Florida Sentinel Bulletin

MIAMI — Miami Heat reserve guard Eddie House has decided to exercise the option clause in his contract, and he’ll be back with the team next season.
House’s decision was confirmed Thursday by the team. House, who could have become a free agent, is now under contract for $1.4 million for next year.

The 11-year pro played in 56 games for the Eastern Conference champions last season, averaged 6.5 points per game and made 68 3-pointers.

NEW YORK — NBA players are locked out, possibly jeopardizing next season.

Union chief Billy Hunter said on Thursday the owners locked out the players after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

With this latest action, two of four major professional sports in the United States are locked out. The NFL locked out its players in March, and the two sides have been in discussions this week, trying to work toward a new deal.

Despite a three-hour meeting on Thursday, the NBA and its players could not close the enormous gap that remained in their positions. The CBA was due to expire at midnight.
All league business is officially on hold, starting with the free agency period that would have opened on Friday, and games eventually could be lost, too. The last lockout reduced the 1998-99 season to just a 50-game schedule, the only time the NBA missed games for a work stoppage.

The sides remained far apart on just about every major issue, from salaries to the salary cap, revenues to revenue sharing.

Players, who previously offered to reduce their salaries by $500 million over five years, considered the owners’ proposal for a “flex” cap, where each team would be targeted to spend $62 million, a hard cap. Although the league said total player compensation would never dip below $2 billion over the life of its proposed 10-year deal, that would amount to a pay cut for the players, who were paid more than $2.1 billion this season in salaries and benefits.

Owners also wanted a reduction in the players’ guarantee of 57 percent of basketball revenues.

A model and alleged prostitute has filed two police reports for harassment on former Duke University point guard and #1 NBA draft pick Kyrie Irving.

Miss Hawaii, real name Jessica Jackson, claims to have a video of the Duke superstar Kyrie Irving masturbating on Skype.

Earlier in March Miss Hawaii tweeted:
“i mean this is just the beginning too dude, i have video of him masturbating on camera i mean if you want to keep f&^%$n with me, let’s go number one draft pick masturbating on camera?? hmm no”

BBM and text message evidence uncovered by BlackSportsOnline show that Miss Hawaii submitted a police report on March 22nd. She threatened to report Irving to the police after she began receiving phone calls that she believed were from Irving’s friends and family.

BlackSportsOnline is also reporting that Miss Hawaii may actually be a prostitute and that she created a fake Twitter account, DukeLvr1989, to harass Irving and refer to his dead mother.

“Kyrie can go to the league and make millions thats so great for him … too bad it wont bring his mother back SHES DEAD DEAD DEAD DukeLvr1989.” Around that time, Kyrie Irving erased his twitter account.

Then DukeLvr1989 posted his cell phone number, followed by posting a picture of him shirtless. She then threatened to post sexual text message conversations she’d had with him as well as a picture of his private parts.

NAGOYA, Japan — Tiger Woods has been hired as a pitchman for a Japanese heat rub used to relieve muscle and joint pain.

“Kowa Company Ltd. is pleased to announce the use of Tiger Woods as the image character of Antiphlogistic Analgetic Vantelin Kowa series,” the Nagoya-based company said in a press release.

The TV commercial with Woods will debut nationally in Japan from mid-July.

Woods has not played since May 12, when he withdrew after nine holes from The Players Championship with knee and Achilles injuries. He said on Tuesday he had no planned timetable for his return, and it would only be when he was 100 percent.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is sidelined after elbow reconstruction surgery, has also promoted the Vantelin heat rub on Japanese TV.

It isn’t the first time Woods has promoted pro-ducts in Japan. He also appeared in TV commercials for canned iced coffee in the late 90s.

HAMPTON, GA. — Chad Ochocinco turned to NASCAR on Thursday in his ongoing search for thrills away from the football field.

