Izzo. The Spartans take pride in thriving on pressure

Izzo joked he might have Raymar Morgan stand on Delvon Roe’s shoulders to defend Connecticut 7-foot-3 center, Hasheem Thabeet. “We need everybody we got,” Izzo said. Advertisement After a convincing 64-52 victory over Louisville, before more than 30,000 Cardinals fans at Lucas Oil Stadium, guard Travis Walton appeared unfazed. “Pressure is what Michigan State is all about,” he said.

“Coach always tells us about his story; two years into his job he had pressure to deliver — he delivered.” Michigan State advanced to its fifth Final Four in 11 years and improved to 14-2 under Izzo in the second game of an NCAA Tournament weekend. Michigan State also did it while Morgan struggled.

Robert. Maguire sells Irvine complex for $22 million

With its lease set to expire in 2011, Allergan had been considering whether to stay put or move. Tenant Allergan, the pharmaceutical firm that makes Botox, takes over the $20-million mortgage on the property. By Roger Vincent March 28, 2009 Struggling office landlord Maguire Properties Inc. sold an Orange County building Friday for $22 million to one of the tenants at the Irvine complex, pharmaceutical company Allergan.

Allergan, which makes Botox, eye-care solutions and other products, bought the building at 18581 Teller Ave. in a deal that allowed it to take over Maguire’s $20-million mortgage on the property. The 88,000-square-foot building is part of Allergan’s headquarters campus.

Screaming Starts. Ireland has none of this at present but over the next five years we will have a few more good roads and a good start on a very-.

In about 10 years the business world will be buying, selling, designing, banking, reviewing, creating, contracting, bidding, developing and meeting via the internet and its components. To participate in this, will need broadband’s best IT folks, and excellent teaching and research folks, and facilities. To achieve this on a continuing basis we need 1,000 new or refurbished primary and secondary schools that are fully equipped with science and computer equipment and supporting supplies and small classes to allow for detailed student-teacher communication. This all starts with Early Childhood Development classrooms.

Ireland has none of this at present but over the next five years we will have a few more good roads and a good start on a very-expensive to St Stephen’s Green transit system for use by some 40,000 Dubliners. All political parties, the building community, the unions — even the professors at Trinity — favour the transit system’s construction rather than spending the money for education. No one is speaking out for our children.

Watch out, Season 8! Ruben Studdard wants your clothes

Season 2 champ, Ruben Studdard, returns to the “American Idol” stage tonight, and the Velvet Teddy Bear is giddy. During a rehearsal Wednesday, Studdard marveled at the new “Idol” stage, And the stage isn’t the only thing that has changed since Studdard’s time on “Idol.” Studdard was also blown away by the wardrobe enjoyed by today’s contestants. “These kids now get to wear designer clothes every week!” he told MTV, incredulous.

“We didn’t get to wear Dolce & Gabbana, that’s for sure.” Lately, Studdard has been busy touring with a production of the Fats Waller musical, “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” working on his fourth album — “Love IS,” which drops May 19 — and enjoying his first year of married life. According to , Studdard met his wife, Surata Zuri McCants, while signing albums at a Wal-Mart in Atlanta. She had come to get his autograph for a friend. “What about you?” Studdard had inquired. “You’re all right,” replied McCants. And the rest is history!

Smokey Robinson. Adam Lambert Thrills Judges On ‘American Idol’ With Emotional Performance

Guest mentor Smokey Robinson, who originally performed the classic song with the Miracles, rose to his feet after watching the 26-year-old theater actor hit all the right notes during Wednesday’s Motown-themed installment of the “Fox” singing competition. Lambert, who’s from Los Angeles, ditched his rocker duds for a sleek silver suit and smoothed his black hair back into an Elvis-style pompadour. Judge said Lambert delivered the night’s best performance and became a star in his eyes. Fellow judge agreed, saying Lambert showed “true artistry.” The four judges were also equally impressed by the vocal stylings of Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud and Kris Allen.

Cowell liked Allen’s cover of “How Sweet It Is” but said the 23-year-old married heartthrob from Conway, Ark., needs to show more swagger and confidence. Lil Rounds and Danny Gokey scored mixed reviews for their respective renditions of “Heat Wave” and “Get Ready.” Cowell told Rounds, 24, of Memphis, Tenn., she’d missed a potential “Idol”-defining “moment” by picking the wrong song (he’d rather hear the soul singer belt “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”).

