Howard powers Magic to 101-95 win over Cavs
Dwight Howard had 22 points and 16 rebounds in a bruising battle with Shaquille O'Neal, and the Orlando Magic beat Cleveland 101-95 on Sunday for the Cavaliers' first three-game losing streak in two years.
Cleveland's skid comes on the heels of a 13-game win streak.
Howard was 8-for-13 shooting and added four blocks, and Vince Carter had eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Magic beat Cleveland for the first time this season.
O'Neal made his first eight shots and finished with 20 points, and LeBron James had 33 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were eliminated by Orlando in last year's Eastern Conference finals.
The hoopla surrounding the Howard-Shaq squabble over the Superman nickname finally lived up to the billing, even though the drama in the end came on the perimeter.
Carter made a two-handed dunk over heavy traffic, and followed that with a layup over Antawn Jamison, pumping his fist to the crowd in celebration. Jameer Nelson came back with a 3-pointer to put the Magic ahead 96-88 with about 2 minutes to play.
O'Neal tipped in a missed shot, and Anthony Parker made a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to three. But after James missed a 3-pointer on Cleveland's next possession, Rashard Lewis made a 3 — from the same spot where he sent the Game 6 clincher into overtime last year — with 20.1 seconds remaining to seal the Magic's win.
Until the last few minutes, though, it was Superman vs. Superman.
O'Neal has been known as the comic book superhero for most of his 17-year NBA career, and he had taken exception with Howard getting the same nickname. It didn't help that Howard has erased much of O'Neal's shadow in Orlando — where he spent four years in the mid-90s — and has restored the Magic to prominence.
The two put on quite a show.
O'Neal grabbed a rebound and caught Howard under the basket, hammering a powerful one-handed dunk over the young center in the opening quarter. Shaq added a put-back dunk, an alley-oop tip and a three-point play over Howard all before the half in the first time this season that fouls didn't sideline the big men for significant time.
At the other end of the floor, Howard used his youth and agility to wiggle around O'Neal almost at will, slicing through the paint for layups and hook shots and making the elder center sprint down the court. Howard also banked a jumpshot from the wing and his defensive presence helped Orlando go ahead 46-35 late in the second quarter.
Then James took over, scoring Cleveland's final 10 points of the half — the last coming on a three-point play over Matt Barnes with 1.1 seconds left — to trim the Magic's lead to six.
After starting his Cleveland career 0 for 12 from the field, Jamison made his first shot of the game, a layup with 7:29 remaining in the first quarter. He also made the first four baskets of the second half and finished with 19 points.
But he still doesn't know what it feels like to win with his new team.
NOTES: Gina Marie Incandela sang the national anthem, the same 7-year-old girl the Magic had perform for most of their surprising NBA finals run last season. Orlando was 7-0 when she sang until losing consecutive home games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals. ... Howard and O'Neal had a simple fist bump before the opening tip. ... Yankees ace CC Sabathia was sitting in the front row behind one basket.
Dodgers’ Padilla laughs about offseason gun wound
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla can laugh now about a gunshot wound that almost ended his career.
Padilla talked about his injury Sunday, saying he was practicing with a small handgun on Nov. 3 in his native Nicaragua when the weapon jammed. He said a friend was trying to fix the problem when the gun accidentally fired.
The bullet went into Padilla's upper right thigh and came out through the back of his leg.
Padilla took part in the Dodgers' first workout of the spring and didn't show any effects of the injury. He said he feels 100 percent healthy with no restrictions.
Just over three months after the accident, Padilla had a sense of humor about the accident. He gave no more specifics on the weapon, offering, "that's my story and I'm sticking to it," and breaking into a grin.
"When it happened, I thought it was going to be serious because I was bleeding a lot," Padilla said through a translator. "But when I went to the hospital, the doctor told me it wasn't serious."
Padilla, signed as a free agent late last season, got a one-year deal with the Dodgers in January. With only three secure options for the rotation, the Dodgers agreed to a one-year deal worth more than $5 million.
