Paul Feig: Open to ‘Bridesmaids 2

For two weeks in a row Bridesmaids has far surpassed box office expectations, and has already been dubbed the first comedy smash of 2011. This is especially impressive in that going into release, the film had three strikes against it: 1) It was a comedy with no A-listers to grab notice. 2) As an R-rated comedy, it couldn’t depend on the huge youth market to boost box office receipts. 3) It’s a female-fronted comedy, which means it had to fight the chick-flick label at every turn (not to mention unfair yet potentially deadly Sex and the City 2 comparison).  So, basically Bridesmaids succeeded despite the popular wisdom of many media watchers (including Nikki Finke) – but why?
To put it simply, it’s riotously hilarious. While critics are arguing the particulars, the overall opinion is that the writer, Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo, laid some amazing groundwork with a script that was relateable and hysterical. Then Judd Apatow did his thing by adding in some signature gross-out slapstick (the intro awkward sex scenes, the explosive dress shop scene) – that would get word-of-mouth spreading like wildfire. Next, Paul Feig, the creator of Freaks and Geeks, came into to wrangle a cast of sidesplitting performers that included Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, Chris O’Dowd and Melissa McCarthy. But beyond getting laughs out of his whip-smart cast, he wrung out some poignancy in the payoff, making a film that was as funny and moving as Apatow’s mega-hit The 40-Year-Old Virgin. When you look at it like this, Bridesmaids‘ box office makes a lot of sense – except that risks like this (that ignore the three strikes listed above) are rarely taken. This one was a go largely because of the influence of Apatow.
Of course, now that Bridesmaids has proved bankable, producers all over Hollywood will rush to churn out similar fare in hopes of pulling in audiences in droves. And Bridesmdaids’ own producers may well be on the bandwagon. According to Feig, who recently spoke with Vulture about the comedy’s smashing opening, the possibility of a sequel has already been raised:

Who knows? I mean, it depends how we do in the next couple weeks, but I know there’s definitely … it’s already been brought up. So, um, you know, when you get a group that’s this deep and this good, it’s a crime to not use them again. You just want to make sure that you do it as well as you did the first one and try to make it better, even. So, we’re up for the challenge.

As much as I’d love to see some of these characters again, I cringe at the idea of a sequel because – yes – most sequels are unforgivably bad. But notably, Apatow hasn’t looked to repeat his past successes through that means. Of course, he does do spin-offs like Get Him to the Greek (spawned from Russell Brand’s character from Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and he has been looking to make a spin-off feature centered on the squabbling married couple played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann from Knocked-Up. So, maybe that’s a more probable production that a straight-up sequel.
We’ve previously reported that Melissa McCarthy, the breakout comedienne of the cast, has already lined up two new vehicles for her go-for-broke comedy stylings. While one is a road movie about a woman seeking to hijack the Stanley Cup to inspire her ailing husband, the other is said to be a rom-com re-teaming with Feig. Could this be the possible Bridesmaids “sequel”? Is it possible that rather than retread Wiig’s storyline (and thereby detract from Bridemaids’ narrative), producers will spin-off and follow up on Megan’s tale? Maybe with her onscreen lover/real-life husband, Ben Falcone? Now, that’d be something I’d like to see! For her part, McCarthy would be game, saying:

I will show up wherever these guys tell me to go. If it’s a play in their backyard, I will gladly do it. I’ll do kids’ parties for them, I’ll do bar mitzvahs; I’m in.

Well, for my part – if McCarthy’s involved – I’m in too!
Would you be interested in Bridesmaids 2?

Your comments: 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' is back!

Danielle Staub may be gone, but it didn't take long for Melissa Gorga to bring the drama to the world of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey." Teresa Giudice and Melissa have already mixed it up in the first episode, and there promises to be a lot of drama to follow.
The show has its fans and its hater. NJ.com user counting crow wrote:
I am soooooooooo happy I watched!! After the most horrendous season in history, I think the RHNJ are BACK!! I have no idea how they are going to go UP from the premiere episode, but you can bet your bottom dollar I will be watching. My Monday nights finally have meaning again!!! LOL.

My opinion of the new girl, Melissa...I think she's absolutely gorgeous, her children are ridiculously adorable, and I can't have too much hate for her since she was, at one time, residing in Bayonne. That being said, she's a Grade A troublemaker!!! Give Teresa a break, and shame on Joe the brother (non-juicy version)...your sister is your blood. He looked like such a drunken idiot at the party. ugh. In the middle of the episode my mother goes, "They make all Italians look so bad!" and im like no im pretty sure italians do that on their own (i'm 100% so shutty to all the haters ready to bash me).

