HEART ATTACK TAKES WAKE COACH

Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser died Thursday, apparently from a heart attack. He was 56.

Prosser was found slumped on his office couch and unresponsive by director of basketball operations Mike Muse shortly after returning from his noon jog, athletics director Ron Wellman said. Medical personnel performed CPR and used a defibrillator on Prosser, who was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and pronounced dead at 1:41 p.m.

Prosser took over at Wake Forest in 2001 after coaching at Xavier for seven seasons, including five straight NCAA Tournament bids. He coached for one season at Loyola (Md.) in 1993-94. He was the only coach in NCAA Tournament history to lead three different schools to the tournament in his first season at the school.

Prosser's career record was 291-146 (.666). Prosser was 126-68 in six seasons at Wake Forest. He also led Wake Forest to the program's first No. 1 national ranking during the 2004-05 season. While there, he coached future NBA stars Chris Paul and Josh Howard, and was the ACC coach of the year in 2003.

By all accounts, he was a great guy.

NIFONG ADMITS: NO CRIME IN LACROSSE CASE

(Forbes.com) It took three tries for disgraced former prosecutor Mike Nifong to utter the words that three Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape were determined to hear him say.

On Thursday, more than 16 months after beginning a disastrous prosecution of the former players, Nifong offered a complete and unqualified apology. After two rebuffed attempts to express remorse for his mishandling of the case, Nifong acknowledged there is "no credible evidence" to support allegations the men attacked a stripper during a team party last year.

"We all need to heal," Nifong said during a court hearing. "It is my hope that we can start this process today."

Nifong's apology came as a judge began the process of considering whether to hold the former Durham County district attorney in criminal contempt of court for his handling of the discredited case.

DUKE FANTASY IS AN ADULT REALITY

Luciana Chavez – Raleigh News Observer

DURHAM - When Duke touts its annual basketball fantasy camp as a chance to learn what it's like to be a Duke player, the only thing missing is hearing a full volume rant in your ear from Mike Krzyzewski himself.

"The coaches do [get loud]; you'd be shocked. During games there is a lot of competition," Krzyzewski said Wednesday while opening the fifth annual K Academy at the Emily Krzyzewski Family Life Center.
"Unlike me, guys are yelling at the refs, standing up, getting tech fouls. The behavior is not as good, but it's very intense."

Krzyzewski, joking on his own reputation for colorful behavior during games, doesn't coach a team at the fantasy camp.

He leaves that to former players such as Johnny Dawkins, Jay Bilas, Chris Carrawell and J.J. Redick.
"I'm not coaching, so I'm interacting," he said, adding that a postcamp glass or two of wine keeps him even more relaxed. "It's a lot of fun."

Krzyzewski said the academy raises $700,000 to 750,000 per year, money that funds basketball scholarships and the Emily K Center.

This year, 87 male campers -- minimum age is 35 -- dropped $10,000 each for the right to stay at the Washington Duke; study film, dress in the Duke locker rooms and play in Cameron Indoor Stadium; and get the skinny behind the Duke program from the 60-year-old coach himself.
According to the camp media guide -- yes, you heard that right -- campers come from as far as Switzerland and England.

The camp staff goes all out to make it real. They even "recruited" players a few years ago. Several weeks before the camp, campers received letters from Krzyzewski and Duke saying he was looking forward to seeing them play. The campers arrived to find faxes under their doors.

"Yeah, we say things like, 'I saw you tonight; those two points you got were unbelievable,' " Krzyzewski said. "Then at the end, we had them all sign letters of intent and we framed them."

This year's "senior class" -- anyone with four years at the academy -- will be honored at a senior banquet.

And when the championship team is crowned Sunday, players will go to the podium to receive their trophy as the NCAA Tournament theme song, "One Shining Moment" plays in the background.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

MICHAEL VICK asked for a jury trial and pleaded not guilty to a variety of animal cruelty charges in federal court yesterday in Virginia. In this file photo recently uncovered, Vick was attacked by an angry canine during a Falcon's game last season.

