Success 2012: Andre Agassi, american retired professional tennis player and former world no. 1, who was one of the game's most dominant players from the early 1990s to the mid 2000s

Andre Kirk Agassi is an American retired professional tennis player and former world no. 1, who was one of the game's most dominant players from the early 1990s to the mid 2000s. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game. Described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history", Agassi compiled performances that, along with his unorthodox apparel and attitude, saw him cited as one of the most charismatic players in the history of the game. As a result, he is credited for helping to revive the popularity of tennis during the 1990s.
In singles tennis, Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion who competed in 15 Grand Slam finals, and a 1996 Olympic gold medalist. His four Australian Open titles are an Open Era record (shared with Roger Federer). He is one of four male singles players to achieve the Career Grand Slam (all four Grand Slam championships) in the Open Era and one of seven in history, the first of two to achieve the Career Golden Slam (Career Grand Slam and Olympic gold medal), and the only man to win the Career Golden Slam and the ATP Tour World Championships (won in 1990): a distinction dubbed as a "Career Super Slam" by Sports Illustrated. Agassi was the first male player to win all four Grand Slams on three different surfaces (hard, clay, and grass), and the last American male to win the French Open (1999⁾ and the Australian Open (2003). He also won 17 ATP Masters Series titles, and was part of a winning Davis Cup team in 1990 and 1992. Agassi was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late 1990s and sank to world no. 141 in 1997, prompting many to believe that his career was over. Agassi, however, returned to world no. 1 in 1999 and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years. During his 20-plus year tour career, Agassi was known by the nickname "The Punisher".
After suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis (vertebral displacement) and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the US Open. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation,  which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada^. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K-12 public charter school for at-risk children.  He has been married to fellow tennis star Steffi Graf since 2001.

Success 2012: Gerhard Schröder, german politician that was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005

Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. As a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor he served as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (1990–1998). Following the 2005 federal election, which his party lost, after three weeks of negotiations he stood down as Chancellor in favour of Angela Merkel of the rival Christian Democratic Union. He is currently the chairman of the board of Nord Stream AG, after having been hired as a global manager by investment bank Rothschild.

Schröder was born in Mossenberg, today an outlying centre of Blomberg, in what is now North Rhine-Westphalia. His father, Fritz Schröder, a lance corporal in the Wehrmacht, was killed in action in World War II in Romania on 4 October 1944, a few months after Gerhard's birth. His mother Erika worked as an agricultural laborer so that she could support herself and her two sons.
Schröder completed an apprenticeship in retail sales in a Lemgo hardware shop from 1958 to 1961 and subsequently worked in a Lage retail shop and after that as an unskilled construction worker and a sales clerk in Göttingen whilst studying at night school so as to gain a high school diploma. He did not have to do military service because his father had died in the war. In 1966, Schröder secured entrance to a university, passing the Abitur exam at Westfalen-Kolleg, Bielefeld. From 1966 to 1971 he studied law at the University of Göttingen. From 1972 onwards, Schröder served as an assistant at the university. In 1976, he passed his second law examination, and he subsequently worked as a lawyer until 1990.

Among his more controversial cases, Schröder helped founding member of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist group Horst Mahler secure an early release from prison and the permission to practice law again in Germany.
Schröder joined the Social Democratic Party in 1963. In 1978 he became the federal chairman of the Young Socialists, the youth organisation of the SPD. He spoke for the dissident Rudolf Bahro, as did President Jimmy Carter, Herbert Marcuse and Wolf Biermann. In 1982 he wrote an article on the idea of a red/green coalition for a book at Olle & Wolter, Berlin, which later appeared in "Die Zeit". SPD and SI Chairman, Chancellor Willy Brandt, who reviewed Olle & Wolter at that time, had just asked for more books on the subject. In 1980 Gerhard Schröder was elected to the German Bundestag, and wore a sweater to parliament instead of the traditional suit. He became chairman of the SPD Hanover district. In 1985, Schröder met the GDR leader Erich Honecker during a visit to East Berlin.
In 1986, Schröder was elected to the parliament of Lower Saxony and became leader of the SPD group. After the SPD won the state elections in June 1990, he became Prime Minister of Lower Saxony as head of an SPD-Greens coalition; in this position, he also won the 1994 and 1998 state elections.

Success 2012: Jack Nicklaus, aka "The Golden Bear". Professional golfer. He is widely regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer of all time, winning a total of 18 career major championships

Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He is widely regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer of all time, winning a total of 18 career major championships while producing 19 second place and 9 third place finishes in major events on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years. Nicklaus did not play that many tournaments because he wanted to focus on the Majors, but is still third on the PGA-tournament winning list, with 73 victories.
After winning two U.S. Amateurs in 1959 and 1961, and challenging for the 1960 U.S. Open, Nicklaus turned professional toward the end of 1961. The 1962 U.S. Open was both Nicklaus' first major championship victory and his first professional win. This win over Arnold Palmer began the on-course rivalry between the two. In 1966, Nicklaus won the Masters Tournament for the second year in a row, becoming the first golfer to achieve this, and also won The Open Championship, completing his career slam of major championships. At age 26, he became the youngest to do so at the time. In 1968 and 1969, Nicklaus did not win a major tournament. He then won another Open Championship in 1970.
Between 1971 and 1980, he would win a further nine major championships, overtake Bobby Jones' record of 13 majors, and become the first player to complete double and triple career slams of golf's four professional major championships. At the age of 46, Nicklaus claimed his 18th and final major championship at the 1986 Masters Tournament, becoming that championship's oldest winner. Nicklaus joined the Senior PGA Tour (now known as the Champions Tour) in January 1990, when he became eligible, and by April 1996 had won 10 of the tour's tournaments, including eight of that tour's major championships, despite playing a very limited schedule. He continued to play at least some of the four regular Tour majors until 2005, when he made his final appearances at The Open Championship and the Masters Tournament.
Nicklaus has also taken part in various off-course activities, including golf course design, charity work and book writing. Nicklaus helped design courses such as Harbour Town Golf Links. Nicklaus also runs his own tournament on the PGA Tour, the Memorial Tournament. His golf course design company is one of the largest in the world. Nicklaus' books vary from instructional to autobiographical, with his Golf My Way considered one of the best instructional golf books of all time; the video of the same name is the best-selling golf instructional to date.

Writings and media

Nicklaus has written several golf instructional books, an autobiography (My Story), a book on his golf course design methods and philosophy, and has produced several golf videos. The writer Ken Bowden often assisted him with this work. His book Golf My Way is one of the all-time classics of golf instruction, and has been reissued several times since the initial printing in 1974. Nicklaus has also written golf instructional columns for Golf Magazine and for Golf Digest magazine, with which he is currently associated. He also appeared as a television analyst and commentator with ABC Sports on golf broadcasts.^[49] Several of the books have been reissued, sometimes under different titles, and "My Story" as a special high-quality limited edition for the 2000 Memorial Tournament.

Golf computer games

Between 1988 and 1998, Nicklaus also gave his name to promote the successful Jack Nicklaus Golf computer game series developed by Accolade. Several of the golf courses he designed were incorporated into the fourth incarnation of the game Jack Nicklaus 4 published in 1997. In addition, Jack Nicklaus 6: Golden Bear Challenge by Activision was published in 1999.

Other interests

Nicklaus continues to manage the Memorial Tournament he created in his home state of Ohio, which is played at Muirfield Village, a course which he designed and opened in 1974. The course was officially dedicated on Memorial Day, May 27, 1974, with an exhibition match between Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus scored a six-under par 66, which stood as the course record until 1979. The forerunner to this tournament, the Columbus Pro-Am, had its final year in 1975, and the inaugural Memorial Tournament was held the following year. The tournament is one of the more prestigious events on the PGA Tour.^[50]
Each year, the tournament selects one or more individuals as honorees who have made a significant impact to the game. The inaugural tournament in 1976 paid tribute to the late Bobby Jones, while the 25th edition in 2000 honored Nicklaus, himself. This concept was Nicklaus' idea as a contribution to perpetuating achievements of the game's greatest individuals. The honoree is selected by the Captain's Club, a group that acts independently of the tournament organization, but also advises on player invitations and the general conduct of the event. Members of the Captain's Club include Peter Alliss, Peggy Kirk Bell, George H.W. Bush, Sean Connery, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player among others.
The Memorial Tournament continues the PGA Tour's philanthropic focus through its relationships with Central Ohio charities. The most significant of which is its relationship with Nationwide Children's Hospital since 1976. Contributions generated through the support of over 2,600 volunteers are distributed each year to the Hospital's unrestricted giving fund. This fund assists in ensuring Central Ohio continues to have one of the best children's hospitals in the United States. The Memorial Tournament has raised more than $5.7 million to support the programs and services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in those 30-plus years. In 2005 the Memorial made a pledge that will elevate its level of giving to more than $11 million in the coming years. Unique and successful relationships also exist with Fore Hope, James Cancer Hospital, Wolfe Associates, The First Tee, Central Ohio Junior Golf Association, Shriners, Lions Club and many more.
Nicklaus and wife Barbara serve as honorary chairman and active chairwoman of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation in North Palm Beach, Florida which provides valuable programs and services to more than 4,000 hospitalized children and their families, free of charge, through Child Life programs, the Pediatric Oncology Support Team, and the Safe Kids program. The Nicklauses established "The Jake", a pro-am golf tournament played annually at The Bear's Club in Jupiter, Florida in honor of their 17-month-old grandson who drowned in a hot tub in 2005. It has become the foundation's chief fundraiser. Players like Robert Allenby, Raymond Floyd, Tom Watson, Ian Baker-Finch, Ernie Els, Jay Haas, Johnny Miller, and Gary Player have participated. No one accepts a fee. Everything goes to the foundation, more than $3 million over the past three years.
Nicklaus and retired General John Shalikashvili, who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993–97, are serving as honorary chairs for the American Lake Veterans Golf Course capital campaign in Tacoma, WA. The $4.5 million campaign in 2009 was established to complete the nation's only golf course designed for the rehabilitation of wounded and disabled veterans. The existing nine-hole course is operated, maintained, and managed by 160 volunteers. Funds are needed to add nine new holes and make other improvements to better accommodate demand from the growing influx of wounded veterans. A two-day event was held at Bighorn Golf Club at Palm Desert, CA featuring Nicklaus, who is donating his design services for the "Nicklaus Nine". In announcing his donation of services (valued at $500,000), Nicklaus said, "I was moved to see the amazing efforts at American Lake Veterans Golf Course where our wounded warriors learn to play golf with the help of an incredible army of volunteers." Monies raised during the campaign will be used to construct the new holes, complete the construction of the Rehabilitation and Learning Center, make improvements to the original holes to enhance accessibility, upgrade the maintenance facilities and restrooms, and help underwrite operational costs.
Nicklaus owns Nicklaus Golf Equipment, founded in 1992. Nicklaus Golf Equipment manufactures equipment in three brands: Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus Signature, and Nicklaus Premium. These brands are designed to target golfers at different stages of golfing ability.
He has also been known to reach out to younger golfers. One notable example came in 1984, when a teenage Canadian golfer who had previously met Nicklaus at an exhibition wrote him for career advice. The young golfer was right-handed but played left-handed; although he was showing considerable promise as a left-hander, he had been told that he might be an even better player if he switched to right-handed play. He wrote Nicklaus asking for advice; Nicklaus immediately wrote back telling him not to change if he was comfortable playing left-handed. The young Canadian, Mike Weir, decided to stay with left-handed play, and eventually became a Masters champion. He still keeps Nicklaus' letter framed in his home.

