Michael Phelps sets all-time Olympic record with 19th medal

• LONDON – In the final 10 meters of his history-making race, Michael Phelps was alone in the open – a fitting margin for an Olympic icon who is now the most decorated medal-winner of all time.

Swimming the anchor leg of the men’s 200-freestyle relay, Phelps held onto a significant lead and delivered the United States another gold medal – the 15th of his career and the 19th time he has stood on an Olympic podium. He’s now alone in the overall medal count, having broken a tie with Russian gymnast Larissa Latynina as the most-decorated athlete in the history of the Games.

Phelps entered the night with 17 medals, wining silver in the 200-meter butterfly and then gold in the 4x200, swimming the two races a little over one hour apart.

Just before the 4x200 began, Phelps pulled his teammates into a huddle and expressed his gratitude for their part in the moment. He delivered one last request.

"I wanted a big lead," Phelps said. "I told the guys, 'Get me a big lead.' And they gave it to me."

The crowd in London’s Aquatics Centre thundered in applause for much of the race as the United States’ Ryan Lochte – one of Phelps chief rivals in the last four years – got the Americans off to a blazing start. It was a change of sorts for Lochte, who anchored the 4x100 silver medal effort – in which the U.S. was overtaken by the French in the closing moments. This time, U.S. men’s coach Gregg Troy put Lochte in the lead-off leg, offering him an opportunity to get Phelps the lead he desired.

East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts

Arizona's Own: Anthony Robles (The ASU national champion with one leg)

Anthony Robles was our key note speaker at our Conference this weekend.... Here is his story..... What an amazing guy.... 

Collegiate wrestling champion Anthony Robles

Anthony Robles looks just like you, me, and everyone else except he’s cut like the Statue of David and has one leg.

At 125 pounds, he possesses the sculpted upper body of someone just as dedicated and 40 pounds heavier, a feature you don’t immediately notice because your transfixed by the column of air beneath his right hip.

Robles, now a national champion wrestler at Arizona State, was born this way – not jacked, but without a right leg. That he refused prosthetics at age three is the stuff of legend, and in fact might be just that - his parents likely made the decision, but it was Anthony’s to live with.

Robles impresses with his ability to walk, and his ability to wrestle, and his ability to climb the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, which he did the day after finishing his senior season at ASU 36-0.

He’s like a real-life Rocky, only his Apollo Creed is his disability – or his super-ability, or whatever it is one calls a condition perhaps disadvantageous, perhaps not.

Robles didn’t pick up wrestling full-time until his freshman year in high school. A then 90-pound mass of motor and inspiration, he’d give up his defensive tackle position on the football team to pursue a sport in which taking a knee did not take him out of play.

Robles’ compensates for his lower body’s immobility by transferring all that would-be strength to his chest, arms and torso, as a blind man might acquire an acute sense of hearing. Power runs in the family – his father, Ron, lifted weights professionally, though would not let his son risk stunted growth as a curious child.

So Robles took to push-ups next to the bench press in his father’s garage. In sixth grade, he broke his school’s push-ups record. He now benches 305 pounds with his 125-pound frame.

Adopting a unique style – obviously – Robles dominated his high school competition. He finished a combined 96-0 over his junior and senior campaigns, capturing two state titles and a scholarship to ASU along the way.

It was when his story attracted national attention, as stories about one-legged wrestling phenoms are wont to do, that debate began over whether or not Robles’ figure gave him, ironically, a leg up on the competition.

It does, in some ways. There’s no denying this. The human leg accounts for roughly 15-25% of one’s total body weight. Wrestlers compete by weight class. At 125 pounds, Robles can, in layman’s terms, redistribute the 30 pounds a second leg might’ve weighed through the rest of his body.

He is bigger and stronger from the waist up than anyone he has ever faced. His competitors cannot practice on three-limbed opponents.

Still, in a sport in which the single-leg takedown exists the primary way to grapple one’s opponent to the mat, the fact that Robles drops to a knee to begin makes his technique uncanny at best and like stepping to a ledge to entice his adversary to jump at worst.