Can't say as we blame him (the dog).

ACC OFFICIALS WANT A HEFTY RAISE

A spokesman for the ACC’s basketball officials has contacted ACC Commissioner John Swofford to announce that they are looking for a “substantial raise” prior to the 2007-2008 hoop season.

At a press conference this morning, Swofford said the letter from the officials was “short and sweet” and that their justification for higher wages were simply that “we don’t gamble on the games and we don’t cheat.” According to Swofford, the letter said, “We run a tight ship. We call them like we see them except when it comes to Duke. We give them some slack because Krzicjvhbdk8ski is a mean S.O.B. and he makes all those weird faces which, quite frankly, are a bit disconcerting. Other than that we never vary off the line.”

During the same annual wide-ranging news conference Tuesday, Swofford also said the ACC has performed background checks for the past year on game officials in three sports in an effort to prevent gambling scandals like the one faced by the NBA. Swofford said the checks were approved by university presidents two years ago and began last year on officials in football and men's and women's basketball.

None of the officials investigated showed any warning signs that might have led to a removal from officiating games.

"There wasn't anything that we saw that concerned us, that stimulated our belief that we should take this route," Swofford said. "But this whole issue of gambling is so prevalent in our society. ... We just simply want to do everything we can proactively to have that kind of integrity in our officials as well as our student-athletes."

He said the ACC wants to avoid the gambling scandal faced by the NBA. Former referee Tim Donaghy is under federal investigation for allegedly betting on games he officiated. Authorities are examining whether Donaghy made calls to affect the point spread in games on which he or associates had wagered thousands of dollars over the past two seasons.

EVERYBODY HATES SPORTS

Sally Jenkins in today's Washington Post:

"Everyone has their own level of tolerance, the tipping point at which they abandon ingenuousness. It's hard to find any plain honesty on playing fields this week; suspicion is everywhere: Barry Bonds, the slug who passes for a slugger in baseball, keeps hitting home runs. NFL quarterback Michael Vick is indicted for tormenting dogs, and at the moment banned from training camp. Steroids have supposedly shown up in golf, and another Tour de France leader is accused of doping. If games reflect a society's values, then welcome to Rome just before the fall."

OUCH! Well said. Interesting reading, here's the link.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072301724.html

BEAMER AMBASSADOR FOR TECH FOLLOWING APRIL TRAGEDY

By Adam Kilgore, Washington Post, Tuesday, July 24, 2007
PINEHURST, N.C., July 23 -- As Virginia Tech's football program has grown over the past 20 years, Coach Frank Beamer's role has expanded, too. The Hokies have gone from a regional obsession to a top 25 fixture, and Beamer has become a spokesman of sorts for the engineering school tucked in the mountains of southwest Virginia.

So Beamer understands as well as anyone what the coming season portends in the wake of the campus shootings in April. "There's never been more people in the country paying attention to what Virginia Tech does," he said.

On Monday, Beamer addressed the media for the first time since the day following the tragedy, in which a student killed 32 students and faculty members before committing suicide. A swarm of reporters, more than twice the size any other coach faced at ACC media day, huddled around Beamer, a certain preview of what's to come.

Beamer understands that the spotlight is on him -- "I deal in reality," he said -- and he accepts his role, a football coach turned campus ambassador.

"He takes it on," tackle Duane Brown said. "He's been there for a long time [20 years]. When people think of Virginia Tech, they think about Coach Beamer. I don't think he minds it at all."

On Monday, Beamer talked about how close the campus and the team has become, how Blacksburg is still the safest place he knows and one "very sick individual" won't change that. He stayed on message like a politician, every answer returning to how strong the Virginia Tech community is.

The video clip of Beamer dabbing at a tear in his eye after the shootings on April 16 has been shown hundreds of times. In the hours after the shootings, Beamer frantically tried to contact his players while his wife, Cheryl, watched the news "too much," she said. For Beamer now, the sadness mixes with anger.