General manager Ned Colletti recalled a conversation he had with Padilla's agent, Adam Katz.
"At one point Adam asked me if we were still interested in signing (Padilla) and I said, 'Once hunting season ends, we'll talk about it,'" Colletti said.
Colletti was not so amused with Ronald Belisario's absence from the first workout. The right-handed reliever is stuck in Venezuela with visa problems. He had the same issue last year and missed two weeks of camp before being a surprise late addition to the major league roster.
"At this point in his life he needs to worry about it more than we do," Colletti said. "We have a lot of people in this room that can pitch."
Colletti suggested Belisario, who had a breakout rookie season in 2009, might find himself in a battle for the final bullpen spot with reliever such as Eric Gagne, Jon Link and Cory Wade.
Canadian school ship sinks off Brazil; all rescued
A Canadian sailing ship filled with high school and college students sank off the coast of Brazil in strong winds, but officials said all 64 people aboard were rescued Friday after about 16 hours in rafts tossed by rough seas.
A distress signal was picked up from the three-masted SV Concordia about 5 p.m. Thursday, the Brazilian Navy said in a statement, and a Brazilian Air Force plane later spotted life rafts in about 300 miles (500 kilometers) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
Forty-eight students — in grades 11, 12 and university freshmen — were aboard the vessel, said Kate Knight, head of West Island College International of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which operates the Class Afloat program.
Edgardo Ybranez, captain of the Philippine flagged Hokuetsu Delight cargo ship, told The Associated Press via satellite phone that his ship rescued 44 of the victims in rough, dangerous seas. The remaining people were picked up by another ship.
Ybranez said the Concordia's doctor had suffered an injury before the rescue, "but he is OK now." He gave no more details.
All the rest were unhurt, Ybranez said: "You can tell their parents that everything is OK; everybody aboard my ship is fine."
The captain declined to put one of the survivors on the telephone. "They are all downstairs sleeping because they are exhausted, so I don't want to call any of them up," he said before cutting off the call to communicate with his employers.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement thanking the Brazilian Navy and the merchant crews "for their swift and heroic response."
"The skill and compassion demonstrated by Brazilian rescuers is a tribute to their training, spirit and seamanship," he said.
School officials said 42 of those aboard were from Canada. Knight said others hail from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Europe and the West Indies.
"At this point we can't confirm at all what circumstances led them to abandon ship, or the status of the vessel," she said.
The Brazilian Navy, however, said the ship sank. Juan Cruz Margarita, captain of the SE Stao Knutsen that assisted in the rescue operation, told the AP via satellite phone he saw no sign of the Canadian ship by the time his vessel arrived.
Navy spokeswoman Maria Padilha said the students spent up to 16 hours on life rafts before they were rescued between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m.
She later said that some of those rescued were transferred to a Brazilian Navy ship late Friday and that the first of two ships carrying the passengers back to Rio was expected to dock around 9 a.m.
Shelley Piller, whose 17-year-old stepdaughter Elysha was on board, told the AP in a telephone interview from Kenilworth, Ontario, that she was worried despite hearing news that everyone was safe.
"That's my kid. For me I need to actually physically see her, feel her and have her in front of me to understand that she's safe," Piller said. "We're petrified, absolutely petrified."
The ship had visited Europe and Africa since leaving Canada in September, and it had just begun a five-month semester program on leaving Recife in Brazil's northeast Feb. 8. It was scheduled to dock Tuesday in Montevideo, Uruguay, then head to several islands in the Atlantic and to southern Africa and the Caribbean before returning to Canada.
The school's Web site says the 188-foot-long (57.5-meter-long) Concordia was built in 1992 and "meets all of the international requirements for safety." It carries up to 66 passengers and crew and also can operate under motor power.
The college's Web site says it gives high school and college students the chance to study while sailing the world. Tuition is listed as 42,500 Canadian dollars ($40,600) a year.
Niger junta names platoon commander as its leader
A junta that seized power in a coup in the West African nation of Niger named a platoon commander as its leader Friday, hours after soldiers announced on state TV that their group was in charge of the uranium-rich country.
