12 PRNewswire Gray Wireline Service Inc

The defense ranks second in the nation in total defense and first in scoring defense and is so fast and disciplined (football-wise) that USC will have a whale of a time just moving the ball past midfield.Oh, and Brandon Spikes is back.The USC defense is also struggling, allowing over 30 points per game in the last two losses.Honestly, Florida looks almost pre-ordained to appear in the big BCS game for a third consecutive time, and South Carolina does not look like much of a roadblock.Stone Cold Lock: UF wins, covers 17. Spurrier throws visor, headset, possibly Stephen Garcia. Auburn at GeorgiaNo Brandon Cox, no problemIt seems like more than two years ago that the Tigers came into Athens sporting a 7-3 record and having won two out of their last three "Between the Hedges."Remember what happenedAuburn got blacked out, and Brandon Cox was intercepted four times on the way to a 45-20 drubbing at the hands of the Dawgs, who went on to a sterling 11-2 record and a Sugar Bowl berth against Hawai'i.Well, it's 2009, and now it's the Bulldogs who are struggling.UGA is currently 5-4, with an offense that is having difficulty running the ball and a defense that can't stop anyone (exception: Tennessee Tech).Fans are calling for the defensive coordinator's job, and even head coach Mark Richt is feeling a little bit of heat for the lackluster season.Auburn, on the other hand, is defying expectation, with a 7-3 record in Gene Chizik's first season on the Plains and an offense that can score in bunches.UGA is currently a four-point favorite over the Tigers, but if that Georgia defense doesn't step it up, big-time, they are going to find themselves in a shootout against the 12th-ranked scoring team in the nation; and that's a game the Dawgs probably will not win.Stone Cold Lock: Take AU with the upset here; their offense matches up nicely against the Dawgs. Iowa at Ohio StateLast week, I picked Penn State to crush Ohio State, and boy, was I wrong.The Buckeyes came out and absolutely shut down PSU, holding one of the Big Ten's best offenses to only seven points.Terrelle Pryor also had himself a pretty good game, limiting mistakes and throwing two touchdown passes on the way to a 24-7 upset.On the flip side, until last week's game against Northwestern, Iowa had been leading a charmed life. I also expect the USC defense to right the ship this weekend, knowing that the key to stopping Stanford is limiting stud RB Toby Gerhart and making QB Andrew Luck throw vertically.Stone Cold Lock: The Trojans regain their winning form and cover -10.5. Stanford is still at least a year away. Georgia Tech at DukeTech wraps up a spot in the ACC title game (and likely rematch with Clemson) by winning at Duke.For Yellow Jackets fans, this game is more worrisome than it has been in the past, due to Duke's offensive prowess through the air and a troublesome Tech pass defense.I look for Dave Wommack to take advantage of Duke's undermanned O-line this week and blitz more than usual to try to throw star QB Thaddeus Lewis (2,428 passing yards, 15 TD, five INT) off his game.Duke had better bring their defensive "A" game as well, because Georgia Tech's offense has been unstoppable much of the season, averaging nearly 450 YPG, tops in the ACC.For the Dukies to win, they are going to have to score on a majority of possessions and limit their turnovers, or else face a bruising from Tech's monster running game.As long as Tech takes care of the ball and limits the number of big plays from Lewis, they won't have a problem winning and covering -12.5.Stone Cold Lock: Tech by a lot, but Duke is on the rise. Did I leave anything out Want different games picked Let me know!. DealsAfter more than 20 years of snapping up money managers, commercial banks and insurers are expected to put their investment divisions on the block to raise cash and simplify. Meanwhile, hedge fund firms battered by volatile markets and redemptions are seen combining forces."The most active buyers over the past decade, namely commercial and investment banks and insurance companies, are now becoming sellers," said Aaron Dorr, a New York-based investment banker at Jefferies Putnam Lovell, a unit of Jefferies Group.Dorr, in a brief phone interview, said one example of this trend is struggling insurer American International Group, which is expected to put many of its investment businesses on the block to raise much needed cash.More banks and insurers are also considering strategic partnerships for their money management units, Dorr said.Citigroup and Merrill Lynch in recent years exchanged their asset manager arms for businesses or shares in the expanded investment firm.Dorr also expects hedge fund firm to consolidate, pooling capital and cutting costs after the industry's worst year in decades."The changes hedge funds are going through are enormous, in terms of the redemptions," Dorr said. "We expect to see survival-mode transactions."DEAL VOLUMES WERE DOWNWhen measured by deal value, fund manager deal activity fell dramatically to $16.1 billion last year from $52.1 billion in 2007, with only three transactions exceeding $1 billion.Bankers remained busy, though, based on the number of deals and actual assets.