Another user said that New Jersey residents should boycott this show (as well as "Jersey Shore") because it makes residents look back. NJ.com user Woolfland agreed and responded:

Taziki, you are exactly right. As an Army brat, I have lived all over the world and have found most people very wonderful and pleasant. I've lived in New Jersey for 20 years and the real people here are wonderful....some of the best people I've ever known. What you're seeing on TV is a representation of a very small existence....remember, most of the JS cast are NOT from New Jersey.

Many of my native NJ friends are embarrassed and ashamed of these shows as they certainly depict NJ in the worse possible way. Sadly, most of the country will never know what I do....that NJ truly deserves its name as the Garden State as it has beautiful mountains, gorgeous beaches and lush farmlands. In fact, most of the state is still rural land sandwiched between NYC and Philly. I don't believe California is full of nuts....I've been there, it's beautiful. My advice, come see for yourself.....come to NJ......Cape May is a great place to start.

Are H-P shares finally cheap enough?

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Hewlett-Packard Co. saw its shares tumble to their lowest valuation in at least ten years on Tuesday, though some analysts are still wondering if the stock is cheap enough — given the company’s current struggles. H-P HPQ -7.79%  shares slumped more than on Tuesday afternoon after the company lowered its earnings and revenue forecasts for its third fiscal quarter and entire fiscal year. Read more about H-P's results.

Those forecasts stem mostly from the company’s on-going struggles with its consumer PC and services businesses, as well as effects from the recent natural disasters in Japan. The news put the stock to its lowest level in nearly two years and pushed the shares below the lowest price targets of 30 industry analysts surveyed by FactSet Research. The stock is now down more than 14% for the year.

“A near-term catalyst is tough to identify, [and] we view the shares as washed out at current levels,” said Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner, in a research note. Gardner has a buy rating and $65-a-share price target on H-P’s stock.

Abhey Lamba of ISI Group downgraded H-P to a hold rating and cut his price target on the shares to $40 on Tuesday following the results. He said the stock “is likely to remain at current levels, despite an attractive valuation.”

Before the market opened, H-P lowered its 2011 earnings forecast to $5 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimate that H-P will earn $5.64 a share in its 2012 fiscal year.

But even with H-P giving the market little to rally around, and its stock looking depressed, several analysts say the shares, may represent an opportunity for investors who can stomach the challenges the company is currently facing.

Apotheker addressed the services issue on a conference call before the market opened Tuesday, saying H-P has “not yet shifted our services mix to higher-value, higher-margin and higher-growth categories.” Apotheker also said H-P will hire an executive vice president to focus on IT services and report directly to the CEO.

Shaw Wu, of Stern Agee, called H-P’s outlook and comments on the services business the main reason why the stock has sold off, and driven the overall price of the shares down to more attractive levels.

“Even though it [H-P’s stock] had already underperformed over the last few months, investor confidence has clearly been shaken and it will likely take a few quarters for Apotheker and the H-P management team to win it back,” Wu said. “Yes, the stock is inexpensive, but looks like it is getting more so. Though at these depressed prices, it looks interesting even on lower forward estimates.”

Wu has a buy rating on H-P’s stock and cut his target price on Tuesday to $53 a share from $56.

Auriga analyst Kevin Hunt trimmed his price target on H-P to $45 a share from $46 and maintained his hold rating on the stock. Hunt said he doesn’t see any sustainable growth opportunities for H-P’s business right now, and thinks it may take the rest of the year for H-P’s shares to qualify as “cheap.”

“It does look pretty cheap on traditional metrics,” Hunt said. “But H-P can’t be considered a growth company anymore, which is how most of tech is viewed.”

Hunt added that H-P “kind of falls into the value trap bucket now, where a stock is cheap, but cheap for a good reason.”

Bill O'Reilly, Jon Stewart debate Common White House controversy

FOX News Channel and Comedy Central political pundits Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart don't often see eye to eye. The controversy surrounding rapper Common's invitation to the White House Poetry event on May 11th is no exception.

O'Reilly and Stewart had it out on FOX's "The O'Reilly Factor," debating whether or not the rapper's invitation was appropriate. Common has voiced his support of Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur), a member of the Black Liberation Army, who was convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper in 1977.FOX News Channel and Comedy Central political pundits Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart don't often see eye to eye. The controversy surrounding rapper Common's invitation to the White House Poetry event on May 11th is no exception.

