Girls Volleyball: Ryan, Oak Forest Spike Evergreen Park Photo:
Behind Gina Ryan’s offensive attack, the Bengals earn a 25-15, 25-20 home victory over the Mustangs.

After a lackluster performance at the Falcon Blue and Gold Classic last weekend, the Oak Forest girls volleyball team was in need of a quick turnaround.

The defending sectional champion Bengals got exactly that on Tuesday night, playing one of their best games of the young season to start the match and then hanging on to beat Evergreen Park 25-15, 25-20 at Oak Forest.

“We were talking, everything was great,” Oak Forest outside hitter Gina Ryan said. “There were great sets and great passes today. We had a lot of energy today.”

Oak Forest (3-4, 1-0 South Suburban Conference) had its offense clicking from the get-go. Ryan had four early kills to help give the Bengals a quick 11-3 lead. Junior setter Kate Zickus was passing beautifully, and that set up a number of easy hits for Oak Forest’s outside and middle hitters.

A string of good serves, including back-to-back aces from senior libero Jill Krygowski, put Oak Forest up 23-8, but Evergreen Park (1-2, 0-1 South Suburban Conference) fought back with a 7-1 run, forcing Oak Forest to call a timeout. A mis-hit by Evergreen Park’s Megan Beckow on the ensuing point gave Oak Forest the opening game.



“They used our defense as a punching bag, basically,” Evergreen Park coach Carrie Berry said.

Oak Forest struggled to hit with the same accuracy as it had in the opening game, enabling Evergreen Park to get out to an early 7-6 lead in game two. The Mustangs played better defense and senior Sam Rule was able to win a couple of key points from her setter position.

“Our ball control was better, so if your ball control is there and you’re passing and serve-receive and playing defense, then good things happen on offense,” Berry said.

With Evergreen trailing 21-18, middle blocker Patrice Silas came up with a huge block to pull the Mustangs to within two. But Oak Forest won five of the final six points to close out the match, 25-20.

Ryan finished with nine kills and nine digs for Oak Forest, while Zickus had 23 assists. Rule had seven assists for Evergreen Park, and libero Colleen Burns contributed 12 digs.

Berry said that at this stage of the season there is still a lot to work on—especially for a team that is relatively young—but a lot of it is mental. The Mustangs will play in the West Aurora Invitational this weekend, giving them five more games to gain experience.

“They show great potential. They have a lot of energy,” Berry said. “I just think that they’re young and somewhat inexperienced, so they don’t know how to handle it when they do get down in a match or they start losing.”

Tanzania: Ship Sinks, Hundreds Killed PHOTO GALLERY:
More than 240 people were killed when a crowded ferry sank off Tanzania’s coast and some 600 have been rescued, officials said Sunday, figures that indicate the boat was filled beyond capacity.

Assistant police commissioner Mussa Ali Mussa, the head of police in Zanzibar, said Sunday that at least 240 people died when the ferry sank early Saturday. His comments were broadcast by state-owned channel TBC.

Relatives had claimed 192 bodies and 28 more were awaiting identification on Sunday, said Mohammed Aboud Mohammed, the minister for state in the vice president’s office on the island of Zanzibar. He said around 600 people had been rescued so far and that the government was still looking for the vessel’s captain.

“The government is holding the chief engineer for questioning in order to gather details,” said Mohammed. “The captain of the ferry is still missing and the government doesn’t know precisely the owner of the ferry.”

Survivors said the M.V. Spice Islanders, which sank near the tourist destination of Zanzibar, was well beyond its official capacity of 600 passengers. Many residents angrily asked why the boat had been allowed to leave port so overloaded.

The bodies were taken to a sports field, where imams said prayers and the bodies were washed and wrapped in white according to Islamic custom. The government is paying for all funeral costs, Mohammed said.



Weeping families walked among them looking for their loved ones, falling into each others’ arms if they recognized a relative or neighbor. Most of the corpses were wrapped in cloth with a photo of the face placed on the front. Some of the ship’s passengers were mutilated when cargo fell on top of them when the boat began to list.

Among those still searching for news was Omar Saied, who arrived from Tanzania’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam to search for his nephew and niece, on their way to a wedding on the island of Pemba.

“I’m looking for my missing family,” he said. “So far our hope has been in vain.”

International charity Save the Children said it launched an emergency response for injured and traumatized children.

The charity described the “incredible bravery” of young survivors, including one 6-year-old with a lifejacket who saved his 18-month-old brother by holding on to him in the sea for four hours until they were rescued.

It said another set of brothers – aged 7 and 9 – clung to a floating freezer to stay alive.

The charity said they had been given clothes, food and clean water and that 79 out of 129 children it has cared for have been reunited with their families. The rest are in the hospital, Save the Children said.

