Shaving

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

A 10-month investigation into allegations of point shaving by North Carolina State basketball players has uncovered little evidence, with two key sources softening earlier incriminating statements, attorneys say. The investigation is largely completed, but it won't officially be closed until a similar probe in New Jersey is over, said Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby Jr. "The information that we have uncovered and that New...

Joe Dumars shook his head. Rick Mahorn shrugged. Neither could fathom former teammate Isiah Thomas, one of the fiercest competitors to play in the NBA, would be involved in point-shaving. But a new book, "Money Makers: Days and Nights Inside the New NBA," alleges that. The book said that during the Pistons' 1989-90 championship season, teammates expressed fears points were shaved in two games after Thomas and backup center James Edwards lost thousands of dollars shooting dice with known gamblers.

Fresno State announced yesterday that an internal investigation has found no evidence of point-shaving by its basketball players. The report did concede that the university lacks the subpoena or investigatory powers of the federal government. The FBI and a federal grand jury are investigating allegations that Bulldogs guards Dominick Young and Chris Herren shaved points at the behest of gamblers last season. Both have denied point-shaving. The federal investigation is not expected to be completed for several weeks or perhaps months.

The state swimming championships are two weeks away, and swimmers around South Jersey are getting ready. It's a big meet, so, of course, everyone will be shaved and tapered. Whatever that means. "A lot of the swimmers don't have any idea what a taper is," Lenape boys' coach Cheryl Reca said. "They don't know what the specifics are. A lot of them don't understand why a taper may or may not work. " Even if they don't all know exactly why they taper, virtually every high school swimmer does it. Tapering is the reduction of yardage leading up to a meet, which allows the body's muscles to relax, which in turn makes the swimmer faster.

Ralph Beard, who was involved in a point-shaving scandal at the University of Kentucky, died at his home in Louisville at age 79 after a series of illnesses in recent years. Beard was a three-time All-America guard for Kentucky in the 1940s when the Wildcats were beginning an ascent to college basketball's top tier under coach Adolph Rupp. A speedy, 5-10 guard, Beard was among Rupp's famed "Fab Five," along with Alex Groza, Jones, Cliff Barker and Kenny Rollins. He won national championships at Kentucky in 1948 and '49, but was barred from the NBA before the start of the 1951-52 NBA season after revelations of the scandal.

Two Detroit-area businessmen were charged with paying and giving gifts to basketball and football players at the University of Toledo to take part in a point-shaving scheme, according to a federal indictment filed yesterday. Six former Toledo players also were accused of taking part in the alleged scheme by either affecting the outcomes in games or giving the two businessmen information so that they could place wagers on the games. The FBI began investigating point-shaving at Toledo 4 years ago. They said the scheme began in the fall of 2004 and continued until 2006.

At least nine months in jail await a bitter ex-boyfriend from Bristol Township who avenged his courtship's demise by giving his former girlfriend a very close shave. Brian Luzier, 37, was sentenced yesterday for assault after he admitted pinning Michele Simon, 30, to the floor and shaving parts of her head with electric shears when she came to collect her belongings in February from his Levittown home. The woman told police that Luzier said he wanted to hurt her as much as she hurt him when she ended their relationship.

REMEMBER Justin Wolfers? Penn prof, wrote a paper analyzing the results of 45,000 college basketball games. Looking for corruption. Said he found evidence of point-shaving in 6 percent of the games where a team was favored by 12 or more points and failed to cover the spread. "Ludicrous," seethed Steve Heston, a Maryland prof, troubled by the publicity Wolfers got, stories in somber publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal , space in the American Economic Review , an appearance on "Daily News Live.

"It's a bomb ready to explode. It can happen to anybody. You wouldn't even know about it until it happened. " - Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, on the latest college point-shaving scandal Utah basketball coach Rick Majerus knows all about the hypocrisy. "We're at the [Western Athletic Conference] tournament and they want us to show the kids a film on gambling," Majerus said. "And we're staying on top of a casino [in Las Vegas]. I asked if they wanted me to show it in the crap pits, or maybe while the kids are picking keno numbers.

In the raging shale-gas debate, there is much disagreement about the economic benefits of drilling. An Ohio State University report released this week argues that industry-funded studies hype the number of jobs created in Ohio from drilling the Utica and Marcellus Shale formations. The 27-page study is already providing ammunition to anti-drilling activists, who believe that the environmental risks of shale gas outweigh the economic benefits. While rival academics can argue about which econometric model is better at predicting the future, a relatively narrow measure of the benefit of shale gas is already affecting our monthly utility bills.

