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US President Barack Obama on Friday opened 2010 with a secure telephone call with top national security advisors to discuss two reviews of the thwarted bid to bomb a Northwest Airlines jet. Obama, on vacation in his home state of Hawaii, spoke to National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough and his top anti-terror advisor John Brennan, a White House official said on condition of anonymity. After the call, Obama resumed his oft-interrupted vacation with a game of basketball at a Marine base near the house he is renting for his family in Hawaii.

President Barack Obama is playing basketball and working out at the gym at the Marine Base near his rented vacation home. The president arrived at the gym at shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday. He's playing basketball with friends and staff. Some of people Obama played golf with Saturday are expected to shoot hoops with him

A varsity basketball game between two of the region's best-known suburban high schools took an ugly turn Tuesday night when a handful of students yelled anti-Semitic chants. Two Lower Merion parents in the stands said they had heard spectators chant, "Warm up the ovens." "At one juncture, there were some really offensive things said by what appeared to be a small group of [Upper Darby] students." Witnesses said the razzing had been mild and mutual at first - Lower Merion's supporters chanting, "Merry Christmas," and Upper Darby's replying, "Happy Hanukkah." Another Lower Merion chant: "SAT scores!" followed with rhythmic clapping....

Amanda Hanneman and Jessra Johnson, the leading scorers on Missouri’s women’s basketball team, have been suspended indefinitely after both players were arrested for third-degree assault. According to police, Hanneman, from Blue Springs South, and Johnson were attending a party at the home of Justin Short, a MU cheerleader, following the Tigers’ women’s game Thursday night. Stewart told the players he wanted to go to sleep and told Hanneman and Johnson to leave, according to police. Stewart said that Johnson then shoved him and that Hanneman allegedly punched Stewart three times. Police said Stewart claimed he might have a broken nose....

One of the most significant Christmas presents President Obama ever received was a basketball from the father who was largely absent from his life, the president told Oprah Winfrey. This and other Xmas revelations are part of "Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special," set to air Sunday night on ABC at 10 p.m. ET. Asked his favorite Christmas gift as a child, the president recalled a 10 speed bike and then said, "I do remember the one time I met my father he was visiting during Christmas and he gave me a basketball and - the degree...

To say the 36-33 win by the Resurrection High School girls basketball team over Wiggins Friday was close is not to do it justice. Neither side scored well throughout the game, despite many opportunities and tries. Aside from a quick score at the beginning of the first quarter for Resurrection, no one was hitting and it took almost halfway through the period for Wiggins to put the score at 2-2, and it was with 1:30 in the period that the score was tied again at 4-4, but a free throw and a last instant basket made it 7-4 for the...

Service members at Joint Base Balad signed a memorial banner at an Army vs. Air Force basketball game and memorial service in honor of Spc. Michael Cote, a UH-60 Black Hawk crew chief with A Company, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment. Cote died from injuries sustained when his helicopter crashed on Joint Base Balad, Sept. 19. Photo by . Michael Camacho, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). JOINT BASE BALAD — U.S. Soldiers hosted a memorial basketball event here, Nov. 30, in honor of Spc. Michael Cote, who died when his helicopter crashed here, Sept. 19. The event, hosted by the 137th...

60 Minutes: Disgraced Ref Talks About Betting Scandal, The Mob, And How He Got Caught: (CBS): Winning bets on pro basketball games using insider knowledge only he as an NBA referee would know was "euphoria" says now-disgraced ex-ref Tim Donaghy - that is, he says, until the mob got its hooks in him and threatened his family. Donaghy talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon about how he says he based his bets on other refs' biases, his mafia involvement and the subsequent jail time he received in his first interview to be broadcast this Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009. Donaghy...

Just in:BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) - A Mountain State University basketball player has been shot multiple times outside the school's athletics dorm following an altercation with another man. Beckley, W.Va., police Detective Sgt. David Allard said the 22-year-old player was being treated at a hospital after the shooting early Thursday. Mountain State basketball coach Bob Bolen identified the player as Alvin Mitchell, a 6-foot-5 junior guard from Miami. Mitchell's condition wasn't disclosed. Allard said the player was shot about 10 minutes after an altercation

This Thanksgiving weekend, the First Family did the same thing many Americans families did – catch a game. For the Obamas, the game of choice was basketball. The Beavers of Oregon State, where Michelle Obama’s brother Craig Robinson is the head coach, were in town to play the George Washington University Colonials last night. The game was a family affair with Barack, Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama as well as grandmother Miriam Robinson, arriving at the Smith Center shortly before the game began. Fans were required to go through airport-like security before entering the arena. While there was no official...

