifinals Thursday.

On the biggest stage, the Bulldogs finally put it together behind Malcolm.

The senior celebrated his 24th birthday by keeping the tournament's highest-scoring team at bay, including a crucial 5-on-3 penalty kill in the second period that kept the game tied. The Yale fans serenaded the goaltender with "Happy Birthday" during one stoppage in play, and Malcolm responded by taking turning away Yale's nemesis one breathtaking stop at a time.

Ultimately, Hartzell blinked first.

The clock winding down late in the second period, Young flipped what appeared to be an innocent shot from just outside the left circle. Bourbonais slapped his stick on the ice just as the puck rolled past him a few feet in front of the crease. The change of direction sent the puck between Hartzell's legs to give Yale an unlikely lead and a major boost heading into the final intermission of the season.

Quinnipiac attempted to respond early in the third, flying around the Yale net in the same way the Bobcats overwhelmed St. Cloud State on Thursday. Malcolm, in perfect position nearly every time, maintained his composure.

His teammates repaid his hard work with another unlikely goal. Orzetti, a freshman who hadn't scored since Dec. 8, streaked down the left wing and fired a shot at Hartzell. The rebound trickled to Hartzell's right and Orzetti slammed home his own rebound between the goalie's legs to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

The soft goals were uncharacteristic of Hartzell's outstanding season. Yet they counted anyway.

"Without Hartzy we're not here, we don't go to the Frozen Four," Pecknold said."He was awesome all year for us."

Just not in the final 21 minutes of the season.

Miller, who scored in overtime in the semifinals against Lowell, broke through 9:06 into the third to make it 3-0. The Bobcats panicked, pulling Hartzell with 7:19 remaining.

The ploy lasted all of 20 seconds. Root delivered the puck into the empty net and drained any drama out of the final 7 minutes. Confetti rained down at the final horn as the Bulldogs mobbed Malcolm in celebration.

"In the NCAA tournament anybody can beat anybody," Miller said. "Whoever has the hottest goalie, best team game wins."

Now, he might get a chance to be the New York Jets' starting quarterback.

The former West Virginia star was taken with the seventh pick in the second round, 39th overall, on Friday night and could be the future or maybe even present replacement for Mark Sanchez.

"Once I received the call," Smith said, "I was extremely elated."

Smith went from looking embarrassed and frustrated Thursday night on national TV during the first round, sitting back stage at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan as pick after pick came and went, and he remained seated and wondered where he'd end up and when.

He originally planned to head back home Friday, but opted to stay for the second day of the draft.

"Right now, none of that matters," Smith said during a conference call. "My time has come now."

It's the second straight year the Jets have made major news at the quarterback position, and none of it has been good for Sanchez, although he agreed to a contract extension last offseason. But less than two weeks later, the Jets stunned the rest of the league and Sanchez by trading for Tim Tebow.

The selection of Smith by new general manager John Idzik seriously clouds the future of Sanchez, the team's first-rounder in 2009 who led the Jets to consecutive AFC championship game appearances but has struggled mightily the past two seasons.

"What this means for Mark Sanchez is competition, and Mark is open to that," Idzik said. "We've had discussions about that, and I think he buys into the fact that that helps him and it helps any player on our team, and as a result, it helps our team."

Smith should compete for the starting job this season with Sanchez, who is owed $8.25 million in guaranteed money this season. But Rex Ryan's Jets currently have Sanchez, Tebow, David Garrard, Greg McElroy and Matt Simms and now Smith as quarterbacks on their roster.

"We're actually going to add two or three more, I think," Idzik joked.

Tebow was expected to be traded or released, but in a surprising twist could now potentially stay.

It remains to be seen whether Sanchez will remain on the roster by the beginning of the regular season, despite his hefty contract. Idzik acknowledged that he hadn't spoken to Sanchez just before or after the Jets drafted Smith.

The one-time franchise quarterback counts $12.85 million against New York's salary cap this year. If the Jets do decide to cut him as a June 1 designation and that could be done at any point between now and then they would take a salary cap hit of $12.35 million this year and $4.8 million next year.

At this point, with the new future franchise quarterback on board, owner Woody Johnson could be prepared to cut his losses now. Idzik would not say with certainty that Sanchez will be in training camp with the Jets to even compete with Smith.

"We're not going to try to forecast anything or predetermine anything," Idzik said. "Just put it out on the field and let it play out."

The Jets also drafted versatile Kent State offensive lineman Brian Winters in the third round, and acquired running back Chris Ivory from New Orleans for their fourth-round selection.

New York drafted Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner with the ninth overall pick and Missouri defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson at No. 13 a spot they also considered taking Smith in the first round Thursday night.

Smith's wait didn't take long Friday night even though a few teams that were expected to be in the mix for him Jacksonville, Philadelphia and Arizona went in other directions.

Former wide receiver Wayne Chrebet took the podium at Radio City to announce the pick, and Jets fans gathered there were loud, with many cheering and others booing. Smith, considered by many to be the top quarterback available in this year's draft, wasn't even the first player at his position taken. That was Florida State's EJ Manuel, who went to Buffalo with the 16th overall pick on Thursday night.

