News sport : Five-star DE CeCe Jefferson still unsigned, tweets 'I'm a Gator'

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Feb 4, 2015; Glen Saint Mary, FL, USA; CeCe Jefferson signs with the University of Florida at his home near Baker County High School as his parents Leo and Annette Jefferson look on. (Richard Dole-USA TODAY Sports) The saga of CeCe Jefferson continues.


Jefferson, a Rivals five-star defensive end who announced his commitment to Florida on National Signing Day, still has not sent his National Letter of Intent (NLI) to the Gators.


The reason for the holdup, according to a few Thursday night tweets from Jefferson, is the departure of Gators defensive line coach Terrell Williams, who left for a position with the Miami Dolphins.



Florida reportedly has Texas defensive line coach Chris Rumph lined up to replace Williams. Despite the uncertainly surrounding his position coach, Jefferson tweeted that he is still a Gator.




Jefferson’s father, Leo, told Rivals on Thursday that his son is not ready to sign the letter of intent. Though Leo has been vocal that he would prefer CeCe to choose another school, he told Rivals that he would be glad to sign his son’s NLI to Florida is that’s what he decides.


“If CeCe wants to go to Florida, we are on board,” Leo said.


Aside from the unfamiliarity with Rumph, Leo wasn’t impressed with CeCe’s in-home visit with new Florida head coach Jim McElwain.


From Rivals:



Leo said that the in-home visit with Gators coach Jim McElwain was rushed, they stayed for an hour and rushed out the door to see a 2016 prospect and only talked about the new dorms and the new facilities on the visit. The visit paled in comparison to the other in home visits, according to Leo.



Leo also wasn’t pleased with the lack of communication from the Florida coaches.


“The coaches at Florida wanted the letter signed by 8:30 (Thursday) morning so they could go on vacation,” Leo said. “(McElwain) was the only head coach of all the ones recruiting him that hasn’t called as of 1 p.m. (Thursday). Coaches from schools CeCe wasn’t listing as finalists have all called, but Florida has not called him.”


Additionally, Leo said he thinks CeCe should “go away from home to grow up and get away from the Gators fans in Baker County and his friends that might distract him.”


Jefferson (and all recruits who have yet to send their NLIs) has until April 1 to sign and send their NLI, so this could play out for quite some time. In addition to Florida, Jefferson’s other listed finalists were Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss.


For more Florida news, visit InsideTheGators.com.


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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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Ghana call for action against hosts

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Ghana called for stiff action against Equatorial Guinea after several Ghanaian supporters were attacked by home fans.


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Malabo - Ghana have called for stiff action against Nations Cup hosts Equatorial Guinea after several Ghanaian supporters were injured in attacks by home fans during Thursday's semi-final between the two countries.


“It's a pity that this dark cloud overshadows our success and we really need to see some stiff action taken by the Confederation of African Football (CAF),” said Kwesi Nyantakyi, president of the Ghana Football Association who is also a senior CAF executive.


At least five Ghanaian fans were slightly injured by stones, bottles and other objects thrown at them by home fans during the 3-0 loss for Equatorial Guinea in the semi-final.


There were also other injuries among officials, police and home supporters.


“This kind of behaviour is just unacceptable,” Nyantakyi told Reuters.


Some 500 Ghanaians flew from Accra on chartered planes to watch their team and were collared into a section on the side of the stadium, away from the rest of the 15 000-capacity crowd at the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo.


When their team went 3-0 up, the celebrating Ghanaians were pelted with a rain of missiles.


Ghanaian fans forced open a gate at the bottom of their section and spilt down onto the playing area, amassing behind one of the goals. This caused the match to be halted for over 30 minutes.


The Ghanaians were then held back at the stadium for several hours while home supporters went on the rampage outside the stadium, breaking street poles and upturning vendors' goods and placing concrete bolders on the road. The Ghanaians were eventually bused back to Malabo airport.


CAF will meet on Friday to discuss the incident which follows swiftly after violent scenes at the weekend saw players of Tunisia try to attack a referee after they were eliminated in the quarter-final.


Reuters






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Chiefs have no room for error - Masango

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Mandla Masango believes Kaizer Chiefs have the goods to deal with the demands of the second half of the PSL season.