Driving one’s opponent to the floor typically constitutes the first step to a successful match. Shooting a single-leg takedown from the floor and with the forward thrust of only one appendage implies, if only to common sense, some sort of added difficulty.

Given his style, it seems as though this champion always starts from behind. As he did, presumably, in life. Perhaps Anthony Robles’ unfair advantage, then, is not a product of his one leg. Perhaps it is a product of his one heart.

East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts

1st SkyDive From Space!!!! Nuts!!!!

 Daredevil Felix Baumgartner this morning landed from his 18-mile dive back to Earth from the edge of space, in a plummet that reached a speed of more than 500 mph.

Mission Control gave the go ahead this morning for the launch, saying "God Speed Felix" from Roswell, N.M., where the mission is being hosted. Baumgartner, an Austrian national, was lifted in a capsule carried afloat by a huge helium balloon.

Click Here for Pictures: Felix Baumgartner's Dive

The balloon took 90 minutes to get to 90,000 feet. The crane holding the capsule went up as fast as it could to get the capsule under the 210-foot tall balloon as it rose. After he jumped, Baumgartner was in freefall for three minutes and 48 seconds . After five minutes, his parachute opened, at which point it took another seven to 10 minutes to descend to Earth. Baumgartner's speed went from 0 to 536 in 25 seconds flat.

"Fearless Felix" was in free fall for an estimated three minutes and 48 seconds. His top speed was approximately 536 mph, Brian Utley, an official observer on site, told The Associated Press.

"The pressure is huge, and we not only have to endure but excel," Baumgartner told ABC News before the jump. "We're excellently prepared, but it's never going to be a fun day. I'm risking my life, after all."

Red Bull is financing the daredevil skydive from space. The mission is named Stratos. It was five years of planning by a team of experts, many volunteering their services, to break several records in one breathtaking plunge back to Earth.

This was the second test dive for Baumgartner, who plans on a record-breaking jump from 125,000 feet, or 23 miles, next month.

The records Baumgartner plans to break include those for the first person to break the sound barrier outside of an aircraft, the record for freefall from the highest altitude, and that for the longest freefall time, expected to be five minutes and 35 seconds, and that for the highest-manned balloon flight.

Baumgartner, who has already jumped more than 2,500 times from planes and helicopters, would be breaking a 52-year-old record, and he recruited the man who set the record, the legendary retired Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger, for advice.

Kittinger jumped from a balloon Aug. 16, 1960, at an altitude of 102,900 feet, and fell for almost five minutes before opening a parachute to slow his descent at 18,000 feet.

He made history for the highest-balloon ascent, the highest parachute jump and the fastest speed by a human through the atmosphere.

East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts

Hollywood Celeb Races Usain Bolt!!

LONDON – Usain Bolt has already lost one nerve-wracking sprint in London – after Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke beat the defending Olympic 100 meter and 200 meter champion in a boozy 4 a.m. street race outside an exclusive nightclub.

Rourke, the 59-year-old star of The Wrestler, described the extraordinary scene in a telephone interview with Yahoo! Sports in which he described how he challenged the world's fastest man over 30 meters, and came out on top.Mickey Rourke

"We were outside the Wellington in Central London and it was four in the morning," Rourke said. "It was just that time of the night, you know, when anything can happen. So I went up to him and I said, 'Come on, you are the world's fastest man, let's go.' "

Rourke insisted, quite appropriately given the gap in age, size and sprinting pedigree, on receiving a head start as a small group of late-night revelers looked on in bemusement.

"There was a space in the street of about 30 meters," Rourke said. "I got him to back up about four paces, we set off and I got him by a few inches."

The impromptu footrace, however, was merely one part of an extraordinary night that might be commonplace for the thoroughly likeable Rourke but sounds like a scene that would not be out of place in the next sequel to The Hangover.

The Wellington is a private members club in the fashionable district of Knightbridge, just down the road from Harrods, the super-expensive department store frequented by the Queen.