"With me, it's painful," he said. "The kids that were shot, the victim's families. The hurt and the pain were there. I told those people we're never going to forget you. But after that, it kind of upsets me."

"I think it's affected Frank," said Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen, a close friend of Beamer's. "We haven't talked a lot about it, just some. What do you do? How will your life ever be the same?"

Beamer on Monday also fielded questions about his program's most famous product -- Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons. Vick, who quarterbacked the Hokies to the 1999 national championship game, was indicted last week on federal conspiracy charges related to alleged involvement in a dogfighting operation.

Beamer said he last spoke with Vick at the NFL draft in New York in April. On Monday, Beamer said he was unaware of any involvement Vick might have had in dogfighting while he was at Virginia Tech.

"I know Michael Vick as a very caring, a very concerned, a very good person," Beamer said. "I'm going to wait until this is all said and done to change any of my thoughts or to make any other observations. Because I know how I feel about Michael."

Beamer glad-handed and hugged old friends as he walked through the Pinehurst Resort. During the news conference, a reporter asked what a national championship would mean for his coaching résumé. "I think there's a good bonus in my contract," he said, slowly cracking a wide smile. "My wife is pulling for it."

Players will report for preseason camp on Aug. 1 and start practice the next day, another deluge of reporters waiting. Because spring practice was canceled in the aftermath of the shootings, Aug. 1 will be the first time the team meets since the tragedy. Beamer's first message, he said, will be stressing "how many people want to see what Virginia Tech does."

"He tries not to talk too much about the incident," Brown said. "But it's hard to ignore it."

"You had 32 people shot on your campus, and that's what people are going to remember," Beamer said. "But I say, people are going to remember that we had a terrible, terrible tragedy on our campus, but I think we're going to be remembered about how we reacted to the situation. And I could not be more proud of Virginia Tech right now."

PICTURE OF THE DAY

IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT to get somebody -- ANYBODY -- to pay attention to the Pan Am Games, the organizors once again try the old "Crazy Looking Ball Trick." Soeli Zakrze3ski (R) of Brazil fights for the ball with Marissa Coleman of USA during the women basketball gold medal match in the XV Pan American Games Rio 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. No one knows who actually won the game.

Although it appears that Zakrze6ski (a distant cousin of Duke's Mike Krzyvbhkdjgfl9ski) has fouled Coleman, the official, some chap named Donaghy on leave from the NBA, did not make the call.




(Photo by Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 2

THE EVIDENCE IS UNDER MONSIEUR'S HAT...A French gendarme enters the Palmeraie Hotel, 24 July 2007 in Pau after it was revealed that Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov had tested positive for blood doping after the individual time-trial in Albi. Astana team subsequently announced after his test failure they were quitting the race because if "they didn't cheat, they didn't have a chance. Just ask Borat."

(Photo by Franck Fife/Getty Images)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 3

"IT IS NOT MY DOG..." What does a French gendarme say to a paparazzi who has just stepped in dog poop outside the Palmeraie Hotel in Pau, after it was revealed that Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov was just another "cheating bicycle bastard?"

(Photo by Frankck Fife/AFP/Getty Images)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 4

A GROUP OF NBA LEGENDS, including Len Elmore, seen here wearing a 1980's costume at a 2005 retrospective, called for the league to impose lie-detector tests and more frequent and tougher background checks on referees in the wake of a gambling scandal.

Commissioner David Stern said he'd take Elmore more "seriously" if he "lost the wig."

(Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

DOWN GOES VICK

OUCH…We aren’t giant Bob Lipper fans, but here is his take on Michael Vick’s dog fighting indictment from today’s Richmond Times Dispatch…

“He's done.

