Newsday

Not ready to commit to the high-end salon straighteners? Here are some new products to try at home.

Keratin Perfect smoothing treatments are said to change the way hair "looks, feels and behaves." Products include pre-treatment clarifying shampoo and post-treatment products that will maintain the look; from $24 to $235 (for a deluxe kit) at select Sephora stores and sephora.com.

Straight, from Living Proof, has no oils or silicones, which means there's none of the buildup that can make hair limp and lifeless.

NEWARK, N.J. -- Five years ago, Colombian Joel Julio was a fast-rising welterweight with a 27-0 record that included 26 knockouts. But after losing a title eliminator by decision to Carlos Quintana, Julio's career took an ill-advised detour to the 154-pound light middleweight division, where he floundered.

In recent years, it seemed Julio was a shooting star about to flame out after losing three of his past five fights, including a stoppage by James Kirkland and a knockout loss to Alfredo Angulo 13 months ago. "After five years of thinking it through," Main Events promoter Kathy Duva said this week. "Joel has come to the conclusion he should come back down to welterweight."

Not a moment too soon. At 26, there's still time for Julio (36-4, 31 KOs) to revive his career, and the first step comes Friday night against Anges Adjaho (17-5, 9 KOs) in what Duva described as a "club show" in the AmeriHealth Pavillion at the Prudential Center.

Scott Gordon is a little more than four months removed from his last coaching gig, when he was replaced as New York Islanders coach during an 0-9-1 skid that turned into a 1-17-3 slide after Jack Capuano took over.

He certainly has heard and read about his old players' enjoyment of Capuano's style, of having more freedom to be creative, of the interim coach perhaps not being as tough on their miscues as the former coach.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Sitting on a makeshift stage with his new coach and general manager, Deron Williams said Thursday that he had been blindsided by the news that he had been traded to the Nets.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous that the team was 17-40," Williams said at his introductory news conference at the Nets' practice facility, adding that the Nets' dismal record was the first thing that went through his mind when he heard about the trade.

The former Utah Jazz point guard said he found out he was going to the Nets on Wednesday while watching ESPN's SportsCenter. He said his initial uneasiness subsided after a phone conversation with general manager Billy King, who gave him a blueprint for how the Nets planned to use him to build a team around him that could eventually win a NBA title.

NEW YORK -- You look at Jonathan Toews, the captain of the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, and you see a talented playmaker. A player who follows through on hits and plays in all situations and does everything he can to produce a win.

The Mets have been at the forefront of the recent attention to head injuries, with Ryan Church, David Wright and Jason Bay all missing significant time with concussions during the past three years.

NEW YORK -- Jeff Francoeur was just a 19-year-old prospect in 2003, playing Class-A ball in the Atlanta Braves' system. But he can still remember vividly his reaction to seeing Javy Lopez, the Braves' All-Star catcher, sitting on the bench when Greg Maddux pitched for the big club.