They don't all need glasses. But if you always suspected basketball referees are biased — well, you're right... Refs favor the home team... They're big on "make-up" calls. They make more calls against teams in the lead, and the discrepancy grows if the game is on national TV. The professors studied 365 college games during the 2004-05 season and found that refs had a terrific knack for keeping the foul count even, regardless of which team was more aggressive. Exhibit A: The 2005 Final Four meeting between Illinois and Louisville. The Illini, known for being more aggressive defensively, got whistled...

This week marks five years since the NBA's infamous 'Malice at The Palace'. It was a scene that will live on forever as the moment player and crowd interaction went a step too far. With 45 seconds remaining and the Indiana Pacers leading by double digits over the Detroit Pistons at their home court the Palace of Auburn Hills, Ron Artest sparked a riot when he fouled Ben Wallace. Wallace responded with an aggressive shove and tensions boiled over for both sides as the referees tried to break up the all-in fight. A smug Artest then walked over and lay...

INDIANAPOLIS -- The tip-off of the basketball season also brings the return of the "sixth man" -- hometown fans who implore the officials on how to call the games. At the same time, officials will work hard to be seen as fair. Two professors found clear patterns in the way that basketball games are refereed A study co-authored by a professor in Indiana University's Kelley School of Business suggests that fans do have a great impact on games and that officials often are not objective in their efforts to be fair to both teams.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being treated for a rare form of leukemia, and he said his prognosis is encouraging. The NBA's all-time leading scorer was diagnosed last December with chronic myeloid leukemia, he told The Associated Press on Monday. The 62-year-old Abdul-Jabbar said his doctor didn't give any guarantees, but informed him: "You have a very good chance to live your life out and not have to make any drastic changes to your lifestyle." Abdul-Jabbar is taking an oral medication for the disease. He is a paid spokesman for the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, which makes...

The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read We've obtained a copy of Tim Donaghy's book, Blowing the Whistle, which purports to expose the NBA's "culture of fraud" and which Random House was set to publish next month — until, a source says, the league threatened to sue... Excerpts From The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read As promised earlier, here are a handful of excerpts from David Stern's favorite book, Blowing the Whistle, by Tim Donaghy...

Slam dunk, or nothing-but-net three-pointer? Either way, Chuck Todd has surely scored some points in the battle over Pres. Obama's all-male White House basketball games. The NBC News political director/chief WH correspondent got off his shot while discussing the issue with Andrea Mitchell—whose sympathies were clearly with the distaff side—during the 1PM hour slot on MSNBC today. View video here.

By 14 he was dunking. By 16 he was facing down reporters. Now the greatest basketball player in the world is 24 years old—and he's just getting started. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So you first dunked when you were in junior high? It was during a warmup game when I was in middle school. Every year we had a teachers-versus-basketball-team game in front of all the students. I got one in during the warmups, and then I actually did it during the game. Was it on a teacher? No. I wish! I wish it was on the teacher who gave me a C-minus;...

LOS ANGELES -- Legendary former UCLA men's basketball coach John Wooden is celebrating his 99th birthday today with the release of a new book that he co-wrote. Wooden coached the Bruins to an unprecedented 10 NCAA championships in his final 12 seasons, including a record seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. ...In addition to his championships and 620-147 record as UCLA's coach from 1948 to 1975, Wooden was acclaimed for the values he espoused. He had three rules for his players -- don't use profanity, be on time and never criticize a teammate.

In honor of John Wooden's 99th birthday, here are 99 things you may, or may not, know about the legendary former UCLA basketball coach: 1. He was born in Martinsville, Ind., on Oct. 14, 1910. 2. Wooden led Martinsville High to the Indiana state title in 1927 and runner-up finishes in 1926 and 1928.

President Obama will take to the court tomorrow in a basketball game with a handful of cabinet members and lawmakers. Scheduled to take place tomorrow evening at the White House basketball court, the game wil feature 9 Democratic lawmakers, 2 Republicans, and four cabinet secretaries. Here's the full list of participants: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Shaun Donovan Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Representative Mike Arcuri (D-NY) Representative John Boccieri (D-OH) Representative Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) Representative Baron Hill (D-IN) Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA)...

for anyone interested.. yahoo league..click join custom league, league ID is 156061, password is "starters" 2-g 2-f 1-c 5-bn Auto-draft Line-up changes daily Serious players only please

for anyone interested.. yahoo league..click join custom league, league ID is 156061, password is "starters" 2-g 2-f 1-c 5-bn Auto-draft Line-up changes daily

for anyone interested.. yahoo league..click join custom league, league ID is 156061, password is "starters" 2-g 2-f 1-c 5-bn Auto-draft Line-up changes daily

