Johnny Depp, un excentric premiat cu Golden Globe şi Screen Actors Guild Award

John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician known for his portrayals of offbeat, eccentric characters in a wide variety of dramas and fantasy films. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for major roles in recent films.

Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, quickly becoming a teen idol. Turning to film, he was notable as the title character of Edward Scissorhands (1990), and later found box office success in films such as Sleepy Hollow (1999), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and Rango (2011).

He has collaborated with director and close friend Tim Burton in seven films, the most recent of which are Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Alice in Wonderland (2010). Depp has gained acclaim for his portrayals of people such as Edward D. Wood, Jr., in Ed Wood, Joseph D. Pistone in Donnie Brasco, Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and George Jung in Blow. More recently, he portrayed the bank robber John Dillinger in Michael Mann's 2009 film Public Enemies.

Films featuring Depp have grossed over $2.6 billion at the United States box office and over $6 billion worldwide. He has been nominated for top awards numerous times; he won the Best Actor Awards from the Golden Globes for his role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and from the Screen Actors Guild for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Depp's first major role was in the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, playing the heroine's boyfriend and one of Freddy Krueger's victims. In 1986, he appeared in a secondary role as a Vietnamese-speaking private in Oliver Stone's Platoon. In 1990 he undertook the quirky title role of the Tim Burton film, Edward Scissorhands. The film's success began his long association with Burton.


Depp, a fan and long-time friend of writer Hunter S. Thompson, played a version of Thompson (named Raoul Duke) in 1998's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, based on the writer's pseudobiographical novel of the same name. Depp accompanied Thompson as his road manager on one of the author's last book tours. In 2006, Depp contributed a foreword to Gonzo: Photographs by Hunter S. Thompson, a posthumous biography published by ammobooks.com. Depp paid for most of Thompson's memorial event, complete with fireworks and the shooting of Thompson's ashes by a cannon, in Aspen, Colorado, where Thompson lived.

Critics have described Depp's roles as characters who are "iconic loners." Depp has noted this period of his career was full of "studio defined failures" and films that were "box office poison," but he thought the studios never understood the films and did not do a good job of marketing.Depp has chosen roles which he found interesting, rather than those he thought would succeed at the box office.


The 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a major success, in which Depp's performance as the suave pirate Captain Jack Sparrow was highly praised. Studio bosses were more ambivalent at first, but the character became popular with the movie-going public. According to a survey taken by Fandango, Depp was a major draw for audiences. The film's director, Gore Verbinski, has said that Depp's character closely resembles the actor's personality, but Depp said he modelled the character after Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Depp was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.

In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, for playing Scottish author J. M. Barrie in the film Finding Neverland. Depp next starred as Willy Wonka in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a major success at the box office and earning him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.

Depp returned to the role of Jack Sparrow for the sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which opened on July 7, 2006 and grossed $135.5 million in the first three days of its U.S. release, breaking a box office record of the highest weekend tally. The next sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End, was released May 24, 2007. Depp has said that Sparrow is "definitely a big part of me", and he wants to play the role in further sequels. Depp voiced Sparrow in the video game, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp's swashbuckling sword talents as developed for the character of Jack Sparrow, were highlighted in the documentary film Reclaiming the Blade. Within the film, Swordmaster Bob Anderson shared his experiences working with Depp on the choreography for The Curse of the Black Pearl. Anderson, who also trained Errol Flynn, another famous Hollywood pirate, described in the film Depp's ability as an actor to pick up the sword to be "about as good as you can get."


Depp and Gore Verbinski were executive producers of the album Rogues Gallery, Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys. Depp played the title role of Sweeney Todd in Tim Burton's film adaptation of the musical, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Depp thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and praised Tim Burton for his "unwavering trust and support."




Depp played the former Heath Ledger character in the 2009 film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell. All three actors gave their salaries from the film to Ledger's daughter, Matilda. He portrayed the Mad Hatter in Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and the titular character in Rango.

Liz Hurley: Sensuous, Intuition and Pleasures

Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English model and actress who became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant in the 1990s. In 1994, as Grant became the focus of worldwide media attention due to the global box office success of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hurley accompanied him to the film's Los Angeles premiere in a plunging black Versace dress held together with gold safety pins, which gained her instant media attention.

Hurley has been associated with the cosmetics company Estée Lauder for over fifteen years since the company awarded Hurley her first modelling job at the age of 29. They have featured her as a representative and model for its products, especially perfumes such as Sensuous, Intuition, and Pleasures, since 1995. As an actress, her best known cinematic works to date have been as Vanessa Kensington in Mike Myers' hit spy comedies, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and as the Devil in Bedazzled (2000).

Hurley started working as an actress in the late 1980s and became a model in 1995.


