UPDATE 1-NBA-Microsoft's Ballmer and Seattle group set to buy Kings-report

* Deal worth $500 million
* Report says team will move to old Supersonics home
* Sacramento mayor desperate to keep team
SEATTLE/SACRAMENTO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A group of investors led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer is close to a deal to buy the Sacramento Kings basketball team for $500 million and move the franchise to Seattle, Yahoo Sports reported on Wednesday.
The Maloof family, which has wrangled with the city of Sacramento for years over a new arena and held talks with other cities about moving the team, has now agreed to sell, the report said, citing league sources.
Reuters could not confirm the report. The Sacramento Kings did not immediately respond to phone calls or emails seeking comment.
Under the reported deal, the Kings would play for two seasons in KeyArena, the stomping ground of the Seattle Supersonics before the team's 2008 move to Oklahoma City, and then move into a new facility, Yahoo reported.
The National Basketball Association franchise is Sacramento's only major sports team, and its mayor, Kevin Johnson, is a former NBA star.
"I'm going to make every effort that I can possibly do to identify a potential buyer that will ensure that the Sacramento Kings remain in Sacramento," Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.
American cities often clash over sports franchises, which are seen as economic engines and a source of civic pride. The value of sports franchises has soared in recent years, largely as a result of pay television contracts.
Johnson promised to locate buyers, mentioning billionaire supermarket mogul Ron Burkle as having expressed an interest in the past.
"It appears to me for the first time that they have possibly shown a desire to sell the team, and that's what I think is significant today," Johnson said, referring to the Maloof family.
Seattle sports fans were infuriated by the loss of the Supersonics and have pined for a new NBA team ever since. Hansen last year gained city council approval for a new $490 million arena near the waterfront south of downtown.
Ballmer, the NBA and representatives for Hansen all declined to comment. Seattle city officials told Reuters they were aware of the rumors, but were not in a position to comment.
SOFTWARE AND SPORTS
Ballmer's potential involvement reflects a strong connection between the software giant and local sports.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen owns the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, and is a part-owner of the Seattle Sounders, the soccer team. Microsoft's longtime head of human resources, Lisa Brummel, is a part-owner of the Seattle Storm women's basketball team.
Ballmer himself is an avid basketball fan and sometime player, who used to scrimmage regularly before work with other employees in a gym near the company's campus.
When the Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder, its owner faulted Seattle officials for not coming up with a plan to replace the aging KeyArena. Many fans, though bitter, still sport Supersonics jerseys on the streets of Seattle.
Professional sports have enjoyed a recent resurgence in the city, with the NFL's Seahawks enjoying success on the field in a relatively new stadium, and the Sounders soccer team boasting the best attendance in the MLS.
Despite resistance from unions and others who fear a third stadium by the city docks will crimp freight transport, the majority of locals favor a new basketball arena and local politicians now embrace the idea.
The city council in October signed off on an agreement struck between would-be franchise owner Hansen, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine.
But McGinn was coy when asked about the report on Wednesday.
"I know as much as you do about the Sonics," McGinn told reporters at a re-election news conference on Wednesday. "But if it's true, ain't it cool?"
Industry observers say there are still a number of factors that could undermine any potential agreement.
Hansen has spent millions of dollars on land south of downtown Seattle to house a new arena, but locating it there is contingent upon the outcome of an environmental assessment and a review of other potential sites.
"It's not a done deal. There are discussions, I'm told," said Marc Ganis, president of consultancy SportsCorp Ltd in Chicago, who is not involved in the deal. "There are lots of unknowns. I think $500 million sounds like the right range."
The Kings have appeared to be on the brink of leaving their host city in past years.
The Maloofs opened talks with officials in Anaheim to move the team to the Orange County city in 2011, but NBA officials convinced them to give Sacramento another year to get a deal for a new arena in place. Then, last August, reports circulated that the Maloofs were talking with officials about moving to Virginia Beach, Va.
"We want to be an NBA city with an NBA team, and we want that team to be the Sacramento Kings," Johnson said on Wednesday.

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Microsoft's Ballmer and Seattle group set to buy Kings - report

