Breaking Bad Returns: What Does Walter White Deserve?

By James Poniewozik | @poniewozik | July 13, 2012

Frank Ockenfels/AMC

Walter White (Bryan Cranston)

Breaking Bad‘s fourth season, last year, had Walter White declaring “I am the one who knocks,” but it wasn’t until the final episode, as Walt engineered the death of Gus Fring, that he actually became that guy. Season five quickly makes clear that Walt’s troubles are not exactly over: he’s still a target of the law (including his brother-in-law) as the crystal-meth kingpin Heisenberg, and he’s still a non-natural-born killer in a deadly profession. But he’s also confident, victorious, imperious, almost serenely cocky.
I don’t know how this will all end. (It won’t, in any event, until the second half of the season next year.) It’s no spoiler, however, to assume that it will not end well–if for no other reason that any form of “ending well” for the morally depraved Walt would not exactly be ending well on the cosmic scale.
But how badly should it end?
This will be the biggest endgame for a TV antihero/villain since The Sopranos and The Shield in 2007, and back then, fans debated like members of a jury what would be the proper just deserts for Tony Soprano and Vic Mackey. (Then, in Tony’s case, disputed exactly what happened to him.)
Mackey’s fate–he wriggled out of jail one last time, but in a way that left him disgraced, alone and pushing papers in anonymity forever—was in its way as controversial as Tony’s. Many fans wanted him in prison, or dead, or killed in prison. Creator Shawn Ryan argued that it was a dire punishment for Vic to have to live with the aftermath of his corrupt choices for the rest of a pathetic, diminished life.
What would be justice for Walter White? You could make an even stronger case that death would be a kind of undeservedly heroic exit for him, a redemption, a return to the status quo ante—after all, we met him as an innocent man, a dying man, before he beat lung cancer. At one low point—season three’s “the Fly,” he not only wished for death but pinpointed the precise moment that it would have been right, with his nest egg secure, his family provided for, having seen his baby daughter come into the world.
Walt has always been about his family—at least his justifications have always been—so I have to think that his ultimate punishment would be losing them. Not for them all to die (I’m not that callous; then again, I don’t know what’s coming, so never say never). But to be caught out by Hank, say—or to be responsible for Hank’s death and then caught out?—to have his son and someday his daughter know what he actually was, would mean losing the very core of his identity.
Breaking Bad, after all, has been the process of Walt taking on one identity as a man after another: Mr. White, Heisenberg, The One Who Knocks and now The King. One of those identities has been The Provider—as Gus once told him in a defining conversation, Walt needs above all to be a man, and “a man provides.” To know that he hasn’t provided, that he has in fact taken away his family’s belief in his goodness forever, to know that he is The Depriver: that seems to be to me the worst kind of punishment for Walt, and if I have to guess where this show is going, that would be it.
But as I said, I don’t know any better than you do, and I’ll be watching eagerly to find out. I’ll be in this space Monday morning, reviewing Sunday night’s return episode. In the meantime, what sentence would you pass on Walter White?

 

