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*The Dallas Mavericks came from behind to beat the Phoenix Suns Saturday night and claim the Western Conference title. They’ll face the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in the NBA finals. Dallas will host the first game Thursday night in a showdown of finals' first-timers, which has not occurred since Baltimore played Milwaukee in 1971.
*Venus Williams advanced, while James Blake stalled during third round of play at the French Open Sunday. Williams, seeded 11th, took care of business against 7th seeded Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Blake, who convinced the chair umpire to suspend his match against black Frenchman Gael Monfils Saturday because the sun was about to set, ended up going five sets with the hometown favorite Sunday morning before losing 6-2, 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4. Blake was the last remaining American in the men’s draw. Meanwhile, Shanay Perry was taken out in the third round by Argentina’s Gisele Dulko 6-1, 6-1; and Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld halted Jamea Jackson’s run in the second round 6-7, 6-2, 6-1. Today’s quarterfinal action will see Monfils’s face Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Montenegro. Tomorrow, Williams will face No. 16 Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, who stunned No. 1 seed Amélie Mauresmo in three sets on Sunday to advance.
*Former NFL receiver Cris Carter will join award-winning announcer Dick Enberg as part of Westwood One’s Thursday Night Football broadcast team. Enberg will provide the play-by-play with Carter serving as color analyst for all of the company’s Thursday Night Football broadcasts. In addition, Carter will also serve as an analyst for Westwood One's Saturday Night NFL broadcasts. Westwood One's coverage of the 2006-2007 NFL season kicks off Thursday, Sept. 7, as the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers host the Miami Dolphins.
*The Steelers, meanwhile, visited President Bush Friday in the traditional White House visit by the year’s Super Bowl champions. The team gave him a Steelers jersey with the number 43 to represent his position in presidential history. Bush tossed a short pass to Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward, joked with players and said Vice President Dick Cheney asked him to get some tips on the trademark scowl of the team’s coach Bill Cowher. "They may have some interesting characters on the team, but one thing the Pittsburgh Steelers learned to do was play as a unit, and that's why you're standing right here," Bush said.
*Under chilly, wet conditions, Marion Jones won her 100 meter race in 11.06 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix Saturday in New York. The event marked her first competition on American soil in more than a year. "It felt really good, it felt very good actually," Jones said. "The conditions were not optimum. But this is only my third race and my confidence is growing with every single race. I'm getting better. A win is a win, and that's difficult anywhere on this circuit." Jones said she will run a 200-meter race in Europe before running in the 100 and 200 at the U.S. nationals in Indianapolis later this month. In the men's 100, co-world record holder Justin Gatlin won in 9.87. In the night’s final race, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia set the world record in the women's 5,000 in 14:24.53, breaking the mark of 14:24.68 set by Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse in 2004.
*Boxer Roy Jones Jr. says he will definitely retire should he lose his July 29th bout with Prince Badi Ajamu. "I doubt it, but if I do lose I'm pretty much going to be calling it a day," Jones said Friday via a telephone press conference from Pensacola, Fla., where the fight will take place. In the scheduled 12-round bout at Qwest Arena, Jones, 37, will end a 10-month layoff and try to take Ajamu's North American Boxing Organization light heavyweight title.
*The "And 1 Mix Tape Tour 2006" – featuring newest streetballers The Air Up There, Silk, Assassin and Bad Santa, as well as legends Hot Sauce, Main Event, Half Man-Half Amazing, AO, Professor, Spyda and others – began its summer run on Sunday in Carson, Ca. In every city, Open Run participants will vie for an endorsement contract and may be featured on the fifth season of "Streetball: The AND 1 Mix Tape Tour presented by Mountain Dew" on ESPN2 this summer. For more information, visit www.and1.com.
Here is the complete tour schedule:
Wed., 6/7 Oakland, CA Oakland Arena
Sun., 6/11 Portland, OR Rose Garden
Thurs., 6/15 Salt Lake City, UT The E Center
Mon., 6/19 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
Thurs., 6/22 Denver, CO Denver Coliseum
Sun., 6/25 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
Wed., 6/28 Houston, TX Reliant Arena
Sun., 7/2 Kansas City, MO Kemper Arena
Thurs., 7/6 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Sun., 7/9 Milwaukee, WI US Cellular Arena
Thurs., 7/13 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse
Sat., 7/15 Chicago, IL United Center
Mon., 7/24 Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center
Thurs., 7/27 Louisville, KY Freedom Hall
Sun., 7/30 Atlanta, GA Gwinnett Center
Thurs., 8/3 Miami, FL Bank United Center
Sun., 8/6 Orlando, FL UCF Arena
Wed., 8/9 Raleigh, NC RBC Center
Sat., 8/12 Washington, DC Verizon Center
Wed., 8/16 Norfolk, VA Constant Center
Sat., 8/19 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
Tues., 8/22 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
Mon., 8/25 New York, NY Madison Square Garden