Nicklaus lends his name and likeness to a line of flavored lemonades from Arizona Beverage Company, the same company that sells the Arnold Palmer line of lemonade/iced tea blends.

Success 2012: Mardy Fish, professional tennis player. Fish has won six tournaments on the main ATP Tour and has reached the final of four Masters Series events

Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American professional tennis player. He is a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.
Fish has won six tournaments on the main ATP Tour and has reached the final of four Masters Series events: Cincinnati in 2003 and 2010, Indian Wells in 2008, and Montreal in 2011. His best results at Grand Slam tournaments are reaching the quarter-finals of the 2007 Australian Open, the 2008 US Open, and the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. At the 2004 Olympics, Fish reached the final in the men's singles, losing to Nicolás Massú.
In April 2011, Fish overtook compatriot Andy Roddick to become the American No. 1 in the ATP rankings, reaching a career-high singles ranking of World No. 7 in August 2011.

 Fish is the son of a tennis teaching professional and a housewife, Tom and Sally Fish. He was born in Edina, Minnesota. In 1984 a Minneapolis TV station ran a profile of Fish, at the age of two, hitting tennis balls from the baseline over the net. In 1986, Fish's family moved to Vero Beach, Florida. He attended Vero Beach High School for tenth grade, then moved to Boca Prep in Boca Raton, Florida, for his junior and senior years of high school. He, Andy Roddick, and Jesse Levine all attended Boca Prep International School.During 1999 he lived with Roddick's family, and the two played on the same tennis and basketball teams^.

Equipment

Fish currently endorses the Wilson BLX Six.One 95 18 by 20 racquet with hybrid of Wilson Natural Gut and Luxilon Alu Power strings. His grip of choice is "Wilson Pro Overgrip". He wears K-Swiss clothing and shoes.

Playing style

Fish is one of the few players on the tour to possess an all-court game. His biggest weapons are his strong serve and reliable backhand, and he often wins points at net with adept volleying. His most reliable shot is a two-handed backhand, which he can flatten out effectively to end points. His forehand is more inconsistent, though it has improved in recent years. In 2010, he dropped over 30 pounds, from 203 to 170. This enabled Fish to become much fitter, faster and maintain longer rallies.

Success 2012: Marcos Baghdatis, professional tennis player. Semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships and reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 8 in August 2006

Marcos Baghdatis is a Cypriot professional tennis player^. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships and reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 8 in August 2006.
Marcos Baghdatis is the son of a Lebanese father, Christos, who migrated to Cyprus and a Cypriot mother.
Baghdatis began playing tennis at age five with his father and brothers. He enjoys playing and watching football and is a supporter of Apollon Limassol in Cyprus. He trained at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris on an Olympic Solidarity Youth Development Programme Scholarship since the age of 13 and learned to speak French.
On January 28, 2006, Baghdatis received an exemption from the otherwise mandatory Cypriot national service so that he could concentrate instead on playing tennis.
He received the 2005 Cyprus Male Athlete of the Year award.
On July 14, 2012 Baghdatis married former Croatian tennis player Karolina Šprem. The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter called Zahara, on 20 October 2012.

Richard Dreyfuss, american actor that won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1977 for The Goodbye Girl

Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Always, What About Bob?, Poseidon, Mr. Holland's Opus, and James and the Giant Peach.
Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1977 for The Goodbye Girl, and was nominated in 1995 for Mr. Holland's Opus. He has also won a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and was nominated in 2002 for Screen Actors Guild Awards in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries categories.