“Children arrived at our center freezing, dehydrated and suffering from shock,” said Mubarak Maman, the charity’s team leader in Zanzibar. “Many had spent hours alone in the dark sea clinging onto floating luggage to stop themselves from drowning, and had lost their parents and siblings in the chaos. Others had been seriously injured or were vomiting from the sea water.”

He said it was essential that the charity was there to provide crucial care and comfort, and to register the children so “none were lost in the panic.”

Deena and Snooki Accidentally Fight Each Other on ‘Jersey Shore:
Forget that battle between Mike and Ronnie on ‘Jersey Shore’ (Thu., 10PM ET on MTV) last week. That was nothing compared to the epic throw-down that went down this week in the club. And besides, wasn’t Mike vs. Ronnie really just Mike vs. The Wall, with Mike going down in the first round?

This time, though, it was on when someone threw a drink over Deena in the club. As Deena went off to “f****** knock that b**** out,” Nicole decided to go back her girl up. Unfortunately, the club was dark and things got a little confused.

“I’m pulling this girl’s hair and some girl’s pulling my hair and then I realize it’s my meatball, Deena,” Snooki said later. That’s right, Deena and Snooki were accidentally fighting each other.

“That was my favorite thing, when you started fighting each other,” Vinny said, gleefully telling anyone who would listen. We agree whole-heartedly. Best. ‘Jersey Shore.’ Fight. Ever!

Oscar De La Hoya Interview: Retired Boxing Champ Reveals Addictions On Univision:
Former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya said thought about suicide and has been going to rehab because he has become dependent on drugs and alcohol in an interview with Spanish-language network Univision.

“Rock bottom was recently,” De La Hoya said, according to an English-language transcript provided by the network. “Within couple of years, just thinking if my life was even worth it. I don’t have the strength, I don’t have the courage to take my own life but I was thinking about it.”

De La Hoya says he has been sober for three months after undergoing treatment and joining Alcoholics Anonymous.

He said he was unfaithful to his wife and that they were separated for a while.

“We are obviously not talking a Tiger Woods here, but I was unfaithful,” De La Hoya said.

De La Hoya retired in 2009 after a 16-year career in which he won 10 world titles in six divisions and became boxing’s most popular fighter.

De La Hoya was thoroughly beaten by Manny Pacquiao in his last fight. He won his last title in May 2006, beating Ricardo Mayorga in six rounds for the WBC 154-pound belt. He finished with a record of 39-6 and 30 knockouts.

Known as “The Golden Boy,” De La Hoya transcended his sport, using his bilingual skills to generate crossover appeal among Latinos and whites.

He began boxing at age 5, following in the path of his grandfather and father. He won an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, delivering on a promise to his late mother, Cecilia, who died of breast cancer two years earlier.

Natalie Portman Goofs Off In ‘Hesher’ Outtakes:
For a film about an anarchist drifter and a broken family, Natalie Portman sure was able to have a surprising amount of fun.

Portman starred as a grocery clerk and love interest to Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the indie drama “Hesher,” the story of a fire-setting, family crashing mystery man who plants himself in the home of a family mourning the loss of its matriarch. He certainly shakes things up — for better or worse is up for debate — but there aren’t a ton of laughs to be had. In the final film, at least.

In some outtakes released for the film’s upcoming DVD, Portman manages to have some fun with Devin Brochu, who plays young and impressionable TJ, around whom the drama often revolves.

Portman has flexed her comedy muscle before, most recently in the bomb spoof “Your Highness,” but she played a self-serious role in that film. Here, she’s relaxed and having fun with a child — which, of course, bodes well for her new gig as a mother.

Competition Brews To Become ‘World’s Heaviest Woman’ In Guinness World Records:
A 32-year-old woman is attempting to become the heaviest woman ever, but her nearest competitor, a woman who holds the record of “World’s Fattest Mom,” is having a hard time letting go of her heavyweight claim to fame, even as she says she’s going on a diet.

Susanne Eman, a 728-pound woman in Casa Grande, Ariz., is attempting to get into Guinness World Records as the “World’s Heaviest Woman,” and hopes to reach her goal by the time she’s 41. The 2012 edition of the book will be released later this month.

The last woman to hold the title, 1,200-pound Rosalie Bradford, died in 2006.

“The category is currently open,” a Guinness representative told HuffPost Weird News. “We’ve got several claims that we’re researching, and we may have a new title holder very soon.”

Eman has told reporters that she wants to shatter the record by packing on 1,600 pounds. Her ultimate goal: weighing in at one ton.

One of Eman’s high profile rivals, Donna Simpson, of Akron, Ohio, holds the Guinness record for heaviest woman ever to bear children. She won the title by weighing a whopping 532 pounds when she gave birth to her daughter, Jacqueline, in February 2007 — an event that required 30 doctors.