As Smith sat uncomfortably through the first round, television cameras caught him frowning at times and clearly disappointed that someone who has had so much success on the field was becoming a draft-night punch-line.

"I think it was just a test of patience, a test of character," Smith said. "I wanted to make it my duty to come back today and still represent for my family and all of those that support me."

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers knows the feeling well. He was considered a top-5 pick in 2005, but slid all the way to No. 24 as TV cameras captured many of the same looks that Smith had. Eight years later, Rodgers has a Super Bowl ring and signed a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season Friday.

"Tough situation that I was in eight years ago, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel," Rodgers said at Lambeau Field. "April 24, 2005, I didn't know exactly what I was in for. I remember a great conversation I had with (former Packers linebacker) Na'il Diggs that I was reminded of yesterday. The excitement started to grow when I got to the facility when I saw some of the trophies and the names on the stadium. It's been a great run.

"And hopefully for Geno's situation, he's going to have a similar opportunity and obviously he'll have a lot of people to prove wrong."

Smith, who owns almost all of West Virginia's passing records, gets rid of the ball quickly, but has had some accuracy problems. He can make completions on the run and is capable of making big plays something the Jets sorely lacked last season.

Smith threw for 11,662 yards including back-to-back 4,000-yard seasons 98 touchdowns and only 21 interceptions in four years at West Virginia. The Miami native had dinner with new Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg before the draft, and Mornhinweg reportedly raved about Smith to Ryan and general manager John Idzik.

"I had pretty good meetings with them and when I visited, it went well," Smith said. "But, as you can see, nothing is really 100 percent. Right now, I'm just proud to be a Jet and I'm ready to get to work."

___

AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell in Green Bay, Wis., contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress got rid of a headache on Friday when it rescued the flying public from flight delays caused by its budget cutting. But in the view of many lawmakers, the pain is just about to begin.

Members of Congress and groups representing people hit by across-the-board budget cuts, ranging from cancer patients to welfare recipients, say the quick action on air traffic control staffing underscored the importance of being visible to millions of Americans.

"What are we going to do, every time there's a fire we're going to put it out by moving some funds around? That's a shell game," said Representative Gerald Connolly, a Democrat from northern Virginia.

"I'm going to predict that there's going to be more weeping and gnashing of teeth, as sequestration sets in and we're going to continue to approach this on a piecemeal basis," he said.

Next in line for individual funding relief will be advocates for national parks, low-income housing, AIDS funding, meals on wheels and Community Development Block Grants, Connolly said, adding that budget cuts for these and other safety-net services will be felt severely by local communities.

Representatives for some of these other programs said it was the television images of lines in airports and the interviews with angry passengers that led to action, combined with the lobbying power of the travel industry.

"It means we worry about who's going to scream the loudest now," said Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, which has been lobbying against cuts in federal funding of medical research.

A heavy dose of lobbying from the airline and travel industry preceded the legislation enacted Friday, which permitted the Federal Aviation Administration to move money to avoid the furloughs of air traffic controllers that were causing the delays.

Sequestration - the $109 billion in automatic across-the-board budget cuts enacted by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama - formally took effect in March and barring Congressional action to replace it may continue for a decade.

Some programs won relief from Congress in March, notably the meat and poultry industry, which fought successfully to prevent furloughs of U.S. Department of Agriculture meat inspectors.

But because the furloughs in other programs, such as the FAA, were not immediately implemented, the impact was slow to build.

TRAVEL LOBBY

The travel industry began to accelerate its lobbying effort after it learned early last week from the FAA that as many as 6,700 flights per day could be delayed, potentially reducing capacity at major airports by 30 to 40 percent.

Nicholas Calio, president of Airlines for America, or A4A, the main airlines industry group, worked the phones throughout the week, said Jean Medina, senior vice president for communications at A4A.

"He certainly was in very close contact with a lot of people to make sure they understood what needed to happen," she said.

Its first course of action was to ask the administration for a 30-day delay.

When that was denied, the industry group began focusing on a legislative fix that would clear both houses with bipartisan support and be signed into law by Obama.

US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker, who would head the world's largest airline if his carrier's merger with AMR Corp's American Airlines is approved, said he spent the past week making calls to government officials in his airline's hub markets to express concern about the furloughs.

"What I know is we're doing great disservice to the flying public and to the citizens of the United States and we need for this to get resolved," Parker told Reuters from Arizona earlier this week.

The non-profit U.S. Travel Association said it mounted its own "sequester offensive" in response to the furloughs and began a consumer texting campaign that connected travelers who had been delayed at airports to members of Congress.

The association also asked industry workers to contact their representatives in Congress to explain that the travel delays put their jobs at risk.

"We were in frequent contact with Congress urging them to solve this problem as soon as possible," Erik Hansen, director of domestic policy at the U.S. Travel Association, said on Friday. "We were able to generate hundreds of calls and emails to Congress and we're hoping that helped to move the ball forward," Hansen said.

