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Triangle offense

The triangle offense is an offensive strategy used in basketball. Its basic ideas were initially established by Hall of Fame coach Sam Barry at the University of Southern California. His system was further developed by former Houston Rockets and Kansas State University basketball head coach Tex Winter, who played for Barry in the late 1940s. Winter later served as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls in the 1980s and 1990s and for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2000s, mostly under head coach Phil Jackson.

The system's most important feature is the sideline triangle created by the center, who stands at the low post, the forward at the wing, and the guard at the corner. The team's other guard stands at the top of the key and the weak-side forward is on the weak-side high post—together forming the "two-man game". The goal of the offense is to fill those five spots, which creates good spacing between players and allows each one to pass to four teammates. Every pass and cut has a purpose and everything is dictated by the defense.

It has been claimed that the triangle offense is the optimal way for five players to space the floor on the basketball court.

Strategy

The offense starts when a guard passes to the wing and cuts to the strong-side corner. The triangle is created from a post player on the strong-side block, the strong-side corner, and the extended strong-side wing, who gains possession on the first pass. The desired initial option in the offense is to pass to the strong-side post player on the block who is in good scoring position. From there the player has the options of looking to score or pass to one of the perimeter players who are exchanging from strong-side corner and wing, a dive cut down the lane, or the opposite wing flashing to the top of the key which initiates another common option known as the "pinch post".

If a pass to the block is not possible, the second option is either to pass to the weak-side guard who flashes top of the key from the weak-side wing position or passing to the strong-side corner. If the ball is passed to the corner the options are either shoot, pass to the strong-side block, or pick and pop with the wing. If it is passed to the weak-side guard it initiates the "pinch post" option. There are two options. The first and most common is to pass to the weak-side forward who flashes to the elbow (corner of the key at the free throw line) to receive the pass. When he does the options are a rub handoff, back door cut by guard without the ball, post up of the guard on a smaller player, or face up and attack. The second option is a pick and roll with the forward. The advantage to the first option is there are so many weapons to attack the defense it opens up a lot of freedom and ability to score effectively. The advantage on the second option is that the player who has the ball and uses the screen now has the entire side of the floor to work with to go one on one. Meanwhile, on the other side, the wing sets a screen for the corner guard on the triangle split. If the hand-off is not available, the forward or the guard can pass to the corner guard coming off the screen. If the defense overplays or expects the split, both the wing and the corner guard can back cut to the basket. During all of this time the original strong-side block player is able to establish position for an easy shot while the defender is lured by all of the movement and cutting by the other players.

If the strong-side wing-to-guard pass is not possible, the third option is for the weak-side forward to flash to the strong-side elbow, take the pass, and cut to the basket on the trademark backdoor play of the offense. Meanwhile, the wing and corner guard exchange on a down screen. The forward with the ball can pass to the cutting guard or to the corner guard coming off the wing's screen. If nothing's available, he can shoot the basketball himself.

The offense also has a variety of options if there is heavy pressure from the defense. If the initial wing-pass by the guard is not available, the triangle can be created on the other side by passing to the other guard, who then passes to the weak-side forward (who then becomes the strong-side wing). The guard, who initially had the ball, then cuts to the other corner. The center or the pressured wing can flash to the opposite post. If the guard-to-guard pass is not available, the weak-side forward can make a similar flash cut that was mentioned earlier. That also creates many cutting opportunities. If there is heavy pressure on everybody, the center can release the pressure by cutting to the high post for a pass by the ball-handling guard. That would also create space for possible cuts.

NBA
Head coach Phil Jackson, with help from assistant coach Tex Winter, won 11 NBA Finals with the triangle offense. Jackson coached the Bulls from 1989–1998. He next served as the head coach of the Lakers twice, first from 1999–2004, and then from 2005–2011. The Chicago Bulls under Jackson won six championships in the 1990s playing in the triangle. His first three title-winning teams in Chicago featured superstars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Jackson's later three titles with the Bulls came with Jordan, Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. Jackson's Los Angeles Lakers won five championships employing the triangle. His first three Lakers championship squads fielded superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, while his last two title teams saw him pair Bryant with fellow All-Star Pau Gasol.

Winter initially wanted to teach the triangle offense to Doug Collins, who the Bulls hired as head coach ahead of the 1986–87 season. However, Collins refused and instead he implemented an isolation-heavy offense centered around Jordan's scoring abilities. Collins even went as far as banishing Winter to the end of the Bulls bench. Despite a conference finals appearance in the 1989 playoffs, Bulls general manager Jerry Krause fired Collins after the playoffs due to his refusal to adopt Winter's system.

When Jackson became the head coach of the Chicago Bulls before the start of the 1989–1990 NBA season, he and Winter originally installed the triangle offense in an attempt to subvert the Jordan Rules strategy employed by their Eastern Conference rivals, the Detroit Pistons. The "Jordan Rules" was a defensive strategy which consisted of solely targeting Michael Jordan. Jordan had already established himself as an elite NBA superstar by single-handedly turning Chicago into a playoff contender. However, by sharing responsibility rather than shouldering it, he continued to blossom as a great all-around basketball player. More importantly, the Bulls also improved notably as a team, finishing with a 55–27 record. The Bulls fell to the Pistons in 7 games in the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals. The following year, however, Chicago finished the 1990–1991 NBA season with a then-franchise best 61–21 record, good for first place in the East, then swept the archrival Pistons 4–0 in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls then defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, four games to one. Michael Jordan won his second NBA Most Valuable Player Award that season and won his first championship.

The triangle offense was used very effectively by the Bulls during the 1995–96 season. Jordan, back at the helm for the team in his first full season since coming out of retirement, won his fourth NBA MVP award. He also finished the season as the league's leading scorer for the 8th time. The Bulls recorded a then NBA-record 72–10 season en route to what was then their fourth NBA championship. Jackson won his first (and only) NBA Coach of the Year Award for his efforts during his team's record-breaking season. Overall, the Bulls won six NBA titles during the 1990s, and the team is considered to be one of the NBA's greatest dynasties.

