(Reuters) - A shooting took place at a university residence hall in South Carolina on Tuesday, and students and faculty at the school were urged to stay indoors, the university reported in an alert on its website.
The alert from Coastal Carolina University provided no information on injuries in the incident, but said police were on the scene.
(Reporting By Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Greg McCune)
SEOUL, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to film a television documentary with representatives of the Harlem Globetrotters celebrity team, North Korean state television reported.
Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics.
Thirty-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has launched two long-range rockets and carried out a nuclear weapons test during just over a year in power, is reported to be an avid NBA fan and had pictures taken with players from the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during his school days in Switzerland.
Rodman, who sports trademark tattoos and piercings, played for the Bulls. The trip to Pyongyang was organised by a New York-based television production company, VICE.
"I think most of guys are first time here so hopefully everything is OK and hopefully kids have a good time for the game," Rodman, sporting a baseball cap and sunglasses, told North Korea's KCNA.
VICE, which has previously worked in North Korea, said the week-long trip would include running a basketball camp for North Korean children and engaging in community-based games.
The company hinted that Kim may attend one of its events, but that could not be independently verified.
Its North Korean footage with Rodman will be distributed on HBO in April.
U.S. citizens do not require clearance from home to visit North Korea, and Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson visited in January.
The U.S. State Department described that trip as ill-advised but was noncommittal on Rodman's.
"We don't vet U.S. citizens' private travel to North Korea," said State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell. "In terms of this private travel to do basketball with kids, we just don't take a position on this."
The United States is leading a drive in the United Nations to have stricter sanctions imposed on North Korea following its nuclear test two weeks ago.
Kim, the third member of his family to rule North Korea, an isolated and impoverished state that has about 200,000 political prisoners in labour camps and where a third of children are malnourished, appears to have a penchant for American culture apart from basketball.
On coming to office, he staged a spectacular featuring a host of Disney characters. He has also been pictured at theme parks, in sharp contrast with his father's austere appearances.
While there is no U.S.-government connection to Rodman's trip, there have been a variety of attempts at sports diplomacy with North Korea, ranging from wrestling to judo and basketball.
None appears to have fared any better than the regular kind of diplomacy in preventing North Korea from pushing towards the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
As Rodman and his colleagues arrived, North Korean state news agency KCNA issued yet another challenge to the United States, saying it had no choice but to respond to what it called U.S. "provocations" over sanctions with "military muscle".
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Curtis Granderson jogged to first base after being hit on his right forearm as if it was a minor annoyance. Back at the ballpark in a brace a couple of hours later, it was clear the New York Yankees had a pretty big power problem on their hands.
In his first at-bat of spring training, the slugger broke his arm when he hit by a pitch from Toronto's J.A. Happ in the bottom of the first inning Sunday, and is expected to be out until the first week of May.
"Grandy is not a bat you say is easy to replace, but we're going to have to find a way," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "No one is going to feel sorry for you."
The Yankees, who were beat 2-0 by a Blue Jays' split squad, first called it a bruise but X-rays revealed the break.
"Five pitches in we got a little setback," Granderson said. "Now we rest, recovery, get it back, and get ready to play whenever that day comes."
The team said Granderson could be out 10 weeks, which means he'll miss about a month of the regular season.
"Mentally, you understand this is part of it, but at the same time now there's not much I can do about it except do the best things I can to not make it worse," Granderson said. "Keep myself ready to go."
It's a major blow for the Yankees, who are already without Alex Rodriguez until at least the All-Star break. The Yankees also lost Nick Swisher to free agency.
Granderson led New York with 43 homers last season. The Yankees hit 245 homers last year and had five players with at least 20. This year they could open the season with just two players, Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano, who topped 20.
Granderson was examined near first base before leaving the game.
"It didn't sound good," said Yankees third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who was in the on-deck circle when Granderson got hit.
The Yankees were planning to experiment during exhibition games to see if they would move Granderson from center to left, with Brett Gardner going from left to center. That potential alignment is on hold.
Girardi said that Gardner will likely start the season in center.
Matt Diaz and Juan Rivera, in the competition for the fourth outfielder spot, could see increased playing time.
"We'll be forced to take a look at a short-term option," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Obviously, we'll being get Curtis back. It's very early. We're still evaluating what we actually have in camp. The first month there will be a vacancy that we need to fill. Is that internal, external, I couldn't even tell you."
Cashman said he is not in favor of giving infielder Eduardo Nunez a look in left field.
Happ, coming back from foot surgery, went two scoreless innings, giving up three hits.
"The first inning, I was rushing a little bit, and not quite getting the extension I needed," Happ said. "Going out for that second inning I felt much better. I was taking my body toward home instead of first there."
Happ reached out to Granderson before the ourfielder left the stadium for X-rays.
"Definitely not throwing on purpose, he's trying to work on coming inside," Granderson said. "It's a part of the game. Sometime you get hit. You just hope you get hit in a better spot."
Projected as the team's sixth starter, Happ had a 10-11 record with a 4.79 ERA in 24 starts and four relief appearances last season.
Yankees starter Adam Warren threw two hitless innings. The right-hander hit Brett Lawrie with a pitch in the second, which he said got away from him.
"Tried to go in with a fastball," Warren said.
NOTES: One-time two-sport standout Drew Henson, who played quarterback at the University of Michigan and eight games with the Yankees, will be the new hitting coach for New York's second team in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. It's his first pro coaching assignment. "I think he'll be real good at it," Yankees first base coach Mick Kelleher said. "Has a great mind. An analyzer." Kelleher was New York's roving minor league infield coach when Henson was in the minors. ... Blue Jays LHP Brett Cecil allowed three hits over two scoreless innings.
Feb 25 (Reuters) - Quarterback Tom Brady has agreed to a bargain three-year, $27 million contract extension that will keep him with the NFL's New England Patriots through the 2017 season, Sports Illustrated reported on Monday.
The two-time National Football League (NFL) Most Valuable Player who led New England to three Super Bowl titles, will get a $3 million signing bonus plus salaries of $7 million in 2015, $8 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017, the magazine said.
Brady, 35, who rose to fame after being taken in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, accepted about half the future salary commanded by other top signal callers in order to give the Patriots flexibility to sign other players, according to the report.
Brady passed for 4,827 yards and 34 touchdowns this past season with New England, who lost in the AFC title game to the Baltimore Ravens, one step from reaching their sixth Super Bowl with Brady at quarterback. (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)
(Reuters) - Quarterback Tom Brady has agreed to a bargain three-year, $27 million contract extension that will keep him with the NFL's New England Patriots through the 2017 season, Sports Illustrated reported on Monday.
The two-time National Football League (NFL) Most Valuable Player who led New England to three Super Bowl titles, will get a $3 million signing bonus plus salaries of $7 million in 2015, $8 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017, the magazine said.
Brady, 35, who rose to fame after being taken in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, accepted about half the future salary commanded by other top signal callers in order to give the Patriots flexibility to sign other players, according to the report.
Brady passed for 4,827 yards and 34 touchdowns this past season with New England, who lost in the AFC title game to the Baltimore Ravens, one step from reaching their sixth Super Bowl with Brady at quarterback.
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)
(Reuters) - LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 79 points as the Miami Heat prevailed 141-129 in a double overtime marathon against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
James scored 40 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds while Wade tacked on 39 to rescue the East-leading Heat (41-14) and give them a league-high 12th consecutive victory.
Miami led 110-101 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter before visiting Sacramento (19-39) ran them down with a frantic 11-2 run that included three consecutive three-pointers from Marcus Thornton.
Thornton's shooting display, which included eight three pointers, contributed to 36 points of the visitor's total but it was not enough to cool the Heat.
After both teams added 12 points in the first overtime, James tallied 11 points in the second as the home team outscored the Kings 17-5 to finally put away their brave opponent.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles. Editing by Patrick Johnston)
Feb 24 (Reuters) - LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 79 points as the Miami Heat prevailed 141-129 in a double overtime marathon against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
James scored 40 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds while Wade tacked on 39 to rescue the East-leading Heat (41-14) and give them a league-high 12th consecutive victory.
