News sport : Emotional Marcus Mariota says he'll make a decision on his future 'in a couple days'

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When Marcus Mariota returned to the locker room following the 42-20 loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship, he said he cried.


Oregon’s Heisman-winning quarterback had the Ducks on the cusp of their first-ever national championship and he couldn’t help them achieve it.


So when it was just him, his teammates and his coaches, the emotion was too much to contain.


“When nobody was in here, the waterworks were on,” Mariota said.


“You put so much work into it and you come up short, it’s tough. You understand that these guys have put in blood, sweat, tears and you just feel for each teammate.”


[Yahoo Team Fan Shop: Buy Ohio State national championship merchandise]


Mariota, a junior, had already made a lasting impression on the Oregon program. He was the most decorated player in the school’s history and won its first Heisman Trophy. A national championship would have been icing on the cake, especially since this was likely his final game in an Oregon uniform. The deadline to declare for the NFL draft is Jan. 15.


Mariota said he wasn’t yet ready to address is future, but that if he did come back, he could see the Ducks playing in this game again next season.


“I’ll take the next couple days, talk to my family, we’ll make a decision,” Mariota said of his future. “This program is playing at a high level now. If I chose to be a part of it again, I’d like to be here again. That being said, these guys are unbelievable and I’m just glad and, again, this is just a special team and I’m glad to be a part of it.”



For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.


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Falcao fears United exit

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Radamel Falcao was left stunned by Louis van Gaal’s decision to drop him at the weekend.


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Radamel Falcao was left stunned by Louis van Gaal’s decision to drop him at the weekend and fears he faces an uphill struggle to persuade Manchester United to keep him at the end of the season.


United manager Van Gaal left the 28-year-old out of the 18-man squad that lost at home to Southampton and he watched the game at Old Trafford having received no explanation.


It is understood that Falcao and Van Gaal did talk at training at Carrington yesterday, with the Dutch coach telling the striker that the decision was made for tactical reasons.


However, Sportsmail understands that Falcao wonders if he will ever persuade Van Gaal to turn a one-year loan deal into a permanent £43million transfer from Monaco in the summer. Falcao has put in extra training after recovering from a calf injury and is trying to turn himself into a more rounded forward in the mould of captain Wayne Rooney.


Despite this, the Colombian believes he sometimes has to do more than others to convince Van Gaal of his worth and was bemused in late November to hear his manager say he had to get fully match-fit before he could return.


As far as Falcao was concerned, he was fit and the fact that another of Van Gaal’s summer signings, Daley Blind, went straight back in the starting line-up against Southampton after almost two months out with a knee injury has not escaped his attention.


United are paying Falcao in excess of £250,000 a week, but the former Atletico Madrid star has scored only three times this season.– Daily Mail






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News sport : Tom Herman wears Houston hat while celebrating Ohio State's national title (Photos)

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Monday night’s College Football Playoff title game was Tom Herman’s last game with Ohio State.


The Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator accepted the head-coaching gig at Houston in mid-December, but has been finishing his duties with the Buckeyes throughout their title run. As soon as the final seconds ticked off the clock and the Buckeyes entered celebration mode, Herman pulled out a Houston hat from his waistband.



And then he was ready for his photo opportunity.



Putting that national championship on his resume is certainly a boon for Herman, but the wardrobe change rubbed some folks in Columbus the wrong way.


For one, former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett called Herman a “weenie” on his Instagram account.





You can’t please everybody, I suppose.


For more Houston news, visit CougarsDen.com.


For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.


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News sport : TCU fans bring 'Winner Plays TCU' sign to CFP title game (Photos)

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The best sign at the College Football Playoff National Championship had nothing to do with either Ohio State or Oregon.


These TCU fans snagged front row seats to Monday night’s title game and made their allegiance to TCU known with a “Winner Plays TCU” sign. Well done.




Of course, the Horned Frogs were ranked No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings coming into the selection committee’s final rankings. Controversially, the Horned Frogs dropped from No. 3 all the way to No. 6 despite beating Iowa State 55-3 to clinch a share of the Big 12 title and improve to 11-1.


The Horned Frogs then went on to destroy No. 9 Ole Miss 42-3 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and certainly looked like one of the four best teams in the country in the process.


After this breakout season, TCU will likely be considered a favorite heading into the 2015 campaign.


For more TCU news, visit PurpleMenace.com.


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Ronaldo bags his third Ballon d'Or

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Cristiano Ronaldo was delighted to retain the coveted Ballon d'Or award for the third time in his career.


