Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking.

There are four types of defender; centre back, sweeper, full back, and wing back. The centre back and the full back positions are essential in most modern formations. The sweeper and winger back roles are more specialized for certain formations.

Centre back

The job of the centre back, centre half, central defender, or stopper is to stop opposing players, particularly the strikers, from scoring, and to bring the ball out from their penalty area. As their name suggests, they play in a central position.

The position was formerly referred to as centre half, although the emphasis of the centre half was more forward thinking in action. In the early part of the 20th century, when most teams employed the 2-3-5 formation, the two players at the back were called full backs and the row of three players in front of them were called half backs. As formations evolved, the central player in this trio, the centre half, moved into a more defensive position on the field, taking the name of the position with them. The right and left players in the trio were called the right half and left half respectively.

In the modern game, most teams employ two centre backs, stationed in front of the goalkeeper. There are two main defensive strategies used by centre backs: the zonal defence, where each centre back covers a specific area of the pitch, and man-to-man marking, where each centre back has the job of covering a particular opposition player.

The main responsibilities of centre backs include:

Marking threats in their immediate area (zonal defending) or to mark a particular opposition player (man marking).

Making tackles on attacking players as the last line of defence against the opposition.

Intercepting dangerous crosses, shots and through passes that cause an immediate danger to the team.

Defending opposition corners and to stay in the opposition team's penalty box for corners and set pieces with headers.

To form the tactical base of the team. Coaches either choose to field the "line" of defence deep or further upfield. The choice of defensive line has great tactical implications in the professional game. A deep defensive line is considered a more conservative approach; however, it also means that the midfielders require to cover more ground in the game and risks ceding midfield territory to the opposition. A high defensive line allows teams to pin opposition teams into their own territory and apply pressure when chasing for a goal, however, it leaves the attacking team vulnerable to counter attacks by quick opposition players.

Maintain the defensive posture. Due to the advent of the offside rule in the modern game, defenders and centre-backs in particular need to ensure that the defensive line is strictly enforced when opposition attacking players are near by. A defender that strays slightly behind the defensive line, for example, can "play" an opposition player onside and inadvertently create a scoring opportunity.

Playing a simple game. Due to their proximity to goal, centre backs need to avoid over-elaboration and play short and simple passes to their colleagues upfield as well as avoid playing passes square across the defence, where they are vulnerable to interception by an opposition player.

Centre backs require a specialised range of attributes, which include:

Height, good heading and jumping ability to contest balls in the air.

Strength, marking and tackling ability to deal with one-on-one threats.

Bravery and aggression to rush out and deal with any unexpected goal threats.

Ability to read the game as well as anticipate incoming threats. Centre backs need to balance the need to deal with any imminent threat from the opposition and the need to maintain the defensive posture.

Concentration. Centre backs need to focus on the task at hand and get interceptions, last-ditch tackles and headers correctly every time. They also need to ensure that they get a sure footing on the ball when clearing it so as to play it away from danger.

Passing. Under pressure, centre backs may need to call on competent passing skills to move the ball out to midfielders.

Sweeper (Libero)

The sweeper is a more versatile type of centre back who "sweeps up" the ball if an opponent manages to breach the defensive line. His or her position is rather more fluid than other defenders who man-mark their designated opponents. Because of this, the position is sometimes referred to as libero (from the Italian word meaning "free", as used by the sports journalist Gianni Brera). Though the sweeper may be expected to build counter-attacking moves, and as such requires better ball control and passing ability than a typical centre back, his or her talents are often confined to the defensive realm. For example, the catenaccio system of play, used in Italian football in the 1960s, employed a purely defensive sweeper who only 'roamed' around the back line.

Some sweepers move forward and distribute the ball up-field, while others intercept passes and get the ball off the opposition without needing to hurl themselves into tackles. In modern football, its usage has been fairly restricted, with few clubs in the biggest leagues using the position.

Full back

The full backs take up the wide defensive positions, one on each side of the field. Their main task is to prevent opposition players crossing or cutting the ball back into the penalty area. In some defensive systems, full backs man-mark opponents. Most full backs are also expected to provide an attacking dimension by getting upfield, engaging in interplay with the wingers and providing crosses.

In the traditional 2–3–5 team formation, the two players in the final row of defence before the goalkeeper were referred to as full backs. This formation is almost never used in the modern game, having been replaced largely by the four-man defence, but the term "full back" lives on — the full backs now occupy the wide positions in the defensive line, with the old centre half [back] doubled-up to fill the central defensive position.

The traditional English full back was a large, strong man who would make substantial use of "hacking" – deliberately kicking the shins of opponents, a practice that was accepted as legal in Britain but not in other countries, and caused major controversy as the game became increasingly internationalized from the 1950s on. It is now effectively banned everywhere, and it is this in part that has given rise to a different set of defensive roles.

In the modern game, full backs have taken on a more offensive role than is the case traditionally. Wingerless formations such as the diamond 4-4-2 formation demand the full back to cover considerable ground up and down the flank. Some of the responsibilities of modern full backs include:

Provide a physical obstruction to opposition attacking players by shepherding them towards an area where they exert less influence. They may manoeuvre in a fashion that causes the opponent to cut in towards the centre back or defensive midfielder with his weaker foot, where he is likely to be dispossessed. Otherwise, jockeying and smart positioning may simply pin back a winger in an area where he is less likely to exert influence.