October 29, 2012. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
SEATTLE/SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - A group of investors led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer is close to a deal to buy the Sacramento Kings basketball team for $500 million and move the franchise to Seattle, Yahoo Sports reported on Wednesday.
The Maloof family, which has wrangled with the city of Sacramento for years over a new arena and held talks with other cities about moving the team, has now agreed to sell, the report said, citing league sources.
Reuters could not confirm the report. The Sacramento Kings did not immediately respond to phone calls or emails seeking comment.
Under the reported deal, the Kings would play for two seasons in KeyArena, the stomping ground of the Seattle Supersonics before the team's 2008 move to Oklahoma City, and then move into a new facility, Yahoo reported.
The National Basketball Association franchise is Sacramento's only major sports team, and its mayor, Kevin Johnson, is a former NBA star.
"I'm going to make every effort that I can possibly do to identify a potential buyer that will ensure that the Sacramento Kings remain in Sacramento," Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.
American cities often clash over sports franchises, which are seen as economic engines and a source of civic pride. The value of sports franchises has soared in recent years, largely as a result of pay television contracts.
Johnson promised to locate buyers, mentioning billionaire supermarket mogul Ron Burkle as having expressed an interest in the past.
"It appears to me for the first time that they have possibly shown a desire to sell the team, and that's what I think is significant today," Johnson said, referring to the Maloof family.
Seattle sports fans were infuriated by the loss of the Supersonics and have pined for a new NBA team ever since. Hansen last year gained city council approval for a new $490 million arena near the waterfront south of downtown.
Ballmer, the NBA and representatives for Hansen all declined to comment. Seattle city officials told Reuters they were aware of the rumors, but were not in a position to comment.
SOFTWARE AND SPORTS
Ballmer's potential involvement reflects a strong connection between the software giant and local sports.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen owns the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, and is a part-owner of the Seattle Sounders, the soccer team. Microsoft's longtime head of human resources, Lisa Brummel, is a part-owner of the Seattle Storm women's basketball team.
Ballmer himself is an avid basketball fan and sometime player, who used to scrimmage regularly before work with other employees in a gym near the company's campus.
When the Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder, its owner faulted Seattle officials for not coming up with a plan to replace the aging KeyArena. Many fans, though bitter, still sport Supersonics jerseys on the streets of Seattle.
Professional sports have enjoyed a recent resurgence in the city, with the NFL's Seahawks enjoying success on the field in a relatively new stadium, and the Sounders soccer team boasting the best attendance in the MLS.
Despite resistance from unions and others who fear a third stadium by the city docks will crimp freight transport, the majority of locals favor a new basketball arena and local politicians now embrace the idea.
The city council in October signed off on an agreement struck between would-be franchise owner Hansen, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine.
But McGinn was coy when asked about the report on Wednesday.
"I know as much as you do about the Sonics," McGinn told reporters at a re-election news conference on Wednesday. "But if it's true, ain't it cool?"
Industry observers say there are still a number of factors that could undermine any potential agreement.
Hansen has spent millions of dollars on land south of downtown Seattle to house a new arena, but locating it there is contingent upon the outcome of an environmental assessment and a review of other potential sites.
"It's not a done deal. There are discussions, I'm told," said Marc Ganis, president of consultancy SportsCorp Ltd in Chicago, who is not involved in the deal. "There are lots of unknowns. I think $500 million sounds like the right range."
The Kings have appeared to be on the brink of leaving their host city in past years.
The Maloofs opened talks with officials in Anaheim to move the team to the Orange County city in 2011, but NBA officials convinced them to give Sacramento another year to get a deal for a new arena in place. Then, last August, reports circulated that the Maloofs were talking with officials about moving to Virginia Beach, Va.
"We want to be an NBA city with an NBA team, and we want that team to be the Sacramento Kings," Johnson said on Wednesday.

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UPDATE 8-NBA results

Jan 10 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the NBA games on Wednesday (home team in CAPS)
TORONTO 90 Philadelphia 72
Utah 112 CHARLOTTE 102
CLEVELAND 99 Atlanta 83
BOSTON 87 Phoenix 79
Milwaukee 104 CHICAGO 96
NEW ORLEANS 88 Houston 79
SAN ANTONIO 108 LA Lakers 105
OKLAHOMA CITY 106 Minnesota 84
DENVER 108 Orlando 105
LA CLIPPERS 99 Dallas 93
Memphis 94 GOLDEN STATE 87

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Israel Is OK with Hagel as Secretary of Defense

Republicans trying to raise a case against confirming Chuck Hagel have cited not so kind remarks about Israel -- or "the Jews," as he's been quoted calling them -- as a reason not to confirm, but that could be a hard sell when Israel's departing Deputy Foreign Minister thinks Hagel is an alright guy.
RELATED: If Chuck Hagel Won't Be Secretary of Defense, Who Will Be?
Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall first pointed out Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon comments at a meeting with Jewish leaders Thursday. Haaretz's Chemi Chalev reports Ayalon told the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations that Hagel is a "decent and fair interlocutor who believes in the natural partnership between Israel and the United States."
RELATED: Get Ready for the Great Chuck Hagel Confirmation Fight of 2013
While the list of people officially opposed to Hagel's nomination is not long, they are certainly a vocal bunch. Hagel's been hung over the fire for a number of things since rumors swirled that he would be nominated Secretary of Defense. Hagel's been criticized for his stance on same sex marriage, Iran, and just the fact that he's another white guy. He's the most controversial nomination that's sure to be confirmed. Some disparaging things Hagel said about Israel in the past have also bubbled to the surface. The idea is that Hagel's nomination might cause rifts with one of America's closest allies in an increasing volatile Middle East.
RELATED: It's Official: Chuck Hagel Will Be Named Secretary of Defense
But that's all sort of tossed out of the window when one of Israel's foreign ministers, albeit one that's on a farewell tour of the U.S., is singing Hagel's praises. "I know Hagel personally," Ayalon told the crowd. "When I was ambassador in Washington, we had many meetings, I cannot say that we agreed on everything, but he was a decent and fair interlocutor and you can reason with him. I think he believes in the relationship, in the natural partnership between Israel and the United States."

