Deaf baseball player aims for major leagues

A New Jersey teen who helped lead his team to the state playoffs has been awarded a college baseball scholarship. NBC's Ron Allen reports.

By Craig Stanley
NBC News?

Austin Solecitto is in the middle of a stellar senior year. With the help of his 90 m.p.h. fastball, the left-handed Indian Hills Braves pitcher led his high school baseball team to a 16-6 season and they?re headed to the state playoffs.

The 18-year-old New Jersey native from Franklin Lakes, N.J., has easily become one of the top pitchers in his region, grabbing the attention of scouts across the nation.

While his above-average athletic ability is evident, there is something else about Austin that sets him apart from his peers.

---

Austin is deaf. He was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of two, after Austin?s parents, John and Gloria Sollecito noticed unusual behavior in their budding toddler.

?I used to think he just didn?t like me, ?cause I?d call him and he wouldn?t come,? Austin?s father said. ?I said, ?Something?s wrong.??

Before reaching the age of six, Austin had two implant surgeries to mitigate his hearing loss. Since then, Austin has adapted to his disability by picking up ways to enhance his communication skills, including lip reading and hand signals, especially while playing baseball.

Austin Solecitto says he is a 'typical average high school guy' who enjoys pitching. ????

?You wouldn?t really know he?s deaf,? said John Sollecito. ?People think it?s, you know, a radio thing or he?s listening to an iPod. He?s exceeded my expectations as far as what I envisioned it was going to be like when he grew up.?

Click here to watch the trailer for "I See the Crowd Roar," a documentary about deaf baseball player William Hoy, who played from 1888 to 1902.?

To compensate for his lack of hearing, Austin wears an external hearing device throughout the day. But it?s not always necessary. Austin says the ability to disable the hearing aid when pitching on the mound has ironically proven to be great advantage on the diamond.

?When I don't hear anybody -- the other team or the parents -- I can just focus that much easier on just hitting my spots,? he said. The focus pays off ? according to ESPN, Austin achieved 67 strikeouts during the 2012 season. ?

That ability to focus, added Austin?s baseball coach George Hill, is an integral part of Austin?s aptitude.

?I think that is probably his biggest asset -- his composure,? said Hill. ?The other team could be yelling, people could be yelling, I could be yelling, and he doesn?t hear you.?

Austin Solecitto's coach, and his father, describe Austin's extraordinary dedication and focus.

Austin?s accomplishments on the pitching mound ? as well as in the classroom ? have paid off. The heavily scouted pitcher, who also maintained a 3.7 GPA this semester, will attend Boston University this fall on a baseball scholarship. These feats come as no surprise to those closest to Austin.

?He?s been through a lot with his disability,? his brother, Mark, said. ?Some things don?t come easy or as easily to him, so I think what that?s taught him is to stick with it and really persevere. I think that?s where he gets his determination from.?

Austin says he is just doing what comes naturally to him.

?I kind of think my deafness is overblown,? he said. "To me it?s no big deal, like, I just feel like any other person out there."

Now Austin hopes to make into a professional baseball league ? a mission that both his father and coach support.

"He's a very special young man,? Hill said. ?We'll be watching him and supporting him every step of the way."

?

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It's time for Apple to provide direct document access in iOS

For a couple of years now, before every major release of iOS, I've begged and pleaded for a native iOS documents repository. Not a file system like OS X, but something that would do for documents what Photos.app and the photo picker do for images. Right now, even absent a file system and hierarchy, it's still too complex, confusing, and unwieldy for users to remember, find, and attach documents in iOS. iOS 6 is a chance for Apple to change that, and a Files app and documents picker are simple, consistent, convenient ways to do it.

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'The Avengers' Torpedoes 'Battleship' At Box Office

'Dictator' and 'Dark Shadows' also make the top five over the weekend.
By Ryan J. Downey

Chris Evans as Captain America In "The Avengers"
Photo: Walt Disney Studios

Of all the foes the Avengers have defeated, Universal Pictures may be the first to cry, "You sunk my battleship!"