Ochocinco was strapped in for the ride as Jeff Burton drove his No. 31 car around Atlanta Motor Speedway on Thursday. Burton estimated he reached speeds of 150 to 160 miles per hour with Ochocinco.

That seemed to satisfy Ochocinco, who climbed out and said “That was nice. That was real nice.”

Before the laps, Ochocinco said he made sure Burton was ready to push the Chevrolet. “I asked him to let loose,” Ochocinco said. “Please don’t waste my time. Step on the gas.”

Ochocinco, the six-time Pro Bowl receiver, is making the most of his extended time away from football during the NFL lockout. He took the ride with Burton about six weeks after visiting the Professional Bull Riders circuit near Atlanta to ride a 1,500-pound bull for 1.5 seconds.

He also has had a soccer tryout with Sporting Kansas City of the MLS and last year was one of the final four contestants in Dancing With the Stars.

Next? Ochocinco said he plans to wrestle an alligator in Florida. “If you’re not nervous, you’re not living,” he said. “I’m willing to try everything once.”

WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND — Venus and Serena Williams were both eliminated in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday, the first time in five years that neither sister will play in the quarterfinals at the All England Club.

Defending champion and four-time winner Serena was the first to go, beaten 6-3, 7-6 (6) by Marion Bartoli of France, cutting short the American’s return to Grand Slam tennis after nearly a year out with serious health problems.

Older sister and five-time champion Venus was ousted 6-2, 6-3 by Tsvetana Pironkova — the exact same score of the Bulgarian’s win in last year’s quarterfinals.

Also knocked out was top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who fell 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to No. 24 Dominika Cibulkova in the Dane’s latest failed attempt to win her first Grand Slam title.

RALEIGH, NC — It’s one of the most lasting images from the NCAA basketball tournament.

A buzzer-beating two-handed dunk by muscular forward Lorenzo Charles gives heavy underdog North Carolina State a stunning national championship game win in 1983 versus powerhouse Houston — known as Phi Slamma Jamma. Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano spills onto the court, scrambling for someone to hug.

Charles, 47, the hero from that memorable game, was killed Monday when an empty bus he was driving for Elite Coach crashed along Interstate 40 in Raleigh, said general manager Brad Jackson.

Charles grabbed Dereck Whittenburg’s 30-foot shot and dunked it to give the Wolfpack the 54-52 win over the Cougars, led by stars Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. It was N.C. State’s second national title and gave Charles a place in school history.

Whittenburg was despondent when discussing his teammate and friend. “It’s just an awful day,” Whittenburg said. “An awful, awful day.”

NEW YORK — It seems Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will be forever linked, regardless of whether they ever face each other in the ring.

The two have danced around the richest fight in boxing for several years, unable to come to terms. Meanwhile, their animosity has grown to the point that Pacquiao has a pending defamation lawsuit alleging Mayweather unfairly accused him of using performance-enhancing drugs.

So it’s not surprising that Mayweather spent just as much time answering questions about Pacquiao on Tuesday as he did about Victor Ortiz, the welterweight champion whom he’ll face in his next fight on Sept. 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Galveston Texas is home to many wood statues carved out of trees killed in hurricane Ike. The newest addition to the family of carvings is a statue of the famed boxer and Galveston native Jack Johnson. This statue is a point of contention for some Hoak sub-division neighbors, who claim that it creates too much traffic in their residential area.

Other home owners, like Helen Douglas, believe it is Johnson’s history that makes some want to re-locate the statue. When asked if she saw a problem with traffic due to the statue, Douglas replied “not at all, the way you see it right now is basically the way it is,” as she pointed to a nearly empty road.

In 1908, Johnson became the first black man to earn the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World. He also ignored racial taboos by dating a white woman in an era filled with racial violence.

Opponents of the statue’s placement were not readily available for comment, but homeowner Rory Prue did say that although he did not mind the statue, it might be better served elsewhere. Whether the statue will move or stay is now up to the Galveston housing authority.