Hurley made her first film appearance in Aria (1987). She has since appeared in the movies Passenger 57, EDtv, Bedazzled, and Serving Sara. In 1997, she received her first and only acting award, the ShoWest Supporting Actress of the Year, for her performance in the spy spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. When Hugh Grant founded and became the director of Simian Films in 1994, Hurley was credited as one of the producers for the company's two Grant vehicles, Extreme Measures (1996) and Mickey Blue Eyes (1999). In 2000, she was publicly criticised for breaking a five-month acting strike to film an Estée Lauder advertisement, for which she was fined $100,000 (£70,000 in 2000) by the Screen Actors Guild and labeled "Elizabeth Scably" by protesters.

Hurley is godmother to Patsy Kensit's son Lennon and two of David Beckham and Victoria Beckham's sons.

Internaționali români de fotbal: Ioan Andone, zis Fălcosul

Ioan Andone (n. 15 martie 1960, Șpălnaca, Alba) este un antrenor român de fotbal, care în prezent pregătește echipa FC Dinamo București. În cariera de jucător, a evoluat pentru Echipa națională de fotbal a României la Campionatul Mondial de Fotbal din 1990 și, printre altele, pentru Dinamo București, fiind unul din jucătorii emblematici ai acestei echipe.

A fost component al clubului Corvinul Hunedoara. Din 1983 s-a transferat la FC Dinamo București. Are la activ un număr de 55 de selecții în prima reprezentativă, 255 meciuri în Divizia A și 35 de goluri marcate.


Ca antrenor, Andone a pregătit pînă acum Sportul Studențesc (1993-1994, 1996, 2001-2003), Universitatea Cluj (1994-1996), Petrolul Ploiești (1996-1997), Farul Constanța (1998-1999), FC Brașov (1999-2000), FC Bihor Oradea (2000-2001), Dinamo București (2003-2006), Omonia Nicosia (2006-2007), CFR Cluj (2007-2008), Al-Ettifaq (2008-2009), Al-Ahli (2009), ȚSKA Sofia (2010).

Andone a cîștigat pînă acum eventul cu două formații diferite, cu Dinamo (2004) și CFR Cluj (2008), fiind unul dintre puținii antrenori români care au reușit această performanță. În afară de acestea, a mai cîștigat în 2003 și în 2005 Cupa României cu Dinamo București.



Ioan Andone (born 15 March 1960) is a Romanian football coach and former player, who is the manager of Dinamo Bucureşti.
He made his Divizia A debut with Corvinul Hunedoara in 1979. He later went to Dinamo Bucureşti where he helped win the league title in 1984 and 1990 and the cup title in 1984, 1986 and 1990. In 1990 he was bought by Spanish team Elche for 125.000 $. Then he went on to play two seasons in the Netherlands for SC Heerenveen til 1993 where he finished his playing career.

Andone was capped 55 times and scored 2 goals for the national team, and represented his country at the 1990 World Cup.

CNN's Play Of The Day Hero: Romulus Buia, singurul fotbalist român remarcat la FAZA ZILEI, pe postul tv american CNN

Romulus Buia (born June 15, 1970 in Baia Mare) is a Romanian football player. He was nicknamed "Figo from Berceni" by the fans of Rocar Bucharest which played the home games on a field in the Berceni Neighborhood in Bucharest, because of the similarities with the Portuguese football star Luís Figo.

Buia made his professional debut at the age of 18, playing for Minerul Cavnic in the Romanian Divizia B, before joining FC Baia Mare at the age of 19, a club also from Divizia B.

In 1991, at the age of 21, he made international debut against United States in a friendly game. He also played for Romania national football team in 1992, this time against Mexico.

FC Barcelona paid a close attention to him during the 1991-92 season. In the summer of 1992, Johan Cruijff, the Catalan side coach, invited him to train with the team but in the end the transfer did not materialised.

Buia started the 1992-93 at FC Baia Mare but was then transferred to Germinal Ekeren (3550) of Belgium during the season. He played in Belgium for two years, before being loaned back to Romania, this time at Universitatea Craiova, therefore making his debut in Romanian top league, Divizia A. In 1995 he returned to Ekeren but after at half season he terminated his contract and returned in Romania, signing a contract with Sportul Studenţesc of Bucharest, before joining again Universitatea Craiova for two seasons.

In 1998 his contract with Universitatea Craiova terminated and he failed to find another one with a top team, and therefored played for Progresul Şomcuta Mare, a team from the Romanian fourth division.



In 2000 he returned to Divizia A after signing a contract with Rocar Bucharest. After only a year he joined Dinamo Bucharest but left the team at the end of 2001 to play for Gloria Bistriţa.

