Lakers get a break before NBA finals

Kobe Bryant was positively giddy.

The Los Angeles Lakers star and his teammates, resplendent in caps and T-shirts honoring their Western Conference championship, were celebrating on the Staples Center floor as Jerry West spoke to the crowd.

The 70-year-old West, known as Mr. Clutch during a Hall of Fame career with the Lakers, presented his former team with the conference championship trophy following its 100-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

?I?ve seen a lot of great players in my life, but you people in L.A. are very privileged to see this young man here, Kobe Bryant. He?s something special,? West said.

?A dream come true, the answer to a prayer,? a beaming Bryant would tell the fans a few minutes later.

West was the Lakers? general manager 12 years ago when he pulled off a deal even greater than the Pau Gasol heist, acquiring Bryant from Charlotte for center Vlade Divac a couple of weeks after the NBA draft. Divac was expendable because the Lakers were about to sign free agent Shaquille O?Neal.

The Alamodome is a 65,000 seat, multi-purpose facility that is primarily used as a football/basketball stadium and convention center in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, at a cost of $186 million. Alamodome is home of 2008 Final Four!

Along with placating the San Antonio Spurs ownership?s demands for a larger basketball venue, the multi-purpose facility was intended to increase the city?s convention traffic and attract a professional football franchise. The Spurs played basketball in the Alamodome for a decade, but became disenchanted with the facility and convinced Bexar County to construct them and the San Antonio Livestock Exposition Inc. a new arena now called the AT&T Center.

The Alamodome was constructed after voters in 1989 approved a five-year, half-cent sales tax increase that was collected by VIA Metropolitan Transit, the local transit authority. Upon completion of the facility, it was nearly debt-free and showed a net operating profit within its first two years of operation. On June 9, 1994, ownership of the Alamodome was transferred from the transit authority to the City of San Antonio.

On April 15, 2005, the San Antonio City Council voted to spend close to $6.5 million to renovate the Alamodome in an effort to lure a Major League Soccer franchise to the city. After the election of Phil Hardberger as the new mayor, those efforts were abandoned, though the approved renovations to the facility will continue as planned. The city administration and local business leaders have re-focused their efforts to bringing an NFL franchise to San Antonio.

On April 19, 2007, the San Antonio City Council unanimously approved an additional $8.3 million to fund renovations and enhancements to the facility. Many NCAA tickets you can find at Ticket Solution.

Although when the Alamodome was built it was an ideal state-of-the-art NFL stadium, by today?s standards the facility would have to undergo renovations and add a considerable number of luxury suites in order to make it a profitable venue for an NFL team. Preliminary estimates put the cost of improvements at $100-150 million.

With the Super Bowl on the line, look who had the perfection thing down Pat: Eli Manning and the road-conquering New York Giants.And what a beauty their 11th straight road victory was, a 17-14 Super Bowl win Sunday that shattered the New England Patriots? unblemished season.

In one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, Manning, New York?s unlikely Mr. Cool, hit Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard fade with 35 seconds left. It was the Giants? fourth consecutive postseason away win and the first time the Patriots tasted defeat in more than a year.

?There?s something about this team,? Manning said. ?The way we win games, and performed in the playoffs in the stretch. We had total confidence in ourselves. The players believed in each other.?

It was the most bitter of losses, too, because 12-point favorite New England (18-1) was one play from winning and getting the ultimate revenge for being penalized for illegally taping opponents? defensive signals in the season opener against the New York Jets.

?I don?t rank them,? Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. ?It?s disappointing.?

The Giants had the perfect answer for the suddenly imperfect Patriots: a big, bad defense and the improbable comeback led by Manning. Yes, Eli Manning, who outplayed league MVP Tom Brady and furthered the family legacy one year after older brother Peyton led Indianapolis to the title.

It was the most delicious moment of Carlo Colaiacovo’s hockey season.

The Toronto-born defenceman, who has been limited by injuries to only eight games, threw his arms skyward in celebration after scoring the winning goal for the Maple Leafs in a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

“It feels special, it really does,” Colaiacovo said of his first goal in a season interrupted by long stretches as a limping bystander. “The more special part is the win.

“We battled real hard the last week not getting the fate that we wanted but (Saturday) things went our way and we got what we wanted.”

The injury-depleted Leafs had argued they got a raw deal in losing 3-2 at Carolina on Thursday. This time, the breaks went their way, and they didn’t take a penalty all night. They remain 14th in the NHL’s Eastern Conference and a playoff berth is highly unlikely, but wins like this one keep the post-season flame flickering, albiet faintly.

“We’ve not giving up in here,” Colaiacovo pledged. “We’re a determined bunch and we’re going to continue playing right to the end.”

Dominic Moore and Jiri Tlusty staked Toronto to a two-goal lead, goals for Ottawa by Nick Foligno late in the first period and by Chris Neil early in the third tied it, and the Leafs pulled ahead to stay on goals by Colaiacovo and Jason Blake.

Denver Nuggets forward Nene has apologized for putting out a statement claiming a tumor on his testicle was benign before later admitting it had been malignant.

The 25-year-old had surgery on January 14 to remove the tumor. He posted a statement on his web site three days later saying the tumor had been benign, but the Nuggets set the record straight on January 22, revealing the tumor was malignant but saying the cancer had not spread.

“I would like to apologize for the incorrect information that was disclosed,” Nene said in a statement Sunday. “There was no bad-faith or intention to fool anyone upon the announcement of a wrong result for the biopsy - it was a miscommunication within our staff and we were all very upset with what happened.
“But the worst part is over, I am very happy with the result of the exams, happy for feeling better.”

To ensure he remains cancer-free, Nene will have check-ups every six months for 10 years.

He is currently on an indefinite leave of absence, but visited the Nuggets during practice on Thursday.

“It was wonderful to meet my basketball family, my Denver teammates, and I was surprised with the support and the way they welcomed me back,” Nene said. “It is because of emotions like this that I see how difficult it will be to stay away from the courts.

“My mind is there, with the team, but my body needs to rest and to recover. And to know that I am recovering is a big comfort. I had the opportunity to talk with my coach Karl, who also faced very difficult moments and won such battles.”

The 6-11 Nene has appeared in 12 games this season for the Nuggets, averaging 6.4 points and 6.4 rebounds. He missed 22 games after undergoing surgery on his left thumb in early November.