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Johannesburg - Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Mandla Masango believes Amakhosi have got what it takes to deal with the demands that come with the second round of the Absa Premiership title race, given the CAF Champions League and the Nedbank Cup fixtures which are all set to kick-off this month.


Amakhosi will welcome Botswana’s Township Rollers in the CAF Champions League qualifying rounds next week Saturday at FNB Stadium, after having locked horns with Bloemfontein Celtic in their PSL second meeting on Wednesday at Free State Stadium, two nights before the Champions League clash.


And while the Glamour Boys put in a fine show in the first round, with 14 wins and four draws in their 18 league encounters, Masango reckons that Amakhosi cannot afford to be complacent at this stage of the premiership race, as this might come back to haunt them at the end of the season.


“It’s good that we are sitting with a 15-point gap at the top of the log ahead of the defending champions (Mamelodi Sundowns),” Masango said. “But we cannot afford to repeat the mistake we made last season. We cannot make predictions and start to think we have already won while we still have the second round to play.


“More hard work and effort has to be put in if we are to see ourselves realising our main objective this season which is to win the championship.”


Masango, who proved to be one of the standout players in Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba’s squad following his cracker of a shot in the 17th minute which saw Ghana trail 1-0 in the first half of the Africa Cup of Nations clash, said the continental showpiece made him aware of the level of competitiveness and demands that come with competitions of this level.


And although Ghana managed to come back with two goals in the second half - ultimately qualifying for the last eight, Masango said his goal against Ghana was one of the special moments in his career, and a confidence-booster for the second round of the league season back here at home.


“Obviously such a performance helps going forward.


“With that said I cannot say that I have arrived yet - there’s still more work to be done.”


The Star






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News sport : Al Michaels says Twins faked crowd noise in 1987 World Series

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(Getty Images)

Turns out football isn't the only sport that can stir up a controversy about the authenticity of a crowd's cry. Baseball's just comes almost three decades after the fact.


The Metrodome, home to the Minnesota Twins from 1982 to 2009, was widely regarded as the loudest park in the major leagues. So loud in fact, that legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels is certain that the Twins faithful were getting some help.


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Here's Michaels' take via twincities.com, recalling his experience calling the 1987 World Series at the Dome:



"Minnesota's in the World Series against St. Louis, and it was ridiculously loud," Michaels said Wednesday during an interview on Pro Football Talk Live on NBC Sports Radio. "I'll never forget Scott Ostler was writing for the L.A. Times, and he described the (Metrodome) crowd as 54,223 Scandinavian James Browns.



"I'm going, wait a minute. This is a baseball game," Michaels told the host, NBC colleague Mike Florio. "Nobody is screaming like this when the fifth inning starts. ... To me, there was no question" that the crowd noise was not natural.


Michaels recalled how ABC's attempt to gauge the noise level resulted in a broken sound meter.


"The decibel level had gotten higher than a runway at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport," Michaels said.



The Twins won the World Series that year, beating the Cardinals in an epic seven-game thriller, and went on to win the title again in 1991. Over both appearances in the Fall Classic, Minnesota was a perfect 8-0 at home.


Of course, the organization and stadium operators have repeatedly rejected claims that there was anything nefarious going on to pump up the noise. The NFL's Minnesota Vikings, co-tenants with the Twins, were also suspected of foul play when it came to stadium sound.


The Metrodome may be no more but thanks to Michaels' latest assertion, its mythology continues to grow.


More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:





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Israel Fehr is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter.






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News sport : Chris Paul criticizes referee Lauren Holtkamp over technical foul

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The Los Angeles Clippers had a frustrating night at the office on Thursday, finding themselves on the receiving end of a half-dozen highlight-reel plays as the Cleveland Cavaliers blitzed them, 105-94, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated. That frustration boiled over a handful of times at Quicken Loans Arena, with referees handing out five technical fouls — four in the third quarter alone, with three coming within the space of a minute — to Clippers players, including one given to Chris Paul at the 10:17 mark of the third by referee Lauren Holtkamp.