Jackson installed the triangle offense again when he started coaching the Lakers in the 1999–2000 season, with Winter once again serving as an assistant on his staff. This time, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant served as the focal points of the team's offense. O'Neal won the NBA MVP Award in 2000, and Bryant rose to prominence as one of the NBA's newest stars. The Lakers became an elite NBA team during Jackson's first term as their coach, making four NBA Finals appearances in five years and winning three straight championships from 2000–2002. At the end of the 2004 Finals, which resulted in losing to the Detroit Pistons, his contract was not renewed. Jackson returned to the Lakers as head coach starting in the 2005–2006 season. Despite the presence of Bryant as the centerpiece of the team, the Lakers could not get past the first round of the playoffs in 2006 or 2007. However, the team acquired versatile forward Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2008 season. With Bryant and Gasol running the triangle offense, the Lakers made the NBA Finals three straight times and won in 2009 and 2010. In the process, Jackson surpassed Red Auerbach's record of most titles won by an NBA coach.

When Phil Jackson retired as a head coach at the end of the 2010–2011 season, he finished his career with over 1000 victories over the course of his coaching career, regular season and playoff games combined. Jackson, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, O'Neal, Bryant and Gasol are all Hall of Famers. Tex Winter earned induction into the Hall of Fame in 2011 for his contributions to basketball involving the triangle offense. He was an assistant for both the Bulls and Lakers on the first nine of Jackson's 11 championship teams, and served as a consultant to the Lakers on the final two.

Several other coaches, some of whom were either Jackson's former players or assistant coaches, tried to implement the triangle with varying degrees of success. In 1996, former Jackson assistant Jim Cleamons took over as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, but only lasted until early in the 1997–98 season, when general manager Don Nelson fired him. Cleamons' triangle failed to click with the Mavericks' players, and after Nelson became head coach, the team abandoned it in favor of his Nellie Ball offense. Similarly, in 1993, Quinn Buckner tried to implement the triangle without success during his brief coaching career in Dallas, finishing his lone season with a 13–69 record.

After Tim Floyd replaced Jackson as Bulls head coach in 1998, he was asked by general manager Jerry Krause to use the triangle offense, and even retained Winter as an assistant for one season. However, Krause had infamously dismantled the championship team, and an inexperienced Bulls squad finished with only a 13–37 record in the lockout-shortened 1999 season. This was followed by a 17–65 record in the 1999–2000 season, and a 15–67 record in the 2000–01 season. Floyd resigned early in the 2001–02 season, and abandoned the triangle in favor of the Princeton offense during his lone season coaching the New Orleans Hornets in the 2003–04 season.

Floyd's successor, Bill Cartwright, continued to use the triangle during his three seasons with the Bulls. However, Cartwright was fired early in the 2003–04, and his successor Scott Skiles abandoned the triangle in favor of a more defensive-oriented, low-scoring style similar to the Detroit Pistons of the era.

Another former Jackson assistant, Kurt Rambis, tried using the triangle without success during his brief two-year stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2009 to 2011. In 2014, former Bulls player Steve Kerr began using a hybrid triangle upon joining the Golden State Warriors as head coach, mixing in certain aspects of run and gun and small ball to huge success. Kerr has so far coached the Warriors to four NBA championships between 2015 and 2022.

In 2014, Jackson joined the New York Knicks as president of basketball operations, and hired former Laker Derek Fisher as the head coach in hopes of installing the triangle offense. However, the Knicks failed to finish with a winning season. Nor did the team make the playoffs in each of Jackson's three seasons. Fisher's tenure lasted until midway through the 2015–16 season, after which he was fired and replaced by Kurt Rambis for the remainder of the season. Jeff Hornacek took over as the Knicks head coach for the 2016-2017 season, but he, too, couldn't deliver a winning season for the Knicks.

The triangle offense, while successful during Jackson's legendary coaching career, has proved to be less effective in comparison to modern NBA offenses, which place more emphasis on perimeter shooting and player versatility. This is due in large part to the increased efficiency of the 3-point shot. In addition, players' improving 3-point proficiency and range provides much of the floor spacing that is one of the hallmarks of the triangle. It also did not help that Knicks players, especially Carmelo Anthony, were reluctant to learn the offense, and lacked the necessary discipline and patience to run the triangle. Jackson was dismissed after the 2016–17 season.

International
Tim Cone, the current head coach of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, continued the movement in the triangle offense and brought it to the PBA in 1989 when he was in Alaska Milkmen, thus aiding him to win a league-record 25 championships with three different franchises.

title: Triangle offense


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West Hallam

West Hallam is a large village and civil parish close to Ilkeston in the county of Derbyshire in the East Midlands region of England. West Hallam has had its own parish council since 1894 and, since 1974, has been part of the Erewash borough. The population of the civil parish was 4,829 at the 2001 census reducing to 4,686 at the 2011 census.

Early history
Although it is not known exactly when the village was founded, it existed at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. St Wilfrid's Church is over 700 years old. In the 16th and 17th centuries, West Hallam had a reputation for Catholic sympathies at a time when Catholics were persecuted.

Until the early 20th century West Hallam was a small rural village and the property of the Newdigate family. Most jobs were in the agricultural area with mining work locally in the Erewash Valley coalfield. There was also a West Hallam railway station, connected to the Great Northern Railway and Derby Friargate Station.

Twentieth century

The Newdigate family finally parted with their interest as Lords of the Manor in 1914.

The later 20th century saw rapid change, with both the collieries and the railway disappearing during the 1960s. Stanley Colliery (known locally as 'Nibby Pit') on Station Road was the last to close in 1959 and some buildings remain, now in industrial use. The railway station is now Station House, a private residence.

The colliery spoil tips were removed and landscaped and after much opencast coal extraction the area regained its traditional rural appeal from the 1970s onward. In the 1970s and 1980s a major new housing development dramatically increased the village's population.

The former Second World War Army Ordnance Depot off Cat and Fiddle Lane to the south of the village was reopened in the 1960s as Midland Storage (now known as TDG Pinnacle) and remains a significant local employer.

Most residents are now employed away from West Hallam, some even commuting daily as far as London.

Amenities

One of present-day West Hallam's more notable places is the Bottle Kiln. On the site of the former West Hallam Pottery – which once had two such kilns and was virtually derelict for many years – this well-renovated bottle kiln and supporting buildings now houses an art and crafts gallery, a café and a Japanese-style tea garden and gift shop.

A valuable open space is the recreational area at Straw's Bridge (also known as Swan Lake) on West Hallam's eastern border, on the A609, with Ilkeston. This popular lake and walking area was formed from a flood meadow and the site of the old West Hallam Sewage Works in around 1990. This site was opencast mined in the late 1980s and the restored site along with some adjacent land forming part of the Ilkeston area known as 'Manor' or 'Manners Floods' forms the Straw's Bridge area today.