VISIBILITY

Airlines for America reported about $6.3 million in lobbying expenses in 2012 according to the Center for Responsive Politics; the U.S. Travel Association spent about $1.7 million; US Airways and Delta about $2.8 million each.

While other interest groups have a lobbying presence in the national capital, they are hard pressed to match the visibility of air travel.

Compared to "longer lines at airports," said Cynthia Pellegrini, a vice president at the March of Dimes, which raises funds to improve the health of mothers and babies, "you can't see that a child's belly is emptier because her family couldn't get food assistance."

"We are not as well-heeled as the travel industry," said Deborah Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs, an alliance of social welfare organizations. "But I think as more people learn of this appalling choice," that Congress made on Friday, "they will get as mad as I am."

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, home to a major Delta Air Lines hub in Minneapolis, was among the members backing an FAA budget fix on Thursday when the Senate passed it.

She called it a "practical, pragmatic answer to an immediate problem," but acknowledged that it does nothing to get Congress closer to fixing the problems caused by sequestration. More effects of the cuts, demonstrated dramatically to the public, could do that, she added.

She may not have long to wait. Organizations that have been more quietly protesting the budget cuts were rethinking their strategy on Friday in the wake of Congress' action.

"It is inexplicable why proven and effective Meals on Wheels programs get overlooked from exemption from the sequester when both the business and social case exists," said Ellie Hollander, President and CEO of Meals on Wheels Association of America.

"I guess that's because we need to be a different kind of squeaky wheel."

(Additional reporting by Karen Jacobs, Susan Heavy and Karey Van Hall; Editing by Fred Barbash and Tim Dobbyn)

Of course, that could change very quickly, says Felina Martinez at online ticket marketplace BuyAnySeat.com. But as of today’s metrics, the top trending MLB teams after the Red Sox are the defending champion San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals.

The season’s first batter took the plate on March 31 with a Sunday night game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Opening Day for most clubs was the following Monday, April 1.This year’s 162-game season, split between home and away games for each squad, runs through Sunday, September 29.

Roughly 19 games into the season, Boston is atop the American League East standings with 13 wins and six losses, after last Monday night’s win over the Oakland Athletics.

“Baseball tickets are trending higher than other sports events at the current time,” said Felina Martinez at online ticket marketplace BuyAnySeat.com. “NBA and NHL playoff games are also very popular, along with WWE Raw.”

“That’s why we’re proud to offer sports fans the most complete and continuously updated selection of tickets online, with a worry-free guarantee to protect their purchase,” said Martinez.

“To access the full line-up ofnow available, customers can go to BuyAnySeat.com and search for the Boston Red Sox – then select their tickets,” said Martinez.

The Red Sox end their series with the Oakland Athletics tonight. The Houston Astros come to town tomorrow for a four game stint. In terms of attendance, the Boston Red Sox Fenway Park led both leagues for the 2012 season with 101.4 percent attendance capacity.

MLB Baseball has the highest season attendance of any sports league in the world. (Source: wikipedia.org)

To shop for , visit BuyAnySeat.com.

About BuyAnySeat.com: An online ticket marketplace, BuyAnySeat.com connects sports, theater and other live entertainment fans to an extensive worldwide network of ticket sellers. The site’s simplified listings and navigational tools enable fans to easily locate, compare and purchase inexpensive, discounted or lower-priced tickets to virtually all advertised sports and entertainment events around the globe.

The site, which is PCI-compliant and Norton Secured, also provides customers with a complete Worry-Free Guarantee on all ticket purchases. Based in Denver, Colorado, BuyAnySeat.com is a subsidiary of Denver Media Holdings. For more information, please visit .

Calvert GamwellBuyAnySeat.com303-495-3412

The first annual Humphrey Bogart Film Festival will premiere Warner Bros.' newly restored version of the 1936 film,has learned exclusively.

The Petrified Forest made my father a star, and I am thrilled that Warner Bros. has given the Humphrey Bogart Film Festival the first opportunity to share the restoration of this movie with my fathers fans, said Stephen Bogart, the son of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Bogarts road to Hollywood stardom wasn't always smooth, and when he initially didnt find success in the film industry, he went to New York to star inRobert E. Sherwoods 1935 stage play The Petrified Forest. When the film version was going to be made, Bogarts Broadway costar Leslie Howard insisted she would participate only if Bogie were allowed to reprise his role as Duke Mantee.

In 1952, Bogart and Bacall named their daughter Leslie in honor of his costar.

The fully restored version from Warner Bros will premiere May 3 at the Key Largo, Fla. festival. Itll be introduced by film historian Leonard Maltin and Stephen Bogart.

The Warner family will always remain fond of the Bogart family, and it seems fitting that the first annual Bogart Film Festival, a loving tribute to Stephens father, will host the premiere restoration of the first movie that brought Bogart to stardom," saidRonnee Sass,vice president, publicity and promotion, at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

The Humphrey Bogart Film Festival runs May 2-5. Find more information .