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Montreux Jazz Festival founder Claude Nobs dies

GENEVA (AP) — Claude Nobs, the founder and general manager of the Montreux Jazz Festival, whose passion for music and artistry introduced generations of legendary musicians to international audiences on the Swiss stage, has died. He was 76.
The Jazz Festival said Nobs, a native of Montreux, died Thursday after sustaining injuries from a fall while cross-country skiing in nearby Caux-sur-Montreux on Christmas Eve. He was taken to the hospital and fell into a coma from which he never recovered.
Nobs worked his way from being a chef and director of Montreux's tourism office, where he organized charity concerts, to overseeing one of the most iconic music festivals in the world.
On its website, the festival said Nobs' death came by "surprise as if to remind us once more, that in life as in music, each great performance could be the last one even if the show must go on."
A visit to the New York offices of Atlantic Records led to the first festival in his home city in June 1967, featuring musicians such as Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette.
The festival was an overnight success, building over the decades on Nobs' passion for jazz, as much as his gumption and contacts abroad.
"'And why not?' You would repeatedly ask the same question when we tried to explain why a project would not be feasible," festival officials wrote in an homage to Nobs on the web site that praised his audacity to dream big. "The Montreux Jazz Festival is the ultimate proof of that! But not the only one!"
From that meeting in New York, Nobs went on to gain career-forming introductions to musical greats such as Roberta Flack and Aretha Franklin, who would make her first European tour at his request. The musical acts at the festival also would gradually broaden to include rock and pop.
An early incident involving the rock group Deep Purple, which had come to Montreux to record an album after performing with Frank Zappa, became forever linked with Nobs.
During a fire at Zappa's concert in 1971, Nobs rushed to save several young concert-goers. Deep Purple's hit song, "Smoke on the Water," would memorialize the accident — Nobs as "Funky Claude" pulling kids to safety.
Two years later, Nobs became director of the Swiss branch of Warner, Elektra and Atlantic, a position that gave him added clout to introduce heavyweights on the Montreux stage.
By the 1990s, he was sharing festival-directing duties with the music producer Quincy Jones and bringing in Miles Davis as an honorary host.
Nobs, whose enthusiasm for greeting musicians at his office and chalet home cemented his standing and boosted the profile of his home, also became known for occasionally taking the stage to play harmonica.
In an interview with Swiss video magazine NVP3D posted on YouTube, Nobs' compared the mix of tradition and creative innovation that he sought at his festivals to the popular Swiss German breakfast dish Bircher Muesli, a combination of rolled oats, fruits, nuts and dairy products.
"Which means it's going to be like a fruit panorama, like a rainbow of different music, and this is what I like about Montreux," he said in the interview, published in June 2012. "To make it really with such a variety of sound, of smell, of views and scene, that it makes it a real experience.

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Indian rape accused had appeared on reality TV show

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The driver of the bus on which an Indian student was gang-raped and fatally beaten featured three years ago on a television show that was hosted by a former top woman police officer.
Ram Singh, the main accused in last month's assault on the woman in New Delhi, had sought help on the show, "Aap Ki Kacheri" or "Your Court", to get compensation for injuries he sustained in a bus accident, show host Kiran Bedi said.
Bedi, India's most celebrated former woman police officer and now an anti-corruption activist, was host of the Hindi-language program that helped resolve civil disputes.
In that particular episode, which is available on YouTube, Singh and a bus owner who had refused his demands for compensation stood side by side at podiums as Bedi asked each man to make his case.
"Ram Singh tried to bully his former employer," Bedi told Reuters, recalling the episode.
A Delhi police officer confirmed that the man in the show was Singh, one of five men charged with the rape and murder of the 23-year-old student whose ordeal triggered nationwide protests.
Singh is expected to plead not guilty when the trial begins. Defense lawyers have said the prosecution's case is marred by lapses in the investigation.
The rape victim, who had boarded the bus along with a male friend after watching a movie on December 16, died in a Singapore hospital two weeks later.
On the television show, Singh said he was tired of going to a tribunal court to seek compensation for injuries to both his hands.
"I spend a lot of money commuting. I request you to please help," he told Bedi. But the bus owner said he would pay no compensation and accused Singh of "drunken, negligent and rash driving".
Singh did not have any criminal record at the time he appeared on the show, the police officer said.
Bedi said the episode involving Singh was one of the few times when the two sides could not reach a settlement.
"Once we saw all the evidence, I realized that Singh was in the wrong," she said.

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Pa. governor sues NCAA for Penn State sanctions

