On one hand you have the Duke Blue Devils

Tonight we celebrated together the leadership of this network and theexcitement we have to work with the new Administration and Congress to advancethe green economy," said Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the NationalWildlife Federation. "We are truly at a historical moment for our nation, on the environmental frontas on so many others, and we are blessed to have a President who has anambitious vision for restoring and building up our economy in a big, green way,"said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. "The Green Ball celebrated President Obama and VicePresident Bidens inauguration with gusto, hope, and with a determination fromall of us to work in every possible way to bring about the new green economy." "Throughout his campaign for President, Barack Obama demonstrated his commitmentto the environment, clean energy, and protection of our nation's naturaltreasures. The Green Ball celebrates his election by bringing together theenvironmental, labor, civil justice, youth, religious, and business communitieswho are working together to design the policies, invent the technologies, andcreate the green jobs that will be at the heart of our economic recovery andlong-term health and wealth of our country and the world," said AimeeChristensen, a National Co-Chair of Cleantech and Green Business for Obama and amember of the Green Ball Organizing Committee. Renowned chef Nora Pouillon advised on the event menu, catered by Grand Cuisineand Chef Bradley Nairne. The menu included locally-sourced, organic, andseasonal food.

All acceptable leftover food was donated to DC Central Kitchen.For more information on greening efforts, go to http:// In support of President-elect Obamas National Day of Service, a number of the2009 Green Inaugural Ball sponsors and attendees participated in serviceprojects in Washington DC including: Repower a School and Neighborhood: The League of Conservation Voters EducationFund partnered with the DC Department of Public Schools, the InternationalBrotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Standard Solar, Wal-Mart Inc. andCouncilwoman Yvette Alexander to Repower a School and Neighborhood. This serviceevent elevated the importance of building a clean energy economy to create goodjobs and help consumers reduce their energy bills with efficient products. Standard Solars donated a solar system to Sousa Middle School, located inSoutheast, DC The system was installed by IBEW Local 26. The 2 KW system willhelp Sousa Middle School reduce its energy costs, generate revenue fromrenewable credits, and serve as a great education tool for the students and thecommunity. Thekits included three CFL bulbs, weatherization packs, surge protectors, andefficient showerheads. River Clean Up and Tree Planting: Volunteers from the National WildlifeFederation joined the Earth Conservation Corps and other partners along theshores of the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington DC in a river clean-up andtree planting project.