Other facilities include a village hall in The Village, a community centre on Station Road, and Scargill Church of England Primary School on Beech Lane. There is now only one functioning pub, the busy Newdigate (formerly The Newdigate Arms); The 17th-century Punch Bowl closed (perhaps permanently) in 2022 and the White Hart was demolished in August 2020 to make way for four- and five-bedroom houses. The Dales Shopping Centre in The Village includes a Tesco Express Store, chemist, pizzeria, a Chinese and an Indian take-away as well as a fish and chip shop. Two medical centres/doctors surgeries and a chiropractor's practice can also be found there. Four public recreation grounds can also be found within West Hallam.

West Hallam is also well provided as far as local charities are concerned. As well as the Rev John Scargill's charity, established in 1662 and still going strong, needy locals may benefit from the Ann Powtrell Foundation and the West Hallam Trust (West Hallam United Charities), all of which are long established.

Cricket
West Hallam has two established cricket clubs:
 * West Hallam White Rose Cricket Club was founded in 1880. The club ground is based on The Statham Oval, Cat and Fiddle lane, and they have two senior teams in the Derbyshire County Cricket League, and a well established Junior section playing competitive cricket in the Erewash Young Cricketers League.
 * Nutbrook Cricket Club, was founded in 1937. Their ground is situated on the border between West Hallam and Ilkeston, on the Arthur Fisher Memorial Ground, High Lane East. They have three senior teams in the Derbyshire County Cricket League, and a Junior section playing competitive cricket in the Erewash Young Cricketers League.

Football

 * West Hallam Junior Football Club (established 1886 as a senior club) is a football club based at the Powtrell Community Pavilion on Beech Lane Recreation Ground. They operate teams across the various age groups ranging from Development to Under 18s. The junior section of the West Hallam football club came into existence in 1980, but West Hallam no longer has a senior team.

Notable residents

 * Thomas Rossell Potter (1799–1873), writer, was born here.
 * Sir Francis Newdegate GCMG KStJ (1862–1936), final Lord of the Manor until 1914. Was Governor of Tasmania (1917–1920) and of Western Australia (1920–1924).

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: West Hallam


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Talk:Leu

Although Moldova is a much smaller country than Romania, it seems unfair that Romania gets Leu, while Moldova has to be stuck with Moldovian leu. Would it be fair to move this page to Romanian leu? Dollar is about dollar, not United States dollar, the strongest "dollar"-based currency so why is leu this way? -- user:zanimum

title: Talk:Leu


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Memphis Southmen

The Memphis Southmen, also known as the Memphis Grizzlies, were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. They played in the World Football League (WFL), which operated in 1974 and 1975. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

From North to South
The team was originally slated to be based in Toronto, Canada, with the nickname of the Northmen. However, when Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced that no U.S.-based professional football league would be allowed in Canada in competition with the Canadian Football League under the Canadian Football Act, a change in venue and nickname was announced. From the beginning, Memphians disliked "Southmen" and the team was informally known as the Memphis Grizzlies. The name appeared to come from the logo, a representation of a bear backed by the sun.

The "Grizzlies" were owned by John F. Bassett. A multi-millionaire, Bassett gave the league instant credibility by signing three stars from the National Football League's Miami Dolphins for the 1975 season: running backs Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, and wide receiver Paul Warfield. A Grizzlies quarterback was Danny White, who later became a quarterback and punter with the Dallas Cowboys from 1976 to 1988. John McVay was introduced as the head coach of the Grizzlies before the 1974 season. After his tenure with the Grizzlies, McVay would later serve as Vice-President and General Manager of the San Francisco 49ers for nineteen years, from 1980 to 1999. During this period, McVay presided over five Super Bowl-winning seasons and was named NFL Executive of the Year in 1989.

The Southmen's home opener against the Detroit Wheels drew 30,122 fans, including Elvis Presley, a professed football fanatic. Country superstar Charlie Rich sang the national anthem. After Rich took his seat next to Elvis afterward, Presley commented, "That's a tough song to sing, ain't it?" Rich replied, "It ain't no Behind Closed Doors."

Even before the Miami Trio arrived, the 1974 Southmen found two durable running backs in J. J. Jennings and John Harvey, and they finished with the league's best record at 17–3. They lost in the semifinals to the Orlando-based Florida Blazers, 18–15.

In 1975, Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Paul Warfield finally came to Memphis (now officially dubbed the Grizzlies), but even they couldn't save the league, which folded during the middle of its second season. The 1975 Grizzlies finished 7–4; in their last WFL game, they were shut out by the Birmingham Vulcans, 21–0.

Memphis eventually not only received another professional sports team via a relocation from Canada, but one that was officially called the Grizzlies – the Vancouver Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association would move to Memphis in 2001. The NBA Grizzlies are the only major professional sports team to keep its nickname after moving from Canada to the United States.

In 2004, Mississippi's Johnny Wofford produced a DVD honouring the 1974–75 Southmen/Grizzlies. It included pictures from the 2004 30-year reunion conference.

Memphis and the NFL
The Southmen were one of the stronger and better-supported WFL franchises. With the wealth of Bassett, by far the richest owner in the WFL, behind them, the Southmen would have almost certainly been a viable venture had the WFL's overall management been more financially sound. After the WFL folded, Bassett applied for membership in the NFL as an expansion team. Over 40,000 deposits for season tickets were collected in this effort, which included a December 1975 telethon dubbed the "NFL-a-Thon" on Memphis television station WMC-TV Channel 5. To their dismay, the NFL refused to accept the team. McVay and many of the Southmen moved on to join the New York Giants, where in what has been described as "the closest approximation to a meeting between the champions of the WFL and the NFL", the Southmen reinforcements helped the Giants defeat the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers 17–0 in a 1976 preseason matchup.

Still, there were fans who would not quit. A lawsuit, Mid-South Grizzlies v. NFL, tried to force the league to accept the Grizzlies. It was not settled until 1984, by which time Bassett owned the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League and the case was rendered moot.

Long after Presley's death in 1977, his estate was involved in an attempt to bring the NFL to Memphis; the Memphis Hound Dogs proposal ultimately lost (professional football would eventually come to the city in 1995 in the form of the Canadian Football League's Mad Dogs, which Presley's estate had no involvement with; the team folded after that single season).