O'Reilly and Stewart had it out on FOX's "The O'Reilly Factor," debating whether or not the rapper's invitation was appropriate. Common has voiced his support of Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur), a member of the Black Liberation Army, who was convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper in 1977.convicted murderers.

Watch the war of words below. Who do you think won the battle?

May 21st Doomsday: Judgment Awaits?

Ah, Judgment Day! That special time of year when you go home to see the folks for Thanksgiving and your grandmother tells you that you look “puffier” than the last time she saw you…
Oh, wait, Judgment Day means talking about Doomsday? My bad! In that case, I hope you’re in the mood for a little Rapture!

According to Harold Camping, the 89-year-old leader of the Christian fundamentalist network Family Radio Worldwide, the day to repent is upon us, as the world will be ending on May 21, 2011.
According to the website, and the countdown clock, we’ve got 4 days to shape up because “The Bible guarantees” Judgment Day will be coming for us. Well— the actual destruction of Earth will take up to six months to come to fruition, but still you get the point.
It should also be stated that Camping has a previous history of some rather inaccurate predictions when it comes to the end of the world. You see, he used to be certain that the world would end come September of 1994, but once that date failed to pan out he went back to studying the Bible and realized his error— May 21st, 2011 it is!
We know our boy Ashton Kutcher has been prepping for this day. Are you??

From Housewife To Stripper

Now that Danielle Staub, 48, is no longer raking in the big bucks as a reality TV star on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, she's taken her career in a different direction.
She's dancing totally nude at Scores gentleman's club in Manhattan.
This isn't the first time Staub has stripped. She was a dancer at a Miami gentleman's club two decades ago. More recently, she appeared in a celebrity sex tape.
The scandal-prone Staub has signed a three-year deal to appear at the club and on the club's website.
Stripping won't be Staub's only source of income. She's also slated to appear in an upcoming VH1 reality TV series with Heidi Montag from The Hills and Jake Pavelka of The Bachelor. The program will follow the trio as they attempt to open a restaurant together.
Before she became famous, Staub had a scandalous past in Florida. Charles Kipps' Cop Without a Badge details Staub's dealings in the criminal world. In the book, Staub is quoted as having said she had sex with 1,000 men.
These days, Staub isn't the only celebrity making money from stripping. Actor Channing Tatum's past stint as a male stripper is being turned into a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Last week, it was revealed Staub's newest boyfriend is reality TV star and musician Ray J. No word yet on what Ray thinks of his lady's latest gig.

Purdy: Sharks coach should like this prediction

Todd McLellan is a happy guy these days. For the first time since he began coaching the Sharks in 2008, his team is more or less officially expected to lose a playoff series. They will be the lower-seeded team Sunday in Canada when they face off against the Vancouver Canucks, who had the best record in the NHL this season.