Rourke is so popular at The Wellington that he has a suite – The Room of Rourke – named after him, adorned with works by Damien Hirst and other contemporary artists.Usain Bolt

The actor's partying ways at the venue have become the stuff of legend, and his meeting with Bolt earlier this year was no exception.

"I had been drinking tequila with these guys from the Huddersfield Giants rugby team," Rourke continued. "I was arm wrestling with one of them, he was huge, and that is how I tore my bicep. I should have given in but I didn't want to, you know.

"But at least I won something that night. We were going to go back into the bar again after I raced Usain but they had closed it down for the night. So it was a pretty good way to end up."

Bolt, of course, is regarded as the world's fastest human. The Jamaican will be racing under more conventional circumstances during the Games.

"Usain was such a sweet guy, just a really cool, endearing guy and it is impossible not to like him," Rourke said. "There have been so many times when you meet these athletes that you have seen and heard a lot about and most of the time you are disappointed. But he was awesome. I follow track a little bit and I will be rooting for him."

East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts

Wild birds are captured in amazing, award-winning photos

East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts


From an estimated 10,000 bird species, some 3,000 were captured in stunning photos that were submitted for entry into the inaugural World Bird Photo Contest by photographers from around the world. National Geographic's Daily News allowed us a sneak peek at some of the amazing photographs that ended up in winning categories. If you enjoy the following, visit National Geographic to see many more. 

Photograph by Kit Day,HBW/Rex

These seven little bee-eaters, indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa, are a tight-knit group, proving that birds of a feather stick together. 

Photograph by Dubi Shapiro, HBW/Rex

The marvellous spatuletail, an endangered hummingbird found in Peru, is unique with two outer feathers featuring spatula-looking tips that would make a short-order cook envious. 

Photograph by Philip Perry, HBW/Rex

One wonders what happened to the lappet-faced vulture after a golden jackal made its move to defend itself in Tanzania. Or, considering the bird's backup numbers, what ultimately happened to the golden jackal. 

Photograph by Antero Topp, HBW/Rex

This African elephant had the misfortune of running into a dense flock of red-billed quelea in Kenya. It is the most abundant wild-bird species in the world, and waiting for a huge flock to pass can take up to five hours.

Photograph by JaimeRojo, HBW/Rex

A pair of gentoo penguins, the fastest penguins in the water, seem right at home out of the water in the harsh climate of Antarctica. Too bad we can't hear the penguin's famous trumpeting call. 

East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts

Wild birds are captured in amazing, award-winning photos

From an estimated 10,000 bird species, some 3,000 were captured in stunning photos that were submitted for entry into the inaugural World Bird Photo Contest by photographers from around the world. National Geographic's Daily News allowed us a sneak peek at some of the amazing photographs that ended up in winning categories. If you enjoy the following, visit National Geographic to see many more. 

Photograph by Kit Day,HBW/Rex

These seven little bee-eaters, indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa, are a tight-knit group, proving that birds of a feather stick together. 

Photograph by Dubi Shapiro, HBW/Rex

The marvellous spatuletail, an endangered hummingbird found in Peru, is unique with two outer feathers featuring spatula-looking tips that would make a short-order cook envious. 

Photograph by Philip Perry, HBW/Rex

One wonders what happened to the lappet-faced vulture after a golden jackal made its move to defend itself in Tanzania. Or, considering the bird's backup numbers, what ultimately happened to the golden jackal. 

Photograph by Antero Topp, HBW/Rex

This African elephant had the misfortune of running into a dense flock of red-billed quelea in Kenya. It is the most abundant wild-bird species in the world, and waiting for a huge flock to pass can take up to five hours.

Photograph by JaimeRojo, HBW/Rex

A pair of gentoo penguins, the fastest penguins in the water, seem right at home out of the water in the harsh climate of Antarctica. Too bad we can't hear the penguin's famous trumpeting call. 

East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts
East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts

12 Killed at Batman Premier in Colorado!!

A lone gunman dressed in riot gear burst into a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., at a midnight showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" and methodically began shooting patrons, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 50.