Not going for gold: Britain's non-Olympic sports

Published: Monday July 16, 2012 MYT 2:16:00 PM

LONDON - At the same time as athletes from around the world are taking part in the London Olympics, millions of Britons will be indulging in popular summer sports that you won't see at the Games.
Cheese-rolling, caber-tossing, bowls, golf and cricket have little in common except for their origins in Britain's parks and village greens - and the fact that they are excluded from Olympian glory.
On a typical rainy British summer afternoon members of the Finchley Bowls Club in north London emerge from the clubhouse, around five miles from the park where the Olympic Games will be held.
"We play in all weathers, including rain," says Ron Raymond, the club president. "We play if there's a cloudburst. We only stop if the grass is waterlogged, and that's because we don't want to damage the green."
Just down the road in this leafy enclave, which former premier Margaret Thatcher once represented in parliament, is the Finchley Cricket Club. Finchley Golf Club is a similar distance in the other direction.
Bowls, cricket and golf are just three of a wide array of non-Olympic sports that are popular here.
In London there are more than a dozen places for playing croquet - the deceptively genteel but in reality viciously competitive game in which players knock balls through hoops with a mallet.
Then there's polo, which also involves hitting a ball with a mallet, except on horseback. The rules of the game and its original headquarters in Britain, where it was imported from India, were in Hurlingham, southwest London.
Across town from Hurlingham is Lord's, the spiritual home of cricket.
On a summer weekend in most English country villages, the type with thatched cottages and with handpumped ale in the pub, the thwack of leather on willow from a cricket match can be heard somewhere nearby.
Cricket last made a brief Olympic appearance 112 years ago - and the closest it will get in 2012 is when Lord's hosts the Olympic archery competition.
Earlier this year the International Cricket Council, the sport's world governing body, said it was considering a bid to have cricket's shorter Twenty20 form return to the Olympics.
"We have never had a format that would lend itself to playing in the Olympics until Twenty20 came to the fore," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.
The ICC was officially recognised as a federation by the International Olympic Committee in 2010, meaning the ICC can bid to join the 2020 Games.
Bowls, meanwhile, is played at the Commonwealth Games, where Rob Weale of Wales and Natalie Melmore of England won the men's and women's singles titles respectively in New Delhi in 2010.
In Scotland, dozens of Highland Games meetings from May to August feature specialities such as caber tossing - the throwing of a huge wooden log - and tug of war.
Highland Games meetings share a similarity to the Olympics in that they are multi-sports events, although they also feature dancing and classes for playing the bagpipes.
"Highland Games have a long history and there's still a lot of interest all over the world," said Ian Grieve, secretary of the Scottish Highland Games association which represents 60 events in towns and villages across Scotland.
"I would like to think that holding the Olympic Games in Britain might have a positive impact for Highland Games though so far I haven't seen any evidence of it," he told AFP.
"We definitely get a positive spin off when the Open Golf is held in Scotland. Overall, I can't say we have seen a positive or negative effect."
English regions have their own local sports too, often big enough to run their own leagues. Quoits, which involves throwing hoops over posts sticking up from the ground, is especially popular in northeastern England.
Even more curious events include cheese rolling in Gloucestershire, southwest England, in which competitors chase a giant round of Double Gloucester cheese down a steep hill, risking injury.
The Wall Game, meanwhile, is played only at Prime Minister David Cameron's old boarding school, the elite Eton College.
And when it's raining, Britons can step up to the oche for a game of darts, play snooker or they take on the players from the pub's dominoes team.
Back in Finchley, none of the bowlers are bitter about their sport's non-Olympic status, adding that they are looking forward to the Games.
"I'll certainly be watching, selectively," says Ron Raymond. "I like basketball and then there's the gymnastics, especially the floor exercises. You have to admire the hours of work they put in to be able to do it so well." - AFP

2012 Nike Outpost in Mammoth

The Nike Outpost in Mammoth Re-Opens For The Summer of 2012
By Rich Gonzalez
Editor, DyeStatCal/ESPNHS (July 14, 2012) - Despite concerns that have come in from the local running community, it appears that the recent bankruptcy filing by the city of Mammoth Lakes will have no effect on the annual migration boon to the famed altitude-training locale.
"From what I gather, it'll be business as usual," said Scott Lash, a Pacer for Nike L.A. who'll be co-hosting at the popular "Nike Outpost" cabin this summer. "It seems like the city is pressing forward without cutting key corners."
Summertime is always a particularly busy time in the otherwise sparsely populated resort town located roughly 300 miles north of Los Angeles. That's when legions of pro, collegiate and high school runners and teams converge on the locale for quality altitude training as a precursor to their upcoming cross-country seasons.
Lash said the city aims to continue expanding its reputation as a leading running hub.
"I met with the Director of Tourism there and it's clear they are trying to define (Mammoth Lakes) as the global altitude destination (for runners)" said Lash. "They want to welcome competitive runners year-round for their training, make it even more conducive to team training, build altitude houses and more."
The Nike Outpost will be among the central gathering points for most runners, located at 126 Old Mammoth Road, Suite #101. Open every Monday through Saturday from July 16th to August 24th, it will house various running parties and Olympic viewing parties nightly at 7:30 p.m. during the Olympic Games.
"We want to provide a 'safe house' for runners," said Lash. "All schools will still do their own thing. We just want to supplement their needs in any helpful way we can. They can borrow a new pair of shoes, borrow a watch, borrow foam rollers to aid while stretching, whatever we can do to help."
Coaches can also schedule a 'college night', where individuals such as Nike's Tim Ramirez and Brendan Gregg can share their own experiences on how to make college destination decisions, what to expect at the next level, and so on.
Other options and activities at the Nike Outpost include the use of the popular Photo Booth machine, ping-pong tables, and more.
Details and RSVP links appear below.