Phantom Tollbooth. LuAnn, Kelly, Romona and the van Kempens attend the Russell Simmons fashion show and Kelly covers fashion week for her column.

“Thuffering Thuccotash.” The legendary animator is profiled in this documentary that features interviews with Jones and animated segments based on his childhood. Followed at 8 p.m. and midnight by the 1970 animated film that Jones co-directed, “The Phantom Tollbooth.” 7:30 and 11:30 tonight, TCM.

Doug Knoop, Seattle Times staff Also on today Presidential News Conference, 5 p.m. (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox): President Barack Obama’s address is affecting the prime-time schedule. Check. “Reaper,” 8 p.m. (The CW): It turns out the Devil (Ray Wise) has another son, Morgan (guest star Armie Hammer). “Last Restaurant Standing,” 9 p.m. (BBC America): The remaining couples are forced out of their comfort zones to cater a fancy dinner party. “NCIS,” 9 p.m. (CBS): A young boy finds a murder weapon and the team must trace ownership of the gun to discover who was murdered. “The Biggest Loser,” 9 p.m. (NBC): Tonight is Part 1 of a two-part challenge.

Pearl Fryar. We are missing a big opportunity if we don’t take advantage of tourism in Lee County.

BISHOPVILLE – Lee County has the potential to become a popular tourist attraction, local business and community leaders believe, and they will gather at 9 a.m. Friday at the South Carolina Cotton Museum to help develop a marketing plan with that in mind. Commissioned by the South Carolina Parks and Recreation Commission, Robert Cleverdon of Ireland-based Tourism Development International will serve as the primary facilitator.

Cleverdon has recently completed a statewide tourism action plan, said Lee County’s Marsha Hewitt, a member of the Pee Dee Tourism Commission. Cleverdon is an international tourism development and marketing analyst. “People don’t think of tourism as business,” said Hewitt, “but it is. We are missing a big opportunity if we don’t take advantage of tourism in Lee County.

Mike Davis. The Steamboat Pilot & Today: Sports briefs: Salazar, Rossi named to all

Holli Salazar and Sarajane Rossi remained close friends throughout high school even though they sat on opposite ends of the heated Hayden-Soroco rivalry. The longtime friends are finally teammates. Both were selected to the Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports all-star basketball team and will play in a special game Sunday at Arvada West High School in Arvada.

All the selected 2A players will be split into two teams that will face off at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Brazilian Wandering. World’s Deadliest Spider Found In Whole Foods In Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. – One of the most deadly spiders in the world has been found in the produce section of a Tulsa grocery store. An employee of Whole Foods Market found the Brazilian Wandering Spider Sunday in bananas from Honduras and managed to catch it in a container. The spider was given to University of Tulsa Animal Facilities director Terry Childs who said this type of spider kills more people than any other.

Childs said a bite will kill a person in about 25 minutes and while there is an antidote he doesn’t know of any in the Tulsa area. Spiders often are found in imported produce, and a manager at Whole Foods says the store regularly checks its goods and that’s how the spider was found.

Naturally. Opinions on the news in the Twin Cities and Minnesota

If all of the nation’s bloggers screamed at once, would it make a sound? We had an opportunity to answer that question this week when news broke of the bonuses paid by bailed-out insurance giant AIG. The recipient of more than $170 billion in taxpayer money handed out more than $160 million to many of the people who made the bailout necessary. The outrage was almost universal. On the conservative side, Rick Moran of summed it up.

I am as disgusted and angry as any American over the AIG bonuses given to a bunch of executives whose performance has been so catastrophically bad that in a just and moral society, they would have been in the stocks rather than laughing all the way to the bank with what amounts to our money. (Actually, it’s our children’s money, but who’s counting?) It really is too bad we no longer put violators of the moral order in stocks. The Puritans certainly had the right idea …; I’m sure you can see the efficacy of putting all of these bank big shots in the stocks. That way, we can all have a crack at them. We might even consider taking the show on the road, as it were, and go from city to city, town to town, with executives from AIG, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America, and all the other bail out blue noses whose stupidity and utter disregard of good business practices (limiting risk) got us in this mess.