Spond cherishing chance at BCS title

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Notre Dame linebacker Danny Spond values every chance he gets to be on the football field.
That might sound trivial. After all, doesn't every player feel that way?
Probably so, but then again, few players have seen what Spond has seen.
The native of Littleton, Colo., was a star quarterback at Columbine High, where a school shooting took the lives of 13 people in 1999. Now a linebacker, he wears jersey No. 13 to honor those victims and has been deeply affected by the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., last month.
In August, he feared he might lose his football career when a migraine headache struck him so severely that he was unable to move parts of his body.
Now he's about to take the field with a national championship at stake.
"This is the biggest stage that we'll ever play on," Spond said.
No. 1 Notre Dame (12-0) meets No. 2 Alabama (12-1) on Monday night at Sun Life Stadium, a matchup of storied programs that will collide and decide the BCS national champion. Spond is expected to start for the Irish, who enter the game with the nation's top-ranked scoring defense, just a smidge ahead of the Crimson Tide.
Alabama is favored, which to the Irish isn't exactly a relevant point.
"In our eyes, this is a step down from the Super Bowl," Spond said. "Underdog or if you're favored in these games, that doesn't really matter."
And if anyone on the field Monday night can speak on what really matters, it might be Spond.
He knows what the Columbine shootings meant to his community, both then and now. He grieved for the victims of the school massacre in Newtown that took the lives of 26 students and teachers at an elementary school.
"I can't express how horrible of an event that is," Spond said Thursday, when he was among a small group of Notre Dame players who met with reporters in advance of the title game. "Going through that ... unspeakable. It's hard to explain. It's hard to put into words. I don't know what to say about it, other than time will heal. It did our community and I know it will there."
Spond relies on faith and makes no secret of it, using his beliefs to get him through tough moments, on the field and off.
When he was hospitalized in August, football wasn't his concern. Walking was.
Parts of Spond's left side were numb when he was struck by the migraine, which doctors originally feared was a stroke. He walked with a limp after spending about half a week in the hospital, then needed rehabilitation just so he could feel close to normal again. Football was pushed aside.
That is, until he surprised the Irish by coming back so quickly.
"We were just wondering if he would ever be able to function regularly on a daily basis," Irish star linebacker Manti Te'o said. "And then for him to come out — what was it, a week and a half later? — and say 'I'm going to practice,' we were like, 'Oh, Danny, you can just chill, you know. This is life we're talking about, not just football. Just chill.' But he goes, 'I'm going to get ready.'"
So he got ready. He finished the regular season with 38 tackles in 10 games, which doesn't sound all that impressive.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco begs to differ.
"Danny Spond is, to me, one of the players of the year," Diaco said.
"To watch him battle and fight and stay positive and become the player that he has become for his teammates in 2012, he is a stalwart out there to the field. It's very hard to get a play on him in the pass game or the run game. It's just really been inspirational for me to watch and be a part of. So I'm so thankful for Danny Spond specifically in my life."
Spond said the six-week wait for this has been easier than some might think, since it's allowed the Irish to prepare and heal.
In short, he knows his team will be ready for whatever Nick Saban and Alabama can throw Notre Dame's way on Monday night.
"They are a great team," Spond said. "They are obviously in this game for a reason and they have proved that in the past couple of years. Coach Saban has built a very strong program over there, so we're preparing for their best. They'll give us their best."

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Can BCS title game challenge TV ratings record?