With another $55.1 million earned during its third week in domestic theaters, "The Avengers" held strong at #1 over the weekend as Earth's Mightiest Heroes fended off competition from three new contenders, including "Battleship." The big-budget action pic, loosely adapted from the vintage game, which featured the catchphrase "You sunk my battleship!" in its once-ubiquitous TV commercials, was a distant second with an estimated $25.3 million debut.

Universal spent a reported $209 million on "Battleship," which opened earlier overseas (where it has already made $226 million). But the domestic debut for the action flick, which mixes seafaring military adventure with an alien invasion, is still a huge disappointment. "Battleship" lists Taylor Kitsch first in the credits among a cast that also includes Rihanna, "True Blood" star Alexander Skarsgård and Liam Neeson. The former "Friday Night Lights" actor top-lined "John Carter" for Disney earlier this year, which famously flopped with a $30.2 million opening weekend against a $250 million budget.

Disney shouldn't be feeling the sting of "John Carter" any longer, of course.

"The Avengers" is the first film distributed by the mouse house since the company bought Marvel, who produced the superhero team-up in association with Paramount Pictures. "The Avengers" has passed "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" to become the studio's biggest movie ever, collecting over $450 million in the U.S. in just 17 days (10 days faster than previous quickest-to-$450-million record-holder "The Dark Knight").

The long-awaited and well-reviewed film uniting the big-screen incarnations of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye became the fourth-highest-grossing movie of all time over the weekend, sitting on the worldwide chart just behind "Avatar," "Titanic" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2." And "Battleship" wasn't the only newcomer to buckle against the continued strength of Marvel's heroes.

"The Dictator" was #3 during its first weekend in theaters with $17.4 million. The latest comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen, best known to American audiences for "Borat," has collected $24.4 million since it opened in the middle of last week. The comedian's "Brüno" opened with $30.6 million in 2009, higher than the original bow of "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." However, during its entire domestic run in theaters, "Brüno" ultimately grossed less than half of the $129.5 million gathered by "Borat" from November 2006 into 2007.

"What to Expect When You're Expecting," loosely inspired by the book of the same name, settled for fifth place with a $10.5 million debut. The ensemble comedy has been savaged by film critics. "What you don't expect is how bad almost all of it is," wrote the New York Daily News. The Philadelphia Inquirer wasn't much kinder: "It makes one long for the comparative complexity and subtlety of 'Valentine's Day.' "

Sandwiched between "The Dictator" and "What to Expect" at #4 was Johnny Depp's "Dark Shadows," a satirical take on the vampire soap opera of the same name, which teamed Depp once again with filmmaker Tim Burton and Burton's domestic partner, actress Helena Bonham Carter. "Dark Shadows" dropped 57 percent in its second weekend, taking in just $12.8 million for a total of $50.9 million. The last Depp/Burton collaboration, "Alice in Wonderland," is #25 on the all-time box-office-gross list with $334.1 million. The Atlantic summed up "Dark Shadows" like this: "Fans of Depp's past collusions with Burton will find their rewards along the way. But there's a perfunctory vibe to the goings on, a weariness amid the weirdness."

The trio of Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin (as a younger version of Jones' character) are projected to have the best chance yet of defeating Earth's Mightiest Heroes at the box office when "Men in Black 3" arrives in theaters this weekend. The sequel will, of course, be aided by "The Avengers" nearly month-long availability at that point and audience familiarity with the first two blockbuster entries in the series.

Check out everything we've got on "The Avengers" and "Battleship."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

Related Videos

• Get Psyched For 'Avengers'
• MTV Rough Cut: 'Battleship'

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No sign of breakthrough in U.N. nuclear chief's Tehran talks

VIENNA/DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief held extensive and useful talks in Iran on Monday and expects them to have a positive impact on a six-power meeting with Tehran later this week, Iranian media said, but there was no sign of a breakthrough deal.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano paid a rare visit to Tehran after voicing hope for Iranian agreement to cooperate with an IAEA investigation into suspected atomic bomb research - a possible gesture from Tehran to try to get international sanctions relaxed and deflect threats of war.