"I think most people see us as an underdog," McLellan said the other day, barely hiding his delight -- and provoking a rare question to the coach of a team that has been so successful:
How big an underdog would he like the Sharks to be?
"I don't know," McLellan responded. "How big are underdogs?"
I guess the next part will be easy, then. I'm picking the Canucks to win in six games.
It's not at McLellan's request. It's because the Canucks have shown over the past month that they can back up their excellent regular-season record. They have a terrific core of defensemen who will give the Sharks fits, a pair of icy-eyed skilled Swedish twin forwards and a gritty American centerman at the top of his game.
Not that Vancouver will roll. The Canucks and the Sharks are the two best teams left in the playoffs. This series is the de facto Stanley Cup finals. And I expect the Sharks to come up just a little short, especially after draining themselves in Thursday's epic Game 7 against Detroit while Vancouver has been resting since Monday.
McLellan, of course, knows exactly what he is doing by casting his Shark men as scrappy, plucky guys whom nobody expects to win. He has never been able to play that psychological card. Ever since the NHL lockout ended, the Sharks have flown the flag as a perpetually underachieving team.
As McLellan noted: "We have this anchor that everybody throws at us, fairly or unfairly."
It's a little of both. The Sharks are the only team in this year's conference finals who were also there last year, which means something. Also, since 2004, just three NHL teams -- the Sharks, Red Wings and Flyers -- have been able to reach the conference finals three times. By comparison, Vancouver hasn't been there even once since 1994. So it's totally wrong to label the Sharks as miserable flops worthy of scorn.
At the same time "... well, any follower of our beloved Los Tiburones can finish the next sentence. For all of their impressive regular-season victories and their better-than-reputed playoff success, the Sharks have yet to reach the Stanley Cup finals. Let alone win the big, silver beer mug. And until they do, they will always have that sentence to finish.
Vancouver, incidentally, is in much the same situation -- although the franchise does have two appearances in the finals. As the only western Canadian team never to win a Cup, though, the Canucks will be feeling the heat from all over British Columbia. Which is why McLellan believes that "maybe we'll play more free" with the Sharks players no longer being reminded every day that they need to validate their promise.
The Sharks have shown the hockey world much fine stuff over the past month. Coming back from a four-goal deficit to win Game 3 in Los Angeles. Grinding out those four one-goal victories over Detroit, including the stomach-acid special Thursday. And you get the sense that, unlike some Sharks teams in the past who seemed to expect that their talent entitled them to win a playoff series, this one understands that it takes sustained effort to get the job done.
Joe Thornton has led the parade in that department, by the way. I stick to the statement that was written here last autumn when there was speculation after Rob Blake's retirement about who should take over the team's captaincy: To me, there is no way the Sharks will win the Stanley Cup unless Thornton is the captain.
So far, he has proved me right. Thornton has led on and off the ice, from his defensive commitment to the calm words in the dressing room before every overtime. He would never concede this, but at age 31 as a husband and new father, Thornton also is realizing that there are only so many kicks at the can left. There is no guarantee the Sharks will ever get a chance again.
His teammates realize it, too. After the Detroit clincher, someone asked Joe Pavelski if he felt a sense of relief.
"There's no relief," Pavelski said. "We've been here before. There's a higher job ahead."
The job is going to be a bear. The Sharks had only one win in four meetings with Vancouver in the regular season, and that was in a shootout. Those two Swedish twins, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, will be making life rugged for the Sharks' defensemen. Daniel is the twin most likely to win the Most Valuable Player award this season. He led the league this season in scoring the first goal of games -- with 12 -- and was a clutch performer.
Meanwhile, Vancouver's leading playoff scorer is Ryan Kesler, who joined Pavelski as the prime heart-and-soul players on the USA Olympic team in 2010. Kesler will plant himself in front of the goal and dare anyone to move him out. Let's just say Sharks goalie Antti Niemi will be growing very acquainted with Kesler's back
The Sharks have a chance to counteract all this if Thornton can get Patrick Marleau to keep raising his game and if Devin Setoguchi keeps firing accurately at the net. But they will need secondary scoring, too, plus more spectacular work from Niemi.
It should be a fun and riveting series. But the underdog won't win this time. Hope that cheery forecast makes McLellan smile.

What are the advantages of ebook readers compared to proper books?

In 1455, Johannes Gutenberg printed a Bible and changed the world forever. He set in motion an industry that remained fundamentally unchanged for 600 years.
Movable type was his great innovation - individual characters arranged in a frame and used to press ink onto paper. It’s only now, with the advent of ebooks and digital readers, that we are in a position to leave print behind.
Dedicated ebook readers such as Amazon’s Kindle are rapidly falling in price, and so are books that can be read on them.
Supplied as a digital download, they don’t consume the planet’s forests, needn’t be carried to shops by sea, air or road, and are more flexible than their printed equivalents, as you can choose how they are displayed.
But can an electronic book ever replace the printed page in our homes, on the move or even on the beach in summer?
In truth, this new technology has significant problems alongside its many advantages. In this article we will look at the pros and cons, allowing you to choose whether digital or paper books are best for you.
Carry on readingJilly Cooper’s latest hardback has 739 pages and Ken Follett’s 864. Penguin’s latest translation of War and Peace runs to more than 1,300 pages. None of these can be easily carried around for any length of time, unless you buy them as ebooks.
Download all three to a Kindle and it still won’t weigh more than 247 grams - roughly the same as a single slim paperback - and there will be room inside for hundreds more books besides.
Amazon also makes Kindle software for iPhone and Android smartphones, as well as Windows and Mac computers and iPad tablets. They all synchronise online, so if you buy a book on one it can be downloaded in seconds onto any other device you own.Likewise, Apple’s iBooks app is available on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch music player, and if you own more than one your books are synchronised between them.

Digital portability only stretches so far, though, as all the major ebook services’ platforms are incompatible with one another.
Books bought from iBooks can’t be read on a Kindle, for example, and if you bought an ebook from Waterstones for the Sony Reader you couldn’t read it on the iPad or Kindle. The only real exception is that, at the moment, you can buy a book on the Kindle and read it using the Kindle app on an iPad.