Dreyfuss was born Richard Stephen Dreyfus in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Norman, an attorney and restaurateur, and Geraldine, a peace activist, and was raised in Bayside, Queens. Dreyfuss is Jewish.He has commented that he "grew up thinking that Alfred Dreyfus and [he] are of the same family." His father disliked New York City, and moved the family first to Europe, and later to Los Angeles, when Dreyfuss was nine. Dreyfuss attended Beverly Hills High School.
Dreyfuss began acting during his youth, at the Beverly Hills Jewish Center. He debuted in the TV production In Mama's House, when he was fifteen. He attended Valley State for a year, and was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, working in alternate service for two years, as a clerk in a Los Angeles hospital. During this time, he acted in a few small TV roles on shows, Peyton Place, Gidget, That Girl, Bewitched, and The Big Valley. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he also performed on stage on Broadway, Off-Broadway, repertory, and improvisational theater.
Dreyfuss appeared alongside Henry Fonda, Gloria Grahame, Ron Thompson, Strother Martin, Jane Alexander, Lewis J. Stadlen, Richard X. Slattery and Pepper Martin in the play The Time of Your Life, which was revived on March 17, 1972 at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles, and directed by Edwin Sherin.
Dreyfuss's first film part was a small, uncredited role in The Graduate. He had one line, "Shall I get the cops? I'll get the cops". He was also briefly seen as a stage hand in Valley of the Dolls (1967), in which he had a few lines. He appeared in the subsequent Dillinger, and landed a role in the 1973 hit American Graffiti, acting with other future stars such as Harrison Ford and Ron Howard.Dreyfuss played his first lead role in the Canadian film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), receiving positive reviews, including praise from Pauline Kael
Dreyfuss went on to star in the box office blockbusters Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), both directed by Steven Spielberg.He won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a struggling actor in The Goodbye Girl (1977), becoming the youngest actor to do so (at the age of 29) This record was surpassed by Adrien Brody, in 2003.
Around 1978, Dreyfuss began using cocaine frequently; his addiction came to a head four years later in 1982, when he was arrested for possession of the drug after he blacked out while driving, and his car struck a tree.^[8][12] He entered rehabilitation and eventually made a Hollywood comeback with the film Down And Out In Beverly Hills in 1986and Stakeout the following year.
In 1989, Dreyfuss reunited with Spielberg on Always, a remake of A Guy Named Joe in which he co-starred with Holly Hunter. He had a starring role opposite Bill Murray in the 1991 hit comedy What About Bob?, as a psychiatrist who goes crazy while trying to cope with a particularly obsessive new patient. That same year, Dreyfuss produced and starred as Georges Picquart in Prisoner of Honor, an HBO movie about the historical Dreyfus Affair.
In 1994, he participated in the historic Papal Concert to Commemorate the Holocaust at the Vatican in the presence of Pope John Paul II, Rav Elio Toaf, chief rabbi of Rome, and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, President of the Italian Republic. He recited Kaddish as part of a performance of Leonard Bernstein's Third Symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Gilbert Levine. The event was broadcast worldwide.
Dreyfuss was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995). Since then, he has continued working in the movies, television and the stage. In 2001/2002, he played Max Bickford in the television drama The Education of Max Bickford. In April 2004, he appeared in the revival of Sly Fox on Broadway (opposite Eric Stoltz, René Auberjonois, Bronson Pinchot and Elizabeth Berkley).
Dreyfuss recorded the voiceover to the Apple, Inc., then Apple Computer, Inc., Think Different ad campaign in 1997. The short version of the ad: "Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
In November 2004, he was scheduled to appear in The Producers in London, but withdrew from the production a week before opening night. The media noted that Dreyfuss was still suffering from problems relating to an operation for a herniated disc in January, and that the part of Max Bialystock in the play is a physically demanding one. Both he and his assistant for the production stated that Dreyfuss was accumulating injuries that required him to wear physical therapy supports during rehearsals. Nathan Lane was brought in to replace Dreyfuss in the London production. It later emerged that he'd been fired.In 2006, he appeared as one of the survivors in the 2006 film Poseidon. Dreyfuss portrayed U.S Vice President Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's 2008 George W. Bush bio-pic W.
In early 2009, he appeared in the play Complicit (directed by Kevin Spacey) in London's Old Vic theatre. His participation in the play was subject to much controversy, owing to his use of an earpiece on stage, reportedly because of his inability to learn his lines in time. He guest-voiced as himself in the "Three Kings" episode of Family Guy in 2009, and later appeared again in the episode "Peter-assment". Dreyfuss has guest starred in the sixth season of Weeds as Warren Schiff, Nancy's high school teacher to whom she had lost her virginity.
Also in 2009, he portrayed the Biblical figure Moses in the Thomas Nelson audiobook production Word of Promise: Complete Audio Bible.
Dreyfuss has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
Dreyfuss was among 99 other stars at the 2012 Academy Awards - Night of 100 Stars. He did an interview for the Bill Zucker Show with actor/singer Bill Zucker In 1995, Dreyfuss co-authored with science-fiction writer Harry Turtledove the novel The Two Georges, an alternate history/mystery piece set in the year 1996 of an alternate timeline where the American Revolution was peacefully avoided. The Gainsborough painting of George Washington and King George III, which symbolizes English-speaking North Americans' loyalty to the British Empire, is stolen by anti-Imperial terrorists, and officers of the Royal North American Mounted Police must find it before it is destroyed.