Amano met the head of Iran's nuclear energy agency, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, and its top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, who will sit down in Baghdad on Wednesday with world powers seeking overall curbs on Iran's disputed atomic activity.

"(Monday's) negotiations were very useful. We held expanded and intensive negotiations in a good atmosphere," Amano was quoted as saying by the website of Iranian state television.

"Definitely, the progress of (these) talks will have a positive impact on negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (six powers). Of course these are two different issues but they can strengthen each other," he was quoted as saying.

Asked about a framework agreement that would resolve questions over the nature of Iran's nuclear activity quickly, Amano added: "I will not go into details but the agency has some viewpoints and Iran has its own specific viewpoints."

There was no indication that Iran had addressed Amano's overriding priority - a deal to obtain access for IAEA investigators to Iranian sites, nuclear scientists and documents needed to check intelligence suggesting that Tehran has pursued covert research relevant to developing nuclear bombs.

There was no immediate comment from the IAEA.

Jalili said after the talks that Iran was "a serious supporter of ... global disarmament, confronting the spread of nuclear weapons and the usage of peaceful nuclear technology for (non-proliferation treaty) member states", the television said.

"Today we have good negotiations with Amano on these three fields and we hope to have good cooperation with the agency in the future in these areas," Jalili said.

Amano was on his first trip to Iran since taking office in 2009, a period marked by rising IAEA-Iranian tension.

"I really think this is the right time to reach agreement. Nothing is certain but I stay positive," Amano, a veteran Japanese diplomat, had said on departure from Vienna on Sunday. He added that "good progress" had already been made.

SCEPTICISM

Amano scheduled Monday's talks with Iran at such short notice that diplomats said a deal on improved IAEA access might be near. But few saw Tehran going far enough to convince the West to roll back swiftly on punitive sanctions when Jalili meets global power envoys in Baghdad on Wednesday.

"We are not going to do anything concrete in exchange for nice words," a Western diplomat said of the Baghdad meeting, the outcome of a big power session with Iran in Istanbul last month that ended a diplomatic freeze of more than a year.

Jalili will hold talks in the Iraqi capital with Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief heading a six-power coalition comprised of the five U.N. Security Council permanent members - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - plus Germany.

By dangling the prospect of enhanced cooperation with U.N. inspectors, diplomats say, Iran might aim for leverage for the broader talks where the United States and its allies want Tehran to curb works they say are a cover for developing atomic bombs.

Pressure for a deal has risen. Escalating Western sanctions on Iran's economically vital energy exports, and threats by Israel and the United States of last-ditch military action, have pushed up world oil prices, compounding the economic misery wrought by debt crises in many industrialized countries.

Some diplomats and analysts had said Amano, given a recent history of mistrustful relations with Iran, would go to Tehran only if he believed a framework agreement to give his inspectors freer hands in their investigation was close. Iran has been stonewalling IAEA requests for better access for four years.

TESTS APPLICABLE TO BUILDING BOMBS?

The U.N. watchdog is seeking access to sites, nuclear officials and scientists and documents to shed light on work in Iran applicable to developing the capability to make nuclear weapons, especially the Parchin military complex outside Tehran.

Two meetings between Iran and senior Amano aides in Tehran in January and February failed to produce any notable progress. But both sides were more upbeat after another round of talks in Vienna last week, raising hopes for a deal.

"We need to keep up the momentum. There has been good progress during the recent round of discussions between Iran and the IAEA," Amano said before leaving for Tehran.

Such a deal would also not be enough in itself to allay international concerns. World powers want Iran to curb uranium enrichment, which can yield fuel for nuclear power plants or for nuclear bombs, depending on the level of refinement.

Iran, to general disbelief from its Israeli and Western adversaries, insists its nuclear program is intended only to generate electricity in a country that is one of world's top oil exporters and to produce isotopes for cancer treatment.