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — The NCAA imposed landmark sanctions against Penn State over the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal in a cynical ploy to weaken the university and enhance its own dismal reputation, Pennsylvania's governor claims in an unprecedented federal antitrust lawsuit against college sports' governing body.
Gov. Tom Corbett said the NCAA veered dramatically from its own disciplinary rules and procedures when it decreed last summer that Penn State would pay a $60 million fine, and the football team would suffer a four-year postseason ban and a dramatic reduction in the number of athletic scholarships it could offer.
Corbett wants a federal judge to throw out the sanctions, saying they have harmed students, business owners and others who had nothing to do with the former assistant football coach's crimes against children.
"A handful of top NCAA officials simply inserted themselves into an issue they had no authority to police under their own bylaws and one that was clearly being handled by the justice system," Corbett told a news conference on Wednesday.
In a statement, the NCAA said the lawsuit has no merit and called it an "affront" to Sandusky's victims.
Penn State said it had no role in the lawsuit. In fact, it agreed not to sue as part of a deal with the NCAA to accept the sanctions, imposed last July after an investigation found that coach Joe Paterno and other top officials covered up sexual-abuse allegations against Sandusky, a former member of Paterno's staff, for more than a decade in order to shield the university from bad publicity.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday represents an about-face for Corbett. Six months ago, he encouraged Penn State to "accept the serious penalties" imposed by the NCAA.
The deal was highly unpopular with many fans, students and alumni. Corbett, who is up for re-election next year, deflected a question about whether his response has helped or hurt him politically.
"We're not going to get into the politics of this," he said.
Corbett, who appeared on national TV and Pennsylvania talk-radio shows in the state's two largest cities Thursday morning, defended his change of heart.
In an interview on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, Corbett said he changed his mind after concluding that top NCAA officials had bypassed internal committees set up specifically to review and impose sanctions.
"My thought process at the time was, well, if you belong to an association, you have to play by the rules of the association," the governor said. "We looked at the rules of the association and we think that the association didn't play by the rules."
Corbett, a member of the Penn State board of trustees by virtue of his office, said he waited until now to sue over because he wanted to thoroughly research the legal issues and avoid interfering with the football season.
The state's lawsuit alleges the NCAA violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits agreements that restrain interstate commerce. It claims the NCAA "cynically and hypocritically exploited the tragedy" in order to "gain leverage in the court of public opinion, boost the reputation and power of the NCAA's president, enhance the competitive position of certain NCAA members, and weaken a fellow competitor."
The NCAA punished Penn State "without citing a single concrete NCAA rule that Penn State has broken, for conduct that in no way compromised the NCAA's mission of fair competition, and with a complete disregard for the NCAA's own enforcement procedures," the suit added.
Legal experts called it an unusual case whose outcome is difficult to predict.
Howard Langer, a Philadelphia-based attorney specializing in antitrust law, said the state must show the NCAA acted in a way that hurt competition and inflicted the "type of injury that antitrust laws were intended to remedy."
The NCAA has faced antitrust litigation before, with mixed results. In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA's exclusive control over televised college football games. And in 1998, the Supreme Court let stand a ruling that said the NCAA's salary cap for some assistant coaches was unlawful price-fixing.
But federal courts have consistently rejected antitrust challenges to NCAA rules and enforcement actions designed to preserve competitive balance, academic integrity and amateurism in college athletics.
In this case, the courts might not be as sympathetic to the NCAA, said Matthew Mitten, director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee.
"It's difficult to justify the sanctions as necessary to protect the amateur nature of college sports, preserve competitive balance or maintain academic integrity," he said.
Joseph Bauer, an antitrust expert at the University of Notre Dame law school, said of Corbett's line of reasoning: "I don't think it's an easy claim for them to make, but it's certainly a viable claim."
Sandusky, 68, was convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period, some of them on Penn State's campus. He is a serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence.
Michael Boni, a lawyer for one of the victims, said he does not consider the lawsuit an affront. But he said he hopes Corbett takes a leading role in pushing for changes to state child-abuse laws.
"I really question who he's concerned about in this state," Boni said.
Corbett, a Republican, said his office did not coordinate its legal strategy with state Attorney General-elect Kathleen Kane, who is scheduled to be sworn in Jan. 15. Instead, the current attorney general, Linda Kelly — a Corbett appointee — granted the governor authority to pursue the matter.
Kane, a Democrat, ran on a vow to investigate why it took prosecutors nearly three years to charge Sandusky. Corbett was attorney general when his office took over the case in 2009.
Kane had no comment on the lawsuit because she was not consulted about it by Corbett's office.
Paterno's family members said in a statement that they were encouraged by the lawsuit. Corbett "now realizes, as do many others, that there was an inexcusable rush to judgment," they said.
The NCAA erased 14 years of victories under Paterno, who was fired when the scandal broke in 2011 and died of lung cancer a short time later.
An alumni group, Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship, applauded the lawsuit but said Corbett should have asked questions when the NCAA agreement was made.
"If he disapproved of the terms of the NCAA consent decree, or if he thought there was something illegal about them, why didn't he exercise his duty to act long before now?" the group said.

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Jones, Te'o, 2 of college football's good guys