Success 2012: Nobu Matsuhisa, a celebrity chef and restaurateur known for his fusion cuisine blending traditional Japanese dishes with South American (Peruvian) ingredients. His signature dish is black cod in miso

Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa (松久 信幸 Matsuhisa Nobuyuki; born March 10, 1949) is a celebrity chef and restaurateur known for his fusion cuisine blending traditional Japanese dishes with South American (Peruvian) ingredients. His signature dish is black cod in miso.

Nobu was born in Saitama, Japan. When he was just seven years old, his father died in a traffic accident and he and his two older brothers were raised by his mother. After graduating from high school, he worked at the restaurant Matsue Sushi in Shinjuku, Tokyo for seven years, and was invited by a regular customer who was a Peruvian entrepreneur of Japanese descent to open a Japanese restaurant in Peru. In 1973 at age 24, he moved to Peru (Lima) and opened a restaurant with the same name of Matsuei in partnership with his sponsor. Nobu was unable to find many of the ingredients he took for granted in Japan and had to improvise, and it was here that he developed his unique style of cuisine that incorporated Southern American ingredients into Japanese dishes.
He later moved to Alaska, USA and opened his own restaurant, which failed almost immediately due to a fire that destroyed the restaurant.
In 1977, he moved to Los Angeles and worked at Japanese restaurants "Mitsuwa" and "Oshou", and in 1987, he opened his own restaurant "Matsuhisa" on La Cienega Blvd. in Beverly Hills. The restaurant quickly became a hot spot and was frequented by Hollywood celebrities, including Robert De Niro, who invited Nobu to set up a restaurant in Tribeca, New York. In August 1993, the two opened up in partnership NOBU to critical^{[clarification needed]} acclaim. Nobu restaurants were later opened in Milan, London, Greece, Dallas, Tokyo, Honolulu, Moscow, Dubai and Budapest.
Nobu's friendship with De Niro landed him a role in the 1995 Martin Scorsese film Casino, as a wealthy businessman who was a guest at De Niro's casino. He also had small roles in Austin Powers: Goldmember, as well as Memoirs of a Geisha, where he played a kimono artist.

 In June 2009, Matsuhisa was presented with an award from the Japan Society for his achievements in food culture.
Michelin One Star each for Nobu Las Vegas, Nobu London, and Nobu Berkeley Street London.

 Nobu restaurants sell bluefin tuna, a species now internationally recognised as endangered. As a result from press and campaigning pressure, they offered to add a warning on their menu, however this was considered inadequate by conservationists to help the spiral of demand and market price that leads to overfishing

Success 2012: Agnieszka Radwańska, polish professional tennis player ranked world no. 3

Agnieszka Radwańska (born 6 March 1989) is a Polish professional tennis player. As of 24 September 2012, she is ranked world no. 3. Known for constructing points and making intelligent use of the court, she has won ten career singles titles.

Radwańska reached the final of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first Polish player in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam singles final. In 2007, she also became the first Polish player to claim a WTA singles title when she won the Nordea Nordic Light Open. Radwańska has won two WTA Awards, being voted Most Impressive Newcomer in 2006, and Fan Favorite Singles Player in 2011.
Born in Kraków, Agnieszka Radwańska began playing tennis at the age of four after her father introduced her to the sport. Her younger sister, Urszula, also plays tennis. Radwańska has named Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis as inspirations.
In 2009 Radwańska became a WTA ambassador for Habitat for Humanity. She has also studied tourism at universities in Kraków.

2012: World No 2 & first Grand Slam final

During the first four months of 2012, Radwańska won two singles titles and amassed a record of 28–5, defeating all opponents but then-world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Following losses in the Apia International, the Australian Open, and the Qatar Total Open, she won her first title of the season at the Dubai Tennis Championships, defeating Julia Görges in straight sets. After advancing to the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, she reached a new ranking of world no. 4.  Her second title came at the Sony Ericsson Open, where she defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals and Marion Bartoli in the semifinals, advancing to a championship match against Maria Sharapova. Radwańska won the championship without losing a set throughout the tournament. 
Her fifth loss of the season, and fifth to Azarenka, came in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.  She then entered the Mutua Madrid Open, where she lost to Azarenka in the semifinals, securing the world no. 3 ranking. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she lost her opening-round match to Petra Cetkovská, marking her first loss of the year to someone other than Azarenka. In the final of the Brussels Open, Radwańska defeated Simona Halep in straight sets, winning her third WTA title of the year and tenth in her career. At the French Open, she defeated Venus Williams in the second round, but then fell in the third round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Radwańska reached her first career Grand Slam final at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinals and Angelique Kerber in the semifinals, losing the championship match to Serena Williams in three sets. By advancing to the final, she became the first Polish player in the Open Era to reach the championship round of a Grand Slam singles tournament, and attained a new ranking of world no. 2. Radwańska was the flag bearer for Poland in the 2012 Summer Olympics.  She lost in the opening round to Julia Görges. 
She reached the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup and the Western & Southern Open, losing to Li Na in both tournaments. Radwańska was defeated in the fourth round of the 2012 US Open by Roberta Vinci of Italy

Rivalries

Radwańska vs. Zvonareva

Radwańska has a rivalry with Russian player Vera Zvonareva, which began in 2007. Radwańska leads the series 4–2.