In 2002 he was signed by FCU Politehnica Timişoara, where he stayed until 2005, before being sacked by the new Timişoara coach, Cosmin Olăroiu and subsequently joining Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

In the season 2005-06 he played at Minerul Valea Copcii in Liga III before signing for AS Covaci in Romanian Liga IV.

After retiring from professional football, Romulus Buia became a businessman specialising in retail.

World Boxing Champions : Leonard Doroftei versus Paul Spadafora

Leonard Dorin Doroftei (n. 10 aprilie 1970) este un fost pugilist român, campion mondial WBA la categoria semi-ușoară (61,9 kg) între 5 ianuarie 2002 și 24 octombrie 2003.

Născut la Ploiești, Leonard a început să practice boxul la vârsta de 14 ani la clubul Prahova Ploiești. Între 1986 și 1988 a cucerit în fiecare an titlul național la juniori. Mai târziu a obținut cinci titluri naționale la seniori în 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 și 1997. A câștigat medalii de bronz la Jocurile Olimpice de la Barcelona în 1992 și la Atlanta în 1996. De asemenea, a fost campion mondial în 1995 și campion european în 1996 și 1997. Palmaresul său la amatori este de 239 de victorii și 15 înfrângeri.

În 1997 Doroftei a devenit boxer profesionist făcând un contract cu clubul canadian Interbox. Pe 5 ianuarie 2002 a cucerit titlul de campion mondial profesionist la categoria semi-ușoară a versiunii WBA, învingându-l la puncte pe argentinianul Raul Horacio Balbi. Pe 31 mai, la București, Doroftei a luptat din nou împotriva lui Balbi și de data aceasta românul s-a impus în mod clar.

Leonard Dorin Doroftei (known also as Leonard Dorin, though his family name is Doroftei; born 10 April 1970) is a Romanian former boxer, the WBA lightweight world champion from 5 January 2002 to 24 October 2003.

Born in Ploieşti, Doroftei began boxing, at the age of 14, at the Prahova Ploieşti boxing club. From 1983 to 1984, he won every Romanian national junior title. He went on to win five national senior titles in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997. He won bronze medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, he was declared World Champion in 1995 and European Champion in 1993 and 1992. His record as an amateur was 239 victories and 15 defeats.

In 1997, Doroftei became a professional boxer, signing with the Canadian club Interbox. On 5 January 2002 he won the WBA world lightweight title, winning in a split decision over Argentinian boxer Raul Horacio Balbi 112-115, 114-113, 115-112. On 31 May the two fought again in Bucharest; this second fight was a unanimous decision for Doroftei, 118-111, 117-112 and 118-110.
A lightweight title unification bout on 17 May 2003 with American boxer Paul Spadafora, the IBF champion, ended in a draw, 114-114, 115-113, 114-115.

On 24 October 2003, Doroftei was to fight a match against Panamanian boxer Miguel Callist. Doroftei had already announced that this would be his last professional match regardless of the result. As it turned out, the match was cancelled after Doroftei exceeded the maximum weight for lightweights at the weigh-in: he was 4¼ lb (1.9 kg) over the 135 lb (61.2 kg) weight limit, so he lost his WBA title.

On 24 July 2004, Doroftei lost his undefeated mark when he tried to get the interim WBC title, getting knocked out in two rounds by Arturo Gatti.

His record consisted of 22 wins, 1 loss and one draw, with 8 knockout wins.

World Boxing Champions : Leonard Doroftei versus Raul Balbi

Leonard Dorin Doroftei (n. 10 aprilie 1970) este un fost pugilist român, campion mondial WBA la categoria semi-ușoară (61,9 kg) între 5 ianuarie 2002 și 24 octombrie 2003.

Născut la Ploiești, Leonard a început să practice boxul la vârsta de 14 ani la clubul Prahova Ploiești. Între 1986 și 1988 a cucerit în fiecare an titlul național la juniori. Mai târziu a obținut cinci titluri naționale la seniori în 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 și 1997. A câștigat medalii de bronz la Jocurile Olimpice de la Barcelona în 1992 și la Atlanta în 1996. De asemenea, a fost campion mondial în 1995 și campion european în 1996 și 1997. Palmaresul său la amatori este de 239 de victorii și 15 înfrângeri.

În 1997 Doroftei a devenit boxer profesionist făcând un contract cu clubul canadian Interbox. Pe 5 ianuarie 2002 a cucerit titlul de campion mondial profesionist la categoria semi-ușoară a versiunii WBA, învingându-l la puncte pe argentinianul Raul Horacio Balbi. Pe 31 mai, la București, Doroftei a luptat din nou împotriva lui Balbi și de data aceasta românul s-a impus în mod clar.




Leonard Dorin Doroftei (known also as Leonard Dorin, though his family name is Doroftei; born 10 April 1970) is a Romanian former boxer, the WBA lightweight world champion from 5 January 2002 to 24 October 2003.