Miami led 110-101 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter before visiting Sacramento (19-39) ran them down with a frantic 11-2 run that included three consecutive three-pointers from Marcus Thornton.
Thornton's shooting display, which included eight three pointers, contributed to 36 points of the visitor's total but it was not enough to cool the Heat.
After both teams added 12 points in the first overtime, James tallied 11 points in the second as the home team outscored the Kings 17-5 to finally put away their brave opponent. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles. Editing by Patrick Johnston)
MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James had 40 points and 16 assists, Dwyane Wade scored 39 and the Miami Heat pushed their winning streak to 12 games by outlasting the Sacramento Kings 141-129 in double overtime on Tuesday night.
Ray Allen added 21, Chris Bosh finished with 15 and Chris Andersen had 10 for the Heat, who remained six games clear of second-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings.
Miami's 12-game winning streak is the longest in the NBA and matches the second-longest in franchise history.
Marcus Thornton scored 36 points for Sacramento, the most by any reserve in the NBA this season. DeMarcus Cousins finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, Tyreke Evans added 26 points, John Salmons 15 and Isaiah Thomas 14 for the Kings.
James became the first NBA player to finish with at least 40 points and 16 assists since Kevin Johnson — now the mayor of Sacramento — had 42 and 17 for Phoenix against Denver on April 3, 1994.
Kings coach Keith Smart said before the game that sometimes "great teams get a little bored with the regular season and they need something to get them going."
The Heat didn't seem to be bored by the second overtime.
After a late non-call that James wanted, he simply seemed mad.
James scored inside to open the second extra session, yelling "and one" at referees as his way of insisting he was fouled as well. But after one sensational sequence, the game was pretty much sealed.
Thornton had a chance to give the Kings the lead after a Heat turnover, but his shot at the rim was blocked by Wade, who came down and set up James for a 3-pointer — a five-point swing, in essence, and the Heat had a 131-127 lead. James scored again, then added two free throws and found Bosh for a dunk and 10-point lead with 1:29 remaining.
Sacramento lost its sixth straight and fell to 1-16 against Miami since March 2004.
The Heat missed key free throws late in both regulation and the first overtime — Wade missing a pair with 21 seconds left in the fourth, and James missed one of two with 29.3 seconds left in the opening extra session.
In the first OT, the Kings had a chance for the late lead and potentially the win, but Thomas had a layup blocked by Bosh, and Allen grabbed the rebound for the Heat with 5.7 seconds left.
Miami put the ball in Wade's hands, and he found James near the basket. James' shot missed, and he complained he was fouled by Salmons on the attempt. Referees disagreed with that, but after a lengthy review to determine possession, they awarded Miami the ball with 0.4 seconds remaining. It was much ado for nothing, as Bosh's shot sailed long and the teams went to double overtime.
The game was tied at 92 midway through the fourth before Wade — with six points and an assist — led a 13-4 run that looked like it would give Miami breathing room. Miami was up 105-96, and still led 112-104 when James scored with 1:40 remaining.
Sacramento roared back, scoring the final eight points of regulation. Thornton hit a pair of 3-pointers, the second coming with 23 seconds left to get the Kings within 112-110. And after Wade missed a pair of free throws, Cousins grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it back with 8.5 seconds remaining to knot the game at 112-all.
Out of a timeout, the Heat went to Wade, whose step-back 20-footer bounced off the rim as time expired, sending it to overtime.
They were just getting started.
NOTES: Miami finished February with a 12-1 record, with the one loss to start the month. ... The Heat have allowed 68 third-quarter points in their last two games, both at home. They gave up 67 third-quarter points in their previous three games, all on the road. ... One day after celebrating his 24th birthday, Kings G Jimmer Fredette did not play. ... The Heat played without F Shane Battier, sidelined by right hamstring tightness. He's day-to-day.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Manti Te'o's first appearance on a football field since the BCS championship game didn't go as well as planned Monday.
The Notre Dame star and Heisman Trophy runner-up was clocked at 4.82 seconds in the 40-yard dash. NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock had said Sunday anything faster than 4.7 would be "phenomenal." Anything 4.8 or over would be a "concern."
The workout came more than a month after Te'o's highly-publicized online romance with a girlfriend was exposed as a hoax and that he was a victim of the hoax.
Since then, he's done a handful of 1-on-1 interviews and took questions Saturday in one of the craziest scenes in NFL scouting combine history. Reporters crowded around the podium, lining up eight deep to hear Te'o talk one more time about what happened.
Some have wondered if the embarrassing story was a distraction leading into the national championship game, in which Te'o and his Notre Dame teammates played poorly in a blowout loss to Alabama.
The linebacker said Saturday the hoax had no impact on that game. And he insists it has not affected his preparation for the combine, either.
But instead of putting those concerns to rest with a good showing Monday, Te'o fell short of his goals again — and not just in the 40.
Te'o participated in five of the seven drills, opting out of the bench press and 60-yard shuttle, and did not finish ranked among the top five at his position in any of them.
His vertical jump was 33 inches, far below Southern Mississippi's Jamie Collins' positional best of 41½. Te'o jumped 113 inches in the broad jump. He finished the three-cone drill in 7.13 seconds, well off the pace set by Missouri's Zaviar Gooden (6.71). Te'o completed the 20-yard shuttle in 4.27 seconds, again behind Gooden's 4.18.
After the workouts, which were closed to the media, Te'o told NFL Network that he could have done better — and that he will at next month's Pro Day at Notre Dame.
Scouts also have been curious to see how former LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu would perform in Indy after getting kicked off his college team last summer and took the entire season off.
Mathieu didn't do well Monday, either. He did only four reps on the 225-pound bench press, tied with Appalachian State's Demetrius McCray for the lowest among all defensive backs.
The defensive backs will complete their workouts Tuesday, the final day of the combine.
Feb 27 (The Sports Xchange) - Former major-league slugger Manny Ramirez has a verbal agreement to sign with the EDA Rhinos of the China Professional League, according to ESPNDeportes.com.
An agreement won't be final until March 7, the report said, and Ramirez has until then to sign with an MLB team.
"It will be a new experience, experience another culture while I keep doing what I love and all I've done in my life, playing baseball," Ramirez told the website.
The 40-year-old Ramirez, 2004 World Series MVP, said his agents had contacted almost every American League team in need of a bat, but received no interest.
Ramirez hasn't played in the major leagues since 2011 with the Tampa Bay Rays, when he retired rather than face a 100-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.
He signed with the Oakland A's last winter, but was released from their Triple-A Sacramento affiliate in June. He has 555 home runs and a .312 batting average in a 19-year career. (Editing by Ossian Shine)
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Nobody was thinking about coach Bill Self's 500th win or the Big 12 title when a loss to Oklahoma State kicked off a rare three-game slide for Kansas.
The Jayhawks have responded with five straight victories, including Self's milestone win on Monday night.
Now the conference crown that seemed out of reach is Kansas' to lose.
Elijah Johnson scored a career-high 39 points — including eight in the final 29 seconds of regulation and 12 in overtime — and No. 6 Kansas rallied to beat Iowa State 108-96.
Travis Releford added 19 points for the Jayhawks (24-4, 12-3 Big 12), who snapped Iowa State's 22-game home winning streak and kept pace with No. 13 Kansas State — which has already lost twice to Kansas — atop the Big 12.
A person familiar with the contract tells The Associated Press that Tom Brady has received a three-year extension from the New England Patriots worth about $27 million.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the extension has not been announced.
The 35-year-old two-time league MVP was signed through 2014, and has said he wants to play five more years. By redoing his contract Monday, Brady also has cleared nearly $15 million from New England's salary cap.
