A spiritualist gleans Christian who florida atlantic owls examines believes in reincarnation and is not afraid to die, he penned the Grand Canyon experiment. *The cliff plunge, to be aired later this year on the Discovery Channel, was carried out in Arizona at a remote 1,600-foot-deep section of gorge. Once beyond the rail, Burnquist would need to assume flying position and track away from the canyon walls. Transworld Skateboarding magazine's Keith Hamm wrote that "while most tricks are make or break, this cliff jump was do or die," but talk of death, while the possibility weighed heavily on the minds of the crew, was taboo. Burnquist made two test jumps from a helicopter. He calculated risk repeatedly, concluding that the greatest danger was hitting his face on the rail and free-falling unconscious, unable to pull the ripcord. On his first attempt he intentionally missed the rail and ditched his board, which tracked into the abyss and out of sight. On his second he didn't have enough height to clear the 12-foot gap and land atop the rail, so he pushed away from it with one hand and flailed briefly before pointing himself downward and away. O'Brien recalls that she "didn't realize how gnarly it was until I walked to the edge of the canyon wall, with my heart beating faster, and got a clearer perspective. "Burnquist made the connection on his third try but came off his board and quick-stepped off the rail for another free-fall. His fourth try was wobbly but successful, bringing about a tangible sense of relief among the crew -- until Burnquist requested one more try. It was a perfect run, as he had envisioned, leaving the rail in tucked skating position, the board staying under his feet well out over the void, disconnecting like a rocket booster as he leaned forward and tracked beyond the canyon walls. "I'm just happy he pulled it off," O'Brien says, watching Lotus at play in the yard. "But I wasn't really that worried because Bob usually makes the things he sets out to do. ".

CLEVELAND -- Managers Eric Wedge of the Indians and Terry Francona of the Red Sox were more than willing to discuss Thursday's news regarding Joe Torre -- to a point. The first two questions of Francona's media session before Game 5 were about Torre's decision to turn down a one-year, $5-million deal to return as manager of the New York Yankees. After a question about closer Jonathan Papelbon and another about the Red Sox offense, the topic turned back to Torre and whether Francona would reach out to his now-former archrival with a phone call. "This is sort of a big day for us to try to win this game," said Francona, whose team was on the verge of elimination Thursday, down 3-1 in the series "There's time for this probably isn't the time for . we need to try to win this game tonight or I might be getting phone calls florida atlantic university . Joe might be calling me. "Wedge said he had "a great deal of respect for [Torre] as a human being as well as a baseball man, and with what he's accomplished, I think that he should manage as long as he wants to manage. "I know there's a business side of it, but from what I understand, for him to look at that [offer] and say no, good for him florida atlantic university theatre . You know what? He's earned and deserves to do whatever the hell he wants to do. "Jim Leyritz, a catcher on Torre's first World Series championship team in 1996, was surprised that Torre, who took the Yankees to the playoffs in each of his 12 years as manager, turned down a deal that would have paid $8 million if he and the team reached the World Series in 2008. "I thought a one-year, rocking-chair tour would have been a good way to send him out and for him to walk into the sunset," said Leyritz, who is working the ALCS for Fox and MLB . What about Torre's successor?"To me, there's only one logical choice, Don Mattingly," Leyritz said, referring to the former first baseman and current Yankees bench coach fau university . "He's the only guy with the star power, and they've been grooming him to do that. "He can deal with the media, the other things that go with it. As far as knowing the game, managing the game, Donnie is ready for it. There's no other choice, unless they surprise you like they always do. "Francona was concerned about Torre's personal well being. "I think you're going to hear people in every area of baseball say very kind, respectful things about Joe the next couple days, and they're all deserved," he said.