NEW YORK (AP) — Two undefeated teams, three Heisman Trophy finalists, five lead changes and 19 seconds left when the winning touchdown was scored.
No other BCS title game has come close to matching that perfect formula for broad appeal. The 2006 tilt between Texas and Southern California was on in nearly 22 percent of American homes with televisions; the second-best number is under 18 percent.
Now, seven years later, a matchup may finally challenge that Rose Bowl's TV ratings record.
No. 1 Notre Dame, so popular it can stay independent and negotiate its own television contract, is competing for its first championship since the 1988 season. Notre Dame's opponent, No. 2 Alabama, is a big name in its own right, made bigger by two titles in the last three years and the Southeastern Conference's run of six straight crowns.
"It sets up really remarkable possibilities," said Burke Magnus, ESPN's senior vice president for college sports programming.
Just as fans and media break down position-by-position battles for the Fighting Irish and Crimson Tide, a look at how this year's matchup stacks up against the record-holders from 2006:
— NAME RECOGNITION. Texas and USC are hardly slouches in the tradition and popularity departments, but Notre Dame is in its own category. Plus there's the added intrigue of the Irish's title drought.
"It definitely raises the bar of the hype and the buzz of this national championship compared to any of the other games I've had the good fortune to call," ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said.
Even if much of the interest sprouts from fans rooting against one of the teams.
"Notre Dame is the Yankees, is the Celtics, the Lakers and so on, the Dallas Cowboys. They're polarizing, which helps," Magnus said. "Actually, both of them are right now because of the SEC factor, and Alabama has been the standard bearer for that."
Herbstreit chuckled at the thought of some fans vowing not to watch because they detest both teams.
"Anybody who takes the time to make a comment like that clearly will be watching the game," he said. "They'll in fact watch the four hours of pregame we have before the game and be blogging and tweeting about how wrong everybody is on those shows."
— STAR POWER. Texas-USC sparkled far brighter here. The three Heisman finalists that season were from those two teams: Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart (who won the previous year) and running back Reggie Bush (who won this time, before later returning the trophy because of NCAA violations) and Longhorns quarterback Vince Young. All were skill position players believed at the time to have promising NFL futures.
Notre Dame's Heisman finalist is a defensive guy, linebacker Manti Te'o. Alabama's four first-team All-Americans are offensive linemen or defenders.
— ANTICIPATION. Texas and USC were the undisputed top teams in college football — the only undefeated squads in the country who led the rankings all season. Alabama has one loss, and while there has been almost no controversy as to whether the Tide deserves to play in the title game, the late-season rankings scramble that led to this game doesn't carry quite the same buzz.
— MARKET SIZE. In the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, postseason viewership often varies significantly based on whether the teams involved hail from cities big or small. In college football, that's less of a factor, though it didn't hurt the 2006 title game that a school from Los Angeles, the country's second-largest market, was involved.
The program from South Bend, Ind., of course is a classic example of national appeal.
"(Alabama is) the franchise right now and another mega brand," Magnus said. "It doesn't matter that it's Tuscaloosa — the TV markets don't matter when it comes to teams like that."
— ON-FIELD THEATER. One of the biggest factors in the final rating won't be known until the game kicks off. If the score stays close, more viewers will stick around to the end — and more will join in. Magnus believes the rise of social media will increase the audience of tight games even more than in the past, as casual fans learn through Twitter or Facebook that they can catch a tense finish if they tune in.
The Longhorns' 41-38 win featured 10 touchdowns, and the teams combined to score five times in the fourth quarter. Neither school ever led by more than 12 points.
Notre Dame has had a penchant for close games all season and Alabama also has lately. But the other half of the entertainment equation — high scoring — may be less likely with these two programs. Each allows fewer than 11 points a game.
— RAW NUMBERS. The Texas-USC title game set the record with a 21.7 rating — 22 percent higher than the next best BCS championship. No. 2 all-time was the 2001 Oklahoma-Florida State final with a 17.8. The best ratings since 2006 were a 17.4 for both the 2007 Florida-Ohio State and 2008 LSU-Ohio State matchups.
The 2006 championship was on ABC, but the BCS games have since moved to cable. ESPN is in about 14 percent fewer homes than the traditional broadcast networks, though executives note that college football fans are more likely than the general population to have cable. Ratings since the switch have seemingly been more affected by the matchups and competitiveness of games than by their availability.
Regular-season viewership, while still strong, was down for college football this year. On ESPN's networks, the average audience decreased more than 10 percent on ABC, almost 4 percent on ESPN, and nearly 13 percent on ESPN2 from 2011. SEC games on CBS also dropped 10 percent.
For the four BCS games so far, preliminary ratings are up 1 percent on ESPN from last season.
But Notre Dame and Alabama have already shown their ability to lure big audiences. The rating for the Tide's SEC title game against Georgia — essentially a national semifinal — was up 34 percent from the previous year's LSU-Georgia matchup. With an average of 16.2 million viewers, it was the season's most-watched college football game before the bowls.
No. 2 was Notre Dame's win over USC to clinch a berth in the BCS title game with 16.1 million viewers. That was the highest-rated Saturday night regular-season game on ABC since at least 1991.
Herbstreit is one of those sports fans who watch golf only when Tiger Woods is in contention on a Sunday. He considers Notre Dame-Alabama to be the college football equivalent of that.
"Without a doubt," he said, "if you're a college football fan, or even if you're a fringe college football fan, you're going to watch."