The three-time Super Bowl champion will make far less in those three seasons than the going rate for star quarterbacks. Brady currently has a four-year, $72 million deal with $48 million guaranteed.
Sports Illustrated first reported the extension.
Feb 24 (Reuters) - New York Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson fractured his right forearm in his first at-bat in spring training and will miss the start of the regular season, the American League team said on Sunday.
Granderson was hit by a pitch from Toronto's J.A. Happ in the first inning at Tampa, Florida and is expected to miss about 10 weeks, the Yankees said on their website.
X-rays revealed the extent of the injury.
The 31-year-old Granderson has spent the last three years in center field for New York but he started Sunday's game in left as the team experimented with a move that put Brett Gardner to center.
Granderson led the Yankees with 43 home runs during the regular season before his bat went cold in the playoffs and the team was eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles, editing by Gene Cherry)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Trevor Mbakwe had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help Minnesota take down No. 1 Indiana 77-73 on Tuesday night, the seventh time the top-ranked team in The Associated Press' poll has lost a game this season.
Andre Hollins added 16 points for the Gophers (19-9, 7-8 Big Ten), who outrebounded Cody Zeller and the Hoosiers by a whopping 44-30 and solidified their slipping NCAA tournament case with an emphatic performance against the Big Ten leaders. The fans rushed the court as the last seconds ticked off, the first time that's happened here in years.
Zeller was held to nine points with four turnovers for the Hoosiers (24-4, 12-3), who have held the No. 1 ranking for 10 of 17 polls this season including the last four. Victor Oladipo scored 16 points, but 14 of the 17 points by Jordan Hulls came before halftime.
Mbakwe, a sixth-year senior, posted his conference-leading seventh double-double. At 24 years old, he was a man among boys in many ways in this game, dominating both ends of the court when the Gophers needed him most. Minnesota had 23 offensive rebounds.
Elliott Eliason, who played every bit as well as Zeller, the slender sophomore in the post for the visitors, scored seven straight points for Minnesota to tie the game at 46 shortly after Oladipo's reverse layup had given the Hoosiers a 44-36 lead, their biggest of the game.
Hollins, who missed eight of his first nine shots, scraped off a high screen by Eliason to pull up for a 3-pointer and give the Gophers a 51-48 lead underneath the 9-minute mark. Mbakwe got a rebound to keep a key possession alive then grabbed another board to set up his off-balance bank shot for a 56-53 lead for Minnesota with 7:22 left.
Mbakwe was called for a loudly questioned blocking foul, his fourth, with 4:39 remaining on Zeller's fast-break layup that put the Hoosiers up 59-58. But Austin Hollins answered with a pump-fake layup that drew a foul for a three-point play and a 61-59 lead for the Gophers.
Joe Coleman's fast-break dunk with 2:35 left lifted Minnesota to a 68-61 edge, enough of a cushion to withstand a couple of 3-pointers by Christian Watford and one by Hulls in the closing minutes.
Mbakwe, who played for Indiana coach Tom Crean when they were at Marquette in 2007-08, has had some of his better games against the Hoosiers. This was his best. He gave the Gophers and their home crowd a double-shot of energy early with 10 points in the first 6½ minutes, plus a jarring block of Zeller's inside shot that knocked the 7-footer to the court. Coach Tubby Smith took Mbakwe out for a breather, though, and the Hoosiers went on a 10-0 run capped by another behind-the-arc swish from Hulls.
Zeller, Indiana's leading scorer and the second-best shooter in the Big Ten behind Oladipo, was 0 for 4 from the field in the first half with two turnovers, two fouls and two points. Mbakwe picked up his second foul when Oladipo drew contact with 4:02 left before the break and sat until the buzzer. The Gophers scored only three points in the last 7 minutes of the half.
The Hoosiers started the week with a two-game lead in the loss column over Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin, poised for their first outright Big Ten regular season championship since going 17-1 in 1993 during Bob Knight's heyday as coach. With home games against Iowa and Ohio State, Indiana has a chance to clinch the title before the finale at Michigan on March 10.
Six weeks ago, this game looked like one of the many marquee matchups that have marked Big Ten play this season, with a conference as strong as it's been in maybe decades. But while the Hoosiers kept winning after their 88-81 hold-on-at-the-end victory on Jan. 12 over then-No. 8 Minnesota, the Gophers sputtered.
Their half-court offense in particular has caused trouble, with an inability to solve zone defenses and a glaring lack of confidence, identity or purpose on so many possessions over the last few weeks. Their struggles were never more pronounced than in their last two games, in defeat by 21 points at Iowa and 26 points at Ohio State. Even on this night, despite the significant improvement, they looked lost at times when Mbakwe wasn't on the court.
So here they were after a much-needed weekend break in the schedule, back on their uniquely raised home court and trying desperately to boost spirits that have sagged under the weight of eight losses in their previous 11 games. Smith even had the team meet with a sports psychologist. Over their last 10 games, they averaged only 57 points and hadn't topped 58 in five games since Feb. 3. After being ranked in 11 straight polls, the Gophers didn't get one vote this week.
___
Follow Dave Campbell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaveCampbellAP
SEOUL (Reuters) - Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman is to visit North Korea to film a television documentary and will arrive in the capital Pyongyang on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics.
Thirty-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has launched two long-range rockets and carried out a nuclear weapons test during his first year in power, is reported to be an avid NBA fan and had pictures taken with players from the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during his school days in Switzerland.
Rodman, who sports trademark tattoos and piercings, played for the Chicago Bulls.
"At a time when tensions between the two countries (the United States and North Korea) are running high, it's important to keep lines of communication open, no matter how non-traditional those channels are," AP quoted Shane Smith, the founder of VICE, which is to make the TV series, as saying.
VICE, based in New York, is a production company that has previously filmed in North Korea. The report did not disclose the topic of the TV series but said it was part of "documentary-style news reports from around the world" that would be distributed on HBO in April.
United States citizens do not require clearance to visit North Korea, and Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt visited in January.
The United States is leading a drive in the United Nations to have stricter sanctions imposed on Pyongyang following its nuclear test two weeks ago.
The third Kim to rule North Korea, an isolated and impoverished state that has about 200,000 political prisoners in labor camps and where a third of children are malnourished, has a penchant for American culture.
On coming to office, he staged a spectacular featuring a host of Disney characters. He has also been pictured at theme parks, in sharp contrast with his father's austere appearances.
There have been a variety of attempts at sports diplomacy with North Korea, ranging from wrestling to judo and basketball.
None appears to have fared any better than the regular kind of diplomacy in preventing North Korea from pushing towards the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
(Editing by Ken Wills)
SEOUL (Reuters) - Former NBA star Dennis Rodman appears to have mixed up his Koreas on a visit to Pyongyang, tweeting that he expected to run into South Korean rapper Psy on his trip to the North.
Rodman, famed for his tattoos, piercings and radical hair colours from his time on court, arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to shoot some hoops and a documentary to be aired on HBO in April.
"Maybe I'll run into the Gangnam Style dude while I'm here," the 51-year old tweeted (@dennisrodman) after his arrival.
Psy, a 35-year old roly-poly rapper, shot to global fame with his Gangnam Style song last year, garnering more than a billion YouTube hits for his portrayal of the ritzy and shallow Gangnam enclave in the southern part of the South Korean capital of Seoul.
While Pyongyang is by far the richest part of North Korea, Rodman is unlikely to see the kind of wealth and designer chic on display in Gangnam.
The North's economy is 1/40th the size of South Korea's, according to most independent estimates, and is smaller than it was 20 years ago according to the United Nations.
The only bling that Rodman may encounter in North Korea appears to come from third generation of the country's ruling family.
Jowly 30-year old dictator Kim Jong-un has a penchant for Disney shows and fun-fairs, while his young wife - rumoured to have given birth recently - has been seen sporting a Dior bag.
Many North Koreans struggle to put adequate amounts of food on the table each day and recent reports suggested there had been a famine in the country's food-basket area in 2012.
