When Michael Jordan buried that iconic, hanging jumper over Craig Ehlo more than 23 years ago in Cleveland, a 37-year-old Doug Collins hoisted his fists, hunted down Jordan with a frantic sprint, hair flopping wildly about his head, and jubilantly hopped around to celebrate with his Chicago Bulls players.

Collins would gray almost completely, lose several hair follicles and three coaching jobs before he would have the opportunity to feel to excitement of winning another first-round playoff series. And, his next victory came in similarly dramatic fashion, as Philadelphia 76ers all-star forward Andre Iguodala buried two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining to complete a stunning upset of the Bulls.

Again, Collins gleefully raised his hands. But instead of joining Iguodala on the scorers table or chasing down the rest of his giddy players to dance under confetti, Collins applauded, pointed toward the crowd and headed toward the tunnel, mind already drifting to the next opponent.

Im not in this for me, Collins explained after the 76ers won a first-round series for the first time since 2003, when another player named A.I. dominated the Philadelphia sports landscape and Collins was fired after a failed two-year stint coaching Jordan again with the Washington Wizards.

The 76ers are back in the second round, against the Boston Celtics, after Collins led the only franchise for which he played to a win over the first franchise he coached. And, the magnitude of the win wasnt lost on Collins, who proudly proclaimed afterward, Im a Sixer. For life.

Since leaving his cushy existence as a TNT studio analyst before the 2010-11 season to coach the organization that drafted him first overall in 1973, Collins has repeatedly spoken about how much he has changed since his previous coaching job, in Washington; that he has become more grandfatherly and focused on a greater purpose of passing on knowledge to an impressionable young team. But while he has delegated more responsibility to his assistants in Philadelphia, losing doesnt hurt any less, and Collins remains as competitive and intense nearly two months shy of his 61st birthday.

I got to be honest with you, Im a little anal as my family will tell you, Collins said from the podium on Thursday, as he sat next to his grandson, Cooper. Im just at a different spot in my life. As a younger person, you look more for the satisfaction of the things that come to you and I think as you get older and you become a pop-pop, you look at things a little differently. So, Im not as selfish as I used to be.

Collinss reputation for being too tightly wound and overbearing has followed him through his time in Chicago and Detroit, where he had initial success before flaming out; and Washington, where he never really had the chance to wear on his team, with young players such as former No. 1 overall pick Kwame Brown bristling from the outset.

He lifted the 76ers from the lottery to the playoffs in his first season coaching the 76ers, overcoming an ugly 3-13 start to finish with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia then opened this lockout-shortened season looking like a team that was ready to join the conferences elite.

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76ers Coach Doug Collins, grayer and more mellow, back in the second round after 23 years

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10-05-2012 21:11 The Phuket Health and Fitness Festival is a three day programme of activities, seminars, classes...and a be help in the south of Phuket between the Eleventh and Thirteenth of May.

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Phuket News: Phuket Health

OTTAWA, May 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Consumer Choice Award is thrilled to announce the 2012 Top Service Providers in the health and fitness sector for the greater Ottawa area. We would like to extend heartfelt congratulations to all this year's winners; your dedication to superior service has resonated with the people of the city of Ottawa.

Each year across Canada, Consumer Choice Award gathers opinions, perceptions and expectations through the responses of thousands of consumers and businesses. All Winners have gone through a rigorous selection process conducted by a third party research firm to ensure only the most outstanding service providers are the winners within their respective industry. Find the list of Award-Winners below:

About Consumer Choice Award

Consumer Choice Award (CCA) was established in 1987 and is considered the most distinguished award for business excellence in Canada. This is the only organization in North America to recognize business excellence by conducting third party market research of both the consumer & business community with statistical accuracy. The research method determines all the service providers, ultimately selects the top ranked companies, and establishes the winner within each industry.

Consumer Choice Award conducts its market research strictly with Leger Marketing, the leading Canadian-owned market research firm and memberof the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) of Market Researchers.