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The parade of technicals certainly didn't decide the game — L.A. didn't get closer than double-figures after the final minute of the opening quarter and were down by 25 early in the second half before the whistles started blowing in earnest. But Paul and his teammates were still a bit salty about the officiating after the game, and the All-Star point guard used some eyebrow-raising language in telling reporters he was none too happy about the way things went down, as first related by Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding:




Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles has those remarks in context:


"I think we have to show better composure but at the same time some of [the technical fouls] were ridiculous," Chris Paul said. "The tech that I [got] right there was ridiculous. I don't care what nobody says, I don't care what she says; that's terrible. There's no way that can be a tech. We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court and when we did that she said, 'uh-uh.' I said, 'Why, uh-uh?' And she gave me a tech." [...]

"That's ridiculous," Paul said. "If that's the case, this might not be for her."

Holtkamp also gave DeAndre Jordan a technical foul with 9:30 left in the third quarter after screaming for a foul following a dunk.

"I guess she thought I was talking to her," Jordan said. "We talked about it. She said that she thought I was talking to her. She made a call and I talked to the other refs and they disagreed with it. Hopefully it will be rescinded. We'll see."


The close proximity between Paul referring to Holtkamp — a former Division II basketball player and D-League, NCAA and WNBA official who had worked short-term regular-season and Summer League assignments at the NBA level before being tabbed this season as only the third full-time female referee in league history — as "she" and musing that she might not be long for, or belong in, the NBA immediately gave some fans pause. The wording was ambiguous enough to leave room to wonder — was this CP3 questioning the lack of seasoning of an NBA-rookie ref, or was it something else, something worse?


ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne said the sources close to Paul from whom she heard Thursday said it was the former. Markazi noted that no Clippers player or coach mentioned Holtkamp's gender in discussing their disagreements with her calls, both in this game and in one earlier this season. One wonders, though, whether Paul would've been so quick to suggest that a male first-year ref — like Holtkamp's fellow rookies Dedric Taylor and Justin VanDuyne — might not stick around very long under similar circumstances.


Paul's postgame comments would likely have drawn a fine from the league office even if he hadn't mentioned Holtkamp's gender; the NBA's disciplinarians have long been clear on the whole "you can't publicly blast our officials" thing. It remains to be seen, though, whether the potential for the public to interpret Paul's remark as gender-biased prompts Commissioner Adam Silver to respond any differently than he would any other instance of ref criticism.


More NBA coverage:



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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!



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News sport : Gerald Henderson 'oops on, swats Marcin Gortat as Hornets shut down Wizards

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There's this play that Steve Clifford likes to run when his Charlotte club, whether Bobcats or Hornets, is triggering an inbounds from the baseline under their opponents' basket. Put Gerald Henderson in the paint next to a big on the block, have Henderson set a quick screen to spring the big across the lane, then have Henderson curl around a down screen from a teammate who's just cut down from foul-line extended before heading into the paint and looking for a lob. It looks like this.


Clearly, the Washington Wizards weren't ready for it on Thursday night, because Marcin Gortat found himself on the receiving end of an alley-oop facial:



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Here's another look at Henderson absorbing the contact and finishing with authority:



Quiet as it's kept, Henderson's a pretty explosive and prolific highlight dunker; the 6-foot-5 Duke product has springs and power, and he knows how to use them.


That goes for the defensive end, too, where Henderson's got the athleticism and timing to be able to help his big men protect the rim ... as Gortat found out during the fourth quarter of a tight contest on Thursday:





When you remember Hendo reversing on Gortat a while back, you start to wonder whether he's got some specific problem with the Polish Machine, or if he just wants to prove he's the most powerful bald dude on the court at all times.


Not only was the small-on-big snuff-out of Gortat's roll to the rim impressive, but, coming as it did on the heels of this big putback dunk by Al Jefferson:



... it added more fuel to the fire of a rollicking Hornets run that began late in the third quarter, erasing an 11-point Wizards lead and putting Charlotte back in control.