Making off-the-ball runs into spaces down the channels and supplying crosses into the opposing penalty box.

Throw ins are usually assigned to full backs.

Marking wingers and other attacking players. Full backs generally do not commit into challenges in their opponents' half. However, they aim to quickly dispossess the attacking players who have already breached the defensive line with a sliding tackle from the side. Markers must however avoid keeping too tight on opponents or risk disrupting the defensive organisation.

Maintaining tactical discipline by ensuring other team mates do not over run the defensive line and inadvertently play an opponent onside.

Providing a passing option down the flank, for instance, by creating opportunities for sequences like one-two passing moves.

In wingerless formations, full backs need to cover the roles of both wingers and full backs, although defensive work may be shared with one of the central midfielders.

Additionally, attacking full backs help to pin both opposition full backs and wingers deeper in their own half with aggressive attacking intent. Their presence in attack also forces the opposition to withdraw players from central midfield, which the team can seize to its advantage.

Due to the physical and technical demands of their playing position, successful full backs need a wide range of attributes, which make them suited for adaptation to other roles on the pitch. Many of the game's utility players, who can play in multiple positions on the pitch, are natural full backs. A rather prominent example is the Inter Milan full back Javier Zanetti, who has played on both flanks as a full back and as a winger, and in central midfield throughout his illustrious career. In the modern game, full backs often chip in a fair share of assists with their runs down the flank when the team is on a counterattack. The more common attributes of full backs, however, include:

Pace and stamina to handle the demands of covering large distances up and down the flank.

A healthy work rate and team responsibility.

Marking and tackling abilities and a sense of anticipation.

Good off-the-ball ability to create attacking opportunities for his team by running into empty channels.

Dribbling ability. Many of the game's eminent attacking full backs are excellent dribblers in their own right and occasionally deputise as attacking wingers.

Player intelligence. As is common for defenders, full backs need to decide during the flow of play whether to stick close to a winger or maintain a suitable distance. Full backs that stay too close to attacking players are vulnerable to being pulled out of position and leaving a gap in the defence. A quick passing movement like a pair of one-two passes will leave the channel behind the defending full-back open. This vulnerability is a reason why wingers considered to be dangerous are double-marked by both the full-back and the winger. This allows the full back to focus on holding his defensive line.

Wingback

The wingbacks are a modern variation on the full back with heavier emphasis on attack. The name is a portmanteau of "winger" and "fullback". They are usually employed in a 3-5-2 formation, and could therefore be considered part of the midfield. But they may also be used in a 5-3-2 formation and therefore have a more defensive role.

In the evolution of the modern game, wingbacks are the combination of wingers and fullbacks. As such it is one of the most physically demanding positions in modern football. Wingbacks are often more adventurous than full backs and are expected to provide width, especially in teams without wingers. A wingback needs to be of exceptional stamina, be able to provide crosses upfield and defend effectively against opponents' attacks down the flanks. A defensive midfielder is usually fielded to cover the advances of wingbacks.

See also

Association football positions

Formation

Catenaccio

References

Category:Association football positions Category:Association football terminology

Name	Sharron Angle
Office	Member of the Nevada Assembly from the 26th District
Term start	January 3, 2003
Term end	January 3, 2007
Predecessor	David Humke
Successor	Ty Cobb
Office2	Member of the Nevada Assembly from the 29th District
Term start2	January 3, 1999
Term end2	January 3, 2003
Predecessor2	Ernie E. Adler
Successor2	Joshua Griffin
Birthname	Sharron Elaine Ott
Birth date	July 26, 1949
Birth place	Klamath Falls, Oregon, U.S.
Occupation	TeacherPolitician
Party	Republican
Alma mater	University of Nevada, Reno
Spouse	Ted Angle
Religion	Southern Baptist
Website	sharronangle.com

Sharron Elaine Angle (born Sharron Elaine Ott July 26, 1949) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Nevada Assembly from 1999 to 2007. She ran unsuccessfully as the 2010 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in Nevada, garnering 44 percent of the vote.

Personal life

Angle was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and moved to Reno, Nevada, when she was three. Her father is a Navy veteran of World War II and served in the Navy Reserve during the Korean War. She attended public schools in Reno and later obtained a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Nevada. Ted and Sharron Angle had two children and, as of October 2010, ten grandchildren.

After graduating college, Angle, a Southern Baptist, worked as a substitute teacher for 25 years, ran a small Christian school for two years, and taught art for five years as a lecturer at Western Nevada Community College in Winnemucca.

In 2003, she hired John Eastman of the Claremont Institute to fight the Supreme Court decision when then Governor Kenny Guinn sued the Legislature to nullify the state constitution and allow a simple majority of the legislature to pass an $836 million tax increase in Angle v. Guinn. Angle used her personal funds to defend the state constitution's two-thirds vote requirement to raise taxes and, with Eastman, took the case to Federal District Court in Nevada, which referred it to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and finally to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Legislature subsequently passed the $836 million tax increase by a two-thirds vote. Angle ultimately prevailed in the suit; in 2006, the state supreme court reversed its 2003 decision and restored the Nevada Constitution's two-thirds vote provision.