Former colonial ruler France and the African Union both condemned Thursday's coup, when armed soldiers stormed the presidential palace in a hail of gunfire during broad daylight and kidnapped the country's strongman leader. The whereabouts of President Mamadou Tandja remained unknown Friday.
The junta, which calls itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, declared it was being led by Salou Djibo, a little known commander of a platoon based near the capital. It also announced the reopening of the country's borders and the lifting of a curfew that had been in effect.
The junta has said it wants to turn Niger into "an example of democracy and of good governance." A diplomat in the region described the coup's leaders as being part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.
The country has become increasingly isolated since then, with the 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspending Niger from its ranks and the U.S. government cutting off non-humanitarian aid and imposing travel restrictions on some government officials.
However, there are also fears that the military group could attempt to cling to power in Niger, as the junta in Guinea did following a December 2008 coup. The coup leader there first promised to hold elections in which he would not run, only to later suggest he may have changed his mind. Only a year later, he went into voluntarily exile after his aide-de-camp tried to assassinate him.
The African Union's top executive, Jean Ping, condemned the coup in Niger and said Friday that the AU "demands a quick return to constitutional order."
In Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said France "condemns any seizure of power by non-constitutional methods."
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tandja may have invited his own fate by "trying to extend his mandate in office."
Both the United States and ECOWAS have expressed our concerns about that, and obviously that may well have been an act on his behalf that precipitated this act today," Crowley said Thursday, while adding that the U.S. does not defend the violent takeover. ECOWAS is the regional bloc of 15 West African countries.
In New York, meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the coup, reiterating "his disapproval of unconstitutional changes of government as well as attempts to remain in power through unconstitutional means," U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.
Ban noted the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy's statement saying it intends to restore constitutional order and called on the council "to proceed swiftly with these efforts through a process that is consensual and that includes all segments of Nigerien society."
On Friday, banks and shops in the capital were open, and traffic was normal.
It was unclear where Niger's septuagenarian president was. French radio station Radio France Internationale reported that the soldiers had politely escorted Tandja outside to a waiting car, which drove him toward a military camp on the outskirts of the capital.
During Niger's 1999 coup, though, the country's military strongman was killed in a hail of heavy machine gunfire at Niamey's airport as he prepared to board a helicopter. Official announcements at the time insisted it was an "unfortunate accident."
A diplomat in neighboring Burkina Faso said the mutinous soldiers on Thursday had been led by Col. Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna, the former aide-de-camp of Niger's previous coup leader Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke. The diplomat asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
In Niamey, soldiers contacted by telephone inside their barracks said the coup was led by Col. Adamou Harouna, but gave a different first name — saying it was Djibril, not Abdoulaye. They did not confirm whether he was an aide to Wanke.
Wanke led Niger's 1999 coup, but organized democratic elections less than a year later, which Tandja won. But instead of stepping down as mandated by law on Dec. 22, Tandja triggered a political crisis by pushing through a new constitution in August that removed term limits and gave him greater powers.
Oscar nominees revel in newfound glory
Not long ago, Lee Daniels received a phone call out of left field: George Lucas had seen his film "Precious" and wanted the director to come to his Skywalker Ranch for a visit. Daniels flew up north, had lunch with Lucas and even spent the night in one of his cottages.
"I was nervous and intimidated at first," recalls Daniels, who brought along his leading lady, Gabourey Sidibe. "Then we just kicked back and talked about life and about how the film affected him and his girlfriend. We also talked how sound can help me on my next movie, because I have limited funds. It was a really chill conversation."
Daniels says he now has a new friend whom "I can feel free to call for further advice."
Having Lucas as a mentor is just one of the doors that have opened for Daniels as a result of "Precious." And he's not alone: For many of this year's Oscar nominees, the success of their films has resulted in unimaginable job offers, higher paychecks, more respect within the industry and incoming phone calls from Hollywood power players.