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Madrid - Cristiano Ronaldo retained the prestigious Fifa Ballon d'Or award in Zurich on Monday, after finishing well ahead of Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer.


Cristiano Ronaldo was delighted to retain the coveted Ballon d'Or award as world player of 2014 on Monday at the high-profile Fifa Gala in Zurich.


It was the third time in his highly successful career that Ronaldo, 29, had won the prestigious award.


He finished well ahead of Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer for the prize, taking 37.66 per cent of the votes to Messi's 15.76 per cent and Neuer's 15.72 per cent.


“I would like to thank all of those who voted for me, and also my president and my coach at Real Madrid,” a delighted Ronaldo said.


“It has been an unforgettable year. To win this trophy at the end of it is something incredibly unique... I want to continue to work as I have so far, to try and win more titles, for my mother, for my father, for my son.


“To all the Portuguese people out there: I never thought that I would take this trophy back on three occasions. I want to become one of the greatest players of all time.”


Ronaldo is certainly on the road to doing just that, after winning back-to-back titles.


He first won the Fifa award in 2008, after guiding Manchester United to the Champions League. He then left for Real Madrid in a world record deal, and had to take second place behind Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina for three years.


However, he has now confirmed his place at the top of world football with consecutive world player awards.


Ronaldo enjoyed a remarkable 2014 in which he scored an astonishing total of 63 goals for Real Madrid and Portugal in all competitions.


Ronaldo, who turns 30 in February, has not been short on self-confidence. He raised eyebrows a few months ago by saying: “In my head, I think I am the best player in the world.”


Similar statements over the years - in 2011 he infamously said “some people jeer me because I am rich, handsome and a great player” - have led to Ronaldo's being considered arrogant in some quarters.


The fact that he is the first player ever to have a museum dedicated to himself, on his home island of Madeira - complete with a massive statue - has confirmed this negative impression for many people.


Not that Ronaldo is very worried about his critics, after a golden year in which he guided Real to four major trophies: the Champions League, the Uefa Super Cup, the Club World Cup and the Spanish cup.


Ronaldo's goals record in these triumphs was nothing short of astonishing. He banged in 17 goals in the Champions League, then scored both goals in Real's 2-0 defeat of Sevilla for the Uefa Super Cup in August.


He was top scorer in La Liga last season with 31 goals, and is currently way ahead atop the scorers' chart with 26 - a tally which puts him on course to beat Messi's record of 50 goals in 2012.


However, Ronaldo's critics point to the fact that he again failed to shine on the most important stage of all: the World Cup finals.


He scored only one goal at the tournament, the same as in 2010, and failed to guide Portugal beyond the first round, while Messi's Argentina reached the final and Neuer's Germany won the trophy.


Ronaldo's Real colleagues were quick to congratulate him after Monday's announcement.


“You deserve this after your great year,” Real keeper Casillas said.


Veteran defender Alvaro Arbeloa wrote: “You make our white shirt truly great. It is a source of pride for me to share this shirt with you.”


Sapa-dpa






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News sport : Ohio State throttles Oregon 42-20 in national title game

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ARLINGTON, Texas – We have bad news for you, Oregon. The score could have easily been worse.


Ohio State ran for 296 yards during Monday night's College Football Playoff National Championship Game as the Buckeyes romped all over the Ducks 42-20.


Running back Ezekiel Elliott had 246 yards and four touchdowns, including the Buckeyes' first and last touchdowns of the night. Both stats are Ohio State bowl records.


The reason the game could have ended up a bigger blowout on the scorebard is because The Buckeyes turned the ball over four times, including twice in the third quarter on back-to-back possessions. The first third quarter turnover was an interception from a dropped pass by Jalin Marshall. Oregon scored on the next play, a 70-yard pass from Marcus Mariota to Byron Marshall, and the score was 21-17.


On Ohio State's next possession, quarterback Cardale Jones fumbled in a similar fashion to Florida State's Jameis Winston in the Rose Bowl. Oregon didn't return Jones' fumble for a touchdown this time, however, and Oregon only got a field goal out of the ensuing drive to make the score 21-20 in favor of the Buckeyes.


From then, it was a rout, as Elliott scored three touchdowns. His second of the game ended the third quarter and put Ohio State up eight. His third basically sealed the game with less than 10 minutes to go in the fourth.


Why? Because Oregon's offense started sputtering. After it breezed down the field on the first possession of the game, Oregon's offense was never as crisp. Mariota finished 24-37 passing for 33 yards and two touchdowns, but the Ducks' running game didn't do an effective job setting up the pass.