Born in Ploieşti, Doroftei began boxing, at the age of 14, at the Prahova Ploieşti boxing club. From 1983 to 1984, he won every Romanian national junior title. He went on to win five national senior titles in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997. He won bronze medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, he was declared World Champion in 1995 and European Champion in 1993 and 1992. His record as an amateur was 239 victories and 15 defeats.

In 1997, Doroftei became a professional boxer, signing with the Canadian club Interbox. On 5 January 2002 he won the WBA world lightweight title, winning in a split decision over Argentinian boxer Raul Horacio Balbi 112-115, 114-113, 115-112. On 31 May the two fought again in Bucharest; this second fight was a unanimous decision for Doroftei, 118-111, 117-112 and 118-110.

Oldies but goldies: Walter Zenga, Uomo Ragno. Spider-Man-ul lui Inter

Walter Zenga este un fotbalist italian retras din activitate, care a jucat mult timp ca portar la Inter Milano și în echipa națională a Italiei.

Walter Zenga este un fotbalist italian retras din activitate, care a jucat mult timp ca portar la Inter Milano și în echipa națională a Italiei. A fost de asemenea membru al naționalei italiene care a terminat pe locul 4 la Olimpiada din 1984 (Los Angeles, California) și al reprezentativei care a terminat pe locul 3 Cupa Mondială din 1990, Zenga fiind titular în toate partidele.

Walter Zenga is a retired Italian footballer and current manager. He is a long-time goalkeeper for the Italian national team and Internazionale, who currently serves as head coach of UAE League team Al-Nasr.


During his playing career, Zenga was part of the Italian squad that finished fourth at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA and the World Cup squad that finished third in the 1990 World Cup tournament held in Italy, in which Zenga started every game for the Azzurri.


Came back to Internazionale in 1982, after starting his professional career in 1978 in the lower divisions of Italian soccer (his first team was Salernitana in Serie C1, and he also played for Savona and Sambenedettese). Zenga became Inter's starter in his second year with the team, and continued in that position for 11 seasons, until 1994, winning a scudetto in the 1988–89 season and the UEFA Cup in 1991 and 1994, his last season with the club. After being one of the backup goalkeepers (third choice) at the 1986 World Cup, Zenga became the starter when during the Euro 1988. Zenga was still first choice goalkeeper when Italy hosted the tournament in 1990, and led the team to a third-place finish during which he set a record of five consecutive clean sheets, and a total of 518 minutes without conceding a goal, a record still standing. The record was somewhat fortunate, as Czechoslovakia scored against Italy in a first round match, only for the referee to incorrectly disallow it for offside. He finished his international career with 58 caps for his country.


In 1994, Zenga transferred to Sampdoria, and then to Padova two years later. He then moved on to New England Revolution and Major League Soccer. Zenga played in goal for them in the league's second season in 1997, then left to pursue an acting career (he and his girlfriend starred in an Italian soap opera). During a game versus the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1997, he celebrated a goal by running to the sidelines and making out with his girlfriend, as the Mutiny barely missed the open net straight from the kickoff. Zenga came back to the Revs in 1999, as a player-manager, but only lasted a year in both those positions.

During his playing career, Zenga was nicknamed Uomo Ragno (Spider-Man) due to his goalkeeping skills, especially his agility.

Succes 2010: Mihail Kalaşnikov, designerul sovietic al celebrelor arme de asalt care-i poarta numele

Designerul rus Mihail Kalaşnikov s-a născut la 10 noiembrie 1919 într-un sat siberian. Fiu de ţăran bogat, a fost deportat în timpul lui Stalin, în 1930, la vârsta de 11 ani.
Rănit în prime lupte din război, în 1941, el a fost evacuat şi a început sa proiecteze ceea ce urma să devină AK-47 în 1947.

Uzina Ijmaş, din Urali, produce anual aproape 100.000 de puşti Kalaşnikov. Circa 900.000 sunt fabricate anual fără licenţă în lume, potrivit reprezentanţilor uzinei. Mihail Kalaşnikov nu a câştigat aproape nimic din invenţia sa, utilizată de armatele din 50 de ţări.


Mozambicul a plasat kalaşnikovul pe stema naţională. Statisticile spun ca este arma cu cel mai mare succes din istorie.