Consumer Choice Award lives in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Saskatoon, St. John's, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

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2012 Ottawa Consumer Choice Award Winners: Health and Fitness Sector

ST. LOUIS, May 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Some Americans are not optimistic about the possibility of a financially comfortable retirement or the possibility of retirement in general. According to a survey released today by financial services firm Edward Jones, one in 10 Americans say retirement simply isn't an attainable goal when asked to identify the reason they're not saving enough. Only 32 percent of survey respondents identify hard financial issues, such as the need to focus on immediate expenses as the rationale for their lack of savings.

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"While everyday expenses like education and housing are clearly necessary expenses for many Americans, this survey found that there is still almost one-third of respondents who point to fairly vague reasons for not saving enough, including those with concerns that saving for retirement is unattainable or that it's too early to start," said Scott Thoma, Investment Policy Committee Member at Edward Jones. "We want to remind Americans that taking a proactive approach, no matter how minimal it may seem, is the best way to overcome retirement readiness fears. Investing regularly into a 401(k) or an IRA can be a great option. By working with a financial professional, any investor, whether they are at the beginning of their career or close to traditional retirement age, can work to develop a plan to help them achieve their goals."

Conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, the survey of 565 respondents found that age plays a factor in whether Americans are saving enough. Seventy-two percent of respondents between 18 and 34 believe they are not putting enough money towards retirement. The percentages dropped with the age of the respondents, with just less than half of respondents (47 percent) 65 and older indicating they are not saving enough.

The survey also found that household and family size has a clear impact on retirement savings. While the survey average shows that 32 percent of Americans are grappling with too many current expenses to save for retirement, the percentage increases dramatically for respondents with children between 13 and 17 to 49 percent. "Balancing college and retirement savings is a common challenge for parents. With limited resources, it's important to create a strategy that will help allocate savings appropriately," Thoma continued. For respondents with no children, only 25 percent indicate that current expenses are impacting their ability to save.

Other key findings from the survey include:

About Edward JonesEdward Jones provides financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to individual investors in the communities in which they live and work. The firm's 12,000-plus financial advisors work directly with nearly 7 million clients to understand their personal goals - from college savings to retirement - and create long-term investment solutions that emphasize a well-balanced portfolio and a buy-and-hold strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment solutions available today.

Edward Jones, which ranked No. 11 on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For 2011," is headquartered in St. Louis. The Edward Jones Web site is located at http://www.edwardjones.com, and its recruiting Web site is http://www.careers.edwardjones.com. Member SIPC.

Survey was based on 565 telephone interviews of U.S. adults conducted between April 5 7, 2012. The margin of error was +/-5 percent.

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US Investors Admit They Are Not Saving Enough for Retirement

Retirement planning isn't easy. Nearly half of Americans don't feel financially prepared to live to age 75, according to a survey from Northwestern Mutual. But the process is a lot less burdensome if you break the task down into simpler parts. Here are seven questions to ask as you plan for your long-term financial security in retirement.

- Mark Trumbull,Staff writer

At the core of the typical retirement plan is the goal of building assets that will provide income, alongside Social Security and other sources, during your senior years. But how much do you need to save by age 65 or 70? And what does that mean for your present saving habits? The math gets complicated fast, because there are so many variables. How much to save depends on things like your future wage growth, inflation, longevity, future spending needs, what year you hope to retire, and whether you have a defined pension in addition to Social Security. Many families will find it helpful to consult a financial planner who is paid by client fees (not paid by a financial company to promote certain products). A planner would help with setting a savings target and with other steps in retirement planning. But online calculators can also offer some useful guidance. One free tool that blends ease-of-use with relatively sophisticated results is T. Rowe Price's retirement income calculator. Answer a few questions, and soon you'll see a chart of how much you're on track to save now, and how much you might need to boost that amount to have a 70 percent chance of hitting a prudent target by retirement. The tool lets you test what happens when you shift a few parameters (like retirement age). An alternative online tool, worth noting because it's considered state-of-the-art by some finance experts, crunches the numbers to fit a theory called "consumption smoothing." This is the idea that your goal is to maximize your quality of life (the "consumption" part) over your whole lifetime (the "smoothing" part).