(Reporting by David Chance, editing by Elaine Lies)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett argued in a court document filed late Monday that the NCAA has been trying to use his antitrust lawsuit against it over the Penn State penalties in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal to combat what he describes as a groundswell of public criticism.
Corbett said the judge should not grant the NCAA's request to dismiss the case, saying college sports' governing body made a factual error when it said the penalties were voted on by the university's trustees.
Corbett, who as governor is a trustee, said the NCAA's motion to dismiss the lawsuit he filed in early January "appears to have been written more to advance the NCAA's broader agenda, and to combat the recent groundswell of public criticism against the embattled organization, than to raise legal issues appropriate to a motion to dismiss."
NCAA spokeswoman Emily Potter offered no immediate comment on the latest filing.
The Republican governor's lawsuit asks the judge to throw out all the penalties, including a $60 million fine, a four-year bowl ban and the loss of football scholarships. He claims the consent agreement has harmed students, business owners and others.
"The NCAA wrongly claims that its arbitrary decimation of the PSU football program is no different than its enforcement of rules regulating player eligibility or uniforms — which do enhance collegiate competition — although PSU was not found to have violated a single NCAA rule and the NCAA's own president insisted that the consent decree was not an enforcement action," Corbett's lawyers wrote.
The NCAA has said the penalties are unrelated to regulation of economic activity so antitrust law doesn't apply.
Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator at the college football powerhouse, was convicted last summer of sexually abusing several boys, some on campus. He is serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence. He is appealing and maintains his innocence.
The consent agreement between the NCAA and Penn State was signed a few weeks after Sandusky was found guilty of 45 criminal counts. Penn State is not a party to Corbett's antitrust lawsuit or to the NCAA's lawsuit filed last week against Corbett and three state officials over a newly enacted state law that is designed to keep the $60 million within the state.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Even if Oscar Pistorius is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in South Africa believe that, by his own account, the star athlete violated basic gun-handling regulations and exposed himself to a homicide charge by shooting into a closed door without knowing who was behind it.
Particularly jarring for firearms instructors and legal experts is that Pistorius testified that he shot at a closed toilet door, fearing but not knowing for certain that a nighttime intruder was on the other side. Instead of an intruder, Pistorius' girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was in the toilet cubicle. Struck by three of four shots that Pistorius fired from a 9 mm pistol, she died within minutes. Prosecutors charged Pistorius with premeditated murder, saying the shooting followed an argument between the two. Pistorius said it was an accident.
South Africa has stringent laws regulating the use of lethal force for self-protection. In order to get a permit to own a firearm, applicants must not only know those rules but must demonstrate proficiency with the weapon and knowledge of its safe handling, making it far tougher to legally own a gun in South Africa than many other countries where a mere background check suffices.
Pistorius took such a competency test for his 9 mm pistol and passed it, according to the South African Police Service's National Firearms Center. Pistorius' license for the 9 mm pistol was issued in September 2010. The Olympic athlete and Paralympic medalist should have known that firing blindly, instead of at a clearly identified target, violates basic gun-handling rules, firearms and legal experts said.
"You can't shoot through a closed door," said Andre Pretorius, president of the Professional Firearm Trainers Council, a regulatory body for South African firearms instructors. "People who own guns and have been through the training, they know that shooting through a door is not going to go through South African law as an accident."
"There is no situation in South Africa that allows a person to shoot at a threat that is not identified," Pretorius added. "Firing multiple shots, it makes it that much worse. ...It could have been a minor — a 15-year-old kid, a 12-year-old kid — breaking in to get food."
The Pistorius family, through Arnold Pistorius, uncle of the runner, has said it is confident that the evidence will prove that Steenkamp's death in the predawn hours of Feb. 14 was "a terrible and tragic accident."
In an affidavit to the magistrate who last Friday freed him on bail, Pistorius said he believed an intruder or intruders had gotten into his US$560,000 (€430,000) two-story house, in a guarded and gated community with walls topped by electrified fencing east of the capital, Pretoria, and were inside the toilet cubicle in his bathroom. Believing he and Steenkamp "would be in grave danger" if they came out, "I fired shots at the toilet door" with the pistol that he slept with under his bed, he testified.
Criminal law experts said that even if the prosecution fails to prove premeditated murder, firing several shots through a closed door could bring a conviction for the lesser but still serious charge of culpable homicide, a South African equivalent of manslaughter covering unintentional deaths through negligence.
Johannesburg attorney Martin Hood, who specializes in firearm law, said South African legislation allows gun owners to use lethal force only if they believe they are facing an immediate, serious and direct attack or threat of attack that could either be deadly or cause grievous injury.
According to Pistorius' own sworn statement read in court, he "did not meet those criteria," said Hood, who is also the spokesman for the South African Gun Owners' Association.
"If he fired through a closed door, there was no threat to him. It's as simple as that," he added. "He can't prove an attack on his life ... In my opinion, at the very least, he is guilty of culpable homicide."
The Associated Press emailed a request for comment to Vuma, a South African reputation management firm hired by the Pistorius family to handle media questions about the shooting.
The firm replied: "Due to the legal sensitivities around the matter, we cannot at this stage answer any of your questions as it might have legal implications for a case that still has to be tried in a court of law." Vuma said on Monday it referred the AP's questions to Pistorius' legal team, which by Tuesday had not replied.
Culpable homicide covers unintentional deaths ranging from accidents with no negligence, like a motorist whose brakes fail, killing another road user, "to where it verges on murder or where it almost becomes intentional," said Hood. Sentences — ranging from fines to prison — are left to courts to determine and are not set by fixed guidelines.
The tough standards for legally acquiring a gun were instituted in part because of a wave of weapons purchases after the end of racist white rule in 1994, said Rick De Caris, a former legal director in the South African police. Under South Africa's white-minority apartheid regime, gun owners often learned how to handle firearms during military service. Many of the new gun owners had little or no firearms training, which brought tragic results, De Caris said.
"People were literally shooting themselves when cleaning a firearm," said De Caris, who helped draft the Firearms Control Act of 2000.
Prospective gun owners must now take written exams that include questions on the law, have to show they can safely handle and shoot a gun and are required to hit a target the size of a glossy magazine in 10 of 10 shots from seven meters (23 feet), said Pretorius of the Professional Firearm Trainers Council.
In his affidavit, Pistorius said he wasn't wearing his prosthetic limbs "and felt extremely vulnerable" after hearing noise from the toilet.
"I grabbed my 9 mm pistol from underneath my bed. On my way to the bathroom, I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police. It was pitch-dark in the bedroom and I thought Reeva was in bed," he testified.
Legal experts said they are puzzled why Pistorius apparently didn't first fire a warning shot to show the supposed intruder he was armed. Also unanswered is why, after he heard noise in his bathroom that includes the toilet cubicle, Pistorius still went toward the bathroom — toward the perceived danger — rather than retreat back into his bedroom.
"He should have tried to get out of the situation," said Hood, the attorney.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The attorney for three NASCAR fans injured last weekend during a race the day before the Daytona 500 says they are exploring a possible lawsuit, but some experts say they could face tough obstacles in winning damages.
Matt Morgan, the Orlando-based lawyer for the fans, said at a news conference Tuesday than any suit would focus on the safety fence used along the track at Daytona International Speedway. He said he hopes to reach a settlement with NASCAR to avoid a lawsuit.
More than 30 people were injured last Saturday after a horrific wreck in a second-tier NASCAR series race sent chunks of debris, including a heavy tire, into the stands. Morgan declined to provide the identities of his clients, but said two of them were seated directly in front of the crash and sustained injuries ranging from a fractured fibula to abdominal swelling. All have been released from the hospital.
Some experts say there could be grounds for a lawsuit, and that courts have looked past liability waivers written on the backs of sporting event tickets. Others maintain the ticket is a legal contract that could be hard to overcome in court.