Lieutenant General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (Russian: Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников, Mihail Timofeevič Kalašnikov) (born November 10, 1919 in Russia's Southern Altai region) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) small arms designer, most famous for designing the AK-47 assault rifle, the AKM and the AK-74.
Kalashnikov's father was deported when Kalashnikov was still a boy.In his youth Kalashnikov wrote poetry, and he was expected to become a poet. He went on to write six books and has continued to write poetry all his life.
Kalashnikov was conscripted into the Red Army in 1938, and became a tank driver-mechanic, achieving the rank of senior sergeant (tank commander) serving on the T-34s of the 24th Tank Regiment, 12th Tank Division[5] stationed in Stryi before the regiment retreated after the failed counterattack at Brody, June 1941. He was wounded in combat during the defence of Bryansk, October 1941, and released for six months recuperation due to illness. While in the hospital, he overheard some soldiers complaining about the Soviet rifles of the time.

He also had bad experiences with the standard infantry weapons at the time, and so he was inspired to start constructing a new rifle for the Soviet military. During this time Kalashnikov began designing a submachine gun.

Although his first submachine gun design was not accepted into service, his talent as a designer was noticed. From 1942 onwards Kalashnikov was assigned to the Central Scientific-developmental Firing Range for Rifle Firearms of the Chief Artillery Directorate of RKKA. Later in life he claimed that the priority of simplicity and dependability in his designs was influenced by principles he had gained from reading of Russian literature and the Bible.

In 1944, he designed a gas-operated carbine for the new 7.62x39 mm cartridge; this weapon, influenced by the M1 Garand rifle, lost out to the new Simonov carbine which would be eventually adopted as the SKS; but it became a basis for his entry in an assault rifle competition in 1946. His winning entry, the "Mikhtim" (so named by taking the first letters of his name and patronymic Mikhail Timofeyevich) became the prototype for the development of a family of prototype rifles.

This process culminated in 1947, when he designed the AK-47 (standing for Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947). In 1956, the AK-47 assault rifle became the Soviet Army's standard issue rifle and went on to become Kalashnikov's most famous invention.

Since 1949, Mikhail Kalashnikov has lived and worked in Izhevsk, Udmurtia. He holds an advanced degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences.

After World War II, as General Designer of small arms for the Soviet Army, his design subordinates included the Germans Hugo Schmeisser, designer of the StG-44, and Werner Grüner (of MG 42 fame) who was a pioneer in sheet metal embossing technology in the 1950s.

Over the course of his career he evolved the basic design into a weapons family. The AKM ("Avtomat Kalashnikov Modernizirovanniy" - Automatic Kalashnikov Modernized) first appeared in 1963, which was lighter and cheaper to manufacture due to the use of a stamped steel receiver (in place of the AK47's milled steel receiver), and contained detail improvements such as a re-shaped stock and muzzle compensator. From the AKM he developed a squad automatic weapon variant, known as the RPK (Ruchnoi pulemyot Kalashnikova - Kalashnikov light machine gun), and also the PK (Pulemyot Kalashnikova - Kalashnikov machine gun), which used the more powerful 7.62×54R of the Mosin-Nagant rifle. The PK series is a general purpose machine gun, which is cartridge belt-fed, not magazine-fed, as it is intended to fill the heavy tripod-mounted sustained fire role as well as the light, bipod-mounted role. The common characteristics of his weapons are the simple, elegant engineering and their ruggedness and ease of maintenance in all operating conditions.

Despite estimates of some 100 million AK-47 assault rifles circulating, General Kalashnikov claims he has not profited and that he only receives a state pension. He does however own 30% of a German company Marken Marketing International (MMI), based in Solingen, that revamps trademarks and produces merchandise carrying the Kalashnikov name, such as vodka, umbrellas and knives. One of the items is a knife named for the AK-74.

Succes 2011: Björn Borg, one of the greatest tennis players of all time

Björn Borg is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles (a record shared with Roger Federer) and four consecutive French Open singles titles (a record shared with Rafael Nadal). He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

During his relatively brief pro career, Borg won 41 percent of the Grand Slam singles tournaments he entered (11 of 27) and 89.81 percent (141-16) of the Grand Slam singles matches he played, which is an all time record. He also has the highest all surfaces (grass, clay, hard, carpet, court) career match winning percentage of any other male player 82.68 (730/603). All three are open era male records for an entire career. In addition, Borg's six French Open singles titles are an open era male record. He is one of four players in the open era to win both Wimbledon and the French Open in the same year and the only player to do so for three consecutive years. He also won three year end championship titles including two Masters Grand Prix titles and one WCT Final title.

Borg joined the professional circuit at age 14. In 1972, at the age of 15, Borg became one of the youngest players ever to represent his country in the Davis Cup and won his debut singles rubber in five sets against seasoned professional Onny Parun of New Zealand. Later that year, he won the Wimbledon junior singles title, recovering from a 5-2 deficit in the final set to overcome Britain's Buster Mottram.