The service, called Economic Security Planner, often gives very different advice from the typical online calculator. And it can be tailored specifically to one's situation such as factoring in when you'll stop helping a child through college and start putting some extra money toward your own retirement. The software concept was crafted by financial economist Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University. Whether you turn to a professional or to some software designed by professionals for guidance, don't be frozen by the complexity of the decisions. Doing something is much better in this arena than doing nothing, finance experts say. So set a goal, keep saving, and you can revise or improve your plans as you go.

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Retirement planning 101: Seven questions you need to answer

Graduation is a proud day for parents and students, but saving for a child s college education shouldn t take precedence over saving for retirement.

CHICAGO -- Imagine if retirement were financed by scholarships, grants and loans.

You could qualify for a substantial aid package to pay for your senior years. Your stellar job "grades" and career achievements would be rewarded with significant merit aid.

Alas, no such aid exists. Paying for retirement is an expensive obligation that you have to handle on your own.

The one similarity with college is you likely will need to set aside money for many years in order to take care of it.

And if you need to save for your children's college as well as your own retirement, you've got a daunting challenge on your hands.

The cost of a college education continues to rise faster than inflation, at roughly 5 percent per year. The average sticker-price for four years at a private college is now more than $150,000 -- including $38,589 for the 2011-12 school year. Even going to your state's university runs close to half that total at an average $17,131 a year, according to the College Board.

Retirement is far more expensive than that.

How do you balance those important objectives? Here are some considerations to keep top-of-mind as you juggle both:

Put retirement first: Student loan debt has risen above $1 trillion and the average student's debt at graduation now exceeds $25,000, according to the Project on Student Debt. Hoping to keep their own kids from being overly burdened, parents often unwisely sink thousands of dollars into their

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Retirement savings should come before college funds

LUNENBURG -- All coaches love balanced attacks.

Luckily for Nashoba Regional boys' outdoor track coach Jim Nosel, he's got a team dominated by balance.

The Chieftains, backed by several personal bests and impressive performances throughout the day, made it back-to-back Class B titles at the District E Class Meet Saturday afternoon at sunny Lunenburg High School.

"I'm happy to win our class, I really am. In the league we were undefeated, but at the same time, we haven't been turning in stellar performances in the last two or three weeks," Nosel said. "For the kids to come back today and all those PRs, that's huge for the team.

"Nashoba has always had a strong foundation on distance, but this is probably the first year in six that we've been balanced -- field events, distance, hurdles. That was the difference this year because we're a much more balanced team. Even those kids that balance out the team, they're scoring in the top six, so that's not too shabby."

Nashoba posted 93 total points for the Class B championship. Lunenburg followed in second with 62 points and Oakmont Regional was third with 55.

"Coming in here we knew it was going to be difficult to beat Nashoba because Nashoba is very good," Lunenburg coach Bob Truax said. "But I was happy with how we performed."

Just about everything went well for Nashoba, except another injury to 100-meter dash star John Ojukwu, who came up lame with a slightly pulled hamstring and didn't

"We'll probably rest him in the league meet on Wednesday and work him back into the district meet," said Nosel, adding it was Ojukwu's first time on the track in two weeks because of injury. "I'm not overly concerned about it, but his comeback routine is going to change a little bit in these two weeks. It's one of those things, 'We need you in two weeks, what do we have to do?'"

Senior Jair Cruikshank led a host of Nashoba first-place efforts with a victory in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.95 seconds.

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Nashoba wins boys' Class B crown

After having three personal bests on Thursday, sophomore Brittany Harrell continued her strong performance en route to her first Southeastern Conference win.