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Alabama center Barrett Jones was hobbling toward the plane, awkwardly clutching crutches and a bag when a helping hand reached out.
"Here, let me get this for you," said Manti Te'o, Notre Dame's star linebacker.
Just a show of good manners from one of college football's best to another as they started an awards circuit that took them from New York to Houston to Orlando. And now they'll meet again, even farther south in the BCS championship Monday.
Jones and Te'o are the most acclaimed players on teams with national honors galore, and their upbeat personalities give college football just what it needs right now — an image boost — after being hit wave upon wave of scandal from State College, Pa., to Miami over the past couple of years.
Both players could be drawing sizable NFL paychecks right now, but they opted to stick around for their senior seasons and wrap up degrees. It's no coincidence that their teams have wound up here playing for a national title.
Te'o's answer Thursday to why he stuck around was telling. Representing Notre Dame, his native Hawaii and his teammates is "one of the biggest pleasures and honors that I get."
"And to just be an example to (Hawaiians) of somebody who made that leap of faith to leave the rock just for a few years and to find comfort in knowing that Hawaii will always be there," said Te'o, the Heisman Trophy runner-up. "You can do a good amount of service to the state by sacrificing a few years away from home to help live your dream, and by you helping to live your dream, you help other people's dreams seem that much more real."
It almost sounds too good to be true.
But teammates, coaches, friends and even acquaintances insist Jones and Te'o are just what they seem: good guys with strong faiths who work hard on and off the field.
They're not just Boy Scouts, though. OK, Te'o actually is an Eagle Scout.
He's also a rugged player who overcame the loss of two loved ones this season. Jones looks like a 6-foot-5, 302-pound version of the kid next door with his boyish blond hair, but he also gutted out most of the Southeastern Conference championship with a sprained left foot.
Te'o has even been known to write poetry, reciting a sizable poem during a talk last summer at Honolulu's newly formed Downtown Athletic Club.
"It was really well done," said Bobby Curran, a Honolulu radio show host who was emcee for the event. "When do you see vicious linebacker types reading poetry? The kid is so self-assured. He didn't have any hesitation. There was no awkwardness or embarrassment or any of that."
Jones grew up learning the violin and memorizing dozens of Bible verses, and was a pretty darn good Scrabble player. He spends his spring breaks on mission trips overseas to places such as Haiti and Nicaragua.
Tide coach Nick Saban has called the lineman "as fine a person as you're ever going to be around — me or you or anyone else — in terms of his willingness to serve other people."
Like Te'o, he says and does the right things.
Without profanity. "He's never cursed," insists Alabama tailback Eddie Lacy. "Ever."
Adds right tackle D.J. Fluker: "There is not a dark side" to Jones.
Their accomplishments almost have to be divided into on the field and off the field for brevity's sake.
Te'o is the first player to ever get a clean sweep of the following litany of awards: Butkus, Nagurski, Lombardi, Bednarik, Maxwell, Lott and Walter Camp player of the year.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said Te'o has responded to all that hardware by practicing harder than he had all season.
"For as talented a player he is, he's a better person," Diaco said, adding that his star defender is "happy, full of life."
"On a day where maybe as a coach you might be feeling a little down or maybe slightly distracted with the world's problems, Manti is easy to see, look at and see his face and immediately be energized," Diaco said. "So that's just the kind of guy that he is."
Te'o is an Academic All-American with a 3.324 GPA in design.
Te'o, a Mormon, showed his character when his girlfriend and grandmother both died within a few hours of each other. He had huge games against Michigan State and, the next week, against Michigan on the day his girlfriend was buried.
"Courageous, is one of the best words I can come up with to describe him," said Mickey Standiford, a member of the Mormon church in South Bend attended by Te'o, who is close with Standiford's family.
"To face those adversities and be able to still focus and have that determination, I think, to want to succeed for them. He wanted those games to be tributes to them. He didn't want it to be about him and the fact that he was out there doing it. It was more that he wanted to bring light to them. Courageous, determined, focused and just family is the most important thing to him."
Jones won the Outland Trophy as a left tackle last season, the Rimington Award as the nation's top center in 2012 and the Campbell Trophy, the Heisman's academic equivalent.
He just finished graduate school in accounting.
"I just feel like I've been gifted with a mind that enjoys school and enjoys learning," Jones said. "I wanted to leave with a master's degree. That was my goal the whole time."
He made a strong impression on Rich Houston, director of Alabama's master of accountancy program. Houston taught Jones in advanced auditing in the fall of 2011, a discussion-heavy course that students call "the current events class."
"The class was at 8 in the morning," he said. "He was always there, and he was the No. 1 participant in class in terms of both quantity and quality. And that includes having some fairly high-profile people in the accounting profession come into the class. He would ask great questions of those people, engage in conversation.
"Even if he wasn't an athlete, I'd be saying all the same things about him. Just what a really, genuinely good kid he is."

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AP: Criminal cases made Pa. AG hand over NCAA suit

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's attorney general said she granted Gov. Tom Corbett the authority to file a federal antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA because the litigation could present a conflict of interest as her office prosecutes three Penn State administrators.
Attorney General Linda Kelly told The Associated Press on Thursday that "an actual conflict of interest could, and likely would, arise if this office were involved in both cases."
"The size and scope of that criminal case, which includes extensive grand jury testimony and other confidential information related to the university, made it untenable for the Office of Attorney General to pursue a civil lawsuit involving the NCAA's sanctions of Penn State," Kelly said. "Given the serious nature of both these cases, keeping these matters separate is the best course of action for the people of Pennsylvania."
Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz and Tim Curley face endangering the welfare of children, obstruction, conspiracy, failure to report suspected child abuse and perjury charges for allegedly covering up complaints and suspicions about Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator who was convicted last summer of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, including attacks inside campus facilities.
Corbett sued the NCAA in federal court on Wednesday, saying a set of penalties imposed against Penn State over its handling of the matter should be thrown out on antitrust grounds. The school agreed to a $60 million fine, a four-year ban on post-season play, a reduction in scholarships and the elimination of more than 100 wins under former coach Joe Paterno.
The NCAA has called Corbett's lawsuit meritless and an affront to the victims of Sandusky, who is now serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence for abuse of 10 boys over 15 years.
Spanier, forced out as president last year after Sandusky's arrest, remains a faculty member but is on paid leave. Curley is serving out the last year of his contract as athletic director, also on leave. Schultz, the school's vice president for business and finance, has retired.
All three have said they are innocent.
Under state law, the attorney general pursues and defends lawsuits involving most state agencies, but can delegate that power for reasons of efficiency or if it is otherwise deemed to be in the best interests of the state.
Kelly said her office received a request from Corbett's lawyer James D. Schultz on Friday, Dec. 14, for permission to sue the NCAA. Her office granted it three days later, she said. That authority, signed by the chief of her litigation section, can be terminated or amended by the attorney general's office, and it does not cover any appeals.

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BGreaterThanU.com's 'Best Tips' to Keep New Year Resolutions a Reality

Inspirational website B>U feature individuals who spend their time to become better human beings. B>U uses the New Year to promote their simple tips to help people fulfill their New Year's resolutions.