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Johnny "Football" Manziel favorite for Heisman

MIAMI (Reuters) - Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel is in line to become the first 'freshman' winner of the Heisman Trophy when the annual award for the top player in college football is made on Saturday.
Manziel, nicknamed "Johnny Football", is one of three players to be invited to Saturday's ceremony, along with Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein.
Wednesday's final installment of the Scripps Heisman Poll, which has accurately indicated the winner for 21 off the past 25 years, placed Manziel in the top spot.
The trophy was won last year by Robert Griffin III, who went on to be taken as the number two pick in the 2012 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins.
The previous year's winner Cam Newton, another quarterback, was taken as the number one overall pick by the Carolina Panthers and enjoyed a hugely successful rookie year in the NFL.
Up until Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won the Heisman in 2007, no sophomore had won the award but Manziel could go one better if he wins after his first season.
The Texan finished the regular season with 3,419 passing yards and 1,181 rushing yards to set a new total offense record for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) of 4,600 yards in 12 games.
Manziel also broke the record for total offense in a game, originally set by Archie Mannning, father of Peyton and Eli, back in 1969, when he accumulated 557 yards against Arkansas and he then bettered it with 567 yards against Louisiana Tech.
"It's so surreal for me to be even be able to be mentioned for the Heisman Trophy," Manziel said recently when asked about the award.
Manziel sat out football (redshirted) for his first year at college as the 'Aggies' already had Ryan Tannehill, now the starting quarterback with the Miami Dolphins.
While there is some debate over whether a redshirt freshman should be given the award, Tannehill believes Manziel has proven his worth.
"Look at the numbers. The numbers he has put up are outstanding. He's surpassed Cam Newton and Tim Tebow who both won the Heisman in the years that they set the SEC record for yards in a season," he said.
"Plus the fact of the game changing players he can make. He went to Alabama when they were ranked number one and had an upset victory there," added Tannehill.
The biggest threat to Manziel comes from Te'o who has been outstanding for Notre Dame as they enjoyed a 12-0 record and moved to number one in the nation, earning a shot at the title against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Miami on January 7.
Hawaiian Te'o made 52 solo tackles and assisted on a further 51 in his senior year and he has a total of 427 total tackles from his four year collegiate career.
Unlike Manziel, who has at least one more year left before he can enter the draft and will likely wait more, Te'o is expected to be a first round pick in the 2013 class.

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Bahrain extends activist custody on Twitter charge

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — A defense lawyer in Bahrain says a court has refused a request to free a prominent human rights campaigner charged with posting false reports on Twitter.
The arrest last month of Yousef al-Muhafedha marked the latest crackdown on Bahrain activists and is part of wider pressures on social media across the Gulf Arab states.
Bahrain has been gripped by nearly two years of unrest between the Sunni rulers and majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice in the strategic kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
Lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi says the court decided Wednesday to keep al-Muhafedha in custody. It set the next hearing for Jan. 17.
Al-Muhafedha had been heading the Bahrain Center for Human Rights after its leader, Nabeel Rajab, was jailed.

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Social media masters, ninjas, and gurus: How Twitter pros describe themselves

What we talk about when we talk about social media
Is it weird for you to see your name without an @ symbol in front of it? Do you ever wake up in a cold sweat after dreaming about your Klout score? Does the mere thought of losing your iPhone make your hands tremble? If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on.
FollowerWonk, an analytics tool that allows you to keep tabs on your Twitter account, released a list of the most popular terms users deploy to bolster their "social media" bona fides in their Twitter bios — "Social Media Pro," for example.
The list, which started off with just 16,000 Twitter users in 2009, has ballooned to 181,000 self-described social media mavens by January 2013.
Here is a short list of the most and least popular social media descriptors, some of which are quite telling:
Social Media Ninja: 21,876 users
Social Media Evangelist: 20,829
Social Media Consultant: 9,031
Social Media Guru: 18,363
Social Media Whore: 174 (why???)
Social Media Master: 88
Social Media Warrior: 104
Social Media Veteran: 10 (one vet has been on Twitter for a whole 17 months)
Read the full list at AdAge.
I'm no expert, but boldly declaring your ninja-ness for the whole world to see? Not very ninja-like. And if I had to pick a description for myself, I'd probably go with "Social Media Veteran," but only because I once had a Xanga.
What kind of Social Media [blank] are you? Let us know in the comments.