"Ultimately, I believe it would be gross negligence," Morgan said. "We all know that when you go to a race you assume a certain amount of risk. But what people don't assume is that a race car will come flying into the stands... That's why they make the fences."
Asked to comment on the fans' retention of a law firm, NASCAR spokesman David Higdon wrote in a statement, "We are unaware of any lawsuits filed."
Daytona International Speedway is owned by International Speedway Corp., a NASCAR sister company. Spokesman Andrew Booth said, "As per company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation."
Donnalynn Darling, a New York-based attorney who has been practicing personal injury law for 30 years, said there is a theory that a spectator who buys tickets to a sporting event assumes the risk of objects coming out of the field of play, such as a foul ball at a baseball game.
But she said there is also a foreseeable risk question that promoters of events also accept.
"Did the sporting event promoter take action to prevent that specific risk?" Darling asked. "In terms of this fence...it was put up to prevent people from being hurt. You have people who were not only injured by falling debris, but by the failure of the fence."
Others say such restrictive clauses on the back of tickets are generally disfavored by Florida courts.
"If it's just something written on the back of the ticket and not called to the attention of the person purchasing, there's reason to believe many courts in Florida won't hold that they consented efficiently," said University of Florida emeritus law professor Joseph Little.
Still, Paul Huck, an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, said contract law could take precedence.
"A ticket to one of these events is like a contract — and its provisions limiting liability are generally enforceable," he said. "We enter into these types of contracts on a regular basis, and we often don't give it a second thought that we may be limiting or even giving up certain legal rights when we do so."
Darling also said that the fence's manufacturer at Daytona would likely be "very much responsible" because of it being foreseeable that debris could go through a fence that has holes in it.
That seems to be theory that Morgan is adopting. He referenced a 2009 crash at NASCAR's racetrack in Talladega, Ala. in which a car that launched into the catch fence sent debris into the stands and injured several fans.
"At that point in time a group of engineers got together and they said 'It's time for us to manufacture a safer fence,'" Morgan said. "To my knowledge, that was done. But what we have to investigate at this point in time is what was done...If you can ever point to monetary considerations being put ahead of people, then there's a big problem."
Darling predicted that NASCAR would try to settle with the injured fans.
NASCAR "had an obligation to protect the fans that are so loyal, and it is bad from a public relations standpoint," Darling said. "So they're going to do something."
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AP Auto Racing writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.
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Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower.
NCAA President Mark Emmert has gotten a vote of confidence from the association's executive committee, despite a series of recent missteps that have many questioning his leadership.
The NCAA released a statement on Saturday saying that the executive committee has "unanimously affirmed" its ongoing support of Emmert. The move comes after a week where University of Miami President Donna Shalala called the NCAA's probe of the Hurricanes "unprofessional and unethical," and where presidents of schools in the Mountain West Conference reportedly questioned Emmert's leadership.
The dialogue between Mountain West presidents was reported Friday by CBSSports.com.
Emmert has been president of the NCAA since October 2010. Under his watch, the NCAA has been laden with tumult, most notably fallout from sanctions against Penn State and the botched Miami investigation.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy faced off Sunday in match play, just like so many golf fans wanted to see.
Only hardly anyone saw them. And it didn't even count.
After both were eliminated in the first round of the Match Play Championship, No. 1 and No. 2 in the world played two rounds Sunday morning at The Medalist. McIlroy said Woods won the first 18 holes, and he won the second match.
The Medalist is the home club of Woods. McIlroy said former NFL receiver Ahmad Rashad joined them.
McIlroy and Woods are tied at 2 in their head-to-head matches. Woods beat him in the World Golf Finals exhibition last year Turkey, while McIlroy beat him a few months later in an 18-hole exhibition in China.
There are some familiar NBA names lighting up college basketball courts this season.
Curry, Hardaway, Hawkins, Howard, Mason and Robinson.
Below the sons of six former NBA players who are having strong seasons this year. And there are often shades of their fathers' games in their play, whether it's their knack for scoring in bunches, knocking down 3-pointers, playing with a tough-nosed style or wearing the same jersey number.
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Seth Curry, Duke — This family is known for the ability to shoot the 3, starting with Dell Curry during 16 NBA seasons starting during the late 1980s. Next came son Stephen's rise from Davidson to the Golden State Warriors. Now there's Stephen's younger brother Seth, a 6-foot-2 senior for the Blue Devils. He has been the top outside threat to complement Mason Plumlee inside. Curry has rarely practiced this year due to persistent pain in his right shin, but he's averaging about 17 points and shooting nearly 44 percent from 3-point range entering the week. Maryland coach Mark Turgeon put it simply after Curry scored 25 against his Terrapins earlier this month: "Seth Curry is a winner and he makes big shots."
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Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan — The 6-6 junior guard and son of the former NBA all-star has been part of the Wolverines' 1-2 punch playing alongside sophomore guard Trey Burke. Hardaway is second on the team in scoring (15 points) and shooting about 40 percent from 3-point range. He's also been one of Michigan's top defenders and scored his 1,000th career point this season. He's reached double figures in 20 of 26 games this year, highlighted by a 23-point performance with six 3-pointers against Ohio State.
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Corey Hawkins, UC Davis — The son of former NBA guard Hersey Hawkins entered the week averaging 20.5 points and 5.7 rebounds. Hawkins was also shooting about 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc. The 6-3 sophomore is an Arizona State transfer and had a school-record 40 points at Hawaii in January to follow in his high-scoring father's footsteps at Bradley, where Hersey Hawkins is the school's all-time leading scorer and ranks seventh in Division I history with 3,008 career points. In Hersey's senior year, he averaged 36.3 points and scored 63 in a game. "One thing he always told me is be able to get into the lane and finish around the bigs," Corey Hawkins said. "... Not being that tall, you have to find ways to finish in the paint. He helped me a lot with that."
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Juwan Howard Jr., Detroit — The 6-6 sophomore is the son of the former Michigan "Fab Five" member who played in the NBA nearly two decades. Juwan Jr. transferred from Western Michigan and sat out the Titans' NCAA tournament appearance last year, but he's started nearly every game and averaged about 9 points and 3.6 rebounds this season heading into Tuesday's game against Loyola of Chicago. He's also shooting 39 percent from 3-point range and 82 percent from the foul line in a supporting role behind high-scoring guard Ray McCallum Jr. as Detroit tries to return to the NCAAs.
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Antoine Mason, Niagara — The son of former NBA all-star Anthony Mason has been the top threat for the Purple Eagles, averaging a team-high 18.9 points while playing 36 minutes per game entering the week. The 6-3 redshirt sophomore recently returned from a four-game absence due to an ankle injury, but has scored in double figures in 31 straight games. Mason wears the same number (14) and carries the same nickname ("Mase") as his father. Coach Joe Mihalich said Mason has a "fearlessness" and is "an incredible competitor." Sound familiar? "I was sensitive to the pressures that a kid would feel when your dad's an NBA player," Mihalich said. "I said to his dad, 'Listen, I'm trying hard not to compare him to you. I don't want him to feel that pressure.' His dad was cool. He was like, 'Nah, go ahead, you can do that.' And it was a good thing to do because it does help young Mase respond. It motivates him."
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Glenn Robinson III, Michigan — Hardaway isn't the only Wolverine on the list. This 6-6 freshman forward is the son of the Purdue All-American and former NBA all-star known as "Big Dog." Robinson is fourth on the team, averaging about 11 points on 57 percent shooting to go along with 5.5 rebounds as an every-game starter. Robinson matched his season-high with 21 points on 6-for-6 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds in a win against Penn State on Feb. 17. He had managed just six points in the previous two games, but said his confidence never wavered. "A lot of people know I like to cut to the basket," Robinson said. "They kind of sag off me and those open shots weren't there, but I've got to keep adjusting to that and keep working on it at practice."
DALLAS (AP) — The Big 12 says officiating errors were made at the end of regulation before No. 6 Kansas outlasted Iowa State in overtime on Monday night.