It started, as all good things for Charlotte in the Clifford era have, with defense. The Hornets held the Wizards to 15 points over the final 14 minutes of the game on Thursday, playing swarming team D that resulted in missed shots (6-for-21 from the field, 28.6 percent during that closing stretch) and a slew of Washington possessions busted up before they could result in a field-goal attempt, which was a running theme throughout the contest:



The Hornets finished with 15 blocks on Thursday, tied for the third-highest single-game total in the league this year and tied for the second-most in Bobcats/Hornets franchise history. Tack on five team steals and 12 Wizards turnovers, and you've got nearly as many scuttled Washington possessions (32) as ones ending in a made field goal (35). During that 14-minute stretch that swung the game, the math was even ghastlier for the Wizards — 14 combined blocks, steals and turnovers compared to just six makes.


With the Hornets flying around on defense, causing the Wizards to stagnate or just miss shots, depending on who you ask, and winning battles for loose balls, Charlotte outscored Washington 25-13 in the fourth quarter, holding on down the stretch for a 94-87 victory. The win improved Clifford's club to 12-4 since Jan. 1 — the second-best mark in the East in 2015, behind only the conference-leading Atlanta Hawks.


Henderson led the way with a game-high 27 points on 10-for-15 shooting to go with four rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist in 35 1/2 minutes. Emerging wing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was mostly quite, but got to the line eight times, scoring 11 points and adding six rebounds. Jefferson's shot wasn't falling for most of the evening, as Big Al missed nine of his 12 field-goal attempts, but he grabbed 10 boards and blocked three shots to contribute.


Lance Stephenson needed 11 shots to score 11 points, but he made three 3-pointers in eight tries, which is pretty good considering he'd made just nine in 66 attempts heading into Thursday. And Jason Maxiell — well, what can you say about the long-in-the-tooth-and-undersized reserve turning in 11 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks in less than 21 minutes of action? He was the hero of a hardfought, hustling Hornets win, one perfectly in keeping with the "play hard, don't beat yourself and defend like your life depends on it" ethos that made the Bobcats a surprise playoff team a season ago and has gotten the Hornets back into the playoff chase this season — Charlotte's now 22-27, good enough for seventh place in the East — after a dismal start.


The offense is still ugly as sin, especially without injured point guard Kemba Walker, averaging just 97.4 points per 100 possessions since New Year's Day, but with the defense clamping down even tighter than it did a year ago — 92.6 points allowed per-100, best in the NBA in 2015 — juuuust enough scoring has been enough to get wins. On Thursday, for the second time this week, it was enough to beat the Wizards, who have dropped five in a row to fall to 31-20; Randy Wittman's team now sits just a half-game above the No. 5 seed in the East.


More NBA coverage:





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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!



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Ghana’s win tainted by drama in the stands

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Ghana eliminated Afcon hosts Equatorial Guinea after a tense semi-final that was marred by violence.


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Malabo - Rioting spectators forced a 34-minute stoppage in the African Nations Cup semi-final and several people were injured as Ghana eliminated hosts Equatorial Guinea with a 3-0 defeat on Thursday.


The crowd spilling onto the field meant the match was halted eight minutes from time as spectators sought sanctuary behind the goal after home fans attacked Ghana supporters and rained objects down on their bench.


Security forces fired teargas and used a helicopter to clear the crowd, almost emptying the stands before the game was finally concluded with the referee playing two more minutes before calling time.


A controversially awarded penalty converted by Jordan Ayew in the 42nd minute, which initially sparked the violence, was followed by goals from Mubarak Wakaso and Andre Ayew to ensure Ghana reached a record ninth final where they will face the Ivory Coast.


However, the result was overshadowed after the violence left several people - including a Confederation of African Football (CAF) official, a policeman and several spectators - injured, CAF officials told Reuters.


Having stepped in as 11th hour hosts, Equatorial Guinea was basking in the glow of widespread praise for putting on a tournament with two months' notice.


Enthusiastic crowds at four venues across the former Spanish-colony, now one of the richest countries in Africa following the discovery of oil, added to a festive atmosphere.


But all that was undone at the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo as a angry home fans brought the semi-final to an abrupt and ugly halt.


One spectator was seen tumbling from the stands as he fled the teargas.


The stadium looked a mess afterwards, strewn with broken plastic chairs, hundred of plastic water bottles and drinks cans that had been hurled from the stands.


There was no immediate comment from CAF but the image of African football was left badly tarnished as television pictures beamed the ugly scenes to a worldwide audience.