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Rumors suggesting Facebook (FB) is working on a smartphone have resurfaced a number of times over the past year. Each time, Facebook denied the various claims. Facebook may indeed still be working on its own phone but as a new report from market research firm NPD Group shows, it probably doesn’t need to.
[More from BGR: Is Samsung the new Apple?]
Facebook makes money by gathering information about its users and serving targeted ads based on that data. Allowing users to update Facebook with fresh data as often as possible is obviously beneficial to the company, and smartphones present a terrific opportunity to give users access to their Facebook accounts from anywhere. The more people using Facebook’s mobile apps, the better, and Facebook’s smartphone penetration is absolutely staggering right now.
[More from BGR: iPhone 5 now available with unlimited service, no contract on Walmart’s $45 Straight Talk plan]
According to data published by NPD Group on Tuesday, Facebook’s iOS application was used by 86% of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners as of November 2012. On the Android platform, 70% of smartphone and tablet owners used Facebook’s mobile app in November.
No other third-party app even comes close to approaching Facebook’s mobile penetration. Google’s (GOOG) YouTube app is the next most popular third-party app on iOS with 40% penetration and Amazon’s (AMZN) mobile application is the second most popular third-party Android app with just 28% penetration.
So why would Facebook bother making its own phone?
One answer — perhaps the obvious one — is that an own-brand smartphone with custom software would give Facebook access to far more personal data than it can reach using third-party applications. Considering Facebook’s track record with matters relating to privacy, however, users may be reluctant to buy a Facebook phone.
In any case, a Facebook phone certainly doesn’t seem like a necessity for the time being. Instead, focusing on ways to effectively monetize the hundreds of millions of users who interact with Facebook from a smartphone or tablet each month might be a wiser use of resources.

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French government says will propose a rejigged 75 percent tax plan

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government will redraft a proposal for a 75 percent upper income tax band and resubmit it, the prime minister's office said on Saturday, after the Constitutional Council rejected the measure included in the 2013 budget.
"It will be presented as part of the next budget law," Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office said in a statement, without giving a time frame. The statement said the Council's rejection of the 75 percent tax would not affect efforts to trim the public deficit.

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French court rejects 75 percent millionaires' tax

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Constitutional Council on Saturday rejected a 75 percent upper income tax rate to be introduced in 2013 in a setback to Socialist President Francois Hollande's push to make the rich contribute more to cutting the public deficit.
The Council ruled that the planned 75 percent tax on annual income above 1 million euros ($1.32 million) - a flagship measure of Hollande's election campaign - was unfair in the way it would be applied to different households.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the government would redraft the upper tax rate proposal to answer the Council's concerns and resubmit it in a new budget law, meaning Saturday's decision could only amount to a temporary political blow.
While the tax plan was largely symbolic and would only have affected a few thousand people, it has infuriated high earners in France, prompting some such as actor Gerard Depardieu to flee abroad. The message it sent also shocked entrepreneurs and foreign investors, who accuse Hollande of being anti-business.
Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said the rejection of the 75 percent tax and other minor measures could cut up to 500 million euros in forecast tax revenues but would not hurt efforts to slash the public deficit to below a European Union ceiling of 3 percent of economic output next year.
"The rejected measures represent 300 to 500 million euros. Our deficit-cutting path will not be affected," Moscovici told BFM television. He too said the government would resubmit a proposal to raise taxes on high incomes in 2013 and 2014.
The Council, made up of nine judges and three former presidents, is concerned the tax would hit a married couple where one partner earned above a million euros but it would not affect a couple where each earned just under a million euros.
UMP member Gilles Carrez, chairman of the National Assembly's finance commission, told BFM television, however, that the Council's so-called wise men also felt the 75 percent tax was excessive and too much based on ideology.
FRANCE UNDER SCRUTINY
Hollande shocked many by announcing his 75 percent tax proposal out of the blue several weeks into a campaign that some felt was flagging. Left-wing voters were cheered by it but business leaders warned that talent would flee the country.
Set to be a temporary measure until France is out of economic crisis, the few hundred million euros a year the tax was set to raise is a not insignificant sum as the government strives to boost public finances in the face of stalled growth.
Hollande's 2013 budget calls for the biggest belt-tightening effort France has seen in decades and is based on a growth target of 0.8 percent, a level analysts view as over-optimistic.
Fitch Ratings this month affirmed its triple-A rating on France but said there was no room for slippage. Standard & Poor's and Moody's have both stripped Europe's No. 2 economy of its AAA badge due to concern over strained public finances and stalled growth.
The International Monetary Fund recently forecast that France will miss its 3 percent deficit target next year and signs are growing that Paris could negotiate some leeway on the timing of that goal with its EU partners.
The INSEE national statistics institute this week scaled back its reading of a return to growth in the third quarter to 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent, and the government said it could review its 2013 outlook in the next few months.
Saturday's decision was in response to a motion by the opposition conservative UMP party, whose weight in fighting Hollande's policies has been reduced by a leadership crisis that has split it in two seven months after it lost power.
The Constitutional Council is a politically independent body that rules on whether laws, elections and referenda are constitutional.