That was on par with assets sold in 2007 and second only to the record $2.65 trillion of assets moved in 2006.This trend will help companies that focus on money management, Dorr said. "We expect pure-play asset managers and private equity firms to be the biggest beneficiaries of this massive reshaping of the industry," he said.Distressed sales dominated the M&A scene in the second half of last year, Jefferies said, with about two-thirds of all deal activity attributed to divestitures.In recent months, bankrupt Lehman Brothers sold Neuberger Berman to its managers, Credit Suisse sold some funds businesses to Aberdeen Asset Management and Allianz bought Commerzbank's Cominvest unit.Jefferies also forecasts a big jump in fund manager buyouts by private equity firms. Buyouts slumped in 2008, with these cash-rich firms accounting for only 10 percent of announced deal value after credit markets shut down."Asset managers have a (profit and loss) problem; they don't have a balance sheet problem," Dorr said, which will make them attractive to buyout firms "Private equity is looking to deploy capital Bank financing is shut, but they will still look at deals The pricing comes down."(Reporting by Joseph A Giannone; Editing by Brian Moss, Richard Chang) Deals. HUNTSVILLE, Ala.(Business Wire)ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) announced today that the Company will release itsfinancial results for the fourth quarter 2008 on Wednesday, January 21, 2009.The Company will conduct a conference call at 9:30 a.m Central Time. Inaddition, ADTRAN will webcast this conference call live through theStreetEvents service.

To listen, simply visit the Investor Relations site at http:// approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the calland click on the conference call link provided. An online replay of the conference call, as well as the text of the Company'searnings release, will be available on the Investor Relations site at http:// for at least 12 months following the call ADTRAN, Inc. is a leading global provider of networking and communicationsequipment, with a portfolio of more than 1,700 solutions for use in the lastmile of today's telecommunications networks. Widely deployed by carriers andenterprises alike, ADTRAN solutions enable voice, data, video, and Internetcommunications across copper, fiber, and wireless network infrastructures.ADTRAN solutions are currently in use by every major U.S. service provider andmany global ones, as well as by thousands of public, private and governmentalorganizations worldwide. 12 /PRNewswire/ Gray Wireline Service, Inc., asubsidiary of Gray Energy Services LLC, announced today changes to thecompany's executive management team with three new appointments effectiveimmediately.Jim Meneely has been appointed interim chief executive officer of GrayWireline.

He replaces Larry Cavanna, who resigned as president and chiefexecutive officer. Tim Albers has been retained as a senior advisor, and DavidApseloff has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer.Mr. Meneely most recently served as an executive with Halliburton Company,where he was responsible for strategic planning, operations integration, andworldwide merger & acquisition activities. Prior to that, he worked forKellogg Brown & Root and Simmons & Company International.Tim Albers is a recognized leader in the oilfield services sector withover 30 years of operational and executive management experience in wirelineservices In 1985, Mr. Albers co-founded a major Canadian wireline company,which has grown to be the largest privately-owned wireline business in WesternCanada As an executive and owner, Mr. Albers led the development of newtechnologies, equipment, and best practices that transformed the business intoa leader in the Western Canadian market.David Apseloff is a seasoned financial executive with over twenty yearsexperience as chief financial officer in public and private companies. Mr.Apseloff has worked in a variety of different industries and companies,including Firearms Training Systems, Inc., Hyco International, Inc., TugTechnologies Corporation, DSI Holding Company, Inc., and most recently,Stag-Parkway, Inc."We appreciate the contributions Mr.