Michael Vick's run as a megastar celebrity athlete officially ended yesterday. At best, his image has been battered beyond repair. At worst, he could be facing perp walks, orange jumpsuits and prison bars. Either way, he's essentially finished as an NFL poster child and cash cow. Either way, his razzle-dazzle time is over…”

http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/sports.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-07-18-0148.html

DUKE’S NELSON HURT (ALL TOGETHER: AHWWWW…)

Duke guard DeMarcus Nelson will be sidelined at least six weeks after desurgery to repair a debroken bone in his left dewrist.

The surgery, performed Tuesday at Duke University Medical Center, repaired a scaphoid fracture suffered during last week's Pan American Games Trials in Haverford, Pa.

Nelson, who will be a senior, was the Blue Devils' leading scorer and second-leading rebounder last season, when he averaged 14 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Nelson's Duke career has been plagued by injuries, including a ruptured thumb ligament his freshman year and a broken right ankle as a sophomore.

His surgery comes about a week after Duke center Brian Zoubek underwent a procedure to repair a broken bone in his left foot.

“You bet, I’m f$%&ing pissed,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzxkjcbhvndls3ski.

MIAMI QB INJURED IN CAR WRECK

Miami freshman quarterback Robert Marve expects to miss the 2007 season because of injuries sustained earlier this week in a car crash, his family said.

"It's safe to say we're pretty much guaranteed that Robert will have a redshirt season," the quarterback's father, Eugene Marve, said in Tuesday's editions of The Tampa Tribune. "It's a setback, but the most important thing is he will overcome this injury."

Marve broke a wrist, dislocated a ring finger and cut his left, non-throwing hand, the newspaper said, and the injuries were so severe that he nearly needed to have his pinkie finger amputated.

Marve was among three Miami players in the one-car crash; the others were sophomore linebacker Colin McCarthy and freshman receiver Jermaine McKenzie, who was driving Marve's 2007 Dodge Charger on Interstate 75 near Naples when he reportedly fell asleep and lost control around 12:05 a.m. Monday. The car rolled several times before coming to rest on its roof.

"I'm happy to be alive," Marve said.

McKenzie -- who was ticketed for careless driving -- broke a neck vertebrae in the crash and could miss anywhere from six to 12 weeks, relatives said. McCarthy apparently only had minor injuries.

Alcohol was not a factor, the Florida Highway Patrol said although they speculated that the three had smoked some “awesome weed” and actually had the wreck on the “way to get beer.”

PICTURE OF THE DAY

FLUMMOXED by their inability to police blood doping and drug use, officials of the 94th Tour de France are now requiring all riders to participate naked. Here, a rider carries a bike in the Galibier after the ninth stage of the 94th Tour de France cycling race between Val d'Isere and Briancon, 17 July 2007.

(Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 2

OH SH&%!! NOW WHAT? Yet another mortified (but drug free) rider falls to the ground in the depths of dispair after learning that following the scandal that has engulfed the 94th Tour de France his team plane has delivered him to a new and different competition -- the Tour de Afganistan - The Hunt for Osama.

(Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 3

TOTALLY DISTRAUGHT by all the scandal surrounding the 94th Tour De France, a group of famous riders breakaway from tradition and join the World Naked Bike Ride Tour, better known as the Tour de Ass.

(Photo courtesy of some other naked guy on a bike)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 4

AN ARKANSAS FASHION STATEMENT for the bloody limies...John Daly of the United States plays from the 4th tee during practice for the British Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie, Scotland, Wednesday July 18, 2007.

Nice flames...Nice, John, NICE!

(AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 5

JUST ANOTHER FLORIDA STATE FOOTBALL RECRUIT...oh, no, our bad, it's poker player Jerry Yang, of Temecula, Calif., posing with his prize money after winning the main event of the World Series of Poker at the Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, July 18, 2007.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

KAT GOT YOUR YACHT?