The suspect, James Holmes, 24, of Aurora, was caught by police in the parking lot of the Century 16 Movie Theaters, nine miles outside Denver, after police began receiving dozens of 911 calls at 12:39 a.m. MT. Police said the man appeared to have acted alone.

Witnesses in the movie theater said Holmes crashed into the auditorium through an emergency exit about 30 minutes into the film, set off a smoke bomb, and began shooting. Holmes stalked the aisles of the theater, shooting people at random, as panicked movie-watchers in the packed auditorium tried to escape, witnesses said.

"You just smelled smoke and you just kept hearing it, you just heard bam bam bam, non-stop. The gunman never had to reload. Shots just kept going, kept going, kept going," one witness told ABC News.

"I'm with coworkers and we're on the floor praying to God we don't get shot, and the gunshots continue on and on, and when the sound finally stopped, we started to get up and people were just bleeding," another theatergoer said.

Photos: Shooting at 'Dark Knight' Screening at Colorado Movie Theater

Police said 10 victims died inside the theater, while dozens of others were taken to local hospitals, including a child as young as 6 years old.

A San Diego woman identifying herself as James Holmes's mother spoke briefly with ABC News this morning.

She had awoken unaware of the news of the shooting and had not been contacted by authorities. She immediately expressed concern that her son may have been involved.

"You have the right person," she said.

"I need to call the police," she added. "I need to fly out to Colorado."

Holmes was wearing a bullet-proof vest and riot helmet and carrying a gas mask, rifle, and handgun, when he was apprehended, according to police. Holmes mentioned having explosives stored, leading police to evacuate his entire North Aurora apartment complex and search the buildings early this morning.

The highly-anticipated third installment of the Batman triology opened to packed auditoriums around the country at midnight showings on Friday morning, and features a villain named Bane who wears a bulletproof vest and gas mask. Trailers for the movie show explosions at public events including a football game. Though many moviegoers dressed in costume to attend the opening night screening, police have made no statements about any connection between the gunman's motives and the movie.

Police in New York have intensified security around showings of the film throughout the five boroughs today, with police commissioner Ray Kelley saying that "as a precaution against copycats and to raise the comfort levels among movie patrons in the wake of the horrendous shooting in Colorado, the New York City Police Department is providing coverage at theaters where the 'The Dark Knight Rises' is playing."

The Paris premiere of the movie has been cancelled in the wake of the shootings. "Warner Bros. is deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time," the movie's producers, said in a statement.

Witnesses watching movies in theaters next to the one where the shooting took place said bullets tore through the theater walls and they heard screaming.

"The suspect throws tear gas in the air, and as the tear gas appears he started shooting," said Lamar Lane, who was watching the midnight showing of the movie with his brother. "It was very hard to breathe. I told my brother to take cover. It took awhile. I started seeing flashes and screaming, I just saw blood and people yelling and a quick glimpse of the guy who had a gas mask on. I was pushed out. There was chaos, we started running."

One witness said she saw people dropping to the ground after the gunshots began.

"We were maybe 20 or 30 minutes into the movie and all you hear, first you smell smoke, everybody thought it was fireworks or something like that, and then you just see people dropping and the gunshots are constant," witness Christ Jones told ABC's Denver affiliate KMGH. "I heard at least 20 to 30 rounds within that minute or two."

A man who talked to a couple who was inside the theater told ABC News, "They got up and they started to run through the emergency exit, and that when she turned around, she said all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing at people, just picking random people," he said. "The gunshots continued to go on and on and then after we didn't hear anything...we finally got up and there was people bleeding, there was people obviously may have been actually dead or anything, and we just ran up out of there, there was chaos everywhere."

Witnesses and victims were taken to Gateway High School for questioning.

Hundreds of police and FBI agents are involved in the investigation. A senior official who is monitoring the situation in Washington said that early guidance based on the early snapshot of this man's background indicated that this act does not appear to be linked to radical terrorism or anything related to Islamic terrorism.

Though police have said that they believe the shooter was acting alone, they checked all cars in the parking lot and cleared the area near the theater.