Oregon ran 33 times for 132 yards, an average of four yards per carry. The Ducks entered the game averaging 241 yards a game at more than 5.5 yards a clip.


The Ducks finish the season 13-2 while Ohio State ends the season at 14-1. Both teams are likely to have quarterback questions next year, as Mariota may declare for the NFL draft and Ohio State could return Jones and both Braxton Miller, who missed the season with a shoulder injury, and J.T. Barrett, who broke his ankle against Michigan.


For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.


For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.


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News sport : A side-by-side look at the fumbles by Cardale Jones and Jameis Winston (Video)

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Oregon must be strategically placing banana peels in the backfield when no one is looking. That’s the only explanation for the strange slip-and-fumble play that has occurred in both the Florida State and Ohio State games this playoff season.


During the third quarter of Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones was flushed from the pocket and while attempting to get rid of the ball, he slipped and the ball came loose to an opportunistic Oregon player.



A side-by-side view of the fumbles by Florida State QB Jameis Winston and Ohio State QB Cardale Jones.

It was very similar to a play that happened to Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston in the third quarter of the semifinal against the Ducks. In that game, the Ducks picked up the ball and ran it in for a score.


The Ducks’ offense stalled Monday night and had to settle for a field goal.


The turnover marked the fourth for an Ohio State offense that had 22 turnovers lost this season, but just two in the past three games.


With more than a quarter remaining in the national championship, Oregon has forced nine turnovers during the College Football Playoff. However, Oregon has only been able to turn the four turnovers against the Buckeyes into 10 points, a far cry from the 34 points the Ducks notched off Florida State’s miscues.


For more Oregon news, visit DuckSportsAuthority.com.


For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.


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News sport : Nikola Vucevic posterizes Pau Gasol as Magic stun Bulls

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Hey, come on, Nikola Vucevic. Pau Gasol's an absurdly nice man — the kind of man who releases books of inspirational photography, parties on Sesame Street, wins citizenship awards, takes teammates to the opera and routinely brightens everyone's day 140 characters at a time. You really shouldn't be this mean to him:


[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]



That jab step, followed by that confident lefty drive, followed by cocking the hammer and throwing down that vicious one-handed facial, all capped by the ball doinking Pau on the noggin and both players hitting the deck ... my goodness, Mr. Vucevic. (And yes, I think we have to call him "Mr." after that, lest we suffer the same fate as Pau.)


Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel called the bench's reaction "perhaps the [Orlando Magic] players' most exuberant reaction in two and a half years," which, yes, says something about just how rough things have been in Central Florida since trading away Dwight Howard and kickstarting a post-superstar rebuild, but also says an awful lot about just how earth-shaking a baptism Gasol received from the Montenegrin center who's developed into the jewel of the Howard trade.


Since joining the Chicago Bulls in free agency this summer, Gasol's been playing a brilliant brand of ball — 18.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.2 blocks per game — that's got him looking like a shoo-in for a starting slot on the Eastern Conference All-Star squadThe Spaniard turned in another stellar offensive game on Monday, scoring a Chicago-high 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting to go with 14 boards in just under 35 minutes. But neither Gasol nor any of his Bulls buddies had any answer for the Magic's stalwart pivot at the United Center on Monday night, as Vucevic torched Tom Thibodeau's typically stout defense for 33 points — one shy of the career high he set on Saturday — on 16-for-24 shooting while adding 11 rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes to pace the Magic to a surprising 121-114 road victory.


Sophomore guard Victor Oladipo also poured in 33 — two off his career high, set just shy of one year ago in a triple-overtime game against these Bulls — on a sterling 11-for-17 mark from the field, with 24 of those points coming after intermission to score an upset that snaps a six-game losing streak and improves Jacque Vaughn's club to 14-27. (Humble as that mark is, it's just 3 1/2 games back of the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 8 seed in the crabs-in-a-barrel Eastern Conference.)


The Magic, who entered Monday with the league's second-least efficient offense (98.4 points per 100 possessions, ahead of only the woeful Philadelphia 76ers), managed a season-high 121 points on blistering 59.3 percent shooting from the floor despite missing injured wing contributors Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier. As impressive as the Magic looked in building a lead that grew as high as 17, the Bulls looked positively disheveled throughout, trailing for the final 45 minutes of the contest as they lost for the third time in four games.