Rumors floating around the coastal areas of Eastern North Carolina make outrageous claims about a famous former college baseball player. According to sources close to the water, the former star player from a Mid-major college named after a president located in the Shenandoah Valley in a town that starts with the letter "H" that sources refuse to name (JMU), has abandoned his family and his job selling construction equipment for a major company that starts with the letter "B" that sources won't name (Bobcat) to romp around the intracoastal waterway on a stolen yacht near a town on the lower outer banks, that has two names, the first of which starts with an "M" that sources won't name (Morehead City).

According to one normally reliable source, the famous baller recently had a "meltdown of sorts...well more of a short circuit of his already shorted circuits" when the College World Series was played and he was "reminded" about the game when the University of Baseball in Texas' Roger "The Rocket" Clemens struck him out 29 times on national television...

We believe the missing person ,who we won't name here (Kat), is lounging on the fly bridge in the picture above...

Both Lindsey Lohan and Brittney Spears have been linked to the Katbird in other news reports.

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH

Evidently there is a banner at Fenway Park that reads: RED SOX: 2004 World Series Champions. Can that be right?

Oh, and it does appear that Manny wears his pajamas to work...

...and who were all those dead people out in the outfield at Yankee stadium. I think one has a disease named after him and another a candy bar, not sure. Isn’t Mickey Mantle a liver malfunction? I don’t get baseball…

Is it 5 o’clock yet?

I still miss hockey.

WWIII WILL INVOLVE FINLAND

The next big world conflict won’t involve the U.S. and Iran or the U.S. and North Korea or the U.S. and anybody for that matter (not that Dennis Rodman didn’t give it his best shot.) No, the next world conflict will be when Finland gets pissed and goes all postal on Estonia. Why, you ask?

Because those pesky Estonians from wherever Estonia is are now dominating the Finnish traditional Annual Wife Carrying World Championships. The race was held last week for the 12th time and Estonians took gold and silver, defying rain and exhaustion to stumble along a path with women clinging upside-down to their backs. The winning couple received plasma televisions and the winning wife’s weight, 49 kilograms, in beer. (Woo-hoo!)

They were 44 couples from 12 countries competing in the annual event in Sonkajarvi, central Finland. Rodman took a shot at the top prize to no avail in 2005.

The Wife-Carrying event is charged with competitive spirit, and is renowned for its warm and humorous atmosphere. The championships have traditionally been dominated by Estonian teams and that doesn't please the local Finns, who have been wife-carrying for centuries. It is precisely Margo Uusorg and Egle Soll from Estonia who hold the Wife-Carrying World Record with a time of only 1 minute 0.7 seconds. This year Estonian Madis Uusorg finished first, in a time of 61.7 seconds, despite having Inga Klauson on his back upside-down with her legs around his neck. (pictured above...looks fun, da?)

The Wife Carrying World Championship is run over a 253.5 meters-long official track (Editor’s note: According to the 1977 U.S. Metric conversion handbook we found Dash chewing on, 253.5 meters is about 845 rods.) The surface of the track is partially sand, partially grass and partially asphalt. The track has two dry obstacles and a water obstacle, about one meter deep.

There are a few basic rules to observe in the Championship. The wife to be carried may be your own, the neighbor's or you may have found her further a field. The minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kilos (946 fathoms). If it is less than 49 kilos (.36451 pecks), the wife will be burdened with such a heavy rucksack that the total weight to be carried is 49 kilos (62 leagues). If a contestant drops his wife, that couple will be fined 15 seconds (45 paragrams) per drop. The photo at left is from the Finnish tourism page...must have thrilled a bunch of Mrs. Finns. ("Finns like big butts, and they cannot lie...!)

Along with the Wife-Carrying World Championships there is also a Team Competition. The track is the same but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink the official "wife carrying drink" before continuing the race. A special prize is awarded to the team with best costumes.

On Friday night there will be a Wife Carrying Triathlon, in which the couples compete in side step, riding a bike with the wife sitting in front of the man, and wife-carrying while running through the 253.5 meter (134 square rods) long track in the new wife-carrying arena. The track has the traditional dry obstacles and water pool, too.