It followed a similarly tempestuous quarter-final in Bata at the weekend when Equatorial Guinea upset Tunisia to win an unlikely semi-final place after getting a dubious penalty right at the end of the game.


Tunisia were fined $50 000 for their behaviour, which included players chasing after Mauritian referee Rajindraparsad Seechurn at the end of their 2-1 defeat. Seechurn was subsequently suspended for six months for his poor officiating.


Another controversial penalty call in Thursday's semi-final sparked the discord in Malabo as objects rained down on Ghana's bench after they took a 42nd minute lead through Ayew's spot kick.


By half-time riot police, called in from Angola for the tournament, needed to make a tunnel with their plastic shields to protect the Ghanaians from a volley of missiles and when an official took to microphone to appeal for calm he was met with a volley of abuse and more objects.


The second half was briefly stopped as a linesman had to flee infield to escape more objects being thrown at him.


When Ghana went 3-0 up in the 75th minute, home fans turned on visiting supporters who fled through an open gate and onto the playing area, seeking sanctuary behind the goal.


Reuters






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News sport : Splash Brothers, Korver, Harden, Kyrie to headline Three-Point Shootout

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The NBA announced the full list of competitors for the 2015 Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout on Thursday night, and with all due respect to the Sprite Slam Dunk, it sure looks like this might be the highlight of All-Star Saturday Night. This field is stacked:


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The five participants named in Yahoo Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski's Jan. 27 report — Golden State Warriors All-Stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Kyle Korver of the Atlanta Hawks, Wesley Matthews of the Portland Trail Blazers and J.J. Redick of the Los Angeles Clippers — will be joined by the event's last two champions, 2013 winner Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and 2014 victor Marco Belinelli of the San Antonio Spurs. James Harden of the Houston Rockets, the NBA's leading scorer, rounds out the star-studded eight-man field.


Matthews, Korver, Curry, Thompson, Harden, Redick and Irving all rank in the top 12 in the NBA in made 3-pointers thus far this season. Matthews leads the league in long balls made (151) and attempted (376) heading into Thursday's action, while Korver leads the league in accuracy, connecting on a blistering (and yet somehow not career-high) 53.2 percent of his bombs for the East-leading Hawks.


Three players in the field have made at least 10 3-pointers in a game this season, with Thompson canning 11 during his 52-point, 37-in-the-third-quarter-alone explosion on Jan. 23, Irving drilling 11 en route to an NBA-season-high 54 points on Jan. 28, and Curry making 10 of 16 tries while hanging 51 on the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Harden's shooting 38.7 percent, just off his career-high of 39 percent, on a career-high 6.9 attempts per game in Houston, while Redick's 43.2 percent mark is on pace to be the best of his nine-year pro career. Belinelli's been limited to just 30 games by injuries, but he's hitting 38.2 percent of his triples after ranking fifth in the league with a 43 percent mark last season.


Irving and Belinelli will each be looking to become the contest's eighth multi-time winner, joining sharpshooting luminaries Larry Bird, Craig Hodges, Mark Price, Jeff Hornacek, Peja Stojakovic, Jason Kapono and James Jones. Curry and Korver, meanwhile, will be looking to get on the board after failing to hoist the trophy in their prior attempts; Korver's come up empty twice, and Curry's 0-for-3 in the event, which he intends to rectify, no matter the cost:



Well, sure. Shooters keep shooting, after all.


Here's the order in which the competitors will step to their racks:



... and here are the rules, which are a bit different from last year's rules, for all you completists out there:


In the two-round competition, five shooting locations are positioned around the three-point arc. Four of the racks contain four orange balls (each worth one point) and one multi-colored “money” ball (worth two points). The fifth rack will be a special “all money ball” rack, which each participant can place at any of the five shooting locations. Every ball on this rack will be worth two points. The players have one minute to shoot as many as the 25 balls as they can. The three competitors with the highest scores in the first round advance to the championship round.