Austin, TX (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
U Website" onclick="linkClick(this.href)">B>U is a website designed to feature those individuals who do those little things each day to become a greater person for a greater world. It is no surprise that B>U uses the New Year's resolutions to offer these 'best tips' to make sure goals are followed through and achieved.
Create a B>U calendar where goals can be managed. Make the calendar into a form that is easy to view, use and measure progress. There are several goal-setting apps that are for sale or free and easy to use.
Break down goals in small time-bounded increments to easily manage. Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day.
Be realistic. Know limitations and expectations but not at the expense of short-changing the goals or as an excuse to be lazy.
Make it personal. Especially for weight loss or exercise. Find the method(s) that is the most fun or enjoyable.
Find B>U partner(s) to share the journey. Creating a team to challenge and encourage each other can be the best motivator to stay on course for all involved. Many people will continue just to not let the team down.
Show forgiveness. It is OK If the goals aren’t met at specific dates or points. The real goal is to not forget or abandon the resolutions throughout the year.
Benny Hsu, founder of GetBusyLivingBlog.com recommends finding a person to help make sure goals are being met on a timely basis.
"Find an accountability [method] to help you stick to your resolutions. Talk to that person once a week to report how you've done for the week."
Another simple way to refer to these B>U 'best tips' to achieving goals is to use the SMART method. SMART goals are those that are specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and time-bounded.
During the process, B>U offers their U Facebook Page" onclick="linkClick(this.href)">facebook page and website to post progress and achievements for others to comment and praise. B>U is creating a community of individuals who share the same goal of improving themselves.

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FootPals Donates to Local Women's Charity

FootPals Children's shoes announced on Monday their continued support and monthly monetary donation to a Portland, Maine Women's Shelter.

Boston (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
FootPals Children's shoes announced on Monday their continued support and monthly monetary donation to a Portland, Maine Women's Shelter.
The small Maine-based company, comprised of parents and grandparents, prides themselves on their commitment to community, investing in the future, and in the future's feet. That is why they give back, not just with creating comfortable and durable shoes for children, but also in giving more to those who have less.
“I look at my family and feel so blessed, especially around the holiday season,” says co-owner Pat Driscoll. “Growing up, my parents taught me that you should always give; that there will always be those in need of help. With that thinking in mind, we are donating 5% of our pre-tax profits to a women’s shelter in our home state of Maine. Our hope is to help these families, displaced by abusive or violent situations, get back on their feet.”
"Most people's holiday traditions include donating to those in need. But for us here at FootPals we see the need to do more for those we're already giving to. Many people tend to forget during the other 11 months of the year that if we have something to give back to our community, we should. I am proud to work for a company that puts our children and future first instead of themselves," says marketing coordinator Jamie Proctor-Brassard. "And I'm proud to give FootPals shoes to my nieces and nephew, win win in my book!"
FootPals are available for purchase on http://www.FootPals.com. Priced at $39.99, the shoes boast quality details like intricate stitching and dimensional eyes, and durable, lightweight and flexible soles. They're also easy to take on and off, as the shoes have velcro, and the boots have zippers. With children of their own, FootPals priority is to create comfortable and durable shoes that they're proud to put on their children's feet - and that their children love to wear.

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Montway Auto Transport Announces Instant Vehicle Shipping Quotes Widget for ClassicCars dot Com

Montway Auto Transport, the award winning car moving and vehicle shipping services provider based just outside Chicago, IL announced today that they've created an Instant Classic Car Shipping Rate Widget exclusively for the vintage auto buyers, dealers and private sellers of ClassicCars dot com.

CHICAGO, IL (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
The car shipping and vehicle moving specialists of suburban Chicago's Montway Auto Transport have announced the launch of their Instant Auto Shipping Quote Widget on ClassicCars dot com, the world's largest online marketplace devoted to classic and pre-1991 collector vehicles. With a catalog of more than 30,000 collectable automobiles at any given time, ClassicCars dot com is home of a simply incredible selection of classic vehicles for sale. This new partnership will ensure the easy accessibility of auto delivery costs for ClassicCars dot com's buyers, dealers and private sellers.
When you're a collector shopping for a vintage automobile, the ability to quickly identify a door-to-door transport and delivery rate at the price comparison stage is critical to locating the best bargains. Montway's ClassicCars dot com widget gives classic car dealers access to an expanded marketplace by giving collectors and enthusiast’s instant vehicle shipping information to help them more informed car buying decisions. And, Montway Auto Transport’s ClassicCars Instant Shipping Rate Widget is so easy to use, even less than Internet savvy vintage automobile collectors will be able to use the online tool with ease.
Once they’ve spotted a vehicle they’re interested in, classic car shoppers will only need to provide their zip code to get their auto transport costs estimate then click "More Info" to be taken to a car specific rate and booking page on Montway.com. There they’ll be able to choose between rates for having their latest classic car find delivered to their door via an open car carrier or an enclosed auto transporter then schedule their car shipment online. It’s that simple. Cargo Insurance is included in the rate and no personal info is required.
In addition to providing online rate quotes, the Montway Auto Transport widget on ClassicCars dot com provides users a link to Montway.com for lower, promotional rates and to access auto transport tips and industry news. Vintage automobile dealers can use the widget to drop by Montway.com for car moving quotes, to track vehicle shipments, and quickly access Montway Auto Transport's Car Relocation Specialists.
"Our continuing partnership with ClassicCars dot com and the new Instant Car Shipping Quote widget we've developed for their visitors demonstrates our continued dedication to expanding the vintage vehicle marketplace for buyers and sellers alike. By making auto delivery easier to price, we make comparison shopping easier for buyers and by making shipping options so accessible we make it easier for dealers to sell out of state or across country," said Mike Mihailov President and CEO of Montway Auto Transport. "It the perfect complement to ClassicCars dot com's online classifieds and offers antique automobile dealers and classic car collectors alike access to instant auto shipping quotes while they're shopping online."
Montway Auto Transport will continue to release new features for its ClassicCars widget going forward, focused on providing fast and easy to use tools for shipping vintage autos nationwide. Montway Auto Transport's growing fleet and network of independent operators allows dealers to reach more collectors and lets collectors ship their latest vintage car finds safely and affordably. Now, with its new widget at ClassicCars dot com easy vintage auto delivery is as close as any antique beauty you have your eye on online.
ABOUT MONTWAY AUTO TRANSPORT
Montway Auto Transport is an award winning, five star rated, car moving and vehicle shipping company based just outside Chicago in Des Plaines, Illinois. By providing fast, secure and reliable door-to-door automobile delivery Montway's earned the trust of car dealers, classic car collectors and everyday car owners alike. They offer free online auto transport quote's and affordable automotive shipping services to customers ranging from the owners of luxury automobiles and classic collector vehicles to regular car, truck or van owners.
Because they move over 20,000 vehicles a year, they not only maintain a private fleet of open and enclosed car carriers, they're also licensed to access to independent vehicle hauling fleets nationwide. So whether you need your car transported from Florida to California, your van shipped from Texas to Massachusetts or your truck moved from New York to Illinois; Montway has you covered! Just visit them online at Montway dot com or call 888-666-8929 to speak to a vehicle relocation specialist today.