In 1973, Borg reached the Wimbledon main draw quarterfinals in his first attempt. Just before his 18th birthday in 1974, Borg won his first top-level singles title at the Italian Open, becoming its youngest winner. Two weeks later he became the then-youngest winner of the French Open defeating Manuel Orantes in the final 2–6, 6–7, 6–0, 6–1, 6–1. Barely 18 at the time, Borg was the youngest-ever male French Open champion (the record has since been lowered by Mats Wilander in 1982 and Michael Chang in 1989).


In early 1975, Borg defeated the great Rod Laver, then 36 years old, in a semifinal of the World Championship Tennis (WCT) finals in Dallas, Texas 7–6, 3–6, 5–7, 7–6, 6–2. Borg subsequently lost to Arthur Ashe in the final.


Borg retained his French Open title in 1975, beating Guillermo Vilas in the final in straight sets (three sets). Borg then reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where he lost to eventual champion Ashe 2-6, 6-4, 8-6, 6-1. Borg did not lose another match at Wimbledon until 1981.

Borg won two singles and one doubles rubber in the 1975 Davis Cup final as Sweden beat Czechoslovakia 3–2. With these singles wins, Borg had won 19 consecutive Davis Cup singles rubbers since 1973. That was already a record at the time. But Borg never lost another Davis Cup singles rubber, and, by the end of his career, he had stretched that winning streak to 33—a Davis Cup record that still stands.

In early 1976, Borg won the World Championship Tennis year ending WCT Finals in Dallas, Texas with a four-set victory over Guillermo Vilas in the final.

At the 1976 French Open Borg lost to the Italian Adriano Panatta, who remains the only player to defeat Borg at this tournament. Panatta did it twice: in the fourth round in 1973 (7–6, 2–6, 7–5, 7–6), and in the 1976 quarter-finals (6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 7–6).

Borg won Wimbledon in 1976 without losing a set, defeating the favored Ilie Năstase in the final. Borg became the youngest male Wimbledon champion of the modern era at 20 years and 1 month (a record subsequently broken by Boris Becker, who won Wimbledon aged 17 in 1985). It would be the last time Borg played Wimbledon as an underdog. Ilie Năstase later exclaimed,"We're playing tennis, he's [Borg] playing something else."

Borg also reached the final of the 1976 US Open, which was then being played on clay courts. Borg lost in four sets to World No. 1 Jimmy Connors.


Borg skipped the French Open in 1977 because he was under contract with WTT, but he repeated his Wimbledon triumph, although this time he was pushed much harder. He defeated his good friend Vitas Gerulaitis in a semifinal 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 8–6.[8] In the final, Borg was pushed to five sets for the third time in the tournament, this time by Connors. The win propelled Borg to the #1 ranking on the computer, albeit for just one week in August.

Through 1977 he had never lost to a player younger than himself.

Borg was at the height of his career from 1978 through 1980, completing the difficult French Open-Wimbledon double all three years.

In 1978, Borg won the French Open with a win over Vilas in the final. Borg did not drop a set during the tournament, a feat only he, Năstase (in 1973), and Rafael Nadal (in 2008 and 2010) have accomplished at the French Open during the open era.

Borg defeated Connors in straight sets at the 1978 Wimbledon. At the US Open, now held on hard courts in Flushing Meadow, New York, he lost the final in straight sets to Connors. That autumn, Borg faced John McEnroe for the first time in a semifinal of the Stockholm Open and was upset 6–3, 6–4.

Borg lost to McEnroe again in four sets in the final of the 1979 WCT Finals but was now overtaking Connors for the top ranking. Borg established himself firmly in the top spot with his fourth French Open singles title and fourth straight Wimbledon singles title, defeating Connors in a straight-set semifinal at the latter tournament. At the French Open, Borg defeated big-serving Victor Pecci in a four-set final, and at Wimbledon, Borg took five sets to overcome an even bigger server, Roscoe Tanner. Borg was upset by Tanner at the US Open, in a four-set quarterfinal played under the lights.

At the season-ending Masters tournament in January 1980, Borg survived a close semifinal against McEnroe 6–7, 6-3, 7–6(1). He then beat Gerulaitis in straight sets, winning his first Masters and first title in New York. In June, he overcame Gerulaitis, again in straight sets, for his fifth French Open title. Again, he did not drop a set.

Borg won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, the 1980 Wimbledon Men's Singles final, by defeating McEnroe in a five-set match, often cited as the best Wimbledon final ever played. Having lost the opening set 6-1 to an all-out McEnroe assault, Borg took the next two 7-5, 6-3 and had two Championship points at 5-4 in the fourth. But McEnroe averted disaster and went on to level the match in Wimbledon's most memorable 34-point tiebreaker, which he won 18-16. In the fourth-set tiebreak, McEnroe saved five match points and Borg six set points before McEnroe won the set. Bjorn served first to begin the 5th set and fell behind 15-40. Borg then won 19 straight points on serve in the deciding set and prevailed after 3 hours, 53 minutes. Borg himself commented years later that this was the first time that he was afraid that he would lose, as well as feeling that it was the beginning of the end of his dominance. Borg married Romanian tennis pro Mariana Simionescu in Bucharest on 24 July 1980.