Throughout their meetings, Radwańska has proven able to match Zvonareva's pace and movements around the court.Zvonareva is considered the more powerful of the two, while Radwańska has been noted as more focused at times, utilizing what Sports Illustrated's Courtney Nguyen dubbed "selective aggression" during the pair's 2011 matches.
Their first match occurred during the 2007 Kremlin Cup, with Zvonareva winning in straight sets. The two did not play again until the 2011 season, when Radwańska won four of their five matches—including the finals of the Mercury Insurance Open and the Pan Pacific Open. Their final meeting of 2011 was an acclaimed match at the WTA Championships. Trailing 3–5 in the third set, Radwańska saved three match points and went on to win 1–6, 6–2, 7–5. The victory marked her fourth straight win against Zvonareva, who she described as "very consistent and always tough to beat."

Radwańska vs. Azarenka

Radwańska and Victoria Azarenka first played in 2006. Azarenka leads their head-to-head 11–3. During the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, Radwańska won their first meeting in straight sets. The two would go on to meet regularly in the following seasons, often in quarterfinal or semifinal matches. Throughout the first four months of 2012, the only player to defeat Radwańska was Azarenka
 
Playing style and equipment
 
In 2012, Tom Perrotta of The Wall Street Journal called Radwańska "the most tactically sound, subtle tennis player in the world."
Radwańska's game is founded on variety, mobility, and a tendency to anticipate her opponent's movements.She often uses this style to construct rallies—either opening the court up for a winner, or prompting a surprised opponent to hit a misplaced return. Her primary weapons include a mixture of slices and lobs, along with her ability to hit the ball at a variety of angles.She also makes use of a disguised drop shot, often swung with the same motion as a normal stroke during a rally. She is also noted for her crouching shots, during which she quickly drops in place to return or redirect a low ball, along with her use of an overhead backhand while on defense.
Tennis commentators, including former pro Wojciech Fibak, have compared her playing style to that of Martina Hingis, with Fibak describing her as "a natural mover who understands the geometry of the court"^. Radwańska has cited Hingis as an inspiration. She and Hingis had their lone career meeting in 2007, with Radwańska winning in three sets.
Radwańska uses Babolat Pure Drive Lite GT racquets, and is sponsored by Lotto apparel.

Success 2012: Dr. Robert N. McClelland, instructor in surgery at Parkland Memorial Hospital in 1963. He was among the team of doctors in Trauma Room One who worked on President J.F. Kennedy. Less than two days later, he also assisted in the treatment of Lee Harvey Oswald

 Dr. McClelland's story is almost unbelievable: Not only was he on hand to assist the surgical team trying to save President Kennedy's life after the motorcade shooting in 1963, he was also called in two days later to tend to Lee Harvey Oswald's (fatal) wounds.
(His accounts of these two emergency room proceedings are both coldly clinical and harrowing. In the case of the late president, for instance, McClelland describes how a portion of Kennedy's cerebrum fell out of the gaping wound in his skull and onto the operating table while surgeons were exploring a wound in his throat.)
Two years prior to the presidential assassination, McClelland paid a visit to Baylor Hospital to pick up his wife's paycheck. As he approached the side door, three black limos pulled up. A stern looking character invited the doc to step aside -- which he did -- and out of one of the cars stepped President John F. Kennedy. The new president was there to visit Senator Sam Rayburn, hospitalized for pancreatic cancer.
On a later occasion, McClelland was called in to assist a colleague with an exploratory surgery. Arriving at the hospital, he was directed to the operating room and took time to check the patient's clipboard beforehand. His name? Abraham Zapruder.
Interestingly, Dr. McClelland is convinced that more than one shooter was involved in the Kennedy assassination. According to Marian Ann J. Montgomery -- now Executive Director of PCHPS and one-time director of interpretation at the Sixth Floor Museum -- he is one of the few doctors on the scene at the time who now support this view.
PHOTO signed for me: Dr. Robert McClelland holds the blood-stained shirt he wore in the Parkland Hospital Emergency Room on the day he and other doctors tried to save John Kennedy Randal Ford