IMF’s Strauss-Kahn Charged With Attempted Rape in New York

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund and a potential candidate for the French presidency next year, was charged with attempted rape and a criminal sex act on a woman in a New York hotel, the police said today.

The charges stem from an incident that allegedly occurred yesterday against a 32-year-old female at a Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan, the New York Police Department said in an e- mailed statement early today. Strauss-Kahn was arrested on an Air France flight at John F. Kennedy airport, the police said. He also was charged with unlawful imprisonment.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, denies the charges and will plead not guilty, his lawyer Benjamin Brafman said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News today.

He will appear in a Manhattan court later today, New York Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne told BBC television in an interview.

The alleged victim is a maid at the hotel, Browne said, according to the New York Times. The assault occurred about 1 p.m. yesterday when the woman entered the $3,000 a night suite - - Room 2806 -- Strauss-Kahn had checked into on May 13, Browne said, the Times reported.

The maid managed to escape from the room and notified colleagues who called the police, Browne told the Times. When officers arrived, Strauss-Kahn was not there and appeared to have left in a hurry, Browne said. His mobile phone had been left behind, Browne told the newspaper.

European Bailouts

Strauss-Kahn had been scheduled to attend a meeting of euro area finance ministers in Brussels tomorrow. The meeting will take place as officials discuss the possible increase of a 110- billion euro ($155-billion) loan package to Greece amid concerns the country may be unable to return to markets to finance its debt next year.

“For the fund, this is terrible news at a time when its leadership needs to portray stability, wisdom, and confidence,” Bessma Momani, a professor in the department of political science at the University of Waterloo in Canada, who specializes in the IMF and its policies, said in an e-mail.

The IMF “remains fully functioning and operational” following Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, the Washington, DC-based organization said in a statement on its website today.

Immunity?

“Mr. Strauss-Kahn has retained legal counsel, and the IMF has no comment on the case; all inquiries will be referred to his personal lawyer and to the local authorities,” Caroline Atkinson, the director of external relations at the IMF, said in the statement.

New York police said Strauss-Kahn doesn’t have diplomatic immunity. The French Foreign Ministry in Paris said the IMF will have to examine what immunity Strauss-Kahn may have. A French consul visited Strauss-Kahn in detention late yesterday, ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in a phone interview.

Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister and member of France’s opposition Socialist Party, has consistently been among the most popular possible candidates to contest France’s 2012 presidential election, opinion polls show.

President Nicolas Sarkozy would have trailed Strauss-Kahn by 5 percentage points in the first round of the presidential voting if the election had been held at the end of last month, a CSA poll for 20 Minutes newspaper, BFM Television and RMC radio showed April 28.

French Presidency

Strauss-Kahn, whose term at the IMF expires next year, over the last several months has declined to say whether he was planning to run for president. The vote will be held in April and May 2012.

Any prospect of getting elected has now has vanished, said Laurent Dubois of the Paris Political Studies Institute. “It’s a tsunami,” Dubois said in a phone interview. “There is no way he can recover from this and run for president.”

This is the second time since he took the helm of the IMF in November 2007 that Strauss-Kahn has faced allegations of misconduct.

In 2008, he had a relationship with Piroska Nagy, a female economist at the IMF, who quit in August of that year. An investigation by the IMF board, released in October 2008, concluded that while he had made a “serious error of judgment,” he shouldn’t be fired.

Strauss-Kahn apologized to his staff and family, which includes his third wife, French television journalist Anne Sinclair, and four children from his previous marriages.

Management Changes

“For fund critics and challengers of Western leadership in international financial institutions, this is emblematic of poor judgment and may further motivate them to call for serious changes in management,” Momani said.

Last month, officials from the Group of 24, which includes Brazil, China and Mexico, repeated a call for “an open, transparent, merit-based process” for choosing the heads of the World Bank and IMF, “without regard to nationality.” The IMF job is traditionally held by a European, while an American leads the World Bank.

Strauss-Kahn took the helm of the IMF in November 2007, following his loss in the primaries of the French Socialist Party ahead of the 2007 presidential elections.

Strauss-Kahn, who succeeded Spain’s Rodrigo Rato, has helped reshape the agency’s mission and restore its relevance. When he arrived, its emergency lending dropped to $58.7 million in 2006 from $66.4 billion in 2002. Among his first moves there was to cut about 400 jobs.