In 2003, Angle attempted to arrange a trip to an Ensenada, Baja California prison to assess a drug treatment program implemented there. She also arranged to visit a prison in New Mexico to assess the "Second Chance Program," which licensed its materials from Criminon, a program for rehabilitating prisoners using methods developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Angle sponsored legislation aimed at placing this program in certain women's prisons in Nevada. She states that she voted no because the Nevada Constitution states that taxation must be uniform and equal and so could not vote against her oath of office to which she swore to "uphold and defend the Constitution." On August 25, Angle called for a new primary election on the grounds that some poll workers showed up late for work, or didn't show up at all, in Washoe County, where she was the strongest. On September 1, the Carson District Judge denied her appeal for a new election.

2010 run for U.S. Senate

On April 15, 2010, she received an endorsement for the U.S. Senate race from the Tea Party Express at a rally in the nation's capital. The next day, she received an endorsement from conservative talk radio personality Mark Levin and she was endorsed by several other conservative individuals and organizations, including the Club for Growth, Samuel "Joe The Plumber" Wurzelbacher, Singer Pat Boone, and Phyllis Schlafly.

Despite this support, some prominent Republicans opposed her candidacy. Immediately after the primary, the Republican mayor of Reno, Bob Cashell, who backed Lowden in the Republican primary, endorsed Reid for the general election, calling Angle an "ultra-right winger." Other notable Republicans opposing her included Sig Rogich, a former campaign staffer for Ronald Reagan and assistant to President George H. W. Bush; Republican State Senator and Minority Leader William Raggio; Dema Guinn, the widow of the late Republican Governor of Nevada Kenny Guinn; and former Lieutenant Governor Sue Wagner.

The Washington Post reported on May 28 that Angle was in a "statistical dead heat" with her opponent, Sue Lowden, citing a poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Using the same poll data, the Las Vegas Review-Journal speculated that Lowden would win 42 percent of the vote over Reid's 39 percent, and that Reid would win 42 percent of the vote over Angle's 39 percent with a margin of error "plus or minus 4 percentage points." On June 6, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported that according to a new Mason-Dixon poll, Angle had "shot into a clear lead in the U.S. Senate Republican Primary" and predicted that she would win the nomination with 32% of the vote and would defeat Harry Reid 44% to 41%.

Angle went on to win the Republican nomination. A June 9, 2010, Rasmussen Reports post-primary poll showed her leading incumbent Senator Harry Reid by a margin of 50% to 39%. A July 2010 poll showed Reid leading Angle by 7 points. The change of margin, 18% in less than a month, is the largest in Senate elections history. That same month, Nevada Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian released a tape to the media of a recorded conversation he had with Angle where she asked him to drop out of the race. In the tape, Angle speaks candidly about her campaign and says that she cannot defeat Reid with Ashjian on the ballot.

One of Angle's campaign ads aired on television late in her campaign entitled "The Wave" was cited as racist and despicable by Sen. Robert Menendez.

On election day, Angle received the support of about 44% of voters, allowing Reid to return to the Senate. and national. In September, the Las Vegas Review-Journal sued her for copyright infringement after she allegedly posted entire articles from the publication on her campaign website without permission. After the campaign ended, it was revealed that the campaign developed a code word to alert office workers if the media entered the campaign headquarters: "It's time to water the plants." and claiming Angle "pushed a bill favored by the Church of Scientology." Although the Las Vegas Review-Journal said that "no bill was ever introduced,"

During a KVBC-hosted debate on Face to Face with Jon Ralston, Angle was asked "about recent whispers that an Angle legislative proposal to explore a program of massages and sweat-boxes for Nevada prisons was a strange foray into Scientology", a reference to her 2003 proposal to study the program implemented in Mexico and New Mexico. Angle responded, "This program had a recidivism rate of less than 10 percent. They aren't massages. ... it was more of a karate chop. The sauna was a sweat box. When you're in there with 30 guys, it's not exactly a sauna." stating that the controversy had been "largely distorted". Regarding these claims relating to Scientology, Angle told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "The way to ruin a conservative is to pass them off as part of the radical fringe. They always try to marginalize me."

Patriot Caucus

On December 12th, 2010 Sharron Angle announced the formation of a PAC named the Patriot Caucus to "organize a ground game across most battleground states for the 2012 election cycle."

Positions

Education

Angle believes that the U.S. Department of Education should be eliminated, citing that the local approach yields the best academic results ("[The] best education is the education that is controlled closest to the local level as possible.") Angle also holds that the Department of Education is "unconstitutional" and should not be involved in dictating educational standards from Washington, D.C.

United Nations

Angle believes that the U.S. should withdraw from the United Nations, saying it is a bastion of liberal ideology and "the umpire on fraudulent science such as global warming."

Social policy

Angle supports the Federal Marriage Amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Angle is pro-life and opposes abortion, including in cases of rape or incest. In a June 2010 radio interview, broadcast statewide in Nevada, Angle stated that she had counseled young girls in "very at risk, difficult pregnancies" to consider other alternatives, by which they had been able to make "a lemon situation into lemonade."

Separation of church and state

Angle does not believe that the United States Constitution mandates the separation of church and state.