The NFL's Tennessee Oilers (newly relocated from Houston) played their 1997 season in Memphis before making their permanent home in Nashville.

title: Memphis Southmen


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Jaafari

Jaafari may refer to:

 * Jaʽfari jurisprudence, the Juridical school followed by Twelver and Nizari Shi'a, named after Ja'far al-Sadiq
 * Al-Ja'fari, a surname commonly associated with descendants of Ja'far al-Sadiq, including notable people with the surname

title: Jaafari


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Talk:Angle-Grinder Man

Is the description "vigilante" appropriate for Angle-Grinder Man? The Wikipedia entry for vigilante suggests that vigilantes undertake law enforcement, I would argue that AGM is working contrary to law enforcement, so is not a vigilante.

He would be a vigilante if he went around clamping people he believed to be illagally parked.

 * The Wikipedia definition of a vigilante was incorrect and I have changed it. Shantavira 09:30, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

External link returns "No web site is configured at this address." - Nilmerg 12:58, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

 * Working at the time of writing, so I left the link in. Davelong 28 June 2005 12:02 (UTC)

A link on Real-life superhero leads here, which leads directly back to Real-life superhero. Very useful. --Buddy13 (talk) 22:25, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

title: Talk:Angle-Grinder Man


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Euskotren Tranbia

Euskotren Tranbia is the brand under which the tramway networks in the cities of Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao (both in the Basque Country, Spain) are run. The system in Bilbao started operations in 2002, and the one in Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2008. It is one of the four commercial divisions under which Euskotren (a public company managed by the Basque Government) operates. The infrastructure is owned by the public entity Euskal Trenbide Sarea (Basque Railway Network) and tracks use narrow gauge.

Services

Euskotren Tranbia operates tram networks in Vitoria-Gasteiz (province of Álava) and Bilbao (province of Biscay). The first network, then named EuskoTran started operations in Bilbao in 2002 after two years under construction, connecting Bilbao-Atxuri Station with Uribitarte. The line was eventually expanded to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Basurto Hospital and finally La Casilla.

The tramway system in Vitoria-Gasteiz opened in 2008 and has a Y-shaped network, with two different lines that cross the city from south to north.

Trams run on the street (shared with other traffic or on dedicated tracks) and on grass tracks. It also shares dedicated lanes with the local bus services, TUVISA in Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbobus in Bilbao.

Stop design

The two tram systems have their own, distinguishable stops, some of them shared with bus systems and with low platforms. The stops of Atxuri, Ribera and Abando, all of them in Bilbao, do not have a dedicated platform, they use the sidewalk. Except for Atxuri, all stops are unstaffed and rely on automated ticket machines. All the stations have displays and screens with the network map, the current time and temperature and the frequencies. Due to the low platforms, the access between them involves crossing the tracks by pedestrian level crossing. They are virtually level with the doors and are all wider than 2 m. This allows wheelchairs, prams, pushchairs and the elderly to board the tram easily with no steps. In street sections, the pavement is integrated with the tram stop. The system in Bilbao has 14 stops, while the one in Vitoria has 23.

Fares and ticketing
The two systems use both regular paper tickets and smartcards (BAT, Barik and Mugi). There are single, daily and monthly tickets available. In both networks, ticket pricing is not based on zone-based rules, as there's a unique fare for the whole of each network.

Rolling stock
Euskotren Tranbia operates a fleet of 26 CAF Urbos trams, distributed between both networks.

Current fleet
The 400 series consists of 8 vehicles (numbered 401-408), built for the Bilbao network. The trams are 24.4 m long, have 70% low floor access and are made up of three cars. Each tram can carry 196 passengers. They are the only CAF Urbos 1 trams to have been built.

The 500 series consists of 11 vehicles (numbered 501-511), originally built for the Vitoria-Gasteiz network. The trams are 31.4 m long, have 100% low floor access and are made up of five cars. Each tram can carry 261 passengers. Due to the introduction of the larger 600 series in Vitoria-Gasteiz, three vehicles will be transferred to Bilbao.

The 600 series consists of 7 vehicles (numbered 601-607), built for the Vitoria-Gasteiz network. The trams are 44.2 m long, have 100% low floor access and are made up of seven cars. Each tram can carry 398 passengers.

Livery
The trams were originally painted in grey and green stripes, the colours of Euskotren Tranbia. The current livery is white and green.

Barakaldo tram
There were plans to create a tram network in the municipality of Barakaldo, in the Greater Bilbao area, which would have started in Urbinaga (where it would have been connected to the Leioa tram) and from there create a circular line around the city center. The project included fifteen stops within Barakaldo plus two in Sestao, where it would connect with the Leioa line. Even if this project hasn't been officially canceled, no progress has been made since 2010.

Leioa tram

The construction of a tramway for the municipality of Leioa, in the Greater Bilbao area had two phases. The first phase consisted in the construction of the depot and offices. The second phase would have involved the line itself including the rail track and stops from the University of the Basque Country campus to downtown Leioa. It would have included nine stops. A third phase would have made the tramway cross the Estuary of Bilbao and connect Leioa with the Left Bank with two extra stations.

Only the first phase (the depot and offices) has been built. After being postponed several times, the project was shelved in 2018.

title: Euskotren Tranbia


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User:MacGyverMagic/Thomas Sangster

Thomas Sangster is a young British actor, who won acclaim with his role in the motion picture Love Actually in which he played Liam Neeson's son.

Personal Information
Thomas Brodie Sangster was born on May 16, 1990 and lives in South London with his parents Mark and Tasha and his sister Ava. He was born in an acting family. His mother has been in several BBC films and his father starred in The Lion King musical in Germany. He is also a distant cousin of Hugh Grant. Thomas' great grandmother and Hugh's grandmother were sisters.

Thomas' interests include painting, tennis, drawing and skating. Two of his favorite artists are Eminem and Queen.

Career
Thomas' first acting job was in the BBC Film "The Adventures of Station Jim" playing alongside Prunella Scales, George Cole and Frank Finlay. He played the role of a runaway orphan finding sanctuary at a train station.

This was followed by a lead role in the film "Bobbie's Girl", in which he was cast alongside Jonathan Silverman, Bernadette Peters and Rachel Ward.

Immediately after that, he got the lead role in "The Miracle Of The Cards", the telefilm version of the true story of Craig Shergold, who was diagnosed with cancer at age ten and recovered with the help of an anonymous benefactor and enough get-well cards to enter him into The Guinness Book of World Records.