In Baghdad, the powers' main goal is to get Iran to stop the higher-grade uranium enrichment it started two years ago and has since expanded, shortening the time needed for any weapons bid.

Iran says it needs uranium enriched to a fissile concentration of 20 percent for its medical isotope reactor. Enrichment to 5 percent of fissile purity is suitable for power plant fuel, while 90 percent constitutes fuel for bombs.

(Additional reporting by Justyna Pawlak in Brussels, William Maclean in London, Patrick Markey in Baghdad, Ori Lewis and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Briscoe puts Team Penske back on Indy 500 pole

IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, of Canada, drives through the first turn on his qualification run on the first day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Tom Strattman)

IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, of Canada, drives through the first turn on his qualification run on the first day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Tom Strattman)

IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan, of Brazil, reacts after qualifying his car on his second attempt on the first day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 19, 2012. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

The car driven by IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter slams into the wall the on the second turn during his second qualification run on the first day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Mike Fair)

IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, of Canada, is congratulated by a crewman after he qualified on the first day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Canadian IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe holds his pair of Greg Moore autographed racing gloves he carried under his racing suit on his qualification run on the first day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 19, 2012. Moore, who died in a crash in California in 1999, autographed the gloves for Hinchcliffe. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Roger Penske's strategy beat Michael Andretti's team by inches Saturday ? 9.168 inches to be exact.

In the closest pole duel in Indianapolis 500 history, Team Penske sent points leader Will Power onto the track with two minutes left in the Pole Day shootout ? a shrewd move that prevented three Andretti drivers from taking one last shot at the pole and preserving the No. 1 starting spot for Ryan Briscoe

It was a remarkable finish on a wild afternoon.

Briscoe was the surprise winner with a four-lap average of 226.484 mph. He completed the 10-mile qualification run 0.0023 seconds quicker than James Hinchcliffe. The previous record was set in 1970 when Al Unser edged Johnny Rutherford by 0.01 seconds over the four-lap qualifying run.

"My name will go down forever for something that I won here at the Indy 500," Briscoe said after claiming his first Indy pole after narrowly missing in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

This one will go straight into the record book.

How close was the battle on Indy's historic 2.5-mile oval?

Everybody had an answer. When Hinchcliffe left the post-race news conference, Briscoe held his fingers about an inch apart and explained it was that close.

Hinchcliffe knew better.

"It's a gust of wind, it's a shadow over a part of the track," Hinchcliffe said, before holding up his name card and explaining that was the distance. "I'm going to lose a little bit of sleep at how small the margin was to Ryan."

Eventually a series spokesman came in and blurted out the actual distance right down to the thousandth of an inch.

Nobody knows how to play this game better than Penske and he proved it again Saturday.

The iconic racing owner has won five of the last seven poles at Indy and extended his own Indy record to 17 poles. Briscoe is the 11th driver to win a pole for The Captain, and it comes one week before Penske celebrates the 40th anniversary of his first career Indy win 1972. He'll get a shot at win No. 12 here May 27.

As usual, Penske didn't rely on conventional wisdom.

Penske's three drivers ? Briscoe, three-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves and Power, the points leader ? spent most of this week just trying to crack the top 10 of the speed charts.

Some around Gasoline Alley thought the only IndyCar team to win a pole or a race this season was sandbagging.

Maybe it was. When Castroneves arrived at the track Saturday morning, it didn't take him long to top 227 mph in the early morning practice, and once qualifying began, it quickly became apparent this would be a two-team race between Penske's drivers and the resurgent Andretti team.

Still, most thought the battle would be waged between Castroneves and Marco Andretti, Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay or some combination of the four.

It turned out to be Hinchcliffe who created the most tension for Briscoe, who started putting his gloves back on after Hinchcliffe ran a 227.009 warm-up lap.

When Hinchcliffe's first qualifying attempt in the shootout ended just short, Briscoe pumped his fists and started trading high-fives with crew members. The scene played out about one hour later when the track was closed.