The league said Tuesday that "appropriate measures will be taken" against the two officials involved, including an adjustment of "the number of future assignments."
The Big 12 did not identify the officials or the plays in question.
Kansas's Elijah Johnson drove into the lane and got tangled up with Iowa State's Georges Niang with less than 10 seconds left. No foul was called, and Niang was then whistled for fouling Johnson on the floor. Johnson sank two free throws to force OT with 4.9 seconds left.
Kansas won the game 108-96.
Apple (AAPL) shares got a boost Tuesday afternoon on rumors that the company may announce a split on Wednesday during its annual shareholder meeting. The rumor comes from former money manager and current TheStreet.com contributor Douglas Kass, who did not disclose his source. “High above the Alps my Gnome is hearing a rumor that Apple will announce a stock split at tomorrow’s shareholder meeting,” Kass wrote in a post on Twitter, providing no further details. Apple shares rose more than 1.4% on the rumor after nearing a new closing low.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Top draft prospect Star Lotulelei will undergo more extensive heart tests when he returns to Utah.
Doctors at the NFL's annual scouting combine in Indianapolis found the star defensive tackle and likely high pick has a heart condition, Lotulelei's agent, Bruce Tollner, confirmed in a series of emails with The Associated Press on Monday.
Tollner said Lotulelei would not take questions regarding the diagnosis yet. But the 6-foot-2, 311-pound defensive tackle still plans to do a full workout in front of scouts at his regularly scheduled Pro Day on March 20. The Tonga native was scheduled to fly to Utah on Monday night, Tollner said.
ESPN first reported Lotulelei has a left ventricle that is not operating at maximum capacity.
Lotulelei's professional future could depend heavily on what doctors find.
The Utah standout is considered one of the best prospects in this year's draft. He is trying to join Alex Smith as the only players from the University of Utah to go No. 1 overall; San Francisco took Smith with the top pick in 2005.
"You're going to have to get all kinds of second and third opinions," Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said.
When asked whether the Cardinals would remove Lotulelei from their draft board if those doctors confirmed the diagnosis, Arians said: "That's exactly what would happen."
Uncovering information like this is the reason the combine actually began in the late 1980s. Coaches and general managers have said for years that medical checks are a crucial component of the combine, perhaps the most important data they get all week so they can make informed decisions on draft weekend.
"The No. 1 reason that this started was for medical reasons, and you bring everybody here and have a chance to look at 300-plus guys, X-rays, MRIs, and get your hands on those guys," Lions coach Jim Schwartz said Thursday. "Each step along the way it added a little bit more, whether it was physical testing, or mental testing, or interview process. Nothing stands alone. You're not going to draft a guy based on a 15-minute interview at the combine, or based on one attempt at a broad jump at the combine. It's all just part of the big picture."
This is not the first time a big-name player has been diagnosed with an illness or injury at the combine.
In 2009, doctors found a small stress fracture in the left foot of receiver Michael Crabtree. Crabtree was still chosen No. 10 overall by San Francisco and had a breakout season in 2012.
It's also not unusual for doctors to send players with medical questions from Lucas Oil Stadium, where the combine is held, to a nearby hospital for more extensive examination. The shuttles certainly have been full this week.
Among those hoping to prove they will be healthy enough to play this season are running back Marcus Lattimore, trying to return from last fall's gruesome knee injury, and top-rated cornerback Dee Milliner, who said he will undergo surgery next month for a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
The NFL future of three players — defensive lineman Walter Stewart, linebacker Jarvis Jones and defensive back D.J. Hayden — will depend heavily on what doctors tell teams. Stewart and Jones were both diagnosed with congenital spinal conditions and were told to give up football. Both were later cleared to return to the sport. Hayden said he tore the main artery to his heart in a practice collision in November.
But teams already knew about those conditions before coming to the combine. Lotulelei's situation came as a major surprise.
Arians said he was "shocked" that the problem had not been detected before now.
Finding a potential ailment in a player with aspirations of going No. 1 is certainly not the norm, though it is not unprecedented. In 2011, defensive end Da'Quan Bowers came to the combine projected to go No. 1, but during a medical recheck, doctors found signs of potential long-term arthritis and some weakness in his surgically repaired right knee. Bowers wound up sliding out of the first round and wasn't selected until No. 51 overall by Tampa Bay.
This time, though, it's different.
"We're talking about a heart," Arians said. "That's huge. We're not talking about a knee or a shoulder."
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Manti Te'o walked into a crowded room of reporters Saturday, took a breath and settled in for 15 minutes of NFL scouting combine history.
Again, the former Notre Dame linebacker explained how he had been duped into an Internet romance he had with a girlfriend he never met. He did his best to turn the page on an embarrassing chapter by talking football. This time, he even got to see it play out on live television 12 yards away — where three muted flat-screen monitors were in direct view of Te'o.
He answered every question with thoughtful deliberation and tried to provide clarity on a hoax that turned one of the nation's most inspirational college football players into the butt of national jokes.
"I cared for somebody. That's what I was taught to do ever since I was young. Somebody needs help, you help them out," Te'o said.
Later he added: "People doubted me because I took a while to come out. From our point of view, we wanted to let everything come out first, and then let my side come out. The way we did it, I thought, worked best for me."
Te'o's news conference was the most anticipated event of the NFL's second-biggest offseason weekend, which brought the makeshift media room inside Lucas Oil Stadium to a virtual standstill — twice.
The too-good-to-be-true story began with Te'o's incredible performances after learning his grandmother and what he believed was his girlfriend had died within hours of one another in September. Te'o said it inspired him to play his best football all season, and it was so compelling that it helped turn Te'o into a Heisman Trophy contender as he was leading the Fighting Irish to an undefeated regular season and into the national championship game.
On Dec. 26, Te'o notified Notre Dame officials that he had received a call from his supposedly dead girlfriend's phone three weeks earlier.
The school investigated and on Jan. 16 — after Deadspin.com broke the story of the fake girlfriend — athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced at a news conference that Te'o had been duped. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, 22, later said he created the online persona of Lennay Kekua, a nonexistent woman who Te'o said he fell in love with despite never meeting her in person.
Since then, Te'o had only done a few one-on-one interviews.
On Saturday all that changed as many of the 800 credentialed media members surrounded the podium in rows that went eight deep. Te'o wore a tie-died red-and-black workout shirt.
"It's pretty crazy," said Te'o, who has played most of his games on national television and was one of the most recognizable college players last season. "I've been in front of a few cameras before, but never as many as this."
Only two scenes from the combine over the past 15 years could even compare to what Te'o had to contend with Saturday.
The first came in 2004 when former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was allowed to participate in the combine after a court ruled he should be allowed to enter the draft after finishing high school only two years earlier. That decision was later reversed.
The other time was 2010, when Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion Tim Tebow stepped to the podium in Indianapolis and everyone, including those listening to Packers coach Mike McCarthy, sprinted to the opposite end of the room for Tebow.
This was different.
When word leaked Te'o would speak at about noon, reporters immediately surrounded the podium. Over the next 25 minutes, rumors circulated that in a rare and possibly unprecedented move, Te'o's agent would speak from the podium. That did not happen. There also was speculation that Te'o might deliver an opening statement like the then-injured Michael Crabtree did in 2009 and Cam Newton did two years later. That did not happen, either, though Te'o did make a closing statement in which he thanked his family, friends and fans for standing by him during this tumultuous month.
"It's definitely embarrassing. You walk into grocery stores and people give you double takes to see if they're staring at you," he said before explaining he's moved on. "If I was embarrassed, I wouldn't be able to stand in front of you."
The only thing that really matters in Indy, though, is what team officials think. Te'o said in the two formal interviews he's had, with Green Bay and Houston, they have asked about the hoax. He has another 18 interviews left.
Will it hurt his draft position?