With reigning Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah looking like a hobbled shell of his former self at the moment, Chicago's defense has fallen apart in that stretch, allowing an unsightly 108.3 points per 100 possessions over the past four games. Only the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and LeBron James-less Cleveland Cavaliers have been more permissive over their last four contests.


Former MVP Derrick Rose (18 points, seven assists, two rebounds, two steals) was at a loss when asked about the recent slide after the game. Thibodeau, for his part, seems to think it's a matter of choice:



Especially, it seems, when a 7-foot dude in black and blue is bearing down on the basket.


Video via Matt Moore of CBSSports.com.


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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!



Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.






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News sport : Bob Newhart confirms that he is not reffing the CFP title game

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The College Football Playoff National Championship features a Big 12 officiating crew led by referee Greg Burks.


The first half has been well-officiated, but Burks has been the talk of Twitter for his uncanny resemblance to Bob Newhart, the famous comedian and actor who played Papa Elf in Elf.




They look just alike!


Thankfully, the tech-savvy Newhart, who is 85-years-old, was able to clear things up for everyone.



Thanks, Bob!


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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Ohio State flag bearer trips leading to 'O-H-I' player entrance in national championship (Video)

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Ohio State’s entrance to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game did not go exactly as planned.


The bearer of the last “O” flag in “O-H-I-O” got tangled up with several players coming out of the tunnel and the flag didn’t make it with the rest of the letters.



Consequently, Ohio State was led out of the player’s tunnel with the letters “O-H-I” while the final “O” was being rolled up on the end line.



Luckily, it appeared no one was injured and so far the gaffe hasn’t resulted in a bad omen for the Ohio State football team as it leads late in the second quarter.


For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.


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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!


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News sport : Nike's too-good-to-be-true coin flip photo is indeed too good to be true

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Just after the start of the College Football Playoff, Nike offered up a fascinating photo that sure seemed to be a remarkable shot of the coin flip:



It was a fascinating shot, a miracle of composition and promise and symbolism. And, of course, it was fake and completely staged.


Yes, those are actual people and an actual coin. But as SB Nation notes, those weren't the actual players who went out for the coin flip. Check the numbers:



Via SBNation


Via SBNation

Another point: Nike doesn't tweet these photos out of the goodness of its own heart. This is an ad, and college players can't appear in an ad, knowingly or unknowingly, without risking their eligibility. Nike used models instead to pose for the picture ahead of time.


So, yeah: nice image, nice sentiment, false premise.


____

Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.



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News sport : Kevin Garnett ejected after fight with Dwight Howard in Nets-Rockets

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Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard will likely both find their way into the Hall of Fame some day, but the big men's reputations could not be more different. The 38-year-old KG is known as one of the most intense athletes of his era, while Howard has often been criticized for lacking that special drive to compete with every fiber of his being. Those characterizations are exaggerations, but they still factor into considerations of both players.


They're also a useful bit of context for the forthcoming video. Just a few minutes into Monday night's contest between the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets at Barclays Center, Garnett and Howard got involved in a bit of a tussle that ended with serious consequences for one player. Garnett was called for a personal foul while defending an entry pass to Howard at the 7:53 mark of the first quarter. Howard somewhat casually slapped at Garnett as he was walking away, after which Garnett retaliated by throwing the ball at his opponent's back and headbutting Howard after he turned around. Things continued to get heated (video via Ben Golliver):



Howard showed a general lack of interest in escalating the fight and was dutifully restrained by referee David Guthrie, but Garnett worked his way through a restraining hug from Rockets wing Trevor Ariza and seemed interested in continuing a war of words (at least) with Howard. After a review, the officials opted to hand a technical foul to Howard and eject Garnett from the game entirely. We will have to wait to see if the NBA opts to suspend either player, although it's a safe bet that Garnett will earn a fine as an absolute minimum.


The punishment makes sense given the actions on display in this video. While Howard struck the first physical blow in the altercation, Garnett clearly escalated matters and seemed much more interested in facing the Rockets center once everyone else attempted to separate the two. Old-school fans may quibble with the response from the referees, but this is one case in which they appear to have gotten things right.


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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : ESPN personalities read mean tweets about themselves (Video)

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(Warning: mild language)



The mean tweets video series from Jimmy Kimmel Live – in which celebrities read and react to mean tweets written about them – always produces hilarious results. So for Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship, ESPN had its various personalities do the same.


The results were epic.


The usual cast of characters we all know and love (or hate) – including Desmond Howard, Mark May, Lou Holtz, Lee Corso, Tim Tebow and Kirk Herbstreit – were all there.