When Bruce Bowen retired, I became fraught with emotion. On one hand, I absolutely couldn’t wait for that dude to get the heck out of the League so I’d never have to see or hear about him again; nobody puts Baby Steve Nash in a corner or knees him in the gonads on my watch. However, I also couldn’t help thinking that if I were a Spurs fan (I’m laughing as I type this since I can’t say that with a straight face), I’d be pretty bummed that Bowen is no longer on my team. This led to an enlightenment...

the top twenty three best MJ moments...

1. Wilt Chamberlain 2. Bill Russell 3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 4. George Mikan 5. Shaquille O’Neal 6. Hakeem Olajuwon 7. Moses Malone 8. David Robinson 9. Bill Walton 10. Patrick Ewing

SOMERVILLE, N.J. — Attorneys for Jayson Williams say the retired NBA star's convictions related to a fatal shooting should be thrown out because those who prosecuted him were racially biased. Williams was convicted of four counts of covering up the shooting of a hired driver at his central New Jersey mansion more than seven years ago.

MIAMI — Tim James apologized for being late. A rough day at work, said the Miami Heat's 1999 first-round draft pick. Vehicles broke down, problems flared up, and he simply fell behind. "It happens," James said. "Even here." Even on the front line of the Iraq war. A former NBA player who often wondered about his true calling, Tim James is now a U.S. Army soldier, a transformation that even many of the people closest to him never saw coming.

It was a Southern whine-fest of MVP proportions this week. On Wednesday, Louisville head basketball coach had a press conference to lash out at the media's apparent spreading of "lies" about his adulterous fling several years ago with one Karen Sypher. Rick Pitino had sex with Sypher in a restaurant. After she became pregnant, she came to him asking for money for an abortion (he said it was so she could buy healh insurance). Sypher essentially continued to extort money from Pitino for several years until he 'fessed up and she was arrested. The affair was in 2003; the details...

Yes, the girls are 16 years of age or younger and they are setting an example as our first national team of this age. Just look at the scores! Led by 22 points from Betnijah Laney (Smyrna H.S. / Clayton, Del.), the 2009 USA Women's U16 National Team (2-0) relied on a balanced scoring attack that featured seven players in double figures to easily overpower Puerto Rico (0-2) 114-37 in FIBA Americas U16 Championship play on Tuesday afternoon at Juan de la Barrera Gym in Mexico City, Mexico. "I thought our team continued to get better tonight, and they shared...

It's made from 1,000 eggs, 80 pounds of margarine and a whole lot of matzo meal. Eat it if you dare. It's arguably the world's largest matzo ball and it weighs in at 267 pounds, and is 29.2 inches across. This mouthful was created to raise money for a charity game between the New York Knicks and Israeli basketball team Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv. Proceeds from the Oct. 18 game will benefit Migdal Ohr, an orphanage in northern Israel. Guinness World Record Holders The massive matzo was cooked up for nearly 20 hours in a custom-made 100-gallon kettle in New...

Finally, here is much talked about video of Xavier basketball player Jordan Crawford managing to dunk the ball on NBA Superstar LeBron James. The dunk is played in slow-motion at the end of the video. . . . . (Watch Video)

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2009 – Sounds of dribbled basketballs and players’ shouts filled the Wagner Gym at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here yesterday, but absent were the thuds and squeaks of players running up and down the court. A member of the National Naval Medical Center team shoots during a wheelchair basketball tournament at Wagner Sports Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., July 21, 2009. DoD photo by William D. Moss  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Replacing them at the first City Wheelchair Basketball Tournament were the hissing of hands slowing wheelchairs and the clanging as...

July 18, 2009 Aim higher than rap or basketball, Obama urges young blacks The 45-minute address was Mr Obama?s first big speech on race since he was forced to tackle the issue head on during his presidential campaign last year James Bone. In his first big speech on race since winning the White House, President Obama has exhorted young blacks to aspire to be more than basketballers and rap music stars. In a historic address, America’s first black president told the country’s oldest civil rights group, celebrating its 100th anniversary, that it was time for “a new mindset” that did...

The 18 year drought between FIBA U19 World Championships is over for the United States men. Behind 18 points from Tyshawn Taylor and another balanced scoring effort that featured seven players contributing eight or more points, the USA fended off a determined Greek team to post an 88-80 victory Sunday night in the FIBA World Championship gold medal game in Auckland, New Zealand. The USA squad, led by University of Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon, finished with a spotless 9-0 record and recorded a 22.2 margin of victory in the championship. We really set as a goal to win...