Former NFL executive Bill Polian, architect of four Super Bowl teams in Buffalo and two in Indianapolis, has been adamant that it won't, and coaches and general managers seem to agree.
Most say they are more concerned with the red flags of other players -- drug use, alcohol abuse, academic woes and even criminal allegations -- than they are with Te'o's tale.
"Somebody that's not truthful, that's big, to me. I'm a big fan of the 'Judge Judy' show. And when you lie in Judge Judy's courtroom, it's over. Your credibility is completely lost. You have no chance of winning that case," San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh said Friday. "I learned that from her. It's very powerful, and true. Because if somebody does lie to you, how can you ever trust anything they ever say after that?"
Two questions later, he was asked whether that meant the reigning NFC champs would avoid Te'o in April's draft.
"No. I wouldn't say that," Harbaugh said.
Te'o and the general public weren't the only ones watching the interview session Saturday.
Team officials are taking notes, too.
"Honestly, it's a distraction. If he can handle that distraction and still be able to perform on the football field, I really don't think it makes that much of a difference," Carolina coach Ron Rivera said before Te'o spoke. "We'll talk about it, we'll find out about it. The bottom line is, is he a good person and can he play football?"
On the field, Te'o's is one of the top linebackers available.
Last season, he won the Maxwell Award, Bednarik Award, Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award and Walter Camp national player of the year and finished second in balloting for the Trophy.
But there are concerns. Te'o was asked if the undercurrent of the hoax explained his poor play in Notre Dame's BCS championship game loss to Alabama. He has said it didn't.
"They want to be able to trust their players. You don't want to invest in somebody you can't trust," Te'o said. "With everybody here, they're just trying to get to know you as a person and as a football player, and I understand where they're coming from."
But the hardest part has been seeing the impact it's had on those around him.
In a phone call, Te'o said his sister explained how the family had to sneak into its own house because of the people parked in the front yard, and he also said he empathized with the chaos it has caused Tuiasosopo's family. He said he has no plans to sue, either.
Instead, Te'o just wants to forget about the hoax and focus on football.
"I've learned first, just to be honest in everything you do, from the big things to the small things. To keep your circle very small and to really understand who's in your corner and who's not," he said. "Going off of the season my team and I had, there were a lot of people in our corner, and then when Jan. 16th happened, there was a lot of people in the other corner. I've just learned to appreciate the people that I have that are with me."
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Spring training is all about those on the fringes.
The phenoms looking to make their mark. The geezers trying desperately to hang on. The never-heard-ofs attempting to pull off the camp of their lives. For some reason, that warm Florida sun (Arizona sun works, too) makes all things seem possible.
Then there's Evan Gattis, who is so compelling that everyone else pales in comparison.
"This is my story," the 26-year-old says nonchalantly, sitting at his locker in the Atlanta Braves clubhouse. "Hey, it's the only one I've got."
He walked away from the game not long after high school, absolutely terrified of being a failure and figuring there must be something better out there. There were bouts with depression and drugs, a series of menial jobs ranging from valet to janitor to cart boy at a golf course. He traveled throughout the West, seeking out wandering souls such as himself and spiritual advisers who could help make sense of it all.
Finally, something clicked.
Baseball, the sport he once fled from, was what he needed all along.
"I mean, this is a pastime," Gattis says, a sense of wonderment in his voice. "Honestly, what would you rather be doing right now than this? You know what I mean? I hate to say it like, 'Oh, there's nothing better to do.' But, really, there is nothing ... better ... to do," drawing out the words for effect.
In a way, he's come to the right place. The Braves conduct spring training on the sprawling grounds of Walt Disney World, just down the road from the Magic Kingdom, a place that turned make believe into a very profitable business.
Now we have a player who uses the ID tag from his days as a janitor as the avatar on his Twitter account trying to make it to the big leagues.
Sure, he's a longshot. But ol' Walt would've loved this tale.
"It's kind of a bummer that I never even gave myself a chance to fail before," Gattis says. "Now, I'm not really afraid to fail."
He pauses for a bit of a course correction, then carries on.
"Sure, everybody is afraid of failure a little bit. But I'm not going to let it keep me from success."
Gattis was initially offered a scholarship to play baseball at Texas A&M. He never made it.
"I was smoking a lot of pot," he recalls. "I knew I was talented. I knew a lot of people were rooting for me. I just didn't want people to think I was a mess-up, basically. I was scared. ... I was afraid of being looked at as a failure."
His mother checked him into rehab, where he tackled some of his demons but not his longing for the meaning of life. He gave baseball another try, attending a junior college in Oklahoma, but his heart wasn't in it. He hurt his knee and was redshirted, then left school midway through the next season.
It was time to go wandering.
He would drop everything and leave on a dime whenever he felt the urge. There was the visit to his sister in Colorado, where he found "the most intense peace I've ever felt in my life," then felt it slip away. There was the time he drove one of his spiritual advisers to the airport, told her that he wished he could jump on the plane, too, then did just that a couple of days later — even though it was Christmastime.
"I was like, 'Sorry, folks, I've got to go.' I just had to go."
Some may view Gattis as selfish.
He sees it as something that was absolutely necessary to becoming a whole person.
Through a different prism, it even sounds courageous, the sort of self-discovery that most of us long for but never have the guts to actually follow through on.
"Some people find out that stuff when they're 50," he says. "Then they say, '... I forgot to live.' So at least I got that out of me when I was young. People say in meditation groups, 'You can find it out when you're 25 or you can find it out later in life.'"
He finally found what he was looking for in California, where yet another spiritual mentor cracked a code that is still hard to understand.
"He kind of cleared up anything I had going on," Gattis remembers. "I don't know how to put it in words. I was just done looking for whatever it was I was looking for. I was done with it. It cleared up in kind of a final way where, without a shadow of a doubt, I just knew I didn't have to do that anymore."
Even at an age when most people are done with college, Gattis learned he was still eligible to play ball. In 2010, he enrolled at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. After batting over .400, he was drafted by the Braves in the 23rd round.
An unorthodox prospect approaching his mid-20s, Gattis was hardly put on a fast-track to the majors, but he kept winning over the brass with his impressive hitting numbers. He batted .322 with 22 homers in the South Atlantic League. Last season, he split time between three minor-league teams and hit a cumulative .305 with 18 homers.
This year, he was invited to his first big-league camp — albeit as a non-roster player. A catcher by trade, he's now getting work in left field, trying to improve his versatility and maybe earn a spot on the team that heads north.
"He's never been handed anything," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez says. "Sometimes — myself included — we give too much to our kids and they don't earn it. But this young man has earned everything he's gotten so far."
The Braves certainly aren't giving Gattis any special treatment. If anything, he's got to be even more impressive than those he's battling for a job, most of whom have played in the big leagues and have more gravitas with Gonzalez and the coaching staff.
"His story is nice. But that story isn't going to get him to the big leagues," the manager says. "Fifteen years from now, when he's an established major leaguer, that will be a nice book. But what's impressive about him now are his numbers."
If Gattis had chosen a more traditional course, he might already be an established big leaguer.
But he has absolutely no regrets about his journey and, really, that's what we all should be striving for.
"Did I miss out?" Gattis asks.
He knows the answer now.
"No, not at all."