He defeated McEnroe in the final of the 1980 Stockholm Open, 6–3, 6–4, and faced him one more time that year, in the round-robin portion of the year-end Masters, played in January 1981. With 19,103 fans in attendance, Borg won a deciding third-set tie-break for the second year in a row, 6–4, 6–7, 7–6(2). Borg then defeated Ivan Lendl for his second Masters title, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2.


Borg won his last Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1981, defeating Lendl in a five-set final. Borg's six French Open singles titles remains a record in the Open era for a male player.

In reaching the Wimbledon final in 1981, Borg stretched his winning streak at the All England Club to a record 41 matches. In a semifinal, Borg was down to Connors by two sets to love before coming back to win the match 0–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–4. However, Borg's streak was brought to an end by McEnroe, who defeated him in four sets, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Borg went on to lose to McEnroe at the 1981 US Open, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, and the defeat effectively ended Borg's career. After that defeat, Borg walked off court and out of the stadium before the ceremonies and press conference had begun. It would turn out to be the Swede's last Grand Slam final. Although he felt in good condition physically, he recognized that the relentless drive to win and defy tour organizers had begun to fade.

The U.S. Open was his particular jinx. He failed to win in 10 tries, losing four finals, 1976 and 1978 to Jimmy Connors, and 1980 and 1981 to McEnroe. In 1978, 1979 and 1980, he was halfway to a Grand Slam after victories at the French and Wimbledon (the Australian Open being the last Grand Slam tournament of each year at the time) only to falter at Flushing Meadow, lefty Tanner his conqueror in 1979.

He had appeared only once at the Australian Open, earlier in his career, at which he lost in one of the earlier rounds.

In 1982, Borg played only one tournament, losing to Yannick Noah in the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo. Nevertheless, Borg's announcement in January 1983 that he was retiring from the game at the age of 26 was a shock to the tennis world. McEnroe tried unsuccessfully to persuade Borg to continue.

Liz Mitchell, former lead singer of the 1970s disco/pop band Boney M

Liz Mitchell is a singer, best known as the former lead singer of the 1970s disco/pop band, Boney M.
At the age of eleven, Mitchell and her family emigrated to London, England, in 1963. By the end of the decade, she auditioned for Hair and eventually moved to Berlin to join the German cast where she replaced Donna Summer. After Hair, Mitchell joined the Les Humphries Singers for a few years where she had a relationship with Malcolm Magaron. The two left the group to form Malcolm Locks who released the album Caribbean Rocks in 1974 to minimal success. Mitchell, finding her career coming to a standstill, returned to her parents in England.

A phone call from fellow Jamaican Marcia Barrett in 1975 persuaded Mitchell to return to Germany to join a new group being assembled by record producer, Frank Farian, which would become known as Boney M. Though the group's initial purpose was to simply lip-synch for TV and discothèque performances of Farian's song "Baby Do You Wanna Bump", Boney M. soon became a legitimate recording group with Mitchell, Barrett, and producer Farian as the vocal core. Mitchell became widely regarded as Boney M.'s lead vocalist. Farian later stated that "All members (of Boney M.) could be replaced, except Liz". The departure of Bobby Farrell in late 1981 proved this was not entirely true.

Although Boney M was largely a Farian vehicle for his own songwriting, Mitchell is credited as co-composer of the Boney M song, "African Moon", which appeared on their album, Boonoonoonoos (1981). Though she did not contribute significantly as a songwriter, Mitchell's vocals are widely regarded as the most distinctive part of the Boney M. sound.

Boney M. would disband in 1986, as Farian lost interest in the project.
In 1990, Mitchell re-formed her 1988 line-up with Patricia Foster replacing Celena Duncan and kept touring the cabaret circuit. In April 1991, she released the single "Mocking Bird", produced by long time Boney M. collaborator, Helmut Rulofs to minimal attention. After three dire years, the success of Boney M. Gold - 20 Super Hits boosted the career of her line-up, entitled 'Boney M. feat. Liz Mitchell', and they were officially approved by Farian to promote the album and the accompanying singles.



For the follow-up More Gold - 20 Super Hits Vol. II, Mitchell recorded four new songs. No One Will Force You with two previously unreleased tracks from 1984 was also re-released in Denmark, five years after it was recorded.

