Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo married local reporter and pageant queen Candice Crawford – little sister of “Gossip Girl” star Chace Crawford – at a historic Texas mansion Saturday night, People reported.

The couple were married at Dallas’ Arlington Hall, with Romo’s teammates, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Chace Crawford all believed to be on hand for the nuptials.

The reception was organized by wedding planner Todd Fiscus, who was responsible for Giants quarterback Eli Manning’s wedding.
No outside cameras were allowed into the event.

Candice Crawford, a former Miss Missouri, began dating one of Dallas’ most eligible bachelors in 2009, two months after he infamously dumped singer Jessica Simpson.

Romo, 31, was also previously linked to “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood – who was a one-time love of Chace Crawford.

Romo proposed with an eight-carat yellow diamond ring on December 16, 2010 at Crawford’s 24th birthday party, which was held at the Dallas restaurant Five Sixty.

While Kim Kardashian is celebrating her engagement to New Jersey Nets play Kris Humphries, her ex-boyfriend Reggie Bush is reportedly feeling pretty down over the news.

The New Orleans Saints player was supposed to attend a launch party for the Gumball Rally 3000 in London on May 25, but back out at the last minute, supposedly due to the news that Kardashian was engaged.

Bush and Kardashian began dating in 2007, but went their separate ways two years later. The ups and downs of their relationship were also played out on the E! reality show ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”

BY LEON B . CREWS
Sentinel Staff Writer

Middleton High School baseball coach, Vernon Slater, is a very happy man. Of the 25 baseball players from Hillsborough County that played in last Wednesday’s Senior All-Star Game, three came from Middleton. The only other Hillsborough County School sending three players is King.

Coach Slater said he and five other coaches from Middleton selected infielder Jordan Morrell, pitcher Eric Comstock, and outfielder Demetre Taylor to represent Middleton.

Taylor, who also plays football, has been given a football scholarship to Eastern Illinois State University where he’ll also be able to play baseball.
“I’m alright going that far from home, although I am a momma’s boy,” said Taylor.

Eric Comstock will be attending Eastern Michigan University on a full scholarship, and Morrell said although he’s committed to the University of South Florida, he’s still not sure.

“All of the Major League scouts were there and that’s big with the draft coming up,” said Coach Slater. “There were also scouts from junior colleges and universities evaluating the players. But, this game was mostly for the Major League Baseball draft.”

Coach Slater said this is the fifth year the game has been played and this year it was held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

“Hillsborough County has won the tournament every year,” said Coach Slater.

“This was my first year selected to coach at the game. This was also an excellent opportunity to promote the program at Middleton. We’ve had more than 17 players who’ve either gotten scholarships or signed Major League contracts.”

Taylor’s mother, Ms. Joyce Taylor, said the coaching staff at Middleton deserves all the credit.

BY LEON B. CREWS
Sentinel Staff Writer

In January of this year, Ricky Sailor founded an organization called Unsigned Preps. His mission is to help high school athletes in their efforts to succeed.
“A lot of kids don’t get scholarships, and I want to make sure they at least have an opportunity to attend college.”

“My personal journey took me from West Tampa to Texas Tech University and now Iím trying to find a kid to take the same journey.”

Sailor said working with Tyrone Keys and his organization, All Sports Community Services, Unsigned Preps has helped more than 70 kids nationwide to attend college.
“The new program I’ve started with the help of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a preparation session with kids who have already gotten scholarships. I want to give them the tools they need to be successful. While they are in college, the support will still be there.”

Sailor collaborated with Eric Vance, Tampa Bay Buccaneers player development, to devise a program to benefit college bound high school student-athletes. Seniors from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco Counties participated in a one day symposium.

The curriculum was designed to promote awareness and ease the difficult transition from high school to college as well as tackle common challenges faced by numerous collegiate level athletes.

The program deals with real life issues which often arise and adversely impact many college football players.

Unsigned Preps is looking forward to expanding and creating many future partnerships which enable them to continue annual programs and events to uplift youth, athletes and more importantly, the community.