Thomas then appeared in the BBC's Emmy and BAFTA award-winning adaptation of Clive King's wonderful story, "Stig of the Dump" in which a young boy called Barney (played by Sangster) strikes a friendship with a caveman called Stig. Thomas read this book before the series was made and jumped at the chance of playing Barney.

He next appeared in the action telefeature "Daddy" alongside Klaus Maria Branduer, for which he won the Best Actor in a mini-series award at the 2003 Monte Carlo Film Festival. This was Thomas' first thriller and he loved all the action scenes, explosions, shootouts and car chases.

In "Love Actually", Thomas plays Sam, a love-struck 11-year old boy, who tries to steal the heart of the girl he loves before she has to return home the United States. His father is played by Liam Neeson and other cast members include Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant.

Not only was Love Actually Thomas' first international feature film; he also had to train to do cartwheels, which unfortunately didn't make the final cut of the film. He also had to learn how to play the drums, which his father thaught him and how to perform his first screen kiss.

Thomas continued his work by playing Robert Nobel in the television adaptation of the novel "Feather Boy" by Nicky Singer for the BBC, which aired on BBC television early in 2004.

Thomas was in Prague in the Czech Republic (early 2004) shooting his role as a young Tristan in the new movie "Tristan & Isolde" directed by Kevin Reynolds (The Count of Monte Cristo, Waterworld). Among other things, Thomas takes part in a swordfight in this movie. The film is set be released in the autumn of 2004.

He's currently filming for the Emma Thompson film "Nanny McPhee" starring alongside Colin Firth and Judy Dench.

Awards
Thomas has won the Best Actor in a mini-series award at the 2003 Monte Carlo Film Festival for his role in Daddy, and he's also been nominated for a Golden Satellite Award and an Young Artist Award in 2004 for his role in "Love Actually".

Filmography

 * Station Jim (2001) .... Henry
 * The Miracle of the Cards (2001) .... Craig Shergold
 * Stig of the Dump (2002) .... Barney
 * Bobbie's Girl (2002) .... Alan Langham
 * Ultimate Force (2002) .... Gabriel
 * Mrs. Meitlemeihr (2002) .... Boy 1
 * Feather Boy (2004) .... Robert Nobel
 * Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) .... Adolf Hitler (10 yrs)
 * Love Actually (2003) .... Sam
 * Entrusted (2003) .... Thomas von Gall
 * London's Burning (2003) .... Stephen
 * Tristan and Isolde (2004) .... Young Tristan

 * Nanny McPhee (2004) ....

(Most notable performances have been bolded)

title: User:MacGyverMagic/Thomas Sangster


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User:Pinguin.tk~enwiki

Pinguin.tk is student of  bioinformatics in Tübingen, Germany, and more active in the german Wikipedia.

de:Benutzer:Pinguin.tk

title: User:Pinguin.tk~enwiki


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The Algebraist

The Algebraist is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks, published in print in 2004. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2005.

It was his third science fiction novel not to be based or set in The Culture, the earlier two being Against a Dark Background and Feersum Endjinn.

Plot summary
The novel takes place in 4034. With the assistance of other species, humans have spread across the galaxy, which is largely ruled by the Mercatoria, a complex feudal hierarchy, with a religious zeal to rid the galaxy of artificial intelligences, which were blamed for a previous war.

The central character is the human Fassin Taak who is a "Slow Seer" at the Court of the Nasqueron Dwellers. The Nasqueron's star system has been cut off from the rest of Mercatoria civilization because their portal (the only means of faster than light travel) was destroyed by the Beyonders. The Beyonders are a large fleet of space marauders who originated from the fringes of the galaxy. The local Mercatoria adherents await the delivery of a wormhole connection from a neighboring system via sub-lightspeed travel.

The Nasqueron Dwellers are an advanced and ancient civilisation of non-humanoids who inhabit gas giants. They lead an almost anarchic existence based on kudos, and inhabit the majority of gas-giant planets in the galaxy. They are the only major species outside the control of the Mercatoria, being rumoured to possess devastating defensive weaponry. Dweller societies try not to get involved with "Quick" species, those with sentient beings who experience life at around the speed human beings experience it. Dwellers are one of the "Slow" species who experience life at a much slower rate. Dweller individuals live for millions of years, and the species has existed for billions of years, long before the foundation of the Mercatoria. Slow Seers like Taak are a dynasty of researchers who attempt to glean information from the Dwellers' vast but disorganised libraries of knowledge. They do it in part by artificially slowing their metabolisms to better communicate with the Dwellers.

Taak is looking forward to a life of quiet scholarship when he is astonished to be drafted into one of the Mercatoria's religio-military orders. It turns out that in a previous research expedition to the Dweller-inhabited gas-giant Nasqueron, Taak inadvertently uncovered a book containing information about the legendary "Dweller List" of coordinates for their own private systems of wormholes. Since Dwellers are sufficiently long-lived to colonise the galaxy at sub-light speed, the very existence of such a network was considered doubtful.

The Dweller List is only a list of star systems. Portals are relatively small and can be anywhere within a system so long as it is a point of low gravitational gradient, such as a Lagrange point. The list is useless without a certain mathematical transform needed to give the exact location of the portals. Taak must go on a further expedition to Nasqueron in order to find the Transform.

The Archimandrite Luseferous is a tyrannical warlord of the Starveling Cult. He is in loose alliance with the Beyonders. He sets out to invade the Ulubis system from the Cluster Epiphany Five Disconnect while also aiming to possess the secrets of the Dweller portals. A Mercatoria counter-attack fleet hurries to defend Ulubis against the Starveling Cult ships and their Beyonder allies. Both fleets are forced to travel at sub light speeds, leaving the inhabitants of the Ulubis system anxiously wondering which will arrive first.

Taak's hunt for the Transform takes him on a journey, partly through the Dweller wormhole network. In a back story, it is revealed that he has been out of sympathy with the Mercatoria for some time, particularly over their treatment of artificial intelligences, and has in fact been a Beyonder agent. It is also revealed that the Dwellers have been harbouring artificial intelligences from Mercatoria persecution.