In other All-Star Saturday news, the league has changed up the format of the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, otherwise known as "the sort of obstacle course kind of thing." This year's model will be a little bit different from last year's; instead of each conference fielding two two-player teams to run the event as a sort of relay race, with the fastest team being crowned champions, there will be a bracket-style head-to-head tournament setting this year. Here's how it'll break down:



On one side of the bracket, Isaiah Thomas of the Phoenix Suns will take on All-Star John Wall of the Washington Wizards in the opening round, while All-Star Jeff Teague of the Hawks faces Michael Carter-Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers. On the other, defending champion Trey Burke of the Utah Jazz will take on Brandon Knight of the Milwaukee Bucks, while All-Star Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls squares off against All-Star Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors. You win, you advance, until the championship round. Another wrinkle this year: instead of finishing the course with a dunk or a layup, you've got to hit a 3-pointer.


And in the biggest news of the night, Team Bosh — Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat, Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins and Swin Cash of the WNBA's New York Liberty — will seek their third straight Degree Shooting Stars title.



Looking to take them down in the shooting competition — in which two three-person teams representing each conference, consisting of one NBA player, one WNBA player and one former NBA player, shoot from four locations of increasing difficulty (a 10-footer from the right side, a 20-footer from the top of the key, a 3-pointer from the left wing and a half-court shot) in numeric order as fast as they can — will be:


• Team Curry, which for the second straight year will consist of Stephen Curry and his dad Dell Curry, joined this time by eight-time WNBA All-Star Sue Bird of the Seattle Storm;


• Team Davis, led by Western Conference All-Star starter Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, who will be joined by Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen and two-time WNBA All-Star Elena Delle Donne of the Chicago Sky;


• Team Westbrook, led by All-Star Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who will be joined by legend Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and nine-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever.


We wait with bated breath to find out whether All-Star Saturday's greatest dynasty will continue apace, or be toppled and resigned to the dustbin of history.


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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!



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News sport : Attorney for Kurt Busch's ex: Busch 'has a domestic violence problem'

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After an attorney for Kurt Busch accused his ex-girlfriend of perjury, you knew that Patricia Driscoll's attorney would level a similarly charged allegation against Busch.


In closing arguments in a hearing regarding a request for a no-contact order against Busch, Driscoll's attorney wrote Busch has a domestic violence problem.


From USA Today:



"I suggest instead that Respondent (Busch) does not have a public relations problem; he has a domestic violence problem," McNeice wrote. "He committed an act of abuse and the Court should find in Mrs. Driscoll's favor."



Busch's attorney accused Driscoll of perjury in his side's closing arguments.


Driscoll alleges that Busch assaulted her on September 26 at Dover. She came to his motorhome says Busch slammed her head into the wall three times. Busch has denied the allegations of assault and said he cupped her face in her hands and told her to leave.


The barbs in the closing arguments are after Busch said he believed that Driscoll was a trained assssin. Driscoll has claimed that Busch struggles with alcoholism and depression.


She also has said Busch struggles separating fact from fiction and the assassin belief is from a movie script she's been working on. Driscoll works for a military contracting company.


A decision from the hearing is expected soon. The Delaware Attorney General's office has received the case from the Dover Sheriff's Department but has not announced any decision of its own.


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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Giants' Weatherford: 'Honored' to have Belichick and Brady's Super Bowl number

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The Patriots may be the NFL’s most dominant team over the past 15 years, but New Yorkers will happily remind everyone that there’s still one team that can say it has Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s number.


The Giants are the only team to have toppled New England’s dynastic duo in the sport’s biggest game – twice, for that matter – and that’s something Steve Weatherford, a member of the team that won Super Bowl XLVI, takes pride in.


“Of course I will take the honor of being on the only team to beat the Belichick and Brady duo in the Super Bowl,” Weatherford said.


Weatherford and the Giants almost lost out on their exclusivity claim in that club this past Sunday, were it not for Pete Carroll’s questionable play call and Malcolm Butler’s championship-saving interception on second-and-goal in the game’s closing seconds.


Despite breaking Brady and Belichick’s heart three years ago, Weatherford did admit celebrating with his team then led to him rooting for the Patriots this time around.


“I am best friends with Rob Ninkovich, so a small part of me was rooting for the Patriots from last time I played them in the Super Bowl,” Weatherford, who played with Ninkovich in New Orleans in 2006, said.


“I was so excited to finally get my ring, but a small part of me was disappointed to see my best friend so crushed when we shook hands after the game.”


The Giants punter also said that he believes the team he faced in 2012 – with a hobbled Rob Gronkowski – may not have been as explosive or dangerous as the one that Seattle was tasked with stopping.