Financial Crisis

The global financial panic triggered by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008 restored the Washington-based IMF’s relevance as its emergency loans soared to a record of $91.7 billion last year from $1.1 billion in 2007.

Strauss-Kahn gained backing from the Group of 20 to triple the IMF’s resources, and the group has over the past two years given the agency a host of new missions to help avoid another crisis. The IMF is helping the G-20 single out countries whose policies threaten global growth, and has also submitted proposals to fortify the international monetary system.

More recently, he played a key role in efforts to stem the European debt crisis which started last year in Greece, with a pledge to contribute about a third of future bailouts in the region by the European Union. The IMF has co-funded aid packages to Greece and Ireland. He was due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today.

Emerging Nations

Under Strauss-Kahn, the IMF also approved a plan that will make China the third-strongest voice in the 187-member organization, founded in 1945, while weakening Europe’s influence to make room for emerging countries.

Strauss Kahn has juggled careers as an economics professor, lawyer and Socialist politician. He holds a law degree and a doctorate in economics from the University of Paris.

In 1986, he was elected to the National Assembly and served as industry minister from 1991 to 1993. He returned to office as finance minister under Premier Lionel Jospin in 1997. He cut France’s budget deficit to below 3 percent in 1999, the level required for euro membership.

In November 1999, he resigned as finance minister after magistrates began an investigation into financial irregularities at MNEF, a French student insurance group. The probe covered an allegation that the company had paid him about $100,000 from 1994 to 1996 for legal work on a property deal that he never performed. Strauss-Kahn denied wrongdoing and was cleared by a Paris court in November 2001.

--With assistance from Albertina Torsoli, Helene Fouquet, Vidya Root and James Hertling in Paris. Editors: Kevin Costelloe, Dick Schumacher, Mike Harrison.

Delaware men's lacrosse: Blue Hens storm back but fall just short in NCAA tourney

DURHAM, N.C. -- For the second straight year, the University of Delaware met the challenge but couldn't avoid defeat when it ventured into treacherous Atlantic Coast Conference lacrosse territory.
That left satisfaction and disappointment dwelling in close company as the vanquished Blue Hens digested a 15-14 NCAA tournament first-round loss to defending champion Duke on Saturday in front of 2,572 at Koskinen Stadium.
Two remarkable comebacks put Delaware in a position to leave with such regret."They never quit," Delaware coach Bob Shillinglaw said of his players. "They played their hearts out. I wish we had maybe another 20 seconds. Who knows?"Delaware trailed by as many as six goals three times in the first half but rallied to within 9-7 at halftime and 9-8 early in the third quarter.
Duke then surged ahead 15-10, but Delaware got goals from Grant Kaleikau, Eric  and Taylor Burns 29 seconds apart beginning with 3:45 left to pull within two. Burns then picked up a loose ball and scored on a nifty backhanded scoop with 19 seconds left to make it 15-14.
Dan Cooney, who won 19 of 32 faceoffs, initially gained possession on the last draw but slipped on the wet grass and lost the ball. Delaware backup goalie Ryan Smith eventually got off a length-of-the-field shot as time ran out. It went wide.
"Sports is a game of momentum," said Kaleikau, who plays one especially known for its scoring spurts. "We rode it out. We couldn't get that last one."
The loss came a year after the Hens fell 14-13 in an NCAAtourney opener at nearby North Carolina.
"I don't think anybody thought we were going to be here," senior defender Pat Dowling said of Delaware winning two road games to take the CAA title and reach the NCAA tourney. "And down five goals in the first quarter, everybody thought the game was over. It's bittersweet to come down here and lose so close, but it's a huge accomplishment for the team and for the program."
The game was delayed 45 minutes by lightning between the third and fourth quarters.
No. 14-ranked Delaware (11-7) had rebounded from a 5-0 deficit to beat Towson this spring. No. 6 Duke (13-5) was a significantly greater challenge, but Delaware outshot the Blue Devils 40-30.
"What you saw from them for four quarters was phenomenal ball movement," said Delaware goalie Noah Fossner, who made five saves. "That's what lacrosse offense is supposed to look like."
Duke senior goalie Mike Rock was making just his third start of the year in place of injured sophomore regular Dan Wigrizer (concussion). He had 12 saves.
Duke moved to next Sunday's quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., against Notre Dame. The No. 4-seeded Irish beat Penn 13-6 Saturday. It's a rematch of last year's title game won by Duke 6-5 in OT.