The Beyonder/Starveling forces arrive and easily overwhelm Ulubis's native defences. They discover to their dismay that the counter-attack force is arriving much sooner than predicted, and is superior. The Beyonder factions despair of locating Taak and the secret in the time available before the recapture of Ulubis, and retreat. The Starvelings under Luseferous remain. He makes a last-ditch attempt to force the Dwellers to yield up Taak, threatening them with antimatter weapons. The Dwellers respond with devastating blows on his fleet. Luseferous flees under Mercatoria pursuit.

Taak returns from his journey with his memory partly erased. He is still able to piece together the secret from the remaining clues: every massive body has a region of zero net gravitational attraction at its exact centre. The Dwellers have hidden wormhole portals in the cores of all their occupied planets, and the Transform was never necessary. It remains unclear whether the Dwellers will give the necessary cooperation in allowing other species access to their network, now that the secret is out.

The novel ends with Taak, having left Ulubis and joined the Beyonders, suggesting to a lifelong friend he has just discovered is an AI, "One day we'll all be free".

Reception
In an interview in 2004, Banks stated that "It probably could become a trilogy, but for now it’s a standalone novel." The Algebraist was shortlisted for the 2005 Hugo Award for Best Novel. In 2011, the novel was short-listed for the NPR Top-100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Titles.

Release details

 * First edition hardcover: The Algebraist, Iain M. Banks, London: Orbit, 2004 ISBN 1-84149-155-1 (UK)
 * Night Shade Books published the novel in the U.S. in September 2005. (ISBN 1-59780-026-0)

title: The Algebraist


text:
Talk:Arlington Hall

Removed dead link
I removed the link Truth: Arlington Hall Station, VA because it was broken and I couldn't find it on the server on in the internet archives.Open2universe 01:29, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Not particularly relevant paragraph
I removed this:

 * n October 1949, the British spy Kim Philby arrived in Washington as British intelligence liaison to the U.S. intelligence community. Part of his responsibilities involved receiving VENONA material which the U.S. was providing to the UK  In April 1951, a decoded VENONA message showed that Donald Maclean, who had served as Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Washington in 1944 and 1945 (and returned in 1947 to work on atomic energy issues), was “HOMER,” a Soviet spy.  Surveillance of Maclean commenced in order to obtain evidence independent of VENONA, as the U.S. and UK did not want to reveal publicly the existence of the project, but Maclean defected to Moscow with Guy Burgess in May 1951.

I don't see the particular relevance of this paragraph to Arlington Hall in particular; it just seems part of the history of U.S.-Soviet spying and counterespionage. And that's not what the article is about. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 16:31, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Civil war shell or WWII shell?
At the end of the article there is a mention of finding a WWII shell in 2008, but the citation is titled "Civil War Munition Found". The cite is now a dead link. Why the change? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.16.210.8 (talk) 19:56, 14 September 2011 (UTC)

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text:
Styrophone

A styrophone is an acoustic device made from expanded polystyrene foam (often referred to by the genericized trademark Styrofoam). There are at least two varieties:

 * an acoustic musical instrument
 * a type of loudspeaker

Musical instrument
The musical Styrophone is a type of friction idiophone created by Robert Rutman in the 1990s as a parody of his well-known sheetmetal instrument, the Bow Chimes. It consists of a foam box from which protrude a series of thin brass rods played with a violin bow. Rutman's ensemble would build the impromptu instruments prior to a performance, and then destroy them through the process of their use. Other versions have been created with wooden sticks used in place of metal.

Styrophone loudspeaker
An inexpensive alternative to heavy-duty amplification systems, the Styrophone loudspeaker is usually of a cheap homemade variety that consists of a crystal earpiece attached to a cone made from a foam cup or sections of packing material.

title: Styrophone


text:
Talk:List of U.S. state and territory nicknames

Nickname vs motto
Is a U.S. state nickname (somewhat) comparable with a motto? Meursault2004 12:54, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

 * No, generally not. The state motto of California, for example, is Eureka! and the state nickname is The Golden State. There is another page: List of U.S. state mottos, as well as List of U.S. state slogans. jengod 17:43, May 5, 2004 (UTC)

 * OK, thanks for your answer. :) Meursault2004 18:57, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

More information requested
Could we add some information about these nicknames? I would like to know why states have a certain nickname, for example why Missouri is the Show Me state. Lapinmies 09:20, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

New Jersey - armpit of America?
Evidence: Looking up armpit of america: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=armpit%20of%20america www.cafepress.com/burntees.31046657 http://www.jerseypride.com/all_jersey_info/NJ_in_the_News/NJ_armpit_of_america.htm

-Krymson 17:20, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Standard for inclusion?
Since this page lists nicknames and highlights official nicknames, what is the standard for inclusion? Common usage? The Google Test? By those standards, both "America's Wang" (Fla) and "Armpit of America" (NJ) more than make the cut. Though they may be offensive to some editors, they are in wide usage according to Google and to delete them because you think they are offensive is POV. From the neutral point of view, those two nicknames merit inclusion based on the list of the other, less-used nicknames for the other states. 68.36.197.244 05:57, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Non-flattering terms are still nicknames. I think that as long as we notate which names are colloquial, we should be fine. GChriss <always listening>  <c> 17:42, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I've been watchlisting this article and I've been keeping in some unlikely nicknames. I think the standard should be "Official & Traditional" nicknames and the article's header should be changed to match. That way we can actually get sourced data and not just whatever anyone wants to call things. --Elipongo (Talk 20:19, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I'd say attestation has to be a little better than just a number of Google hits. If a reliable source can be found discussing non-official nicknames (derogatory or otherwise), they can be added. If all you find is blogs, Urban Dictionary, and the like, then they shouldn't be included. 62.145.19.66 14:55, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Colorado
I will remove any undocumented Colorado nicknames that are not documented by 2007-03-20. --Buaidh 13:44, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

 * Sounds good to me! —Elipongo (Talk|contribs) 20:08, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Massachusetts
How about "The People's Republic of Massachusetts"? If we're going with modern nicknames (like NJ-Armpit of America) we should add this too. Papercrab 20:28, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Is "The People's Republic of Massachusetts" in common use in Massachusetts? Linkman424 (talk) 20:32, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
 * You are confusing with "The People's Republic of Cambridge", a colloquial, and very unofficial, reference to that city. Erasmussen (talk) 06:33, 2 July 2012 (UTC)

Washington
A number of books call it the Chinook State. Worth a listing? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.9.234.72 (talk) 03:56, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