Health care/abortion

Angle favors the privatization of Medicare. She voted against fluoridating drinking water.

Angle opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, saying that it is against God's 'Plan'. In 1999, the Associated Press reported that Angle had proposed a bill that "would have required doctors to inform women seeking abortions about a controversial theory linking an increased risk of breast cancer with abortion." When she introduced the legislation again in 2001, the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote that critics responded by saying the alleged link was not supported by scientific evidence, calling the bill a "scare tactic."

During the 2010 campaign, Angle told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that, as a state legislator, she had sponsored a bill to remove the requirement that health insurers cover mammograms and colonoscopies. In a debate among the Republican candidates, she repeated her support for lifting "mandates" on insurance companies.

Social Security

Angle has said that the Social Security system should be "transitioned out". In May 2010, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Angle had claimed in a radio interview on KNPR that "[her] grandfather wouldn't even take his Social Security check because he said he was not up for welfare." The following month the Reid campaign reacted with a television ad stating that "Sharron Angle would end Medicare and Social Security. This is crazy." Angle has spoken favorably of the program in Chile, where current beneficiaries of the public retirement system were allowed to continue but all others were compelled to pay into a private system instead.

Financial reform

Angle favors a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve, eliminating the complete Internal Revenue Service code and abolishing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Drugs

Angle has stated that she opposes legalizing marijuana and has stated that she feels the same about alcohol. When her spokesman, Jerry Stacy, was asked to clarify Angle's statement he responded that she doesn't want to bring back Prohibition, saying "Sharron doesn't want to make alcohol illegal," and noting that she has never introduced legislation along those lines, and even voted against taxes on alcohol. "Alcohol is a legal substance, and adults can choose to imbibe," Stacy said.

Global warming

Angle does not believe in man-made global warming. When she was criticized for her comment, however, she retracted the term "slush fund" and said that BP should pay for the consequences of the spill.

Second Amendment and rights to form a militia

Angle has said, "What is a little bit disconcerting and concerning is the inability for sporting goods stores to keep ammunition in stock ... That tells me the nation is arming. What are they arming for if it isn't that they are so distrustful of their government? They're afraid they'll have to fight for their liberty in more Second Amendment kinds of ways?" and "That's why I look at this as almost an imperative. If we don't win at the ballot box, what will be the next step?" Asked to comment on the issue, her spokesman Jerry Stacy said via email: "Sharron Angle does not advocate a revolution. Her goal is to go to Washington with other like-minded elected officials who understand the proper role of the federal government as already defined by our Constitution."

Congressman Jim Clyburn said in January 2011 that "Sharron Angle's endorsement of 'Second Amendment remedies' in her losing Nevada campaign against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid contributed to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords." Columnist E.J. Dionne did not "blame" Angle, but he did point out the connection between her call for "Second Amendment remedies" and the 2011 Tucson shooting. CBS News, in a "nationwide telephone poll" of 673 adults, with a margin of error of 4 %, found that "'57 percent of respondents said the harsh political tone had nothing to do with the shooting, compared to 32 percent who felt it did.'"

Canadian ambassador seeks terror border retraction

The Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer has asked Angle to retract her baseless assertion that the 9/11 hijackers entered the United States through Canada. Angle claims that the U.S.-Canada border is the "most porous border we have" and "what we know is our northern border is where the terrorists came through." U.S. law enforcement have long determined that none of the hijackers entered the U.S. from Canada, but directly from third countries with visas issued by the U.S.

References

External links

Sharron E. Angle official Nevada Legislature website

Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate official campaign website

Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org

Category:Candidates in United States elections, 2006 Category:Candidates in United States elections, 2010 Category:Southern Baptists Category:Members of the Nevada Assembly Category:Nevada Republicans Category:People from Klamath Falls, Oregon Category:People from Reno, Nevada Category:Tea Party movement Category:Women state legislators in Nevada Category:1949 births Category:Living people

Name	Thom Yorke
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Thomas Edward Yorke
Alias	Tchock, Tchocky, Dr. Tchock
Born	October 07, 1968Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England
Alma mater	University of Exeter
Instrument	VocalsGuitarPianoKeyboardsPercussionBass guitarProgrammingDrums
Genre	Alternative rockElectronica
Occupation	Musician
Years active	1985–present
Label	XL
Associated acts	Radiohead, Atoms for Peace, Unkle, Björk

Thomas Edward "Thom" Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar (notably during the Kid A and Amnesiac sessions). In July 2006, he released his debut solo album, The Eraser.

Yorke has been cited among the most influential figures in the music industry: in 2002, Q Magazine named Yorke the most powerful British musician and in 2005, Radiohead were ranked #73 in Rolling Stones "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" list. Yorke has also been cited among the greatest singers in the history of popular music: in 2005, a poll organised by Blender and MTV2 saw Yorke voted the 18th greatest singer of all time, and in 2008, he was ranked 66th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of all Time." Allmusic wrote: "Few rock singers of the '90s were as original and instantly unforgettable as Thom Yorke."