Testimony Of Dr. Robert M. Mcclelland Resumed

The testimony of Dr. Robert M. McClelland was taken at 3:25 p.m., March 25, 1964, at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Arlen Specter, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. SPECTER - May the record show that Dr. Robert M. McClelland has return to have a brief additional deposition concerning a translation of "L' Express which has been called to my attention in the intervening time which has elapsed between March 21, when I took Dr. McClelland's deposition on the first occasion, and today.
Dr. McClelland, will you raise your right hand? Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give to the President's Commission in this deposition proceeding will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Dr. McCLELLAND - I do.
Mr. SPECTER - Dr. McClelland, I show you a translation from the French, of the magazine, "L' Express" issue of February 20, 1964, and ask you if you would read this item, with particular emphasis on a reference to a quotation or statement made by you to a reporter from the St, Louis Post Dispatch.
Dr. McCLELLAND - (Examined instrument referred to.)
Mr. SPECTER - Now, have you had an opportunity to read over that excerpt?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Yes.
Mr. SPECTER - Did you talk to a reporter from the St. Louis Post Dispatch about this matter?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Yes.
Mr. SPECTER - And what was his name?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Richard Dudman.
Mr. SPECTER - And when did you have that conversation with Mr. Dudman
Dr. McCLELLAND - As well as I recall, it was the day after the assassination, as nearly as I can recall, but I'm not certain about that.
Mr. SPECTER - Will you tell me as closely as you remember what he said to you and you said to him, please?
Dr. McCLELLAND - The main point he seemed to be making was to attempt to define something about the wound, the nature of the wound, and as near as I can recall, I indicated to him that the wound was a small undamaged--- appearing punctate area in the skin of the neck, the anterior part of the neck, which had the appearance of the usual entrance wound of a bullet, but that this certainly could not be----you couldn't make a statement to that effect with any complete degree of certainty, though we were, as I told him, experienced in seeing wounds of this nature, and usually felt that we could tell the difference between an entrance and an exit wound, and this was, I think, in essence what I told him about the nature of the wound.
Mr. SPECTER - Now, had you actually observed the wound prior to the time the tracheotomy was performed on that neck wound?
Dr. McCLELLAND - No; my knowledge of the entrance wound, as I stated, in my former deposition, was merely from what Dr. Perry told me when I entered the room and began putting on a pair of surgical gloves to assist with the tracheotomy.
Dr. Perry looked up briefly and said that they had made an incision and were in the process of making an incision in the neck, which extended through the middle of the wound in question in the front of the neck.
Mr. SPECTER - Now, you have just characterized it in that last answer as an entrance wound.
Dr. McCLELLAND - Well, perhaps I shouldn't say the wound anyway, not the entrance wound--that might be a slip of the tongue.
Mr. SPECTER - Do you have a firm opinion at this time as to whether it is an entrance wound or exit wound or whatever?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Of course, my opinion now would be colored by everything that I've heard about it and seen since, but I'll say this, if I were simply looking at the wound again and had seen the wound in its unchanged state, and which I did not, and, of course, as I say, it had already been opened up by the tracheotomy incision when I saw the wound--but if I saw the wound in its state in which Dr. Perry described it to me, I would probably initially think this were an entrance wound, knowing nothing about the circumstances as I did at the time, but I really couldn't say--that's the whole point. This would merely be a calculated guess, and that's all, not knowing anything more than just seeing the wound itself.
Mr. SPECTER - But did you, in fact, see the wound prior to the time the incision was made?
Dr. McCLELLAND - No.
Mr. SPECTER - So that any preliminary thought you had even, would be based upon what you had been told by Dr. Perry?
Dr. McCLELLAND - That's right. Mr. SPECTER - Now, did you tell Mr. Dudman of the St. Louis Post Dispatch that you did not in fact see the wound in the neck, but your only information of it came from what Dr. Perry had told you?
Dr. McCLELLAND - I don't recall whether I told him that or not. I really don't remember whether I said I had seen the wound myself or whether I was merely referring to our sort of collective opinion of it, or whether I told him I had not seen the wound and was merely going by Dr. Perry's report of it to me. I don't recall now, this far away in time exactly what I said to him.
Mr. SPECTER - Dr. McClelland, I want to ask you a few additional questions, and some of these questions may duplicate questions which I asked you last Saturday, and the reason for that is, we have not yet had a chance to transcribe the deposition of last Saturday, so I do not have before me the questions I asked you at that time and the answers you gave, and since last Saturday I have taken the depositions of many, many doctors on the same topics, so it is not possible for me to be absolutely certain of the specific questions which I asked you at that time, but permit me to ask you one or several more questions on the subject.
First, how many bullets do you think were involved in inflicting the wounds on President Kennedy which you observed?
Dr. McCLELLAND - At the present time, you mean, or at the immediate moment?
Mr. SPECTER - Well, take the immediate moment and then the present time.
Dr. McCLELLAND - At the moment, of course, it was our impression before we had any other information from any other source at all, when we were just confronted with the acute emergency, the brief thoughts that ran through our minds were that this was one bullet, that perhaps entered through the front of the neck and then in some peculiar fashion which we really had, as I mentioned the other day, to strain to explain to ourselves, had coursed up the front of the vertebra and into the base of the skull and out the rear of the skull.
This would have been a very circuitous route for the bullet to have made, so that when .we did find later on what the circumstances were surrounding the assassination, this was much more readily explainable to ourselves that the two wounds were made by two separate bullets.
