Favoritism

LONDON, Canada - The first sellout crowd at the World Figure Skating Championships got what it came for, a victory by the national homey, Patrick Chan. But his performance as Rodolfo, the poet in the opera "La Boheme," wasn't much to write home about. Unless, of course, someone wanted to add another chapter to the voluminous history of questionable judging in figure skating. Only the near seven-point lead Chan built in the short program and a dose of home-cooked "Chanflation" allowed the Canadian to win his third straight men's world title and prevent Denis Ten of Kazakhstan from a triumph that would have made him one of the most surprising champions in history.

A few weeks back while speaking at a technology conference, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook stressed that what made Apple superior was not just great gadgets. No, the real advantage was its ability to make it all: hardware, software and services.  "Apple is in a fairly unique and, in my view, unrivaled position because Apple has skills in software, in hardware, and in services," Cook said in February. "The reality is that the model that grew the PC industry, where someone specialized in one thing, that model is not working for what consumers want today.

CARACAS, Venezuela - A special election to decide the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's successor will be held in April, with Chavez's handpicked successor, interim President Nicolas Maduro, to face an opponent or opponents from the opposition. Maduro, 50, was sworn in as "president in charge" Friday night, three days after Chavez, 58, died at a Caracas military hospital of complications from cancer. A former bus driver and union leader, Maduro served under Chavez as foreign minister and vice president.

SOBOBA INDIAN RESERVATION, Calif. - On a cracked and weed-choked court buffeted by mountain winds and watched by coyotes, the basketballs seem to grow on trees. The scrubby landscape in the ravine that spreads behind the rusted pole and solitary rim where Joe Burton began his journey contains old balls whose bronze leather can be seen peeking above bushes or between branches. This is where the Oregon State senior center learned to shoot. This is where he learned to run. "If I missed a shot and it went into the bushes, I would leave it there and go inside and get another ball," he said.

L.A. electronic musicians have already colonized the northeast L.A. neighborhoods of Lincoln Heights, Mount Washington and Eagle Rock (home to Low End Theory, Stone's Throw and 100% Silk Records, respectively). Now that vibrant scene is sinking its samplers into the badlands of Glendale, with Saturday's opening of the new nightclub Complex. What : In its previous life as the Scene or LaBrie's - well-intentioned efforts to broaden the city's indie-rock venue coterie - the space never quite became appointment viewing.

USC Coach Lane Kiffin and his returning players spent the last two months navigating their way through piercing criticism that followed the 2012 football season. A team that featured a Heisman Trophy front-runner at quarterback opened No. 1 and then nose-dived to a 7-6 record and finished out of the Associated Press top 25. Four coaches -- including three on defense -- resigned, moved on to other opportunities or were fired. And a recruiting class that features seven early enrollees would have been stronger if several high-profile players had not broken commitments to USC and signed elsewhere.

Bob Baffert's big money horse, Game On Dude, carries the high expectations of both his trainer and the betting public Saturday in the 77th running of the Santa Anita Handicap. One of the two top races in Santa Anita's annual winter season — the other is the Santa Anita Derby on April 6 — the Big 'Cap is a Grade I stakes that carries a purse of $750,000, with 60% to the winner. Game On Dude, a 6-year-old gelding, has already won $3,252,158 and is the 6-5 morning-line favorite.

For the first time in its 76-year history, the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap will feature two past winners — last year's Ron The Greek and 2011 champion Game On Dude. "I'm confident my horse is going to run a big race," said Bob Baffert, who trains Game On Dude. That certainty about the 6/5 favorite for the $750,000 Big 'Cap on Saturday is rooted in Game On Dude's recent performances, a 1 1/4-length win in the $250,000 Native Diver Stakes on Dec. 1 and a more-impressive 6 1/2-length triumph Feb. 3 in the $196,000 San Antonio Stakes.

Sarah Silverman, the Sklar Brothers, Dana Gould and Aziz Ansari are among the comedians who will be presenting their favorite movies at the 2nd Wayne Federman Film Festival Thursday through Saturday at the Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre. Federman, a comic actor who has appeared in such films as "Step Brothers" and "50 First Dates," came up with the idea for the festival last year. Silverman will present Woody Allen's 1989 comedy-drama "Crimes and Misdemeanors" Thursday evening, with the second bill featuring the Sklar Brothers and special guest Paul Dooley screening 1979's Oscar-winning "Breaking Away.

Of course Mr. Lincoln, um, I mean Daniel Day-Lewis, deserved the Oscar. Finally, after countless iterations of the 16th U.S. president on television, film and stage, it feels as if we know the man himself. So deeply did the actor delve into the character in Steven Spielberg's film, any essence of Day-Lewis, the man, ceased to exist. He carried us back in time with him and gave us a seat at the table as the president pushed, prodded and finally demanded that his Cabinet, the Congress and the nation accept the 13th Amendment ending slavery.