“Both teams are extremely talented,” Weatherford said at an event promoting FRIGO by RevolutionWear at a New Jersey mall on Wednesday night.


“I believe that this year’s Patriots team had more weapons on the offensive side of the ball. The Gronkowski and Brady connection this year was something special to watch, and despite the allegations around them they were able to put aside all of the distractions and get the job done.”


That said, if Weatherford returns to the Giants next season, he wouldn’t mind getting a crack at the defending champions with the Lombardi Trophy on the line.


“Playing in another Super Bowl would be a blessing,” Weatherford said. “Let’s just say, I'd love to get another shot at the Pats.”






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News sport : Illinois WR coach Mike Bellamy suspended for 2015 opener

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Oct 26, 2013; Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini helmet on the field before the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Memorial Stadium. (Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports) Illinois wide receivers coach Mike Bellamy is suspended for the team’s season-opener against Kent State after a violation was reported to the NCAA by the school.


According to the Daily Illini, Bellamy made arrangements for an Illini football recruit to “obtain a junior college degree he had not completed” on Jan. 22, 2014.


The student-athlete enrolled at Illinois and attended a single day of classes in January 2014 before it was discovered that “he had not completed his associate degree at his junior college.” The student-athlete then withdrew from Illinois.


According to the NCAA violation report from the incident, Bellamy “made an in-person visit to the junior college” and met with academic officials. In that meeting, officials from the junior college “agreed to give the student-athlete the remaining credit hours required for his associate degree by taking an online placement test.”


The student-athlete took the test in a computer lab at Illinois’ football stadium and “no University of Illinois staff member was present while the exam was taken or submitted,” according to the Daily Illini.


Upon completion of the test, the junior college “awarded an associate degree with a December 2013 graduation date to the student-athlete.”


After all of this took place, Illinois reached out to the NCAA to see if a violation had occurred and the NCAA decided that Bellamy committed a “Level III Breach of Conduct” extra benefits violation.


In a letter to Bellamy and head coach Tim Beckman, school athletic director Mike Thomas said that the two coaches “demonstrated poor judgment.”


“I understand it may be helpful for coaches to visit schools to obtain academic information in the recruiting process, but there is a line that must not be crossed when working with school officials,” Thomas wrote in an April 22 letter. “I want to be very clear that no member of the University of Illinois football staff may be involved with arranging academic credits, questioning or influencing grades, or otherwise intervening in the academic affairs of prospective student-athletes.”


The school confirmed the one-game suspension to the Daily Illini and said that an appeal will not be made.


“It was disappointing to learn the NCAA chose to classify this as a violation,” Beckman said. “We’ll accept the NCAA’s decision of a one-game suspension for Coach Bellamy to be taken during the season opener against Kent State.”


The name of the junior college involved is not listed in the report and the player’s name is redacted.


For more Illinois news, visit OrangeandBlueNews.com.


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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 : Naseem Hamed: Conor McGregor is the 'most entertaining man' in combat sports

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Conor McGregor got a ringing endorsement this week from a man once considered the most flamboyant and entertaining fighter in boxing.


"Prince" Naseem Hamed, who was once one of the most polarizing pugilists, gushed about the Dublin-born MMA fighter during an appearance on the Boxing News Magazine podcast.


The former Lineal, WBC, IBF and WBO, IBF featherweight champion, who will be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in June alongside Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Riddick Bowe, complained that nobody in boxing today had swagger like he did.


“I pray to god that I would see somebody that ignites me with that passion and that confidence [I had]. There’s only one guy… I was in Sheffield with my brother last week and he showed me this guy from Dublin… Conor McGregor. I swear to God that this guy is a breath of fresh air. And this guy, in my eyes, is the most entertaining man in the whole of any combat sport there is today.


Prince Naseem Hamed talks with host Jay Leno during an interview on Dec. 4, 1998. (Photo: NBC)

"He's blazed out the whole of boxing – smashed it out of the water," Hamed continued. "He’s a UFC fighter. Listen, he’s ENTERTAINING. This guy, he says in his interviews, ‘I don’t just knock them out, I pick the round.’ The guy is a confident guy. I like the way he fights. Obviously, after I watched him I read up on him a little bit. The guy used to be a national amateur champion, and obviously he grew up watching me. Some of the stuff he does reminds me of me when I was younger, and what I used to do, and how confident I used to be. Some of his way[s] that he speaks, and how confident he is, and the way he carries himself… I want you to watch out for Conor McGregor."