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Paul Newberry is a national writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963
Feb 25 (Infostrada Sports) - Standings from the NBA on Sunday
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. NY Knicks 33 20 .623 -
2. Brooklyn 33 24 .579 2
3. Boston 29 27 .518 5 1/2
4. Toronto 23 33 .411 11 1/2
5. Philadelphia 22 32 .407 11 1/2
CENTRAL DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Indiana 35 21 .625 -
2. Chicago 32 24 .571 3
3. Milwaukee 26 28 .481 8
4. Detroit 22 36 .379 14
5. Cleveland 18 38 .321 17
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Miami 40 14 .741 -
2. Atlanta 31 23 .574 9
3. Washington 17 37 .315 23
4. Orlando 15 41 .268 26
5. Charlotte 13 43 .232 28
WESTERN CONFERENCE
NORTHWEST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. Oklahoma City 41 15 .732 -
2. Denver 35 22 .614 6 1/2
3. Utah 31 25 .554 10
4. Portland 26 30 .464 15
5. Minnesota 20 33 .377 19 1/2
PACIFIC DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. LA Clippers 40 18 .690 -
2. Golden State 33 23 .589 6
3. LA Lakers 28 29 .491 11 1/2
4. Sacramento 19 38 .333 20 1/2
5. Phoenix 18 39 .316 21 1/2
SOUTHWEST DIVISION
W L PCT GB
1. San Antonio 45 13 .776 -
2. Memphis 37 18 .673 6 1/2
3. Houston 31 27 .534 14
4. Dallas 25 30 .455 18 1/2
5. New Orleans 20 37 .351 24 1/2
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 FIXTURES (GMT)
Washington at Toronto (0000)
Atlanta at Detroit (0030)
LA Lakers at Denver (0200)
Boston at Utah (0200)
Indiana is No. 1 in The Associated Press' Top 25 for the fourth straight week, while Gonzaga moved to No. 2 for the first time in school history.
While the West Coast Bulldogs made some news at the top of the poll Monday, Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs from Down South, moved into the rankings for the first time since a 13-week run in 1984-85, their only appearance in the poll.
Louisiana Tech, which is 25th this week, was led back then to a ranking as high as No. 7 by a forward named Karl Malone. Gonzaga at that time had a point guard named John Stockton. They went on to become one of the greatest combinations in NBA history with the Utah Jazz, were members of the Dream Team and both were inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Hoosiers, who have been ranked No. 1 for a total of 10 weeks this season, received all but one first-place vote from the 65-member national media panel.
Gonzaga, which got the other No. 1 vote, was ranked third last week. The Bulldogs were also that high in the poll for the final two weeks of 2003-04.
Duke moved up three spots to third and is followed by Michigan and Miami, which dropped from second after falling to Wake Forest, the Hurricanes' first Atlantic Coast Conference loss this season.
Kansas is sixth, followed by Georgetown, Florida, Michigan State and Louisville.
Saint Louis, which beat Butler and VCU last week, moved into 18th in the poll, the Billikens' first ranking since being in for one week last season.
Colorado State, which was 22nd and lost twice last week, and VCU, which was 24th, dropped out.
A person familiar with the contract tells The Associated Press that Tom Brady has received a three-year extension from the New England Patriots worth about $27 million.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the extension has not been announced.
The 35-year-old two-time league MVP was signed through 2014, and has said he wants to play five more years. By redoing his contract Monday, Brady also has cleared nearly $15 million from New England's salary cap.
The three-time Super Bowl champion will make far less in those three seasons than the going rate for star quarterbacks. Brady currently has a four-year, $72 million deal with $48 million guaranteed.
Sports Illustrated first reported the extension.
MARANA, Ariz. (AP) — Bruce Lietzke would have noticed a banana inside the cover of his long putter.
One of the famous stories about Lietzke, a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour, is that he never touched a club when he wasn't on tour. His caddie didn't believe him, so at the end of the 1984 season, he put a banana inside the head cover of Lietzke's driver before zipping up the travel bag. Some 15 weeks later at the Bob Hope Classic, the caddie excitedly unzipped the travel bag.
The stench should have been the first clue.
"Sure enough, he pulled off that head cover and the banana ... it was not yellow," Lietzke said Monday. "It was black, nasty, fungus. He said he'd never doubt me again."
Lietzke confessed to breaking his own rules when it came to the broom-handled putter that he picked up at the Phoenix Open in 1991 and used the rest of his career. Even in his down time, he would tinker with the length of the putter and practice with it. And he wonders what the conversation would have been like today if that 1991 PGA Championship had turned out differently.
Lietzke was the runner-up at Crooked Stick behind a big-hitting rookie named John Daly. Imagine if Lietzke had won that major.
Would the USGA have banned the putter he anchored against his chest?
"I think so," Lietzke said. "Judging by their reaction to major successes, I guess they were just waiting for this to happen. The USGA should have made a statement then. If I had won the PGA Championship, they might have tried to outlaw it. And if you look back on it, most people would have gone along with it."
That was one of the arguments PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem put forth Sunday when he said the tour was against the proposed rule that would ban the anchored stroke primarily used for long putters and belly putters.
Without any empirical evidence that an anchored stroke is easier, why ban it?
And after all these years, why now?
The faces in this discussion — and that's all it is right now — are Keegan Bradley and Tim Clark, for vastly different reasons.
It was Bradley's win at the PGA Championship that prompted serious talk about the future of anchored strokes. Bradley now is lumped in with three of the last five major champions using a belly putter, but he was the catalyst.
European Tour chief executive George O'Grady said the conversations between golf's administrators and the governing bodies about the future of the long putters began last year at the Masters.
That was before Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open and Ernie Els won the British Open, which ramped up the attention.
As for Clark?
It was his dignified speech at Torrey Pines that led even the staunch opponents of long putters to look at them differently. More than one person in the room that night has described his presentation as a game-changer.
That much was reflected in the overwhelming support from the Player Advisory Council and player-directors on the tour's policy board that the PGA Tour should oppose the USGA on this rule.
The tricky part is figuring out where this will lead.
The PGA Tour sent the USGA a letter last week spelling out its opposition to Rule 14-1(b), and the PGA of America and its 27,000 club pros are also against the ban.
One reason Finchem decided to speak about the letter — a small distraction during the final of the Match Play Championship — was his concern that the discussion was being portray as a showdown. Right now, it's a matter of opinion.
If it becomes a showdown, high noon is not until the USGA and R&A decide whether to go ahead with the rule. And that decision won't come until the spring.
It's a polarizing topic. If not, the governing bodies would not have offered a 90-day comment period that ends on Thursday. They simply would have announced a new rule and been done with it.
For now, the tour has not said it will go against the USGA. It has only said it disagrees with the USGA.
Finchem chose not to show his hand when he brushed off questions about whether the tour would ever allow an anchored stroke even if the governing bodies adopt a rule that bans it starting in 2016.
But he has made clear on at least three occasions that while slightly different rules could work for the PGA Tour, this rule would not be one of them.
This is not where golf needs to go. The buzz word coming out of the USGA annual meeting earlier this month was not "bifurcation" but "unification."
Go anywhere in the world and golf effectively is played by the same set of rules. This is something that should never change.
The USGA and R&A know they don't have evidence to show that using an anchored stroke is easier. Frankly, they don't need any evidence. This is not about equipment, rather a new rule that attempts to define the golf stroke as the club swinging freely.
The mistake by the USGA was waiting until someone won a major before acting — or believing that winning a major should even make a difference.
The majors are the biggest events to win. They define careers. But if the belly putter was an issue when Simpson won the U.S. Open, why wasn't it an issue when he won the Deutsche Bank Championship? Did the putter work differently at Olympic?
Lietzke can think of several occasions when nerves made him miss with his long putter. And if the belly putter is the cure, don't just look at Ernie Els kissing that claret jug last summer at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Look at those two putts Els badly missed on the last few holes of the Match Play Championship to lose in the opening round.
If the USGA decides that a ban on anchored strokes is best for the game, the PGA Tour should go along with it.
And if the USGA was serious about that 90-day comment period, the hope is that it was serious about listening.
Why?
And why now?
A person familiar with the contract tells The Associated Press that Tom Brady has received a three-year extension from the New England Patriots worth about $27 million.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the extension has not been announced.
The 35-year-old two-time league MVP was signed through 2014, and has said he wants to play five more years. By redoing his contract Monday, Brady also has cleared nearly $15 million from New England's salary cap.
The three-time Super Bowl champion will make far less in those three seasons than the going rate for star quarterbacks. Brady currently has a four-year, $72 million deal with $48 million guaranteed.
Sports Illustrated first reported the extension.