Dr. Comilla Sasson, at the University of Colorado Hospital where many of the victims were taken, said they are currently operating on nine critical patients and have treated 22 in all. She called the hospital "an absolutely terrifying scene all night."

"The good news is that the 3-month-old has actually been discharged home and is in the care of their parents

In a statement, President Obama said, "Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time. We are committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded."

A man who was in the adjacent theater with his son, said that the commotion began as one of the action scenes was starting up.

"These guys came through, and they say someone's shooting," he said. "I thought, 'Oh, they must have heard the fireworks, you know ... I had no idea. And then the alarms started to go off in the theater.'"

An explosive device was also found inside the movie house. Police are not sure whether the device, which investigators are calling a bomb, was already in place or whether it was thrown into the crowd.

Ambulances rushed to the scene as audience members fled the theater.

Investigators are now interviewing friends and associates of the suspect to get a sense of the man's background.

Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.

East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts
East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts
East Valley Consulting: Gareth Roberts

Lakers Stack up with A NEW Addition!!!

Antawn Jamison, a true Yankee at heart. (Getty Images)

Antawn Jamison, upon his return from holiday in Italy, will sign a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell broke news of his decision on Monday, and Marc Spears tweeted earlier on Wednesday that the veteran forward will sign a one-year contract for the veteran's minimum, a salary that several other teams offered him, but only the Lakers could grab him for that relative pittance. And while Jamison doesn't fill any specific Laker need for defense in the backcourt or a sturdy full-time backup at center, he does tend to score quite a bit.

Efficiently, too. Because though Jamison's shooting percentage has declined the last few years, he was working for his final two seasons in Cleveland on a squad that was desperate for scoring and struggling to find easy looks. That won't be a problem in Los Angeles. Because of Steve Nash. Because of Kobe Bryant. Because of Pau Gasol. Because of Andrew Bynum. Man, these Lakers are loaded — and it doesn't really bother me that most of their superstars are old enough to have probably been real excited the day "Super Mario Brothers 3" came out.

With the amnesty deadline passing and Metta World Peace remaining a Laker, Jamison will likely come off the Los Angeles bench to provide scoring for a Lakers second unit that disappointed last year with Lamar Odom working as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. In joining the Lakers, Jamison will reunite with his former coach (for 3 1/2 months) in Mike Brown, and take to his fifth NBA team. And he'll also pair up with Bryant, who he famously dueled in an early season game over a decade ago that seemed to convince an entire generation that signing up for NBA League Pass was a really good idea:

It all seems a bit odd that, even with the Jeremy Lin brouhaha blowing over and Team USA's ascension and the Dwight Howard nonsense, nobody appears to be fawning over how absolutely fantastic the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be next season. Yes, defense will be a significant problem, but it was an issue at times last year (falling from sixth in defensive efficiency under Phil Jackson in 2010-11 to 13th under Brown), and that didn't stop the Lakers from winning what would have pro-rated to 51 wins in a typical season, all with Gasol struggling and absolutely no production from the point guard slot and the bench.

Though Jamison turned 36 in June, he'll be able to carry that bench offensively (remember, this guy scored 17 a game last year in Cleveland with precious little help, spacing-wise) in the first half and give Brown options with his lineups in the second. Few, if any, have been better than Jamison at finishing off of broken plays over the last decade, and that ability will be appreciated in Los Angeles with so many mouths to feed and options to exhaust. With Nash and Jamison in the fold, the Lakers will have only themselves and a lack of ball movement to blame if they don't vault way up from the 10th ranking in offensive efficiency that they disappointed with last season.

This is a crew that can do some dangerous things, with a fitful first-year run under Brown already out of their belts, and out of the damn way.The summer isn't over, the roster still has some things to work out and the looming presence ofDwight Howard could change things significantly. For now, though? This Lakers team looks stacked, offensively, and championship-worthy all over again.

Signing the modern-day equivalent of James Worthy, even if he is in the winter of his career, will do that to a team's fortunes.

68 of the BEST Quotes EVER.... To Help You Start Your Day!!