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Rejected French tax measures worth 300-500 million euros: finance minister

PARIS (Reuters) - The French Constitutional Council's rejection on Saturday of a 75 percent upper income tax rate and other minor measures in the 2013 budget will affect some 300-500 million euros worth of tax revenues, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said.
"The rejected measures represent 300 to 500 million euros. Our deficit-cutting path will not be affected," Moscovici told BFM television.
He added that the Socialist government would resubmit a proposal to raise taxes on high incomes in 2013 and 2014.

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Bama starts with bang at BCS championship game

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — No. 2 Alabama was halfway to stamping itself a dynasty, scoring touchdowns on its first three drives and taking a 28-0 lead at halftime of a BCS championship game that wasn't living up to the hype Monday night.
In a matchup of programs tied for the most AP national championships with eight, Alabama was rolling toward becoming the first team to win consecutive BCS titles — and its third title in four seasons under coach Nick Saban.
The Crimson Tide (12-1) marched with ease on the opening drive, going 82 yards on five plays to take a 7-0 lead on Eddie Lacy's 20-yard touchdown run up the middle with 12:03 left in the first quarter.
Notre Dame (12-0) had allowed only two rushing touchdowns in its surprising run to the championship game. The Fighting Irish were the first team to reach the BCS championship game after starting the season unranked. They were trying to become the first team to go from unranked to national champion since BYU in 1984.
Alabama quickly made the Fighting Irish look as if they were in over their heads.
Notre Dame did nothing to respond to Alabama's opening march, and on its punt back, the Crimson Tide might have caught a break. Returner Christion Jones muffed the kick, but Notre Dame was flagged for interfering with the catch, though it was one of Jones' teammates that made contact with him.
Lacy and the Crimson Tide went right back to work, hammering away at Notre Dame's vaunted defense. The Irish struggled to bring down the 220-pound tailback, who even ran through Heisman Trophy finalist Manti Te'o on a screen pass.
In the second quarter, it was freshman T.J. Yeldon slipping through Te'o's arms in the backfield on a third-down run and getting a first down.
Lacy set up Alabama's second touchdown with another 20-yard run, this time to the Irish 2. Instead of running into a Notre Dame goal-line defense that has become known for goal-line stands, AJ McCarron faked a handoff and found tight end Michael Williams all alone for the score and a 14-0 lead.
Alabama made it 3 for 3 on the next drive when Yeldon scored from a yard out on the first play of the second quarter.
The Alabama fans seemed outnumbered at Sun Life Stadium by Fighting Irish followers, pumped to see their team try to win its first national title in 24 years. But the folks in Crimson and houndstooth were making all the noise as the Tide rolled.
Lacy landed one more blow with 31 seconds left in the half. McCarron dumped off to Lacy, who spun off two tacklers, and went 11 yards to make it 28-0.
The Southeastern Conference, winners of the last six BCS championships, was storming toward seven in a row. Those familiar "S-E-C!" chants were ringing through yet another stadium.
Notre Dame had only five first downs in the half and allowed 309 yards. The Irish defense came in allowing 286 per game.
Lacy had 96 yards on 12 carries and McCarron, the MVP of last year's 21-0 title game victory against LSU, was 12 for 18 for 156 yards.
Everett Golson, the redshirt freshman quarterback who coach Brian Kelly had nurtured through the season, was 8 for 16 for 83 yards.
Alabama was trying to become only the third team to win three national titles in four seasons since polls started being used to crown champions in 1936. The last was Nebraska from 1994-97, and the Cornhuskers had to share the '97 championship with Michigan, which was voted No. 1 in the AP media poll. Nebraska was No. 1 in the coaches' poll.
Another national championship would also give Saban four, his first coming with LSU in 2003. Only Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant with six would have more.

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