It's that time of year, when spiders beat a path to my door. I know. Still got it. As soon I open my front door, big wolf spiders come from God-knows-where to run inside my house. Of course I can't bring myself to kill them. Spiders are good bugs, even if they're scary and creepy, so I turn a glass upside-down over them, slide a paper underneath, then flip the entire assembly right-side up and throw the spider back outside. But lately, I'm finding problems with my method.

SCOOTING FROM THE LIP A few years ago, Temple basketball coach Fran Dunphy made a promise to Dionte Christmas. Now, he's going to keep his word. Since his former standout player has earned his degree, Dunph is going to shave his trademark mustache, the one he's been sporting for 40 years. The honors will take place late tomorrow morning on campus, with Christmas by his side for the historic moment. No word yet on whether - as was the case when New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath got rid of his Fu Manchu mustache some four decades ago - it will be made into a commercial.

Volkswagen wants to triple its U.S. sales by 2018, and the 2012 VW Jetta I just got done playing with provides some insights into how it will try to achieve that rather Himalayan goal. For openers, the current Jetta was tailored to American tastes when it was redesigned for 2011. The new compact sedan is longer than the car it replaces, permitting a roomier interior. There's more shoulder room, and 2.7 inches in additional rear-seat legroom. While the trunk is a half cubic foot smaller than the 2010 Jetta's, it is still a generous 15.5 cubic feet - and larger than most of its competitors'.

Villanova is only two games into its football season, but coach Andy Talley can be excused if he feels it's already been interminable. The young Wildcats (0-2) suffered another blow to their offense with the loss of quarterback Dustin Thomas for four to six weeks with a third-degree separation, the most severe, of his left, nonthrowing shoulder. Thomas, a redshirt freshman from Ventnor, N.J., who starred at St. Augustine Prep, suffered the injury after finishing a 10-yard run in the third quarter of Saturday's 31-10 loss at Towson.

Debbie Oser hasn't come up with a cure for a disease, or developed a car that runs on air. She wants to make her mark on the world in a more modest way - by ending your cupcake-eating torment. Didn't think there was any torture (beyond weight gain) associated with such indulgence? How about peeling off the paper baking cup, only to find cake stuck to it? Or the hassle of finding a trash can once you've disengaged paper from cake? Wouldn't it be easier if you could just eat the paper?

Aaron Wood, a 34-year-old North Philly handyman, was shot dead April 16, 1989, as he walked between two parked cars near Girard College. Seventeen years later, police arrested Thomas Gibison, a violent skinhead from Newark, Del., who they said killed Wood as part of a racist ritual to "earn" a spiderweb tattoo. But Gibison dodged a life sentence for first-degree murder when one holdout juror caused his 2008 trial to end in a bizarre split verdict. He was convicted of weapons offenses and conspiracy to commit murder - but found not guilty of the murder itself - and sentenced to a total of 12 1/2 to 25 years in prison.

YES, I HAVE peanut butter all over my face. No, it wasn't any fun. But let's put that aside for a moment. Mom probably told you that peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth. But did she also tell you that it could be used to remove stickiness, like stubborn price tags or paper labels? And did she tell you that banana peels could shine your shoes and relieve the itch of bug bites, that coffee grounds could add softness and shine to your hair, and that Coke could clean your toilet and remove oil spots from your driveway?

With extensive sales planned by such family-owned auction companies as Frank & Frank and Pook & Pook, plus a third event to be conducted at the Rhoads & Rhoads Auction Center, this weekend promises bidding that will be fast and furious. The Monmouth County-based Frank & Frank Sporting Collectibles LLC will be conducting its spring sale of decoys, art, and sporting collectibles Sunday at Tuckerton, N.J., instead of its usual site in Belmar. More than 325 lots of duck decoys, other carved fowl, a few fish, and related sporting items including books and a vintage black bearskin rug, will be offered beginning at 10 a.m. at 215 E. Main St. The site was chosen so Frank & Frank could participate in the New Jersey Decoy Collectors Show from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Parkertown firehouse, 2? miles to the north, where it will do free appraisals, according to Jon Frank, whose son, Alex, is the other Frank.

For 55 years, Sly's Barbershop sat on a corner of 29th and Dauphin Streets in Strawberry Mansion. Its barbers styled generations through conks, Afros, boxes, and fades. And they once catered to the likes of Billy Paul, Nat "King" Cole, and Muhammad Ali, whose signed portrait hangs on the back wall. But early one spring morning, as Derrick Ford, 52, approached the shop for his weekly haircut, he found it dark and empty. His longtime barber's car was nowhere in sight. Ford called him and got the news.