USA Midwest wins Nike Global Challenge

by Jim Halley on Jul. 15, 2012, under USA Today Sports
Source: USA TODAY
Led by James Young’s 29 points and 10 rebounds, USA Midwest defeated Canada 100-86 Sunday to win the Nike Global Challenge.
The event came during the first of three, five-day evaluation periods this month for Division I men’s coaches, 37 of whom attended at least a portion of the three-day tournament. Included in that number were all the coaches from the 2012 Final Four.
However, none of was able to be around to see every game Sunday. The evaluation period officially ended at 5 p.m. ET, which came with about 39 seconds left in the Midwest’s win.
Tournament organizers alerted the coaches to the deadline, leading to a quick exodus of those still around, including Kentucky’s John Calipari.
The win helped make up for an embarrassing loss this month when Canada defeated Team USA in the under-19 International Federation of American Football World Championship in Austin.
“We wanted to represent the United States,” said Midwest coach David Boyd of Milton, Ga. “Even though these kids from Canada have played a lot together, we took a lot of pride in that we played hard and got after them and made up for our lack of being together with effort.”
Young, a 6-6 forward from Troy, Mich., chosen MVP among the three U.S. teams, was familiar with the Canadian players because most play for U.S. high schools and on the U.S. summer club circuit.
“I’ve played these guys a bunch of times,” Young said. “I played them in EYBL (Nike Elite Youth Basketball League) and they beat us, so I felt like we had to get revenge.”
Unlike the Canadian team, many of whose players also play for the AAU team CIA Bounce, Team Midwest had to come together quickly. The squad practiced 45 minutes Thursday before its first game in a tournament that included eight teams from six countries.
“Off the court, we hung out with each other to bind together,” Young said.
“I wanted to win this game for my country,” said Hall (Little Rock) center Bobby Portis, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. “Our intensity in our defense helped us get the lead and then we started playing together more.”
USA Midwest players had a scary moment with less than a minute left when Nick King of Memphis East fell face first. The game was stopped for several minutes as King, bleeding from his nose, was wheeled out on a stretcher. An update on the condition of King, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds, was not immediately available.
Ranked the No. 1 player in the 2014 class by Rivals.com, 6-7 Andrew Wiggins led Canada with 24 points and said after the game that he thought Canada could win the 2016 Olympics in basketball.
Wiggins played last season for Huntington (W.Va.) Prep. His father, former NBA and Florida State player Mitchell Wiggins, is an American. But his mother, Marita Payne-Wiggins, won two silver medals on Canadian track relays in the 1984 Olympics.
Though Canada is producing more good basketball players, most of the top ones still are honing their skills part of the year south of the 49th parallel.
“That’s an ongoing debate in our country,” said Team Canada coach Roy Rana. “We do have some quality programs and some great coaches. I think there was a little bit of a flood that began when Tristan Thompson (now with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers) and Cory Joseph (with the San Antonio Spurs), and those guys found it was the thing to do.
“I think we’re seeing more kids who will choose to stay home. If you’re Andrew Wiggins, it may make sense to go to the United States, but if you’re just a solid talent, maybe it makes more sense to stay close to your family and home.”
USA West took third place in the tournament, defeating Brazil 88-63 on Sunday as Nigel Williams-Goss of Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) had 18 points and six assists.
Wiggins and Trey Lyles of Canada were named co-MVPs of the International teams. Lyles was born in Saskatchewan but played for Indianapolis Tech last season.
The rest of the U.S. all-tournament team included Porter, Theo Pinson of Wesleyan Christian (Greensboro, N.C.), Troy Williams of Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), Williams-Goss and Sindarius Thornwell of Oak Hill.
Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Nike Baltimore Elite's game vs. Harrison twins' AAU team moved to BCCC

By Matt Bracken The Baltimore Sun

7:31 p.m. EDT, July 15, 2012

Baltimore City Community College is set to play host Monday night to this city’s top AAU basketball event of the summer.

At 7 p.m. at the Liberty Heights Ave. gymnasium, Nike Baltimore Elite will take on the Houston Defenders, which are led by five-star guard prospects Aaron and Andrew Harrison.

The game, which was originally slated to be played at St. Frances, has been a month in the making.

“We’re about to leave for the [Peach Jam on Tuesday], and [the Defenders] had a day in between from Reebok Camp” in Philadelphia, said Carlton "Bub" Carrington, Nike Elite's coach. “[The Harrisons are] coming in to see their family and had a day to kill, [so we said], ‘Let’s just do a game.’”

---

Download The Baltimore Sun's new iPhone app.

---

The Harrison twins, whose father Aaron – the Defenders’ coach – is a Baltimore native, will be the main draw for Monday’s event. Aaron, Scout.com’s top-ranked shooting guard, and Andrew, the consensus No. 1 point guard nationally, are Maryland’s top targets for the 2013 class. In addition to the Terps, the Harrisons are also considering offers from Baylor, Kentucky, SMU and Villanova.