Life and career

Early years

Yorke was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. At birth, his left eye was fixed shut; his doctors believed that his eye was paralyzed and that the condition was permanent. Yorke's parents took him to an eye specialist, who suggested a muscle graft. Yorke underwent five eye operations before he was six years old. Yorke's father, a chemical equipment salesman, was hired by a firm in Scotland shortly after his son's birth and the family lived there until Yorke was seven. During this time Yorke had to wear a patch over his eye. He has stated that the last surgery was "botched," leaving him with a drooping eyelid.

Yorke's family moved frequently; Yorke would move from school to school, where classmates teased him because of his eye problems. The family finally settled in Oxfordshire in 1978. He attended the all boys public school Abingdon where he met future band members Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway, Colin Greenwood and Colin's younger brother, Jonny. Yorke and his friends formed a band named On A Friday, as Friday was the only day on which the members were allowed to rehearse.

After leaving school, Yorke postponed going to university for a year. During that time he worked in a few jobs and was involved in a car accident that made him wary of any kind of mechanised transport. Yorke left Oxford to study at the University of Exeter in late 1988, which as a result put On a Friday on hiatus aside from holiday break rehearsals. While at Exeter, Yorke worked as a DJ at Guild nights in the Lemon Grove and played briefly with the band Headless Chickens. Yorke also met Rachel Owen, whom he began dating.

Radiohead

On A Friday resumed activity in 1991 as the members were finishing their degree courses. Now relocated to Oxford, they signed to Parlophone and changed their name to Radiohead. Around this time, Yorke said he "hit the self-destruct button pretty quickly"; he drank heavily, which resulted in him randomly cutting his hair off and being too drunk to perform onstage.

Radiohead first gained notice with the worldwide hit single "Creep", which later appeared on the band's 1993 debut album Pablo Honey. Yorke admitted later that the success had fed his ego; he tried to project himself as a rock star, which included bleaching his hair and wearing extensions. He said, "When I got back to Oxford I was unbearable . . . [A]s soon as you get any success you disappear up your own arse and lost it forever."

By the time of their second album, The Bends (1995), the band, through frequent touring and greater attention to detail in the recording studio, had picked up a large cult fan base and had begun to receive wider critical acclaim. After the album's release, the American group R.E.M. picked Radiohead as its opening act for the European leg of their tour. While on tour Yorke and R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe became close friends; in particular, Stipe gave him advice on how to deal with the demands of being in a rock band. During the production of the band's third album, OK Computer (1997), all five members had differing opinions and equal production roles, with Yorke having "the loudest voice," according to guitarist Ed O'Brien. After the album was finished, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood contributed to the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack along with other musicians under the moniker Venus in Furs. Upon release, OK Computer was heralded as a landmark album by nearly every publication that reviewed it, establishing Radiohead as one of the leading alternative rock acts of the 1990s. But Yorke was ambivalent about this success. Some of these concerns were voiced in the documentary film Meeting People Is Easy, which focused on the period. Yorke has explained in various interviews that he dislikes the "mythology" within the rock genre, and hates the media's obsession with celebrities.

Yorke and the band adopted a more radical approach on 2000's Kid A and 2001's Amnesiac, processing vocals, obscuring lyrics, and departing from rock for a more varied musical landscape including electronic, jazz and avant-garde classical influences. The albums expanded Radiohead's sales while earning acclaim for experimentation, but also divided fans and critics. In 2003, Radiohead released their sixth album, Hail to the Thief, a blend of rock and electronica that Yorke described as a reaction to the events of the early 2000s and newfound fears for his children's future, though he denied a specific political intent. The band has continued to tour, and in 2005 they undertook recording sessions for a seventh album, In Rainbows, released as a DRM-free download in October 2007.

Solo work

Yorke released his solo album, The Eraser, in 2005. Produced by Nigel Godrich and featuring cover art by Stanley Donwood, it was released on the independent label XL Recordings. Yorke described the album as "more beats and electronics" and denied that it meant he was leaving Radiohead, saying, "I want no crap about me being a traitor or whatever splitting up blah blah... this was all done with their blessing." The Eraser reached number 3 in the UK in its first week and number 2 in the United States, Canada and Australia, as well as number 9 on the Irish charts. The album was on the prestigious Mercury Prize shortlist and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

Yorke rarely plays as a solo act, having never embarked on a solo tour. He has sometimes played short acoustic sets of Radiohead songs in the band's webcasts and television appearances, and occasionally on his own at rallies. However, he did play solo sets at the 2002 Bridge School Benefit concerts organised by Neil Young. In 2006, he performed stripped-down versions of several songs from The Eraser ("Analyse," "The Clock, " "Skip Divided" and "Cymbal Rush") on radio and TV programmes, and since then he has played and sung "Cymbal Rush" as an encore at some Radiohead concerts. In July 2009, Yorke played a rare solo performance at the Latitude Festival in England. In February 2010, Yorke played a solo show for the Green Party at the Cambridge Corn Exchange, where he played select Radiohead songs and songs from The Eraser, as well as five entirely new songs: "The Daily Mail", "Lotus Flower", "Give Up The Ghost", "I Froze Up", and "Mouse, Dog, Bird".

On 21 September 2009 Yorke released a new double-A side single, "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses / The Hollow Earth". It was later announced that he has established an unnamed band with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joey Waronker of R.E.M. and Beck, Mauro Refosco of Forro in the Dark and producer Nigel Godrich. They played two sold out shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on 4 and 5 October 2009. Two days before, Yorke also played a "warm-up" show at the Echoplex in Los Angeles. On 25 February 2010, Yorke officially gave the band the name Atoms for Peace.