In 1996, Mitchell and her husband Thomas Pemberton built the Dove House Studios and formed Dove House Records. With a newly founded fan club, Mitchell recorded an EP with four Christmas songs as a special Christmas gift for her fans.

In November 1999, Mitchell finally released her album Share the World, which had taken three years to complete. In November 2000, she released the seasonal album Christmas Rose which consisted of partly new material, including the title track, "Lord's Prayer" and "I Want to Go to Heaven" co-written by herself, part re-recordings of Boney M.'s Christmas Album.

Mitchell, now a born-again Christian, continued the inspirational path on Let It Be,[2] her fourth solo album, released in November 2004. Just a few months later, the album Liz Mitchell Sings the Hits of Boney M., recorded in Prague, backed by a Czech symphony orchestra, was released. A song recorded in 2006, called "A Moment Of Love", can be found on the compilation album, The Magic of Boney M..

She is still touring, billed as Boney M. featuring Liz Mitchell.

"Big Ghitza" Mureşan, cel mai înalt jucător din istoria NBA

Gheorghe Dumitru Mureşan, also known as Ghiţă or George, is a retired Romanian professional basketball player. At 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m), he is tied with Sudanese player Manute Bol as the tallest man to ever play in the NBA. Both his parents are of average size, and, unlike Bol, Mureşan's height is the result of a pituitary disorder.

The NBA took interest in him and he was selected by the Washington Bullets in the 1993 NBA Draft. He played in the NBA from 1993 to 1994 showing signs of a promising career that was derailed by injuries.

After returning to France and playing for the start of the 1995–96 season with Pau-Orthez, he was named the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 1995–96 season after averaging 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.26 blocks per game while making a league-leading 58.4 percent of his field goals. He led in field goal percentage again the following season, with a 60.4% average. Overall, he holds career averages of 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.48 blocks per game and a .573 field goal percentage. He joined the New Jersey Nets for the final 31 games of his career. After retiring from the NBA, Mureşan returned to the French league for three more years before returning to the United States with his family. He normally wore number 77, in reference to his height.

On March 11, 2007, Mureşan played a game for the Maryland Nighthawks as part of the tallest lineup in the history of basketball. This is the only basketball game Mureşan has ever played where he was not the tallest person on the court, as Sun Mingming is 7' 9" (2.36 m).

Outside basketball, Mureşan has dabbled in acting, playing the title character in 1998 feature film My Giant starring comedian Billy Crystal. Mureşan plays a ventriloquist in rap artist Eminem's breakout video "My Name Is". He has appeared in commercials for Snickers candy bars, and sports television network ESPN.

Succes 2011: Mark Clattenburg, arbitru FIFA care oficiază în Premier League

Mark Clattenburg is an English football referee, who operates in the Football League and the Premier League, and for FIFA. He is based in Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He trained as an electrician and is of part-Canadian ancestry.
Clattenburg became a FIFA referee in 2006, at the age of 30 - reaching this distinction earlier than any English referee in living memory. He refereed Alan Shearer's testimonial match on 11 May 2006; he is a Newcastle United fan, and therefore does not referee competitive games involving Newcastle. On 9 September 2006, he took charge of a qualifying match for the 2007 UEFA Under-17s Championship at the Gradski Stadium in Skopje between Macedonia and Denmark; the away side winning 3–0.

In 2004, he became a Select Group referee in the Premier League, and his debut match at this level was the 3–1 away win by Everton against Crystal Palace on 21 August of the same year.

Clattenburg was appointed to control both legs of the 2006–07 FA Youth Cup final, contested by Liverpool and Manchester United, firstly at Anfield on 16 April 2007 which United won 2-1, and then at Old Trafford on 26 April 2007 which Liverpool won 1-0. With the aggregate scores tied, Liverpool won the subsequent penalty shoot-out 4-3 after a goalless 30 minutes of extra time.

In 2008, Clattenburg was appointed to referee the FA Community Shield, with Dave Richardson and Ian Gosling assisting and Andre Marriner acting as fourth official. However, Clattenburg was later suspended from refereeing, pending an investigation into alleged debts incurred by companies to which he is connected. The match between Portsmouth and Manchester United took place at Wembley Stadium with Peter Walton as the replacement referee.

Following the investigation into his personal life and business debts, the referees' governing body dismissed Clattenburg, citing a breach of contract. He denied all the allegations and appealed the decision. On 18 February 2009 the Professional Game Match Officials Board reinstated Clattenburg as a Select Group referee. However, he had to serve an eight-month suspension, starting from his original suspension date of 6 August 2008. Upon his return from suspension on the last day of the Premier League season, Clattenburg refereed the fixture between Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers.

Clattenburg's only involvement to date in a FIFA World Cup was as fourth official for the 2010 tournament qualifying match between Russia and Azerbaijan in Baku on 14 October 2009.