"I just hope he's happy. "Manny Ramirez's first-inning double Thursday night gave the Red Sox slugger hits in 15 consecutive league championship series games, tying Pete Rose's record, set from 1973 to 83 . Kenny Lofton's stolen base in Game 4 gave the Cleveland outfielder 34 postseason stolen bases, breaking Rickey Henderson's record. --mike. digiovanna fau registrar . NEEDHAM, Mass fau social work . — For 17 years, Williams football coach Dick Farley welcomed players to the Purple Valley with a simple slap at their egos. "There is no Division IV," he would tell the academic overachievers and athletic also-rans who came to play for him fau theater . "If you can't play here, you can't play anywhere. "For 17 years, his players dominated archrival Amherst and the rest of Division III to prove their churlish mentor wrong. That was exactly his point. "When you're on top of the world, I don't think you need a pat on the back. Anybody's going to be in your corner," former Williams quarterback Peter Supino said. "Coach Farley quietly encouraged people once in a while, but in a way that had a lot of power.

He didn't have to make you feel warm and cozy with praise for you to know that he respected you. "A Boston University graduate who played two end-of-the-bench seasons for the NFL's San Diego Chargers, Farley will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Aug . 12 in the Divisional Class -- a group of I-AA, II, III and NAIA players and coaches that also includes Mississippi Valley State standout Jerry Rice and John Gagliardi, the St florida atlantic . John's (Minn. ) coach whose 432 victories are the most of any division. Farley's 114-19-3 record before he stepped down in 2003 gave him an . 849 winning percentage that is sixth all-time -- for any college of any size fau theatre . He never had a losing season, beating Amherst his first eight tries and going 14-2-1 against the Ephs' traditional rival. "I think he could have coached anywhere fau tickets . But it's not a bad place for a coach to be, at Williams," said Ethan Brooks, whose eight years as an NFL offensive lineman make him one of Williams' most successful pros. "I'm thankful that he stayed. "Though it might not be the typical Hall of Fame breeding ground, Williams has garnered more than its share of athletic honors. This year, the school earned its eighth consecutive Director's Cup as the top overall performer at the NCAA Division III championships; for the third year in a row, Williams combined that with a No 1 academic ranking by U. S. News and World Report, a triple-double no other school has accomplished even once. But when Farley took over as head coach in 1987 -- having already spent 15 years as a football assistant -- the school in bucolic Berkshire County had lost six straight to Amherst Florida Atlantic Owls Lockhart Stadium - ticketcity .

Williams lost the first three games that season, too, before Farley called his players in one-by-one to ask them what they thought was going wrong. They told him they weren't good enough to play just one day a week -- so he allowed more hitting in practice. The Ephs finished the season 4-4 and went another 128 games before suffering back-to-back losses again. "Nobody from the school ever talked to me about winning," he said, and he didn't focus on it, either myfau . Although fiercely competitive, he would tell his players after a rare loss: "You will learn more about yourself by losing this game than if you had won. "Supino led the Ephs to upsets over unbeaten Amherst teams in 1996 and '97, but the nicest thing Farley ever said to him came after he played poorly and got pulled from a game fau courses . Painful as it was, he cheered from the sideline as backup quarterback Sean Keenan led Williams to a last-second victory. After the game, Farley was waiting for Supino on the steps of the locker room. "I just want to tell you," Supino remembers the coach saying, "I saw the way you were encouraging Sean and the team, and you carried yourself like a man today . It's moments like that are very gratifying to me as a coach. Florida Atlantic Owls Lockhart Stadium tickets ""It was really moving," said Supino, who is now a money manager in Omaha, Neb Florida Atlantic Owls Lockhart Stadium . Sitting in a conference room at the suburban Boston corporate offices of former receiver Todd Ducharme, the 60-year-old coach holds forth about his Williams tenure for more than an hour, even rolling his chair over to the whiteboard to diagram plays. ("That right there -- that's more than I heard him talk in four years," Ducharme said. ) The stories come quickly, peppered with names like Bill Belichick and Mike Ditka and Joe Paterno and George Steinbrenner, whose son Farley coached in track Florida Atlantic Owls Lockhart Stadium - cstv . "He's a great example for young people to follow," said Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees owner and Williams graduate.