In June 2010, Yorke attracted some notoriety when he stated in an interview that "It will be only a matter of time - months rather than years - before the music business establishment completely folds" and that such an event will be of "no great loss to the world." Yorke's quote quickly caused a stir of buzz on the blogosphere, with critics both praising and criticising his frankness.

Collaborations

Aside from his own solo work, Yorke has collaborated with several artists. He sang backing vocals on PJ Harvey's Mercury Prize-winning 2000 album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and sung a duet with Harvey on one of her songs, "This Mess We're In". In the same year, he also appeared on Björk's soundtrack album Selmasongs, singing "I've Seen It All" with her. The Oscar-nominated song was written for Dancer in the Dark, a film starring Björk, and Yorke's part is sung in the film by actor Peter Stormare; due to time constraints, Björk performed it alone at the 2001 Academy Awards. The two worked together again in 2008 on a charity single called "Náttúra".

Yorke also sang covers of the Roxy Music songs "2HB", "Ladytron" and "Bitter-Sweet" for the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine, as part of Venus in Furs. The band existed solely for the film's soundtrack and also consisted of Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, Suede's Bernard Butler, and Roxy Music's Andy Mackay. Yorke was duplicating Bryan Ferry's original vocals. Two other cover songs were performed by Venus in Furs, with vocals by actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the film; Yorke never appeared onscreen.

Examples of Yorke's other collaborations are the 1998 single "Rabbit in Your Headlights", which he sang and co-wrote with DJ Shadow and which closes Psyence Fiction, the debut album by the group UNKLE; "El President," a 1998 duet with Isabel Monteiro of the band Drugstore, which was also released as a single; and vocals on the 2007 track "The White Flash," by the electronic music group Modeselektor, from their album Happy Birthday. Yorke has also collaborated with Stanley Donwood on a picture book entitled Dead Children Playing. Yorke also covered lead vocal duties on "...And the World Laughs with You" from the 2010 Flying Lotus album Cosmogramma.

In 2010, Yorke worked with Bryan Ferry, Mark Ronson, Bob Hoskins, Andy Murray, and David Cameron to release the charity single "2 Minute Silence"—a track composed entirely of silence—to raise money for the families of British troops released on Remembrance Day, 7 November. The song peaked in the UK Singles Chart at number 20.

Atoms for Peace

On 25 February 2010 Yorke revealed the name of his new band—"Atoms for Peace"—and announced a series of U.S. tour dates. Yorke first introduced the band late in 2009. It includes Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass, R.E.M. all-round session drummer Joey Waronker, percussionist Mauro Refosco of the musical collective Forro in the Dark and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich on keyboards and treatments. When the band officially debuted in Los Angeles last October, it was billed with question marks due to it being unnamed. In a note on Radiohead's website, Yorke wrote; "It has been decided that we call ourselves Atoms For Peace. hope you like the name. it seemed bleedin' obvious." Atoms for Peace is a track on Yorke's 2006 solo album The Eraser. Yorke said the band would play eight dates starting in New York on 5 April before hitting the three-day 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on 18 April. Radiohead recently took a break from recording, but performed a Haiti relief fund-raising concert in Los Angeles in January.

Personal life

Yorke currently lives in Oxford with his girlfriend, Rachel Owen, who obtained a Ph.D. from the University of London for research on the illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy, having previously studied fine art printmaking at Exeter University and painted at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, Florence. They have two children, Noah, born in 2001, and Agnes, born 2004. He has one brother, Andy, ex-vocalist of the band Unbelievable Truth.

In 2005, Yorke became a spokesman for Friends of the Earth and their campaign to reduce carbon emissions, The Big Ask.

Yorke often pays tribute to his children while performing live; during songs at the 2006 Bonnaroo Festival, Yorke played with guitar picks imprinted with Agnes' fingerprints.

Musical approach

Vocal characteristics

As a singer, Yorke is recognisable by his distinctive tenor voice, vibrato, frequent use of falsetto, and ability to reach and sustain notes over a wide vocal range. During the recording sessions for The Bends in 1994, the band watched Jeff Buckley in concert; Yorke later said the concert had a direct effect on his vocal delivery on "Fake Plastic Trees". However, Yorke has said, "It annoys me how pretty my voice is... how polite it can sound when perhaps what I'm singing is deeply acidic." He has often adopted other styles of singing, such as an aggressive shouting style in the middle section of "Paranoid Android" and a semi-spoken style for 2003's "Myxomatosis" and "A Wolf at the Door".

Musicianship

Aside from vocal duties and writing lyrics, Yorke's musical contributions to Radiohead include guitar, both acoustic and electric (usually rhythm parts, with band member Jonny Greenwood handling lead), and piano (including Rhodes piano, especially on Kid A). He also plays bass guitar on occasion (the bass line for "The National Anthem" was recorded by him) as well as drums; during the 2006 and 2008 tours he performed percussion on stage in tandem with drummer Phil Selway on the track "Bangers & Mash".