"I don't know how many times I've been here and I've been in both those seats before and the next thing I know, Helio goes out and goes 1 mph quicker than everyone," Briscoe said. "I'm just glad it's my time."

Penske made sure of it.

With only minutes left in qualifying, Power took one final shot at earning his first Indy pole. He wasn't quick enough to claim it, he stayed on the track long enough to protect Briscoe.

"It's just that sort of place," Power said. "I think in 2010, Helio punched out a megatime, I think 28.0. Where did that time come from, you know?"

This time, Briscoe turned the tables on his teammate and the rest of the Indy field.

And it was Andretti's team that made the big splash.

After last May's debacle in which Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti nearly missed making the race, Mike Conway failed to qualify and Ryan Hunter-Reay only got back into the field by jumping into one of A.J. Foyt's car, Andretti Autosport rebounded by taking three of the top four starting spots and putting the most pressure on Briscoe.

"There's three Andretti's in the top four, you tell me?" Hinchcliffe said when asked if Michael Andretti's team is ready to make this championship a three-team race.

The replacement for Patrick in the Go Daddy car is starting second, the middle of Row 1 with a qualifying speed of 226.481. Hunter-Reay will start on the outside of Row 1 after going 226.240, and Andretti will start on the inside of Row 2 with a speed of 225.456. Power and Castroneves close out Row 2.

Rookie Josef Newgarden, from Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, was the slowest of the shootout qualifiers at 224.037 and will start seventh. He's the highest qualifying rookie since Danica Patrick was fourth in 2005.

Tony Kanaan and E.J. Viso took the green flag, and then pulled into the pits before completing a full qualifying run during the shootout.

"I know we aren't the quickest right now, but I really think we have the quickest car in the field," said the first Tennessee native to qualify for the 500.

And after plenty of questions about whether the new compressor covers would give Honda engines an advantage over Chevrolet, Newgarden wound up as the only Honda in the first three rows.

Fisher's other driver, rookie Bryan Clauson, crashed on his fourth qualifying lap and didn't get another chance to qualify. He's expected to take another shot Sunday when the final nine spots in the 33-car field are filled. Clauson drew the ninth spot in the qualifying line.

There were some notable absences from the front of the field, too.

Team owner Chip Ganassi has won four straight IndyCar championships, but failed to get any of his four cars into the shootout. In fact, none of the cars even made a second attempt Saturday.

"We're not where we need to be to qualify for the pole," two-time Indy winner Dario Franchitti said, about 30 minutes before the first qualifying segment ended. "My situation with the 50 car, we're not even as quick as some of the other Honda runners. There's a bit of head scratching going on. We've tried a lot of different things to make it."

But the grand finale came down to Briscoe, the man once a target of Patrick's ire, and Hinchcliffe, who was trying to join Alex Tagliani as the only Canadians to win Indy's pole.

Briscoe won it ? barely.

"If we had to go, I was ready to go," said Briscoe, who was sitting in his car when qualifying ended. "I felt like we could have done the same again."

Associated Press

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Thread: French Provencial Style Apron Videos - Family Woodworking

The grinder is a great way to do rough shaping and really shines at scooping out chair seats.

I also use a grinder with a kutzall disk:

That I got from Lee Valley a number of years back:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...409,43424&ap=1

for roughing work.

I'm living breathing evidence that using these with the guard off is a bad idea. My old grinder wasn't able to support the disk size with the guard in place (should have been hint #1, 4.5" disk on a 4" grinder was just stupid) so I've been using it for years with the guard off... and of course no problems until yesterday.

Still not sure what happened (momentary lapse of reason) but it took a big chunk out of one finger and chewed the heck out the of top of another right behind the nail (for about 1/2" back). For a minute there I wasn't sure if I still HAD a finger Looked worse initially than it actually is though, just hard to tell through all that blood

So, I'm now shopping for a larger more capable grinder that I can use the disk with the guard in place!!!

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