Daniels, who is nominated in two categories -- best picture and best director -- says he's been offered up to $2.5 million to direct everything from a Western to a musical. That's a far cry from the roughly $600,000 he received for "Precious," which he also produced.
Thanks to the film, he's now in discussions with Hugh Jackman, Liam Neeson and Robert De Niro on different projects, while working on his next movie, "Selma," a civil rights movement drama for Pathe Films and an untitled pilot which he's directing and executive producing for HBO, about a black millionaire and his dysfunctional family in Philadelphia.
"Before, I complained that I would only get considered for a specific type of film, but now they're all over the place," he says. "It's liberating to be looked at as filmmaker, not an 'African-American' filmmaker. That's career-changing for me."
The unpredictable nature of the business has meant best actor nominee Jeremy Renner has had a side job for the past eight years: He and business partner Kristoffer Winters develop property in Los Angeles, renovating and then selling the homes.
In fact, while Renner is attending all the black-tie events for "The Hurt Locker," by day he and Winters are busy refurbishing Preston Sturges' old home in Hollywood. (Sturges bought the house in 1936 from Lois Weber, the first woman to produce, direct, star in and co-write a feature film, a nice coincidence considering his "Locker" filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow has a shot at becoming the first female director to win an Academy Award.)
"I make more money doing that, which allows me the freedom to choose the projects I want to do," says Renner, who recently sold a restored house for about $4 million. "I'll always act, but I'll never be forced to do it because there are bills to pay."
Renner is in talks with Universal and director Peter Berg about taking the lead role in "Battleship." He's also had no fewer than five meetings to star in another project, which he declines to reveal. Both films are expected to shoot in the summer, so Renner will be choosing between the two.
But first he'll squeeze in indie "Raven," a period thriller with Ewan McGregor in talks to co-star. "('Locker' has) allowed me to exhale and go, 'OK, now I can really start,'" Renner says. "Maybe it's a form of arrival, maybe it's a type of beginning."
Speaking of beginnings, "Precious'" Sidibe says she has found her calling. A former psych major at Mercy College in New York, who had thought of becoming a psychotherapist, she says she's found her "calling" and has left school to pursue her craft.
Despite the "Precious" frenzy, Sidibe has found time to go on two auditions, both of which she booked: The Sundance lab feature "Yelling to the Sky," and a Bill Condon-directed pilot, "The Big C," which was picked up by Showtime. Sidibe says she's had many meetings, not because she's "that girl in 'Precious,'" but "because I'm not that girl in 'Precious,'" as she's made clear in her bubbly appearances on the talk-show circuit.
Mark Boal has also shifted plans, to some degree. The "Hurt Locker" writer, who spent years as a journalist writing for Rolling Stone and Playboy, is now pretty much a full-time screenwriter and producer, though he admits "I still have a toe in the door at Rolling Stone." His next project carries him further into the film arena: He's writing and producing "Triple Frontier" for Paramount, with Bigelow to direct.
"I have a lot of ideas for movies and 'The Hurt Locker' has given me the opportunity to have access to talk seriously about them to people I admire," says Boal, nominated for best original screenplay and, as producer, best picture. Thanks to his recent success, he's met with such actors as Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, Denzel Washington and Christian Bale about possible collaborations.
Supporting actor nominee Christoph Waltz has also been meeting with pretty much everyone. Since "Inglourious Basterds," he has been offered the part of Chudnofsky in Columbia's "The Green Hornet" and he's met with David Cronenberg to star in "The Talking Cure" with Keira Knightley.
"The interest and the enthusiasm that's coming my way is overwhelming," he notes. "I'm so happy that finally we can discuss WHAT we want to do, not HOW to pull it off. The path has cleared for me to discuss ideas with interesting and open people who can make it happen."
Waltz also has made a deal to direct his feature debut, a German film for Fox's European division. After directing a 2000 German TV project, he'll now segue to the comedy "Up, Up and Away" --- but it has no start date as he is focusing on all his new acting opportunities.