Harrell wrapped up her performance in the heptathlon on Friday with the long jump, javelin throw and 800 meters. The win was not only her first individual SEC title, but the 5,838 points Harrell earned was a school record as well, making her the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon record holder for Florida.

Im incredibly proud of Brittany Harrell, coach Mike Holloway said. Its very satisfying when you see someone who works that hard have everything come together. Today was a total team effort and I have to credit our assistant coaches for preparing Brittany. Multi-events are really a collaborative effort and today showed that.

Continuing with the trend from Thursday, Harrell set a personal best in all three events today. Her biggest improvement came in the 800 meters. Her time of 2:14.37 was over four seconds quicker than her previous record set.

"My best event was the 800 because it was such a big PR for me, Harrell said. I've been working hard with all of my coaches, but especially on mid-distance. I've been putting great effort into it and everything just came together very well."

After Harrell got 10 points on the board for the women, thrower Jeremy Postin did the same for the men by winning the hammer throw. Junior David Triassi was also able to add some points to the board with a fifth place finish.

"We're the first points of the meet for the Gators and it's a big deal to be able to get those 14 points and step up for people who can't compete this weekend, Postin said. We're starting off strong for the Gators and that's a big deal for me."

Mark Parrish, Josh Izewski and Callie Cooper also gave both the men and women points to bring their totals to 23 and 15, respectively.

Despite having an overall good day, Florida did have some difficulty qualifying in the prelims. There were nine Gators who didnt qualify for Saturdays competition.

I think it was a great day on both sides for us, Holloway said. There were a few events where I wish we could have sneaked a few qualifiers in but this is the SEC, theres no sneaking in anywhere. Were going to put our cards on the table the next two days and see what we have.

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UF tack and field's Harrell claims first SEC heptathlon title

In the not-so-distant past, children looked mainly to their fathers for lessons on life outside the home, on how to succeed in business, politics and social organizations. Mom occupied the center of family life and guided us in personal relationships; the values she stressed empathy, kindness, fairness, collaboration didn't seem to guide a dog-eat-dog world.

But times change. Today, success in business often depends more on what our mothers traditionally taught us. In other words, male or female, many of the smartest, most creative and innovative among us are becoming more feminine.

The shift can be seen, in part, in the success of large companies that devote a lot of effort to understanding their customers. Target and Ford are big examples, but it can perhaps best be seen in the success of much-smaller concerns built from the ground up on shared values with their customers.

In the last year we have traveled the world to study companies that are profiting from what we call the feminine way of doing business. In London, we met the (male) founders of Whipcar, who connect private automobile owners with people who will pay to use a vehicle for a few hours or days. Whipcar screens and insures renters, but it's a business founded largely on trust. And it's growing like gangbusters.

In Lima, Peru, we met chef Gaston Acurio, who built a restaurant empire in 12 countries by adapting his mother's recipes and training workers in his own culinary school. Acurio's fame has stimulated an Andean food fad, aiding Peruvian farmers and wholesalers.

In Tokyo we found Motherhouse, maker and retailer of high-end jute and leather handbags and perhaps the ultimate example of the feminine business model.

Motherhouse's founder, Eriko Yamaguchi, wanted to find a way to permanently improve workers' lives in one of the world's poorest nations, Bangladesh. She discovered the country's jute industry and found a factory willing to work with her to combine her designs with its workforce, retrained to produce accessories that would be at home on the Ginza in Tokyo. With six shops in Japan and plans to expand, Motherhouse provides good wages and a safe factory for the workers Yamaguchi calls her firm's "creators." And her customers pay not just to help the poor but to get a bag they really want.

Such cases of "doing well by doing good" would be merely inspiring one-off examples if the world's consumers weren't moving in the same direction. The fact is, they are. As part of our research, we conducted a survey of 40,000 people selected to represent mainstream consumers in 13 countries that represent 75 percent of global gross domestic product. We found that people are weary of us-versus-them leadership and hungry for a kinder, gentler marketplace.