Nike Baltimore Elite is led by a quartet of guards with high-major offers. Mount St. Joseph’s Kameron Williams claims scholarships from Clemson, Dayton, DePaul, Drexel, Marquette, Massachusetts, Miami, Richmond, Rutgers, South Florida, VCU, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Xavier, according to Rivals.com. Carrington said Ohio State could be close to offering the 6-foot-2 shooting guard.

Daxter Miles, a former Dunbar player who suited up for IMG Academy in Florida as a junior, has offers from Dayton, Drexel, Kansas State and North Carolina State, in addition to interest from Miami, Richmond and Xavier. Jamel Artis, a 6-foot-6 wing, is down to Pittsburgh and La Salle, Carrington said. Artis’ Vermont Academy teammate, combo guard Daquein McNeil, sports scholarships from Alabama-Birmingham, Florida International, Memphis, Richmond and Southern Cal, according to Carrington.

Doors open at BCCC for Monday’s event at 6:30 p.m. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door, are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.

** Under Armour B'More Finest will not be participating in the event, team officials said Sunday night.

U.S. Olympic Committee to Promise American Made Uniforms by 2014

Ralph Lauren / AP Photo

The U.S. Olympic Committee will change its policy so that U.S. Olympic uniforms are made in the USA by the next Olympics, in 2014.
Ralph Lauren is the official maker of the Olympic uniforms and made the pledge in a statement.
“Ralph Lauren promises to lead the conversation within our industry and our government addressing the issue of increasing manufacturing in the United States and has committed to producing the Opening and Closing ceremony Team USA uniforms in the United States that will be worn for the 2014 Olympic Games,” according to the statement from the Ralph Lauren Corporation.
But nothing will be done about this year’s uniforms, which were made in China.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was happy with the move.
“When America’s best athletes are representing our country on the world stage, we should be representing the best of American-made goods,” she said in a statement. “The pride of our Olympic athletics goes hand in hand with the pride of American innovation and manufacturing. While I am disappointed our athletes will not be dressed head to toe in Made in the USA this year, I greatly appreciate the USOC and Ralph Lauren have heard our voices and worked to correct this mistake going forward. I look forward to cheering on Team USA.”

Good News And Not So Good News On China

Kenneth Rapoza, Contributor

Covering Brazil, Russia, India & China.

I know, everybody loves the Apocalypse.  But sadly, the Chinese economy is not heading for a hard landing, with second quarter GDP growth coming in at 7.6 percent, far above the 7 percent and under considered by economists to constitute the start of a China crash.
But while China’s economy is firing on, let’s say, all two cylinders instead of all four, there’s a mix of good news and bad news regarding the world’s No. 2 economy.
The headline macro data released Friday showed the second quarter growth was less than the first, which came in at 8.1 percent. That was to be expected, though the numbers were a little under consensus estimates of 7.7 percent for 2Q.  Then there’s China’s industrial production (IP) figures. Growth slowed a smidgen to 9.5 percent in June from 9.6 percent in May, lower than the market consensus yet again, which was 9.8 percent. Fixed asset investment (FAI) growth for the first half rose surprisingly to 20.4 percent year over year from 20.1 percent in the first five months, as the Chinese government does what it can to stimulate the economy as Europe’s woes continue to pack a punch on China exporters.

Retail sales growth for June slowed slightly to 13.7 percent, better than the market consensus 13.4 percent.
Growth in approved investment for new projects rose by 23.2 percent in June from 22 percent in May, which suggests public investment growth will pick up further in the coming months. Second, property market transactions rose strongly, which should help to mitigate the downside risks of property investments in the second half. Third, new loans and money supply growth — what bankers are putting into the market through short term debt — were both upside surprises. Loans are on the upswing.
This data release will reinforce the view among some major investment banks that GDP growth bottomed in the second quarter and will rebound, albeit slowly, in the second half.
Although everyone loves a rip-roaring good time with end-timers, the market has been overly pessimistic on China’s growth outlook. This is not a Western democracy.
“We believe the government is becoming less tolerant of an economic slowdown,” said Zhiwei Zhang, an analyst at Nomura Securities in Hong Kong.  The government of Beijing changes hands next year. The last thing they want is to shift gears when the economy is going to hell in a handbasket.  They won’t allow it.  Zhang said he believes Beijing policy makers will be supportive of growth going forward.
“We are approaching the important Communist Party meeting in October where the leadership transition is expected to take place. We expect the pace of policy easing to accelerate,” he said.
On Friday, Nomura said that it revisted the China 2012 GDP forecast down to 8.2 percent from 8.4 percent and its 2013 GDP forecast down to 7.9 percent from 8.2 percent.