Another oversees film star is seeing her stock rise in the U.S. thanks to her Oscar-nominated performance in "An Education."
"Before I had trouble getting parts because I wasn't enough of a name," says "An Education's" Carey Mulligan. Case in point -- when she heard that one of her favorite books, "Never Let Me Go," would become a movie, "I was desperate to be in it," says the actress. Even though she auditioned and the producers were interested in her, things were not looking promising since, "I wasn't 'financeable,'" Mulligan says.
All that changed when the film won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and Mulligan's stock rose. She found herself cast in the film, which also stars Knightley.
Things only got better from there. Filmmaker Oliver Stone saw "An Education" and personally called Mulligan to ask if she'd consider playing Michael Douglas' daughter in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." No audition necessary.
"Oliver Stone rang me on my mobile," says a still-incredulous Mulligan. "That's not normal. That's the most surreal thing to have happened to me."
Despite not having to read for Stone, Mulligan says of the future, "I hope I still have to go in an audition for roles."
It may sound like a strange statement now that she's in a rarified world where most of her Oscar-nominated peers are "offer only" hires. For Mulligan however, it's about proving her worth.
"I'm scared NOT to audition because then it feels like I haven't earned the job," she says. "It's nice to have done the audition and say, 'I passed the exam,' rather than have people hire me and then hope that I can play the role. I feel very unqualified, otherwise."
Oil above $77 amid improving US economy
Oil prices extended gains above $77 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after surging the previous day amid expectations a growing U.S. economy will fuel increased crude demand.
Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 50 cents at $77.51 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.88 to settle at $77.01 on Tuesday.
Oil and stocks were boosted by signs that U.S. consumer spending may be improving. On Tuesday, Kraft Foods Inc. and apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch reported earnings that beat expectations, helping to send the Dow Jones industrial average up 1.7 percent.
Oil prices have also been buoyed by low U.S. interest rates, as investors turn to commodities for trading profits.
"As long as short term interest rates remain near zero, a large amount of institutional capital will continue to look for a home and the energy complex remains as a compelling investment," Galena, Illinois-based Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report.
In other Nymex trading in March contracts, heating oil was up 1 cent at $2.01 a gallon, and gasoline rose 1.1 cent to $1.999 a gallon. Natural gas gained 6 cents to $5.37 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Toyota looks into Corolla woes, considers recall
Toyota is looking into possible power steering problems with the hot-selling Corolla subcompact while its president said Wednesday he won't be attending the U.S. Congressional hearing on the automaker's safety lapses.
"I trust that our officials in the U.S. will amply answer the questions," Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda told reporters. "We are sending the best people to the hearing, and I hope to back up the efforts from headquarters."
He said Yoshi Inaba, who heads Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. unit, was more familiar with the U.S. situation and was the best man to deal with the hearing. Toyoda said he was still making plans to go to the U.S., but dates weren't set.
But in an alarming disclosure of a possible widening of Toyota's recall crisis, the Toyota executive in charge of quality controls, Shinichi Sasaki, said Toyota was taking seriously the complaints about problems in power-steering in the Corolla, the world's best-selling car.
He said the company is investigating what might be wrong. There have been fewer than 100 complaints, he said.
Toyota has recalled 8.5 million vehicles globally during the past four months because of problems with sticking gas pedals, floor mats trapping accelerators and faulty brake programming.
The U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is holding a hearing on Feb. 24 on Toyota's gas pedal problems. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled one the next day.
Inaba, Toyota Motor North America chief executive, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and NHTSA Administrator David Strickland are expected to testify at both meetings.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has scheduled a March 2 hearing.
Sasaki said drivers may perceive a strange feeling as though they were losing control over the steering, but it was unclear whether the problem was with the shifts in braking systems or a problem with the tires.
Speaking at Toyota's Tokyo office, he said the company was considering a recall, and was ready to come up with any needed fixes as soon as possible. The number of possibly affected vehicles is unclear, he said.
Toyoda reiterated his promise to put customers first in beefing up quality controls at the world's No. 1 automaker.