Mr. SPECTER - And what is your view or opinion today as to how many bullets inflicted the injuries of President Kennedy?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Two.
Mr. SPECTER - Now, what would be the reason for your changing your opinion in that respect?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Oh, just simply the later reports that we heard from all sources, of all the circumstances surrounding the assassination. Certainly no further first-hand information came to me and made me change my mind in that regard.
Mr. SPECTER - Dr. McClelland, let me ask you to assume a few additional facts, and based on a hypothetical situation which I will put to you and I'll ask you for an opinion.
Assume, if you will, that President Kennedy was shot on the upper right posterior thorax just above the upper border of the scapula at a point 14 Cm. from the tip of the right acromion process and 14 cm. below a tip of the right mastoid process, assume further that that wound of entry was caused by a 6.5-mm. missile shot out of a rifle having a muzzle velocity of approximately 2,000 feet per second, being located 160 to 250 feet away from President Kennedy, that the bullet entered on the point that I described on the President's back, passed between two strap muscles on the posterior aspect of the President's body and moved through the fascial channel without violating the pleura cavity, and exited in the midline lower third anterior portion of the President's neck, would the hole which Dr. Perry described to you on the front side of the President's neck be consistent with the hole which such a bullet' might make in such a trajectory through .the President's body?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Yes; I think so.
Mr. SPECTER - And what would your reasoning be for thinking that that would be a possible hole of exit on those factors as I have outlined them to you?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Well, I think my reasoning would be basically that the missile was traveling mainly through soft tissue, rather than exploding from a bony chamber and that by the time it reached the neck that it had already lost, because of the distance from which it was fired, even though the muzzle velocity was as you stated--would have already lost a good deal of it's initial velocity and kinetic strength and therefore would have perhaps made, particularly, if it were a fragment of the bullet as bullets do sometimes fragment, could have made a small hole like this in exiting. It certainly could have done that.
Mr. SPECTER - What would have happened then to the other portion of the bullet if it had fragmented?
Dr. McCLELLAND - It might have been left along, or portions of it along the missile track--sometimes will be left scattered up and down this. Other fragments will maybe scatter in the wound and sometimes there will be multiple fragments and sometimes maybe only a small fragment out of the main bullet, sometimes a bullet will split in half--this is extremely difficult for me to say just what would happen in a case lake that.
Mr. SPECTER - Well, assuming this situation--that the bullet did not fragment, because the autopsy report shows no fragmentation, that is, it cannot show the absence of fragmentation, but we do know that there were no bullets left in the body at any point, so that no fragment is left in.
Dr. McCLELLAND - I think even then you could make the statement that this wound could have resulted from this type bullet fired through this particular mass of soft tissue, losing that much velocity before it exited from the body. Where you would expect to see this really great hole that is left behind would be, for instance, from a very high velocity missile fired at close range with a heavy caliber bullet, such as a .45 pistol fired at close range, which would make a small entrance hole, relatively, and particularly if it entered some portion of the anatomy such as the head, where there was a sudden change in density from the brain to the skull cavity, as it entered. As it left the body, it would still have a great deal of force behind it and would blow up a large segment of tissue as it exited. But I don't think the bullet of this nature fired from that distance and going through this large area of homogenous soft tissue would necessarily make the usual kind of exit wound like I just described, with a close range high velocity heavy caliber bullet.
This is why it would be difficult to say with certainty as has been implied in some newspaper articles that quoted me, that you could tell for sure that this was an entrance or an exit wound. I think this was blown up a good deal.
Mr. SPECTER - Dr. McClelland, why wasn't the President's body turned over?
Dr. McCLELLAND - The President's body was not turned over because the initial things that were done as in all such cases of extreme emergency are to first establish an airway and second, to stop hemorrhage and replace blood, so that these were the initial things that were carried out immediately without taking time to do a very thorough physical examination, which of course would have required that these other emergency measures not be done immediately.
Mr. SPECTER - Did you make any examination of the President's back at all?
Dr. McCLELLAND - No.
Mr. SPECTER - Was any examination of the President's back made to your knowledge?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Not here no.
Mr. SPECTER - Do you have anything to add which you think might be helpful in any way to the Commission?
Dr. McCLELLAND - No; I think not except again to emphasize perhaps that some of our statements to the press about the nature of the wound may have been misleading, possibly--probably ,because of our fault in tolling it in such a way that they misinterpreted our certainty of being able to tell entrance from exit wounds, which as we say, we generally can make an educated guess about these things but cannot be certain about them. I think they attributed too much certainty to us about that.
Mr. SPECTER - Now, have you talked to anyone from the Federal Government about this matter since I took your deposition last Saturday?
Dr. McCLELLAND - No.
Mr. SPECTER - And did you and I chat for a moment or two with my showing you this translation of "L' Express" prior to the time we went on the record here?
Dr. McCLELLAND - Yes.
Mr. SPECTER - And is the information which you gave to me in response to my questions the same that we put on the record here?
Dr. McCLELLAND - To the best of my knowledge---yes
Mr. SPECTER - Thank you very much, Dr. McClelland.
Dr. McCLELLAND - All right. Thank you