When we asked people to list the qualities they most want in their leaders, men and women both favored traits they termed "feminine" over those they considered "masculine," by better than 2 to 1. Among the highest-ranked were "communicative, reasonable, flexible and patient," which were all strongly associated with the feminine side of human nature.

Several trends in trade and technology support the rising importance of such traits in the marketplace. Social media, for example, make it harder for companies to get away with bad behavior. We're not saying manufacturers don't make shoddy products and service providers don't abuse customers. However, consumers have a much easier time sorting those they want to do business with from those they don't. And businesses that have found a better way have a much easier time telling their stories to the world.

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Mother's (Pay) Day: Businesses find success in adopting traditionally feminine values

AHMEDABAD, INDIA--(Marketwire -05/11/12)- A charismatic persona with immense optimism and composed demeanor is what defines Ms. Parul Thakur, General Manager, at Courtyard by Marriott Ahmedabad. Forthright in her approach, this soft spoken professional stands tall as the first female general manager in the hospitality industry in the state of Gujarat. Leading the team at one of the most prominent business hotels in Ahmedabad, Parul has brought with her the rich experience of over 12 years at various Marriott properties in the country.

Parul has been a part of the Marriott family since 2002. Before becoming general manager in July 2011, she was the director of operations for the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel in 2010, director of sales & marketing - India for Marriott International in 2008, director of marketing for Renaissance Mumbai & MEA in 2007 and director of sales for Renaissance Mumbai in 2004.

She leads her team with a do-whatever-it-takes attitude which has taken Courtyard by Marriott to newer heights. Her passion towards work is the secret to her success. She proactively interacts with the guests and leaves no stone unturned to make sure they have a comfortable stay. Her eye for detail and ability to find innovative ways around challenges have made Courtyard by Marriott, Ahmedabad stand out amongst luxury hotels in Ahmedabad. Her mantra towards approaching any problem lies in looking over, under and around it.

Parul holds a Bachelor's of Commerce (Honors) from Delhi University and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Sales & Marketing Management from NIS (Delhi). She started her career in hospitality with Hilton, New Delhi.

A mother of two, she believes in balancing work and personal life by planning all her post work time indulging in fun activities with her daughters and dining out with her husband at the various restaurants in Ahmedabad.

To Courtyard by Marriott Ahmedabad, Parul brings her rich experience of working in various prominent international hospitality brands. Parul believes a leader should walk the walk, talk the talk, be a good listener and have the ability to take success and failure with equanimity.

There are plenty of Ahmedabad hotel packages available this summer to meet the needs of any traveler. Whether you are looking for a romantic getaway, a family vacation, or a personal excursion, India is your destination! With Marriott's latest offer You Play, We Pay, guests are rewarded at all 14 locations in India. Simply spend 2-3 nights at a Marriott and earn credits you can use towards room upgrades, dining services, spa treatments or more. Act quickly because this limited time offer expires August 31. To learn more and book your summer vacation in India visit http://www.marriott.com/specials/mesOffer.mi?marrOfferId=754615&displayLink=true.

Marriott International, Inc. (MAR) is a leading lodging company based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA with more than 3,700 properties in 73 countries and territories and reported revenues of over $12 billion in fiscal year 2011. The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 18 brands, including Marriott Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Bulgari, EDITION, Renaissance, Autograph Collection, AC Hotels by Marriott, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn & Suites, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, Marriott Vacation Club, Grand Residences by Marriott, and The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club. There are approximately 300,000 employees at headquarters, managed and franchised properties. Marriott is consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business operations, which it conducts based on five core values: put people first, pursue excellence, embrace change, act with integrity, and serve our world. For more information or reservations, please visit our website at http://www.marriott.com, and for the latest company news, visit http://www.marriottnewscenter.com.

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General Manager Ms. Parul Thakur Is the Key to Success at Luxury Hotels in Ahmedabad