As a (nearly) lifelong Washingtonian, I can say that have never heard the phrase "Chinook State"  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.28.184.209 (talk) 01:16, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

North Carolina
Cackalacky is not a state nickname. The "urban dictionary" is not a credible source —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mmmaaajjj2 (talk • contribs) 15 January 2009

Alabama
Does the state of Alabama have an official nickname or not? A note says that there is no official nickname, but yet one on the nicknames listed is in bold. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.1.200.26 (talk) 21:18, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Texas
longhorn state? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.94.92.76 (talk) 12:03, 5 March 2010 (UTC)

Nicknames vs. Slogans
This list needs cleaning up (as does List of U.S. state slogans); there are nicknames on the slogan list and slogans on this nickname list: "Variety Vacationland", "Land of Infinite Variety" and "A Capital City" all strike me more as slogans than as nicknames.192.104.39.2 (talk) 16:49, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

New York
Has anyone ever referred to New York State as "The Big Apple", rather than specifically to New York City? Czrisher (talk) 21:22, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

As someone from New York, I can say that the term "The Big Apple" is generally viewed by New Yorkers as referring to the City of New York, not the entire state. Steggall 03:42 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Jenny Rulz For Ever
What's that crap? At the New York State?--31.17.154.96 (talk) 04:54, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Wisconsin
The official state nickname is the Badger State and always has been since the 50s. Just because it states "America's Dairyland" on the license plate does not make it the official state nickname. I edited the page to be so. Splent (talk) 02:30, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

California
Minor punctuation suggestion: "c.f." (Latin: confer) should be "cf." See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_abbreviations Dmutters (talk) 12:09, 29 September 2012 (UTC)

Puerto Rico????
Is not a US state last time I checked. WTAF.

86.144.15.153 (talk) 00:30, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

 * Well, neither is Washington DC and that's included. --ip.address.conflict (talk) 16:41, 13 August 2015 (UTC)

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Cali link links to not California
Under California there's Cali, which is fair, but it links to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cali in Colombia. Can we fix that?

KenyonP (talk) 02:31, 29 July 2017 (UTC)
 * No, nothing to be fixed. Just type "California". There is already a place called Cali, it should the main result of a search. --129.206.247.197 (talk) 13:52, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Definite article
Some nicknames have a redundant "the". Let's keep it consistent and remove all appearances of "the" or add them to every name. --129.206.247.197 (talk) 13:54, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

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Derogatory nicknames
"Texass", "Columbine State" and various other nicknames that are used as an insult should not be included. This is only supposed to be for OFFICIAL nicknames that the state itself accepts. In OH & PA, we call WV "The Hoopie State" or "The Incest State", we call NJ "The Toxic Waste State" or "New York's Dumpster" but none of those should be included because it's not in any way an official state nickname. All the derogatory names need removed. Raszoo (talk) 03:34, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

Arkansas
It seems like "The Razorback Crystal State" should be separate nicknames? As in "The Razorback State" and "The Crystal State"? I assume "razorback" refers to the wild boar and "crystal" refers to the type of glass, but I am no authority on Arkansas. Is there a "razorback crystal" I am not aware of? Perhaps a crystal sculpture of a razorback boar that is famous? Or maybe a species of boar or type of crystal with the name? 66.91.36.8 (talk) 04:42, 7 December 2021 (UTC)


text:
AutoZone

AutoZone, Inc. is an American retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories, the largest in the United States. Founded in 1979, AutoZone has 7,140 stores across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the US Virgin Islands. The company is based in Memphis, Tennessee.

1970s
Originally a division of Memphis-based wholesale grocer Malone & Hyde, the company was known as Auto Shack. After the sale of the grocery operation to the Fleming Companies of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the name of the company was changed to AutoZone to reflect the new focus and to settle a lawsuit brought by Tandy Corporation for infringing on Tandy's "Radio Shack" trademark.

On July 4, 1979, the first store opened in Forrest City, Arkansas under the name of Auto Shack. Doc Crain was the store's first manager. Sales that first day totaled $300.00.

1980s
In 1981, Express Parts or VDP was implemented to get the customers hard to find parts by special ordering them through wholesalers. The total stores were 73 in 7 states.

In 1984, the company became the first auto parts retailer to create a quality control program for its parts. Total stores were 194 in 13 states.

In 1985, Doc Crain coined the term WITTDTJR, which stands for "What it takes to do the job right." The total store count is 263 in 14 states. Peter Formanek stepped in as president. He oversaw the auto parts firm's daily operations and worked on growth strategy.

By 1986, expansion had made the company grow into a large store chain across the South and the Midwest. That year, Darren Reltherford, manager of Auto Shack's Memphis, Tennessee store, received the first Extra Miler award, which has since been given to AutoZoners who show their dedication to customer satisfaction by "going the extra mile" for customer service. The Duralast line of alternators and starters was released. The Loan-A-Tool program began allowing customers to borrow specific tools for jobs. The fourth distribution center in Greenville, South Carolina opened. The total number of stores was 339 in 15 states.

In 1987, Auto Shack officially changed its name to AutoZone. The first AutoZone store was in Enid, Oklahoma. That year also, the company introduced WITT-JR, an electronic catalog used to look up parts and keep warranty information. The total number of stores was 459 in 16 states.

In 1989, the company began using a computerized store management system (SMS). The Duralast battery line consisting of Sub-Zero, Desert, and long life was released. The total number of stores was 513 in 17 states.

1990s
In 1991, its stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange using the ticker symbol "AZO." It opened up at $27.50 a share. The fifth DC opens in Lafayette, Louisiana. The company also became the first auto parts retailer to register customer warranties in a computer database.

In 1994, AutoZone began using satellites to facilitate communication between stores and the corporate office. Sales hit $1.5 billion.

In 1995, AutoZone opened its 1,000th store in Louisville, Kentucky. Also, the Duralast trademark made its debut with the Duralast and Duralast Gold batteries. Total of stores is now 1,143 in 26 states.

1996 was the year when the Internet era arrived at the company, when AutoZone opened its company Web site. The new commercial program debuted in Germantown, Tennessee. ALLDATA, a software company based in Elk Grove, California that provides automotive diagnostic and repair information, was acquired.

Company founder Pitt Hyde retired as chairman and CEO in 1997. John Adams became the new chairman and CEO.