Yorke, unlike the other members of Radiohead, has never learned how to read music. He said, "If someone lays the notes on a page in front of me, it's meaningless... because to me you can't express the rhythms properly like that. It's a very ineffective way of doing it, so I've never really bothered picking it up." His solo effort The Eraser featured piano, bass and guitar, but was built primarily around electronics.

In interviews Yorke has cited a variety of personal musical heroes and influences, including jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus, Neil Young, Miracle Legion, singer Scott Walker, electronic acts Aphex Twin and Autechre, and Krautrock band Can. Talking Heads, Queen, Joy Division, Magazine, Elvis Costello, The Smiths and Sonic Youth were early influences on Radiohead and Yorke. In 2004, at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Yorke mentioned to the crowd, "When I was in college, the Pixies and R.E.M. changed my life," and he has often mentioned both bands as examples.

Activism

Yorke has been outspoken on various contemporary political and social issues. Radiohead had read No Logo by Naomi Klein during the Kid A sessions ("No Logo" was also briefly considered as the album title) and all the members were reportedly heavily influenced by it, though Yorke said it "didn't teach him anything he didn't already know." Yorke's activism in support of fair trade practices, with an anti-WTO and anti-globalisation stance, garnered significant attention in the early 2000s. Yorke had previously referenced maquiladoras in the title of a Radiohead B-side in 1995, and decried the IMF in 1997's "Electioneering." Yorke is also a professed fan of Noam Chomsky's political writings, and is a vegan.

Yorke is also notable as a political activist on behalf of other causes, including human rights and anti-war movements such as Jubilee 2000, Amnesty International and CND, and Friends of the Earth's Big Ask campaign. Radiohead played at the Free Tibet concert in both 1998 and 1999, and at an Amnesty International concert in 1998. In 2005, Yorke performed at an all-night vigil for the Trade Justice Movement. In 2006, Jonny Greenwood and Yorke performed a special benefit concert for Friends of the Earth. Yorke made headlines the same year for refusing Prime Minister Tony Blair's request to meet with him to discuss climate change, declaring Blair had "no environmental credentials". Yorke has subsequently been critical of his own energy use. He has said the music industry's use of air transport is dangerous and unsustainable, and that he would consider not touring if new carbon emissions standards do not force the situation to improve. Radiohead commissioned a study by the group Best Foot Forward which the band claims helped them choose venues and transport methods that will greatly reduce the carbon expended on their 2008 tour. The band also made use of a new low-energy LED lighting system and encouraged festivals to offer reusable plastics.

In December 2009, Yorke gained access to the COP 15 climate change talks in Copenhagen, posing as a member of the media.

Relationship with celebrities and the media

Yorke has had an uneasy relationship with other celebrities and the media. Following Radiohead's 1993 Pablo Honey tour of America, Yorke became disenchanted at being "right at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell to the world. The 1998 documentary film Meeting People is Easy portrays Yorke's disaffection with the music industry and press during the 1997-8 "Against Demons" world tour.

A number of celebrities have been upset by Yorke's public persona. In 2001, Kelly Jones, the lead singer of the Welsh band Stereophonics, referred to Thom Yorke as a "miserable twat" (a comment he later retracted). In 2002, Jack Black claimed to have approached Yorke to congratulate him on his solo show at the Bridge School benefit concert in San Francisco, only for Yorke to ignore him and walk away. Referring to the incident, Black stated in an interview: "I heard later that he's famously cold, and it wasn't just me that he despises, but the whole world." After completing a trek of Kilimanjaro in 2009, Ronan Keating was asked by an interviewer which celebrity he would most like to throw off a mountain. Keating named Yorke, and referred to him as a "muppet", stating that Yorke was once rude to him, although he did admit to still liking his music. In the same year, Miley Cyrus and Kanye West also complained about Yorke's alleged rudeness. In a response to these complaints, Yorke wrote on Radiohead's Dead Air Space website, "wish us all a safe journey if you still like us and you're not one of those people I have managed to offend by doing nothing."

Discography

Notes

References

External links

The Eraser: Official website for Yorke's solo album release

Thom Yorke, Going Solo: Interview with Yorke, from NPR's "Fresh Air" radio program—July 2006

Category:1968 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:English activists Category:English environmentalists Category:Anti-globalization activists Category:English male singers Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English tenors Category:English vegans Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Wellingborough Category:Radiohead members Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter Category:Music from Oxford Category:Old Abingdonians Category:Rhythm guitarists

Name	Ric Flair
Names	Ric Flair
Billed	Charlotte, North Carolina (born February 25, 1949) Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well known professional wrestlers in the world.He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)

Category:1949 births Category:American adoptees Category:American professional wrestlers Category:American writers Category:Living people Category:North Carolina Republicans Category:People from Charlotte, North Carolina Category:People from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:Professional wrestling executives Category:Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Category:Professional wrestling managers and valets Category:Professional wrestling trainers Category:Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Category:WWE Hall of Fame Category:People from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

Position	Goaltender
Played for	Quebec Nordiques Washington Capitals Buffalo Sabres
Caught	Left
Height ft	6
Height in	1
Weight lb	185
Nationality	Canada
Birth date	May 01, 1961
Birth place	Grande Prairie, AB, CAN
Draft	74th overall
Draft year	1981
Draft team	Quebec Nordiques
Career start	1981
Career end	1996

Clint Malarchuk (born May 1, 1961 in Grande Prairie, Alberta), is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1981 and 1992, and the current goaltending consultant of the Atlanta Thrashers. Aside from his career, he is known for sustaining a life-threatening injury during a game when another player's skate blade slashed his internal carotid artery.