Even coaches like Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher and former Michigan coach Brady Hoke were involved.


The best of all may have been the tweet directed at Scott Van Pelt.



Too funny.


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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Tim Duncan forgoes tie as the Spurs visit the White House

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San Antonio Spurs icon Tim Duncan has accomplished many things in his storied career — five championships, two MVPs, 14 All-Star appearances, etc. — but he has never been much for dressing like a multimillionaire international superstar. Duncan's sartorial choices tend towards those of a relentlessly uncool record-store clerk and/or comic book geek, all genre references and oversized plaid shirts that, as a friend once put it, seem to have been picked up in a stack from a table at Costco. It should come as little surprise that the (Three Sizes Too) Big Fundamental referred to the NBA's dress code as "a load of crap" (plus some more offensive things) when it was instituted in 2005.


Duncan and the rest of the reigning champion Spurs visited the White House on Monday for their post-title meeting with President Barack Obama. Like most other sports figures, they took the occasion seriously and arrived in their finest suits. Only Duncan, though, chose to go without the tie. Take a look at the photo:



Should've gone with the air tie, Tim. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)

Some of our more patriotic readers (or at least those most deferential to power) may see Duncan's move as a sign of disrespect and displaying a lack of reverence for the occasion, although likely not as part of a full-blown political statement. Yet Duncan's decision to go tieless pales in comparison to those athletes who have flat-out refused to meet with Obama and other presidents in the past. That group includes such NBA luminaries as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, both of whom appeared to consider their visits with standing Leaders of the Free World wastes of time.


More recently, then-Boston Bruins goalkeeper Tim Thomas chose not to meet with Obama in 2012 due to his belief that the federal government had grown out of control, while Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch opted to skip out on his team's time with our 44th chief executive simply because he wasn't interested. Those more interested in style and fashion might remember that several members of the Northwestern women's lacrosse team wore flip-flops when they met with President George W. Bush in 2005. At least no one had to look at and/or smell Duncan's feet.


This silly story says a lot more about Duncan than his lack of respect for the presidency, which is really just a tangential issue to the matter at hand. The man is not going to bend his wardrobe preferences for anyone, no matter if he has access to nuclear launch codes. I'm even willing to bet that Duncan immediately untucked his shirt like an eight-year-old at church after the assembled media turned off their cameras.


For what it's worth, Obama didn't seem especially turned off by Duncan's lack of neckwear. In fact, he praised the Spurs organization as a manifestation of American ideals. From the Associated Press:


President Barack Obama is praising the sportsmanship of the San Antonio Spurs as ''a great metaphor for what America should be all about.'' [...]

Obama says the Spurs have become the United Nations of basketball teams due to the team's diversity. He says it shows how basketball has become an international sport.

Obama singled the team out for hiring WNBA star Becky Hammon last year. She's the first full-time, paid female assistant on an NBA coaching staff.

A tie doesn't seem so important in the face of those positives.





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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Report: NCAA is considering restoring Joe Paterno's vacated wins

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FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2010, file photo, Penn State coach Joe Paterno is carried off the field by his players after getting his 400th collegiate win over Northwestern 38-21. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) The wins taken away from longtime Penn State head coach Joe Paterno may be restored.


According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the NCAA, Pennsylvania officials and Penn State are “in talks to reconsider” the punishment handed down by the NCAA in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal. The punishment included stripping 111 wins from Paterno’s record (and 112 from Penn State overall), heavy scholarship reductions (which have since been restored), and a $60 million fine.


In addition to potentially restoring Paterno’s wins, there is a proposal being discussed to keep the $60 million fine “within the state and university to be used for child protection.” There has been an ongoing legal battle on the allocation of that fine money and whether to keep it in the state of Pennsylvania or distributed nationally.


Per the Inquirer, the talks to restore Paterno’s wins “seemed designed to stave off a looming court battle.”


A trial stemming from the lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania State Treasurer Robert McCord and State Sen. Jake Corman challenged the consent decree that Penn State signed in order to avoid receiving the death penalty from the NCAA. Instead, the school agreed to the unprecedented sanctions, which were levied in July 2012.


Paterno’s win total, which was a Division I record-setting 409 before the NCAA stepped in, has been a major source of contention among some Penn State alumni.


Paterno, who was fired by the school’s board of trustees in November 2011 as the scandal unfolded, passed away on January 22, 2012, at the age of 85.


For more Penn State news, visit BlueWhiteIllustrated.com.


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