The morning river clean-up was followed by the plantingof 44 trees along the banks of the river in celebration of the PresidentialInauguration, the countrys National Day of Service and Martin Luther King Day.Highlights featuring Green Carpet arrivals, speeches, behind-the-scenes footageand interviews with special guests will be available for embedding on sitesincluding http:// and http:// The Green Inaugural Ball was made possible by the following sponsors: Alston &Bird LLP; American Gas Association; American Wind Energy Association; Clean Tech& Green Business for Obama; Google; LiveFuels; Organic Soul, Inc.; Sierra Club;Solar Energy Industries Association; The AES Corporation; National WildlifeFederation; Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP; U.S. Green Building Council;Activate; American Council on Renewable Energy; Capstone Turbine Corporation;Clean Power Campaign; Climate Change Capital; C-Quest Capital LLC; EcoAmerica;Enviance; Fenton Communications; First Solar; Hull Family Foundation; Hunton &Williams; KPMG LLP; MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation; MarinerAsset Management Services, LLC; Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP; NationalHydropower Association; Sand Hill; Group; Schott Solar; Solon SE; SunPower; TomSoto of Craton Equity Partners; Trust for Public Land; Wind Capital Group; 1SkyEducation Fund; Alliance for Sustainable Colorado; André Heinz; Bergeson &Campbell, P.C.; Beveridge & Diamond P.C.; Calpine Corporation; Chicago ClimateExchange; Christensen Global Strategies, LLC; Defenders of Wildlife; Dell;Devine Tarbell & Associates, Inc.; Dow Corning; Dunlap Browder; Earth DayNetwork; EarthJustice; Environmental Defense Fund; Esty Environmental Partners;Eurus Energy America Corporation; Gregor Bailar & Virginia Boyd; GroSolar;Island Press; Ken Berlin; League of Conservation Voters; Natural ResourcesDefense Council; NextLight Renewable Power; Nickelodeon; PG&E Physicians forSocial Responsibility; Proteus Environmental Technologies; Rocky MountainInstitute; Sieben Energy Associates; SunWorks LLC; The Wildnerness Society;Wal-Mart; William & Diana Conway; Winning Connections; Zenvironment For The 2009 Green Inaugural BallLaura Stevens, 202 862 Copyright Business Wire 2009. To dream the impossible dream.Two ACC programs are on the verge of improbable, unbelievable endings to this season and these dreams come to a clash this Saturday.On one hand you have the Duke Blue Devils.The Duke football program has been a running joke for quite some time.The Blue Devils have not been to a bowl game since 1994.Just one winning season since the "Ole Ball Coach" Steve Spurrier roamed the sidelines.Former Duke coach Ted Roof looked like he could turn things around but after winning as many games in his last four seasons as he had in his first one (four), it was clear that Roof had to go.His replacement, David Cutcliffe, knows football.Everyone knew the problem facing Cutcliffe would not simply be X's and O's but getting his team to believe that it can win and be competitive in the ACC.Passing a long-standing mental barrier of inferiority is no simple task, even with optimistic players.Well just one and a half seasons into his career and Cutcliffe has everyone believing in the scrappy Duke Blue Devils.However, all that faith began with a fateful moment on September 27, 2008.Duke entered that day with a 25-game losing streak in the ACC.The Devils had lost 31 out of their last 32 ACC contests.Well, the Virginia Cavaliers proved to be the perfect victim to end the streak.The Cavaliers came into the game with a new quarterback in Marc Verica and Duke was able to force six turnovers to completely turn the game around.Duke did not just win its first ACC game in years, it dominated the scoreboard en route to a 31-3 victory and the first 3-1 start since 1994.The Blue Devils had a senior class that had not won a single conference game until that moment.Now they were leaving with a re-newed sense of purpose and direction.With that victory, Duke saw the proof that they could be competitive in their conference.The Blue Devils put forth some solid efforts, including giving the eventual ACC Champion Virginia Tech Hokies quite the scare in Lane Stadium.Nevertheless, the true goal for Duke alluded them.A 5-7 record left Duke as one of only two teams in the ACC not to go to a bowl game last season.Coincidentally, that other team just so happened to be the Virginia Cavaliers.Well, this year, Duke has once again put itself in position to reach its first bowl in 15 years.The Blue Devils are 4-3, 2-1 ACC.That leaves the magic number at two.With five games to go, Duke can almost taste the postseason berth but they cannot falter this weekend.If Duke is to achieve a winning season, they have to do it against a team that is going through a turnaround of their own.Words cannot describe just how awful Virginia looked in the beginning of the season.The Cavaliers couldn't throw, catch, run, block, tackle, cover.Heck, they couldn't even field a punt!The season started with a rather shocking loss to William & Mary, a game that featured seven Cavalier turnovers.Virginia then followed that beauty with a completely anemic offensive effort against Texas Christian in a game where the Cavaliers were not even competitive.The Cavaliers were dead and Al Groh's job was as good as six feet under.Then came, October, or as Virginia has come to know it "Groh-tober".Virginia went from an 0-3 hole to a three game winning streak where the Cavaliers outscored their opponents 83-19.The Cavalier offense which looked so pathetic was moving like a well-oiled machine and Virginia stood alone as the only team in the ACC without a conference loss.Except that time on the top was short-lived.Last weekend, Georgia Tech came into Charlottesville high off a signature win over Virginia Tech and proceeded to run right through the Cavaliers towards a 30-9 victory.At 3-4, Virginia still has bowl aspirations which seemed completely impossible just about a month ago.However, the Cavaliers know that reaching the magic number will not be easy for them either.With games remaining against Clemson, Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech, the boys in the blue and orange have perhaps the toughest finishing stretch in the entire conference.That means Virginia simply cannot afford a wasted opportunity this week.If the Cavaliers do not win this week, they have virtually no chance of reaching a bowl and a third straight losing season will seal the fate of Groh at his alma mater.In all honesty, this is what Virginia should want.To be embarassed by the former conference doormat last season, the Cavaliers have been itching for the rematch to get the taste of losing out of their mouth.To get that game at home is just icing on the cake.Virginia's loss to the Blue Devils was the first one under Groh and the Cavaliers know that if they had avoided all those turnovers, they may have pulled off an ugly win on the road.Instead, the Cavaliers gave Duke a short field and allowed the game to get away from them in the third quarter.If the game had been later on, when Verica was betteracclimated to the offense, Virginia probably would have won this game too.The Cavaliers can muster all the excuses they want about last season's debacle, but even if Virginia is better than they were last year, so too are the Devils.Both teams have far more competent offenses and although Virginia's secondary has a great deal of size and experience, Thaddeus Lewis has the arm to test them.This is a game that may seem meaningless on a national scale, but mean the world to both of these programs.For Duke, it is about reaching respectability.They want to prove to the rest of the ACC that they are a legitimate program that can reach bowl games and compete with any team in a conference suffering from mediocrity.For Virginia, it is about avenging a tough loss and proving to themselves that they are still a rung above the Duke Blue Devils.This is about saving a season that seem destined towards infamy.This is about Al Groh saving his job yet again.Say what you want about Groh, but his teams have always responded when their backs were against the wall.Even with the loss to the Yellow Jackets, this is still his month for success.Unfortunately for Groh and the Virginia fans, the trick is that November is right around the corner.That's rarely been a treat. . MUMBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd(TCS.BO), India's top software exporter, said on Tuesday it hadsigned a multi-million dollar, multi-year deal with DucatiMotor Holding to deliver technology-based services to theItalian bikemaker and its subsidiaries in Europe. (Reporting by Janaki Krishnan; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan). (For more stories on the Japanese economy, click ID:nECONJP) TOKYO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Japanese consumer confidence fellto a fresh record low in December from three months earlier on aseasonally adjusted basis, a government survey showed on Tuesday.

The Cabinet Office survey's sentiment index for generalhouseholds, which includes views on income and jobs, stood at26.7 in December, the lowest since the survey began in 1982 Itwas down from 31.2 in September Seasonally adjusted figures are released only quarterly. The unadjusted monthly index fell to a record low of 26.2 inDecember from 28.4 in November. "General households" are those with two or more people, and areading below 50 suggests consumer pessimism. Following is a comparison with previous months: (Seasonally adjusted)DEC SEPTJUNEMARGeneral households 26.731.232.336.5 For full details go to the Cabinet Office Web site at: here (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano). The Bulls roster is kind of like your candy bowl on Halloween. They have that nice mixture of cavity balls, sugar daddies, shock tarts, dark chocolate, and white chocolate (I really am not comparing any players to candy, I'm just trying to make a point). The point is, this team is a mixture of guys who don't seem like they should gel, but put them together and and you a sack of goodies that little kiddies would love to dip their fingers in.