Playing career

He played for the Portland Winter Hawks, Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres in the course of his career. Malarchuk compiled a career record of 141 wins, 130 losses, 45 ties, 12 shutouts, and an .885 save percentage.

Throat injury

The infamous moment that Malarchuk is perhaps most known for occurred during a game on March 22, 1989, between the visiting St. Louis Blues and Malarchuk's Buffalo Sabres. When Steve Tuttle of the Blues and Uwe Krupp of the Sabres became entangled while chasing the puck and crashed into Malarchuk's goal, Tuttle's skate caught Malarchuk on the neck, severing his internal jugular vein.

With pools of blood collecting on the ice, Malarchuk left the ice on his own feet with the assistance of his team's athletic trainer, Jim Pizzutelli. Many spectators were physically sickened by the sight. Local television cameras covering the game cut away from the sight of Malarchuk bleeding after realizing what had happened.

Malarchuk, meanwhile, believed he was going to die. "All I wanted to do was get off the ice", said Malarchuk. "My mother was watching the game on TV, and I didn't want her to see me die." Aware that his mother had been watching the game on TV, he had an equipment manager call and tell her he loved her. Then he asked for a priest.

Malarchuk's life was saved by the team's trainer, Jim Pizzutelli, a former army medic who had served in Vietnam. He reached into Malarchuk's neck and pinched off the bleeding, not letting go until doctors arrived to begin suturing the wound. Still, Malarchuk came within minutes of becoming only the second fatality to result from an on-ice injury in NHL history (the first was Bill Masterton). It was estimated that if the skate had hit 1/8 inch (3 mm) higher on Malarchuk's jugular, he would have been dead within 2 minutes. In the dressing room and on his way to the hospital, doctors spent 90 minutes and used over 300 stitches to close the wound. It was also said that, had the incident occurred at the other end of the ice, Malarchuk never would have made it and would have died (the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium had the locker room exits at one end of the ice instead of the normal location behind the benches, and he was at that end). but he eventually returned to hockey, in the International Hockey League. After retiring as a player, Malarchuk continued his hockey career as a coach.

On February 10, 2008, coincidentally again in Buffalo, Florida Panthers player Richard Zednik suffered an injury similar to Malarchuk after Olli Jokinen's skate blade cut the side of Zednik's neck, injuring his carotid artery and barely missing his jugular vein. Upon viewing the footage of Zednik's injury, Malarchuk was taken aback, saying that he didn't think his memory of his own incident would come back after 19 years. Malarchuk also stated he would like to speak with Zednik once the time was right.

Gun incident

On October 7, 2008, Malarchuk suffered what, according to his wife, Joan, was a self-inflicted gun shot wound to his chin from a .22 caliber rifle at his residence in Fish Springs, Nevada. Malarchuk was discovered bleeding profusely on a bench by his wife, Joan, who had just arrived home from work, and she immediately called the authorities. Nevada's Record Courier reported that, according to his wife, Malarchuk, who was hunting rabbits at the time, had rested the rifle between his legs and with its butt on the ground when it suddenly discharged. Officers and paramedics who arrived on the scene reported that Malarchuk, who was bleeding from both his mouth and chin, was uncooperative and initially refused treatment, and continued to do so after he was rushed to Carson Valley Medical Center in Gardnerville. Malarchuk was later flown to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno for treatment and released less than a week after the shooting.

By October 10, 2008, sheriff's deputies in Douglas County, Nevada, completed their investigation into the incident, concluding that Malarchuk's shooting was "accidental under suspicious circumstances" and that, unless contradicting information is found, the matter was closed. Responding to suggestions that the incident could have been a suicide attempt, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Halsey stated that he could not rule it out. However, Halsey elaborates no further other than saying that the Malarchuks had been arguing and that it is a remote possibility that a rifle would discharge simply by being placed on the ground. Both Malarchuks vehemently deny suggestions that it was a suicide attempt.

The Canadian Press reported that Joan had informed authorities that her husband was not supposed to consume alcohol as he was on prescription medications for obsessive-compulsive disorder, but was doing so anyway at the time of the accident.

Coaching career

Malarchuk served as head coach of the minor league Idaho Steelheads from 1998 to 2000. Afterwards he was a goaltending coach for the Florida Panthers during the 2002-03 season. He was signed as the goaltending coach for 2006–07 by the Columbus Blue Jackets. In August 2010 Malarchuk agreed to become the goaltending consultant for the Atlanta Thrashers.

References

External links

Malarchuk's horrific accident still etched in memory

Post injury interview with Malarchuk

Category:1961 births Category:Buffalo Sabres players Category:Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Category:Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Category:Columbus Blue Jackets coaches Category:Ice hockey personnel from Alberta Category:Living people Category:People from Grande Prairie Category:Portland Winterhawks alumni Category:Quebec Nordiques players Category:Washington Capitals players Category:Canadian Roman Catholics