OK, so I am surfing for news that will probably just piss me off for the rest of the weekend, and I stumble across a question by some idiot who doesn't even have the guts to take credit for it. It would seem that Larry Bird and the Indiana pacers are too lilly white for this person. I guess the good thing is all but one of the seven who commented have basically called for an end of the stupid claim of racism being behind every door. I am posting the whole article because I do not see this site...

Another major multi-team trade might be looming in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls having discussed a deal that would be headlined by Carlos Boozer and Kirk Hinrich, according to NBA front-office sources. Sources stressed to ESPN.com that no deal was imminent Thursday and that both Portland and Utah are still evaluating additional trade scenarios. But two sources with knowledge of the three-team proposal confirmed that there have been substantive talks aimed at landing Boozer in Chicago, Hinrich in Portland and Tyrus Thomas in Utah.

The Wall Street Journal is helping Leonard Mlodinow tout his book The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives. Among other things, Mlodinow, like academics Tversky, Kahneman, and Gilovich before him, wants to show that streaks in games like basketball don’t exist. Or, rather, they do exist, but they can be “explained by randomness.” Listen: randomness can’t explain anything. Statisticians imagine—I choose this word carefully—a basketball player has an ineffable probability of making a free throw, and they try to guess the probability’s value through modeling. Suppose a guess is 80% for a particular player and then suppose our player...

ORLANDO -- The Celtics [team stats] have reached agreement with free agent forward/center Rasheed Wallace tonight on a contract that starts at the midlevel exemption of $5.8 million.

This incredible three-quarter court flip shot by Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School's Aaron Shutway needs to be seen to be believed ... and even then I'm sure angry, bitter people will cry that the ball is computer generated. To which I say, easy there Michael Bay. It sure looks legit. But have a look and decide for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5epzcME5U-M&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsports%2Eyahoo%2Ecom%2Fnba%2Fblog%2Fball%5Fdont%5Flie%2Fpost%2FVideo%2DOhio%2Deighth%2Dgrader%2Dhits%2Dridiculous%2Dbasket%3Furn%3Dnba%2C171894&feature=player_embedded

MIAMI - Miami-Dade officials have decided to name a new high school after former NBA star Alonzo Mourning. The Miami-Dade School Board voted today to name the new North Miami school after Mourning, rather than former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to allow an investment group from China to become a minority owner of the basketball franchise and its arena. The group, which includes JianHua Huang, a Chinese businessman who has brokered sponsorship deals with the New York Yankees and other sports franchises in the U.S., could acquire as much as 15% of Cavaliers Operating Co., the entity that owns the team and operates Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed an agreement with an investment group from China to become minority owners of the NBA franchise and its arena, a partnership that could impact superstar LeBron James' future with the team. The Asian conglomerate, which includes JianHua Huang, a Chinese businessman who has brokered sponsorship deals with the New York Yankees and other sports franchises in the U.S., could acquire up to 15 percent of Cavaliers Operating Company, the entity that owns the team and operates Quicken Loans Arena.

Trials to select the 12-member USA team will be held May 28-31 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Following trials, the Women's Developmental Committee will select the 12-member roster, and the team will remain in Colorado Springs through the morning of Thursday, June 4 for training camp. The USA squad will reassemble prior to the start of the FIBA Americas U16 Championship. Players eligible for the U16 National Team must be U.S. citizens born on or after Jan. 1, 1993.

JUPITER, Fla., May 9 (UPI) -- Chuck Daly, who coached the Detroit Pistons to back-to-back NBA titles, died Saturday of pancreatic cancer at the age of 78. Daly, who was diagnosed with cancer in March, died in Jupiter, Fla., surrounded by his family. Known as the ultimate players coach, Daly led the Pistons to NBA titles in 1989 and 1990 and coached the original Dream Team to the Olympic gold medal in 1992. Daly affectionately earned the nickname "Daddy Rich" for his perfectly fitting dapper suits, The Detroit Free Press reported Saturday. "Tailoring covers your sins," Daly once said. Daly,...

Them are some mad skillz dawg. Seriously though, this could be fake, I have no idea. Pretty cool looking though! Video on site Do you think this is fake?

Jerry Lai / US Presswire

On the 17th Anniversary of the Leitner miracle shot, Pitt refuses to play defense and loses 76-74. Another 0bama pick bits the dust.