Simpson just announced to the world via HuffPost Weird News that she’s decided to go on a diet, but she’s having a hard time letting go of the “prestige” that goes along with the honor of being America’s heaviest woman — and said she views Eman as an upstart trying to usurp her hard-earned fame.

“She’s Lady Goo Goo to my Lady Gaga,” Simpson laughed, adding that no one in the “feeder” community — a subculture of men who love large women — knows who Eman is.

“If she was a serious gainer, the community would know about her,” Simpson said.

Simpson said she suspects that Eman is in cahoots with her ex-manager and is trying to get publicity in order to compete for her fan base. Even worse: She accuses Eman of trying to take away her “World’s Fattest Mom” title.

“She says she’s surpassed me as the world’s fattest mom, but she doesn’t understand that Guinness gave me the record because I was 532 pounds when I gave birth,” Simpson said. “She wasn’t that large when she gave birth to her kids.”

Simpson also feels Eman is irresponsible for having her teenage kids feed her, as opposed to the adult “feeder/gainer” relationship she had with her former fiance, Philippe Gouamba, with whom she broke up a few weeks ago.

Sharon West, Missing Texas Teen, Vanishes Without A Trace:
A distraught mother in southeastern Texas is trying to locate her 15-year-old daughter who disappeared under mysterious circumstances more than a month ago.

“I can’t even describe how I am feeling. I miss her so much. I just want my baby to come home,” Sandra West told The Huffington Post.

West’s daughter, Sharon West, has not been seen since July 30. The teen had been staying with family friends in Fannett, an unincorporated town about an hour northeast of Houston. Her living arrangements there were temporary while her mom attempted to secure a job.

Sharon West’s friend, Austin Meaux, last saw her at the residence in the 11100 Block of Gaulding Road at about 2:00 a.m. He said she was awake and still there when the rest of the family went to sleep.

According to Chuck Foreman, a private investigator based out of Austin who has volunteered to assist in the case, West sent a text message to a friend at about 5:20 a.m., saying she was at the Seabreeze Youth Club’s soccer field, a couple of miles from where she was staying.

Roughly 40 minutes later, West used her cellphone to contact another friend and again indicated she was at the soccer field. According to police the area is a popular hangout area for kids. West did not contact any other friends after that and her cellphone died shortly thereafter.

‘HawthoRNe’ Canceled: Jada Pinkett Smith Show Canceled:
Hasn’t been a good two weeks for Jada Pinkett Smith.

Last week, the actress/metal singer had to fend off a report that she and husband Will Smith were separating, with one report claiming that she had an affair with Marc Anthony.

Now, she’s announced on Whosay that the TNT medical drama has been canceled after three seasons.

Hey everyone…if you don’t know Hawthorne will not be returning for another season. I want to say thank you to all the fans for being Hawthorne soldiers. All our facebook fans…twitter soldiers and viewers…you held us down. Of course you know there is more to come…believe it!

One silver lining? She won’t have to deal with those Anthony rumors anymore — he was her costar on the show.

‘The Lone Ranger’: $215 Million Budget Decision For Depp, Disney:
The showdown over “The Lone Ranger” is coming down to a final financial shootout three sunsets from Saturday.

A few weeks back, Disney shut down the pre-production on the planned Johnny Depp-starring big screen remake, unhappy with a proposed $250 million budget coming from director Gore Verbinski.

The film called for Depp to star as Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s traditional sidekick, in a kind of role reversal in which the Native American character would take the lead in the pursuit of justice. Armie Hammer, best known for his dual work in “The Social Network” and a co-star in the upcoming Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar Hoover biopic, was set to play the title character.

Depp and Verbinski have worked to pare down the budget, though the high-powered actor refuses to go ahead without Verbinski, eschewing suggestions that perhaps a less ambitious director would help with cost-cutting. Now, Variety reports that the two sides are set to meet early next week, following the Labor Day holiday, to hash out whether they can get on the same financial page and move forward with the film.

The shutdown was an unexpected turn of events, given the studio’s massively successful partnership with Depp and Verbinski on the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, which together grossed over $2.5 billion worldwide. But with Disney pouring big money into films such as “John Carter” and “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” word was that they were uncomfortable putting a quarter billion dollars into production, and more into promotion, of a film based on a 60s TV series.

The movie is a passion project for Depp, who has spoken of his love of the series and his desire to portray the famous sidekick in a more fair, powerful light.

Depp has a long line of other films on the docket, even if this one doesn’t work out. He just signed on to produce and star in a remake of the classic noir book/film series, “The Thin Man,” and is currently filming a big screen adaptation of the bizarre goth TV series, “Dark Shadows.” There’s also word that he’ll adapt the TV show “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” into a film, as well as develop and star in a film based on Paul Revere.