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Angola: Stampede kills 13 at religious gathering

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The death toll in a stampede on New Year's Eve at a sports stadium in Angola has risen to 13, and some of the victims were children, Angolan media reported Wednesday.
Officials said about 120 people were also injured in the incident, which happened when tens of thousands of people tried to enter a stadium in the capital, Luanda, for a religious gathering, according to Angop, the Angolan news agency.
Faustino Sebastiao, spokesman for the national firefighters department, said those who died were crushed and asphyxiated.
The event in the southern African nation was organized by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, an evangelical group founded in Brazil.
In western Africa, a crowd in Ivory Coast stampeded after leaving a New Year's fireworks show early Tuesday, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 200.

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C. African Republic leader dismisses son

DAMARA, Central African Republic (AP) — The embattled president of Central African Republic has dismissed his son as the country's defense minister.
The move late Wednesday comes as President Francois Bozize faces a coalition of rebel groups who are seeking his ouster.
National radio announced that his son Francis Bozize will no longer be the defense minister.
Chief of Staff Gen. Guillaume Lapo is also leaving the government, according to the announcement.
Francois Bozize has been in power since 2003 and in the past month he has faced a growing threat as rebels have seized 10 towns across the north.
Bozize has announced he's willing to negotiate with the rebels but he said he will not leave office before his current term ends in 2016.

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Ivory Coast stampede survivors blame barricades

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Survivors of a stampede in Ivory Coast that killed 61 people, most of them children and teenagers, after a New Year's Eve fireworks display said Wednesday that makeshift barricades stopped them from moving along a main boulevard, causing the crush of people.
Ivory Coast police said unknown people put tree trunks across the Boulevard de la Republique where the trampling took place.
"For security, because there were so many important people at the event, we closed certain main streets," said a police officer who was overheard briefing Ivory Coast President Alassane Outtara on the incident. The police officer said the tree trunks were put out unofficially by people who are not known.
"After the fireworks we reopened the other streets, but we had not yet removed the tree trunks from the Boulevard de la Republique, in front of the Hotel Tiana near the National Assembly (parliament) building," she said. "That is where the stampede happened when people flooded in from the other streets."
Ouattara ordered three days of national mourning and launched an investigation into the causes of the tragedy.
Two survivors, in interviews with The Associated Press, indicated why so many died in what would normally be an open area, the Boulevard de la Republique. An estimated 50,000 people had gathered near the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium and elsewhere in Abidjan's Plateau district to watch the fireworks. As they streamed away from the show some encountered the blockades.
"Near the Justice Palace we were stopped by some people who put blockades of wood in the street," 33-year-old Zoure Sanate said from her bed in Cocody Hospital. "They told us we must stay in the Plateau area until morning. None of us accepted to stay in Plateau until the morning for a celebration that ended at around 1 a.m.
"Then came the stampede of people behind us," she said. "My four children and I were knocked to the ground. I was hearing my kids calling me, but I was powerless and fighting against death. Two of my kids are in hospital with me, but two others are missing. They cannot be found."
Another hospital patient, Brahima Compaore, 39, said he also was caught in the pile of people stopped by the roadblock.
"I found myself on the ground and people were walking on me," said Compaore. "I was only saved by people who pulled me onto the sidewalk."
Local newspapers are speculating that thieves put up the roadblocks so that pickpockets could steal money and mobile phones from the packed-in people.
Ouattara pledged to get answers. Some observers wondered why police did not prevent the tragedy.
"The investigation must take into account all the testimonies of victims," he said Wednesday. "We will have a crisis center to share and receive information."
Ouattara also postponed the traditional New Year's receptions at his residence, which had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
The leader of a human rights organization said that deadly incidents were predictable because the police and civil authorities had not taken adequate protective measures.
"The situation is deplorable," said Thierry Legre, president of the Ivorian League of Human Rights. "It is our first tragedy of 2013 but in 2012 we could already see possibility of such a tragedy because there are not adequate authorities patrolling our roads and waters."
Legre said the New Year's stampede "exposes our weak and dysfunctional civil protection system. This must be corrected immediately. The government cannot invite people to this kind of public gathering without taking adequate precautions to protect their safety and their lives."
He called on the government "to implement measures to avoid such tragedies in the future by reinforcing the civil protection system."
The government organized the fireworks to celebrate Ivory Coast's peace, after several months of political violence in early 2011 following disputed elections.
Just one night before the New Year's incident, there had been a big concert at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium where American rap star Chris Brown performed. That Sunday night event was for the Kora Awards for African musicians. No serious incidents were reported from that event.
In 2009, 22 people died and over 130 were injured in a stampede at a World Cup qualifying match at the Houphouet Boigny Stadium, prompting FIFA, soccer's global governing body, to impose a fine of tens of thousands of dollars on Ivory Coast's soccer federation. The stadium, which officially holds 35,000, was overcrowded at the time of the disaster.
Another African stadium tragedy occurred on New Year's Eve in Angola where 13 people, including four children, died in a stampede during a religious gathering at a sports stadium in Luanda, the capital.
Angop, the Angolan news agency, cited officials as saying Tuesday that 120 people were also injured. The incident happened on New Year's Eve when tens of thousands of people gathered at the stadium and panic ensued. Faustino Sebastiao, spokesman for the national firefighters department, says those who died were crushed and asphyxiated.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "deep sorrow" at the heavy human toll and put "a medical team and all available logistical means at the disposal of the government," to help deal with the situation, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