Top Finnish artists and local musicians have their own share in making the public enjoy the Wife-Carrying World Championships in Sonkajärvi. Alongside the wife-carrying sporting competitions, there will be bands playing music in the arena, antique traders' market place, wife-carrying karaoke, and wife-carrying dance among other amenities. (When are we going?)

…But wait there’s more…If this isn’t your cup of wife, the Finns also hold several other entertaining Championships. The Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship:

http://www.savonlinnafestivals.com/en_index.htm and the Air Guitar World Championship: http://www.airguitarworldchampionships.com/home

STUPID IS NOT A SPORT

So this genius – Andre Tolme – decides to golf Mongolia. We can't even imagine where the idea for this one came from, but…

Yes, Mongolia. All of it. From Choybalsan in the east, to Dund-Us in the west. What's it all about? Here's Tolme's description:

“Golf Mongolia is an extraordinary expedition where I walk 1,320 miles (2,100 km) across the country of Mongolia while hitting a golf ball. Some may call this extreme golf, adventure expressionism, or just plain crazy, but one thing is certain; this has never been done before and may never be done again. The country has been divided into 18 holes which follow dirt tracks, rivers, and nomadic herding trails from east to west across the land once ruled by Genghis Khan.”

So, how big a golf course does Mongolia make? Well, divided into eighteen holes, it is 2,322,000 yards long. What's par? Oh, just 11,880 strokes. At one point ¾ of the way through, Tolme had completed 14 holes over 82 days (and 969 miles) of golfing. He had swung his trusty 3-iron a total of 9503 times, which puts him just 135 strokes over par. The bad news: he's lost a total of 481 balls. Hope they have plenty of curdled yak milk on tap at the 19th hole when this guy gets done...

We don’t know how it ended up, and we are still questioning his choice of a 3-iron, but what do we know?

Hey Andre, they have this new fangled gadget called a golf cart. If you can keep it fueled up with gas or electricity, this marvel of modern technology will haul your big dumb ass all the way across the continent. Check it out next time.

Tolme took this little jaunt in 2005. Hs feet still hurt…

PICTURE OF THE DAY

CHAMPION’S MANTRA: Australia's Stuart O'Grady (CSC/Den) leads the pack chanting “We want our blood dope back, these mountains are steep! We want our dope back, these mountains are steep!” during the fifth stage of the 94th Tour de France cycling race between Chablis and Autun.

(That, of course, was for Tour de Dill)

(Photo by AFP/Joel Saget)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 2

LEBRON DOESN’T PLAY IN THE SUMMER LEAGUE…Any questions? JJ Redick #7 of the Orlando Magic chases a loose ball against Thabo Sefolosha #2 of the Chicago Bulls during play at the 2007 Pepsi Pro Summer League at the RDV Sportsplex on July 12, 2007 in Maitland, Florida. JJ says he played cause “Maitland has good dope.”

Obviously, JJ still hasn't figured out that if you go outside in Florida for just a few minutes a day you can lose the pasty white skin...

(That was for Young A.T. and Governor Freeman)


(Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 3

EVIDENLTY, that tsunami was worse than we thought…A Malaysian spectator waits for the start of a match between China and Malaysia, which China won 5-1.

(That was for Corrie)

(Photo by AFP/File/Roslan Rahman)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 4

THE NEWEST AMERICANS CELEBRATE THEIR EASY ENTRY OVER THE POROUS TEXAS BORDER...Just kidding, Chile's fans celebrate after a win over Portugal in round of 16 action at the FIFA U20 World Cup soccer tournament in Edmonton, Canada, Thursday, July 12, 2007. Chile won 1-0.

(Of course, that was for our brown people Gigs and Frankee!)




(Photo by AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

PICTURE OF THE DAY 5

AND FINALLY, Here’s what you’ve been waiting for a team picture of YOUUUUURRRR Los Angeles Monarchs!

Anybody have any idea who any of these people are? …Didn’t think so.

But we bet one of them went to an ACC school.