McGregor (17-2) will face UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo (25-1) in Las Vegas at UFC 189 on July 11 – a month after Hamed’s induction during the June 11-14 HOF weekend in New York.






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Nkausu tips Ivorians for Afcon title

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Zambian defender Davies Nkausu has backed his former coach Herve Renard to steer Ivory Coast to the Afcon title.


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Johannesburg - Zambian defender Davies Nkausu has backed his former coach Herve Renard to steer Ivory Coast to the Caf Africa Cup of Nations title.


“Herve is a very good coach and Ivory Coast are in the best position with him as the leader,” Nkausu said in Pretoria on Thursday.


“I think he is the right person to guide a quality team like Ivory Coast all the way to Afcon victory.”


Renard led an unfancied Zambia to the 2012 Afcon championship where Nkausu played an integral role in the team.


In the final, Chipolopolo beat Renard's current team in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in Libreville, Gabon.


On Wednesday, Ivory Coast secured their place in the final of the continental showpiece in Equatorial Guinea after a comprehensive 3-1 win over DR Congo. They romped to their third final in nine years courtesy of goals from Yaya Toure, Gervinho and Wilfried Kanon.


Nkausu said the Frenchman's tactical acumen and ability to motivate was what made him such a special coach.


“The players all buy into what Herve wants them to do. He made us believe we could win.”


The Ivorians were last crowned continental champions in 1992 and although their golden generation of players showed such great promise, they had failed to live up to expectations.


The envy of other national teams, the West Africans were blessed with talent in Didier Drogba, Didier Zokora, the Toure brothers - Kolo, Yaya and Ibrahim - Salomon Kalou and Gervinho.


Nkausu, who plays for University of Pretoria, believed Ivory Coast always had quality players, and only needed a top coach to help them end their 23-year cup drought.


“They have gone into every tournament as the favourites to win and I think the pressure sometimes got to them. It's not easy to play when all eyes are on them.”


Ivory Coast finished runners-up at Afcon in 2012, losing to Zambia on penalties, and suffering a similar loss to Egypt in 2006.


The Elephants have another shot at the title on Sunday against either Ghana or hosts Equatorial Guinea.


Sapa






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News sport : Chicago Bears hire Ohio State RB coach Stan Drayton

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Ohio State is in need of a new running backs coach after Chicago Bears hired now-former Ohio State RB coach Stan Drayton.



In his first season at Ohio State in 2011, Drayton coached the team's wide receivers. He moved to RB coach in 2012 after coach Urban Meyer arrived and has been the team's assistant head coach on offense for the past two seasons as well.


He's the second offensive assistant to leave Ohio State following the team's national title. Offensive coordinator Tom Herman left after the season to become the head coach at Houston. Drayton refused to comment to the Columbus Dispatch.


Drayton has coached two of the most productive running backs in Ohio State history in Carlos Hyde, now a member of the San Francisco 49ers, and Ezekiel Elliott. In 2013, Hyde had 1,521 yards and 15 touchdowns. Last season, Elliott expoloded onto the scene with dominant performances in the Big Ten title game, Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff Championship. He finished with 1,878 yards and 18 touchdowns despite playing the entire season with a broken left wrist.


Drayton was also key in the recruitment of four-star RB Mike Weber, who signed with the Buckeyes on Wednesday. Weber, a Michigan native, is the No. 7 running back in the class of 2015.


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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Akron testing out awesome helmet designs (Photos)

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Akron debuted two awesome new helmets in 2014 and more unique designs could be on the way in 2015.


Both the Akron equipment and video staffs teased a nice collection of new designs and they all look awesome. Take a look.





Of course these aren’t official, but they all look great. The kangaroo decal is awesome, but I’m not sure if it looks quite as good as the white helmets with the “Z” logo from last season.



We’ll just have to wait and see if the Zips get to wear these helmets for real in 2015.


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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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