An unstoppable one-man show against Dallas five years ago, Dwyane Wade is bringing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the rematch.

And the Miami Heat, who celebrated like champions last July, can throw an even bigger party if they can beat Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks again.

In the first season with their Big Three, the Heat welcome the Mavs back to Miami on Tuesday (tonight at 9 p.m. on ABC) for an unusually early NBA finals, the first in 25 years that will begin in May.

The Heat clinched the first of multiple finals appearances that were forecast for them last summer, when James and Wade led a late rally to beat Chicago 83-80 on Thursday, setting up another series with Mark Cuban’s team.

“There’s no sense of relief right now,” James said. “We still have lots of work to do. We have a little bit of time tomorrow to go over what we accomplished. We don’t take for granted this win and being Eastern Conference champion. We have a lot of work to do still and we look forward to the challenge.”

Two months after being arrested for aggravated assault, Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib is being indicted for shooting at his sister’s boyfriend. Police have said that they believe the football star and his mother shot at the man, Shannon Billings, on March 21, but he was not injured.

The cornerback, 25, was let out on bail at the end of March, totaling $25,000 bond. The charge is a second-degree felony, which could mean five to 20 years in prison.

The indictment does not mean Talib has been convicted of a crime, but there is an official charge at hand.

Talib denies the accusations that he shot the gun, but his mother tells police a different story. NBC says that Talib’s mother, Okolo Talib, told officials that she did hear a gunshot and it could have been from her son. ?The cornerback is also accused of whipping Billings with the pistol.

The police have said that while talking to Talib, they received many confusing statements and opted to indict him in relation to the events.

MIAMI — Scottie Pippen said LeBron James may be basketball’s greatest player ever.

Among those who disagree: LeBron James.

The Miami Heat forward provided his reaction to Pippen’s comparison between James and Michael Jordan on Saturday, essentially saying he was flattered by the sentiment but simply does not believe he’s done enough to merit mention among the game’s highest echelon.

“I’m not better than Jordan,” James said.

Pippen – who won six championships alongside Jordan in Chicago during the Bulls’ epic run in the 1990s – told ESPN Radio on Friday that while Jordan is “probably the greatest scorer to play the game,” James “may be the greatest player to ever play the game.”

Pippen even backed up the comments later on Twitter, hours after his words sparked a bit of a firestorm, though tried to clarify a bit by saying that while he thinks Jordan “is the greatest,” James “could” reach that pinnacle in time.

James seemed mildly uncomfortable by the discussion.

“Michael’s an unbelievable player,” James said Saturday. “I’ve got a long way – long way – to be mentioned as far as one of the all-time greats. Not even just Jordan. There’s a lot of great players who have played in this league. Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, all these guys who are floating around with multiple rings, Bill Russell, all these guys who have pioneered this game.

“I’m gracious. Humbled by Scottie’s comments, especially with him being a teammate of his and seeing Michael on a day-to-day basis. But as far as me, I’m not going to sit here and say I’m better than Jordan. I’m not better than Jordan.”

The Tampa Bay Lightning will force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals with a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins at home on Wednesday night. Teddy Purcell and Martin St. Louis each had two goals for the Lightning.

Purcell scored 36 seconds into the game and Boston’s Milan Lucic tied things up with about seven minutes left to play in the first period. After a back-and-fourth game, Steven Stamkos opened things up for Tampa Bay with a goal in the beginning of the third period to give them a 4-2 lead and would go onto win 5-4.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Former Michigan star and NBA player Jalen Rose pleaded guilty Wednesday to drunken driving, telling a judge he was embarrassed to admit that he drank six martinis the night he veered off a snowy road and rolled his Cadillac Escalade.

Standing beside his attorney, Rose pleaded guilty in district court in Bloomfield Hills to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. He faces up to 93 days in a jail, a $500 fine and court costs when he’s sentenced July 27.

When Small asked how large the drinks were, Rose replied: “I’m embarrassed to say probably too big.”