In 1998, AutoZone acquired ADAP Inc, who had stores under the ADAP Discount Auto Parts and Auto Palace nameplates respectively, both being auto parts chains in the northeastern United States with 112 stores,  TruckPro L.P., a chain with 43 stores in 14 states, and the 560-store Chief Auto Parts Inc., a chain with a presence in 5 states. At the commencement of fiscal 1999, AutoZone made another acquisition by purchasing 100 Express stores from The Pep Boys—Manny, Moe & Jack. The company began a process of internationalization with their first store abroad, which opened in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. AutoZone closed the 1990s by debuting at the Fortune 500 list in 1999.

2000s
Steve Odland became AutoZone's third CEO in 2001. Also in 2001, AutoZone sold TruckPro to Paratus Capital Management.

In 2002, AutoZone developed a network of "hub, feeder, and satellite" stores to have more product in the market area, while reducing inventory investment. Sales hit $5.33 billion.

In 2003, the Duralast tool line was introduced. This was a year of important negotiations for AutoZone, as the company partnered with other important auto parts industry companies, such as CarMax and Midas. AutoZone de Mexico opens the first DC in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Total stores number 3,219 in 48 states and 49 in Mexico. In 2004, founder J.R. "Pitt" Hyde III was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

In 2005, William C. Rhodes III was named president and CEO. Steve Odland left to become the chairman and CEO of Office Depot.

In 2007, Bill Rhodes, then 42, was named chairman, president and chief executive officer of AutoZone, Inc. on June 6.

In 2008, AutoZone opened their 4,000th store in Houston, Texas. Sales hit $6.2 billion.

2010s
On December 15, 2011, ALLDATA LLC, an operating unit of AutoZone, expanded its direct presence in Canada to better serve its growing customer base.

On August 17, 2012, AutoZone expanded into their 49th state Alaska by opening their 5,000th store in Wasilla, Alaska.

In 2012 AutoZone opened their first store in Brazil.

In December 2012, AutoZone purchased AutoAnything.com, an e-commerce leader in aftermarket automotive parts based in San Diego, California.

By April 2017, AutoZone had been the largest retailer of automotive parts in North America for three consecutive years. As of August 2017, AutoZone had 5,465 locations in the United States, 524 locations in Mexico, and 46 locations in Brazil, for a total of 6,035.

On October 22, 2018, Pitt Hyde announced that he would be stepping down from AutoZone's board of directors.

2020s
In late May 2020, two AutoZone stores were destroyed by arson during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

In early Jan 2024 Phillip Daniele, was promoted to CEO.

Corporate affairs
AutoZone is incorporated in the state of Nevada.

Headquarters
Since October 1995, AutoZone has been headquartered in its J.R. Hyde, III Store Support Center (SSC), a 270000 sqft, eight-story building in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. As of 2013 there were over 1,200 employees there.

The project manager of the building's construction was Rob Norcross, a principal at LRK Inc. The building has the capability to withstand a 9.0 magnitude earthquake because it has a special base isolation system that had a price tag of $950,000.

Private labels
Valucraft, Duralast, and Duralast Gold are AutoZone's private label brands for lead-acid automotive batteries (manufactured primarily by Johnson Controls, but also East Penn, Exide, and other manufacturers). Duralast Platinum is an AGM line of batteries. AutoZone also sells tools under the Duralast brand which carry a lifetime warranty.

Brake pad labels include (ranging from least to most expensive):
 * Duralast - OEM-like performance; semi-metallic or organic.
 * Duralast Gold - OEM design and performance; semi-metallic or ceramic.
 * Duralast Max (in the process of being phased out) - superior to OEM design and performance; ceramic.
 * Duralast Elite (currently being introduced selectively by market) - superior to OEM design and performance; ceramic; copper-free.
 * Duralast GT Street - performance pads for select applications.

Valucraft pads are being phased out, as of early 2015. Duralast GT Street pads introduced early 2018.

The Valucraft, Duralast, and Duralast Gold names are used on various other parts and accessories as well.

Duralast Elite pads were first trademarked and began being introduced to select markets in early 2020.

Retail stores
AutoZone's 7,140 retail outlets throughout the United States, Mexico and Brazil stock a variety of aftermarket parts as well as some OEM parts. All AutoZone stores are corporately owned; the company does not have franchise operations.

Sponsorships
In 2004, AutoZone celebrated its 25th anniversary and announced a corporate sponsorship agreement with auto racing association NASCAR.

In 2007, AutoZone sponsored Kevin Harvick and Timothy Peters in the NASCAR Busch Series.

AutoZone holds the naming rights to the downtown Memphis baseball stadium that is the home of the Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League. The company also sponsors the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The AutoZone Liberty Bowl, alongside the College Football Playoff Foundation donated $250,136.03 to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The AutoZone Liberty Bowl awarded 2018's Distinguished Citizen Award to Priscilla Presley.

They are an official sponsor of Bellator MMA, the world's second largest Mixed Martial Arts promotion.

Lawsuits
AutoZone paid $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit by the families of a family who was killed due to being rear-ended by an AutoZone-owned truck. The suit alleges that AutoZone was negligent in training the driver of the truck.

AutoZone faced a lawsuit for gender discrimination in which the plaintiff alleged that men treated her differently when she was promoted and that she feared revealing a pregnancy to her superior. When the pregnancy was discovered, she alleges that her district manager pressured her to step down from her position. She was demoted in February 2006 and fired in November 2011. The jury on the case ruled in 2014 in favor of the plaintiff, awarding her $185 million in punitive damages as well as approximately $873,000 in back wages. AutoZone has announced its intention to appeal the verdict. The Wall Street Journal's Jacob Gershman suggested that the verdict would be scaled back, noting that the jury verdict is not the end-all be-all.

A Georgia woman was fired after a customer insulted her and used multiple racial epithets against her. She alleges that the district manager told her to "suck it up," and she is filing a lawsuit against AutoZone for violating her civil rights.

AutoZone came under fire from allegations that a district manager had told an employee to remove a flag displayed on the company's premises for the sake of improved diversity. AutoZone denies that and claimed that it was the poor means by which the flag was put up, with duct tape and suction cups.

In June 2019 AutoZone entered into an $11 million settlement against with the State of California to resolve allegations that the company had violated state laws governing hazardous waste, hazardous materials, and confidential consumer information. AutoZone is charged with illegally disposing of millions of hazardous waste items, including used motor oil and automotive fluids, at landfills not authorized to accept hazardous waste.

title: AutoZone