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Tennis-More woe for Sydney organisers after Tsonga withdrawal

SYDNEY, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Fresh off losing their top two men's seeds, Sydney International organisers were left with a nightmare scenario on Saturday when their top two local hopes were drawn against each other in the first round.
Just hours after top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and his French compatriot Richard Gasquet withdrew from the Australian Open warmup tournament, Australian number one Marinko Matosevic was drawn against compatriot Bernard Tomic in the first round.
The 27-year-old Matosevic, who was the ATP Tour's most improved player last year after jumping from 201 to 49th in the world, has moved ahead of Tomic, who faded in 2012 after a meteoric rise in 2011 and finished the year ranked 52nd.
The 20-year-old Tomic, who was also dumped from the Australian Davis Cup team because of doubts about his commitment, has actually been in good form at the Hopman Cup in Perth, winning all three singles matches, including a 6-4 6-4 victory over world number one Novak Djokovic.
World number eight Tsonga was earlier forced to withdraw from the Sydney tournament with a hamstring injury that he sustained at the Hopman Cup and he will be facing a battle to be fit for the Jan. 14-27 Australian Open in Melbourne.
"Unfortunately Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sustained an injury in Perth and has been forced to pull out ... with a left hamstring injury," Sydney tournament director Craig Watson said in a statement.
Gasquet, who would have been top seed after Tsonga's withdrawal, pulled out for "personal reasons", Watson said.
The 10th-ranked Gasquet reached the final of the Qatar Open against a resurgent Nikolay Davydenko and possibly felt he had enough match practice under his belt before the year's first grand slam begins at Melbourne Park on Jan. 14.

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Tennis-Li gets Melbourne boost with Shenzhen title

Jan 5 (Reuters) - Top seed Li Na survived a mid-match meltdown to overcome Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-3 1-6 7-5 in the final of the inaugural Shenzhen Open on Saturday, earning the Chinese a seventh career title.
World number seven Li, who won the 2011 French Open, looked in danger of disappointing the home fans after surrendering her serve in the first game of the deciding set.
Li, who beat fellow Chinese Peng Shuai 6-4 6-0 in Friday's semi-finals, hit back to win five of the next six games but from 5-2 up allowed fifth seed Zakopalova to draw level at 5-5.
In a topsy-turvy finish encapsulating the match, Li collected herself to put together two solid games and give her a boost ahead of the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 14.
Li reached the final of the year's first grand slam in Melbourne in 2011 before going on to become China's first major singles champion in Paris.
Saturday's victory was Li's second WTA title in China, following her breakthrough at Guangzhou in 2004 when she became the first Chinese winner on the women's tour.
The $500,000 Shenzhen tournament became the third event in China on the WTA calendar for 2013 as tennis continues to expand in the country after Li's recent success.

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Li gets Melbourne boost with Shenzhen title

Top seed Li Na survived a mid-match meltdown to overcome Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-3 1-6 7-5 in the final of the inaugural Shenzhen Open on Saturday, earning the Chinese a seventh career title.
World number seven Li, who won the 2011 French Open, looked in danger of disappointing the home fans after surrendering her serve in the first game of the deciding set.
Li, who beat fellow Chinese Peng Shuai 6-4 6-0 in Friday's semi-finals, hit back to win five of the next six games but from 5-2 up allowed fifth seed Zakopalova to draw level at 5-5.
In a topsy-turvy finish encapsulating the match, Li collected herself to put together two solid games and give her a boost ahead of the Australian Open, which begins on January 14.
Li reached the final of the year's first grand slam in Melbourne in 2011 before going on to become China's first major singles champion in Paris.
Saturday's victory was Li's second WTA title in China, following her breakthrough at Guangzhou in 2004 when she became the first Chinese winner on the women's tour.
The $500,000 Shenzhen tournament became the third event in China on the WTA calendar for 2013 as tennis continues to expand in the country after Li's recent success.

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