He promised a brake-override system in all future models worldwide that will add a safety measure against acceleration problems that are behind the recent massive recalls.
The system is a mechanism that overrides the accelerator if the gas and brake pedals are pressed at the same time.
"We are not covering up anything, and we are not running away from anything," Toyoda said.
Israel under pressure over Hamas killing in Dubai
Israeli commentators are criticizing the vaunted Mossad spy agency for sloppiness after revelations that the alleged assassins of a Hamas military commander in Dubai used identities of at least seven European-born Israelis.
The sharp criticism of Mossad is making it tough for Israel to maintain its silence over the killing. The spy agency is being accused of exposing agents and invading citizens' privacy.
Dubai police released names, photos, and passport numbers of 11 members of an alleged hit-squad that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his Dubai hotel room last month. Dubai says all carried European passports.
But most of the identities appear fake and at least seven match real people in Israel who claim they are victims of identity theft.
Top cleric urges Iraqis to turn out for March vote
Iraq's top Shiite cleric is urging voters to turn out for parliamentary elections set for March 7 but distances himself from any particular coalition.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani warned in a statement Wednesday that failure to participate will allow others to achieve "illegitimate goals." He did not say who in particular he was referring to.
The Iranian-born al-Sistani has quietly guided Iraq's fledgling democracy since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.
The country's ruling Shiite establishment reveres him, partly out of respect as a spiritual leader but also for fear that ignoring his wishes could unleash a backlash from majority Shiites.
US warships in Hong Kong in sign of easing tension
Five American warships docked for a port call in Hong Kong on Wednesday in a sign that recent tensions between China and the U.S. may be easing after flare-ups over an arms sale to Taiwan and the Dalai Lama.
Carrying some 5,000 sailors, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and four other ships arrived in Hong Kong waters for a four-day rest stop after spending five months in the North Arabian Sea as a base for air combat missions in Afghanistan, the USS Nimitz public affairs office said in a statement.
Political analysts see Beijing's approval of the port call as an indication that the Chinese government doesn't want to let Sino-U.S. relations deteriorate further, hampering cooperation on the global economy and other issues.
With its abundance of foreigner-friendly restaurants, bars and shops, this former British colony has long been a favored stop for U.S. warships, and Beijing has continued the tradition after Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule.
China blocked a long-scheduled port call by the USS Kitty Hawk in November 2007 at the last minute, denying thousands of sailors a Thanksgiving reunion with families and friends who had flown to the city. Some analysts viewed the move as retaliation after the U.S. Congress awarded its highest civilian honor to the Dalai Lama.
The Tibetan Buddhist leader — whom Beijing views as a separatist — is also at the center of recent Sino-U.S. tensions. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to see President Barack Obama on Thursday in a meeting condemned by the Chinese. That meeting — along with trade disputes, alleged Chinese cyber-spying, and the announcement of a $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its territory — have made for rough relations.
Yet Beijing has allowed the USS Nimitz carrier strike group to stop in Hong Kong — despite a threat to suspend military-to-military exchanges after the Taiwan arms sale. It also hasn't followed through on another threat to retaliate against U.S. companies involved in the sale.
The commander of the strike group declined to comment on the politics behind the port call on Wednesday.
"For us, this is a routine port visit," Rear Adm. John W. Miller told reporters. "We requested the port visit through normal channels and we're certainly delighted that we received permission from (China's) Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be able to come in."
It's unclear if Chinese military officials based in Hong Kong will visit the U.S. warships. Miller said he is hosting a reception on the ships Wednesday evening, but referred questions about the guest list to the U.S. consulate general in Hong Kong. Consulate general spokesman Matthew Dolbow said it is policy not to reveal guest names.
The visiting American sailors will tour Hong Kong Disneyland, the neighboring Chinese gambling enclave Macau and the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the USS Nimitz said in its statement.
The USS Nimitz, which is based in San Diego, California, is traveling with the USS Chosin, the USS Pinckney, the USS Sampson and the USS Rentz.
