Dwight Howard To LA Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are finalizing a blockbuster four-team trade to acquire Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Dwight Howard will become a free agent at the end of this season. Agents with players that are involved in the deal said the teams are expected to complete the trade on a call with league officials on Friday. Orlando Magic officials had yet to inform Howard a deal had been consummated.

With the trade, the LA Lakers will send center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers, and will also receive shooting guard Jason Richardson from the Orlando Magic. The Sixers will send guard Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets. The Magic will receive Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, rookie Moe Harkless, three first-round draft picks and a 2013 second-round pick from the Nuggets (by way of Golden State). In addition to Howard, the Lakers will also receive Earl Clark and Chris Duhon from the Magic.

Lakers forward Pau Gasol's representatives said that he's not included in the deal.

Orlando, Los Angeles and Philadelphia had discussed a three-way deal, but needed a fourth team to take Iguodala and also provide Orlando with the necessary future draft picks, sources said.

Howard's contract ends after this season. He isn't expected to immediately sign an extension with the Lakers because he can get a longer deal in free agency.

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Olympics: Disqualified Chinese player Yu quits badminton

Yu Yang has decided to quit badminton after being disqualified from the Olympics

BEIJING - Disgraced Chinese Yu Yang has decided to quit badminton while national officials have told their Olympic team leaders and disgraced players to make a public apology for throwing matches at the London Games.

Yu was among eight women's doubles players expelled from the Games on Wednesday. The others were teammate Wang Xiaoli, South Korean pairs Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, and Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung, plus Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia.

"This is my last competition. Goodbye Badminton World Federation (BWF), goodbye my beloved badminton," Yu wrote on her Tencent microblog. "We ... only chose to use the rules to abandon the match.

"This was only so as to be able to compete better in the second round of the knockout [stage]. This is the first time the Olympics has changed the [event's format]. Don't they understand the harm this has caused the athletes?

"You have heartlessly shattered our dreams," said Yu. "It's that simple, not complicated at all. But this is unforgivable."

Yu and Wang were the top-seeded pair.

The eight players were turfed out of the Olympics by the BWF for throwing matches in a bid to secure more favorable draws later in the tournament.

The sight of four pairs deliberately easing off disgusted a crowd of 4,800 packed into Wembley Arena expecting to see the best of badminton's best.

Instead the fans were treated with disdain as the Chinese, Korean and Indonesian players sprayed hopeless shots into the net and beyond the lines. Their antics were also beamed around the globe to a disbelieving audience.

The Xinhua state news agency said Chinese officials were demanding their disgraced players make a public apology.

"The delegation has already severely criticized and educated the responsible badminton leaders, team and relevant players and demanded they profoundly recognize the seriousness and the harmfulness of this matter, reflect deeply on it, publicly apologize and resolutely prevent such incidents from happening again," Xinhua quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying.

Li Yongbo, chief coach of the Chinese badminton team, said the poor behavior of his players reflected the shortcomings of the new regulations in the sport.

"I feel that no matter whether it is the rules or something else, that's no excuse," said Li. "The key point is we did not behave professionally as athletes and did not treat each match seriously.

"We didn't strive with all our might in the Olympic way. From that point of view we really didn't grasp this point thoroughly ... as chief coach I really feel I must say sorry to fans and viewers nationwide," Li told Xinhua.

The issue has generated heated debate on Chinese microblogs.

While some people said the players deserved to be thrown out, others expressed sympathy.

"They should certainly be punished but the burden should not fall on those two players. The trainer was the mastermind behind this. The players are only scapegoats," wrote one user on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo. - Reuters

Disqualified Chinese player, Yu quits badminton, Yu, badminton

Olympic Fencing controversy

A controversial fencing semifinal bout of the women's individual epee competition was won on a final touch with 1 second remaining and the losing fencer launched an appeal of the decision which eventually cost her the finals.

With time running out in one of the two semifinal matches for the women's individual epee competition, South Korea's Shin A Lam led Germany's Germany's Britta Heidermann by a single point. Officially, Heidermann had just one second to launch an attack and score a touch, which would advance her on to the gold medal match to face the Ukraine's Yana Shemyakina, a lack of time which all but ensured that Shin would advance.

Instead, the timing mechanism on the piste became stuck, giving Heidermann extra time to complete her attack and win the bout, which earned her the spot in the gold medal bout. Officials, unsure what to do without a true, official protocol to follow, eventually decided to award the victory to Heidermann.

As one might expect, Shin and her coaches were enraged with the decision, and launched an immediate appeal. Yet the appeal itself has proved to be incredibly lengthy. After more than 30 minutes of a delay that included the Korean federation having to expedite a payment for the use in the official appeal, Shin's attempt to overturn the result failed, bringing a crushing end to a ridiculously long period marked by piquant discussion between Olympic and Korean officials and occasional announcements trying to explain what was going on to the spectators in the crowd.

Clearly, Shin should have had a chance for the gold medal; if the timing mechanism didn't get stuck, the clock would have run out and she would have advanced. Yet denying Heidermann a shot without some kind of a playoff-style bout might have been equally cruel.

Either way, the fencing tournament somehow ended up with an unfortunate and completely unforeseen loser which will lead to plenty of gripes and arguments going forward from multiple national federations, to be sure.

Olympic Stadium in London

Searchlights illuminate the Olympic Stadium in London during a rehearsal for the opening ceremony on Friday. Volunteers who took part in the run-through described the secrecy-shrouded rehearsal as beyond their “wildest expectations.”

Organizing the Olympics is estimated to cost British taxpayers $14.4 billion.

Games volunteers and troops were given tickets to the final run-through as a thank-you for their efforts, while members of the 15,000-strong cast were able to reserve tickets for friends and family.

The theme of the $42-million spectacular is “Isles of Wonder,” inspired by a passage from William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest.” The show is set to be watched by a vast global television audience

Brett Favre returns to football as high school offensive coordinator

Brett Favre is expected to sign a contract as a high school offensive coordinator.

Favre is expected to be named the new offensive coordinator at Hattiesburg Miss. Oak Grove High within days. The move could become official as early as Monday night.

While Oak Grove head football coach Nevil Barr told WDAM that no official decision had been made, Favre's longtime agent, Bus Cook, told the Sun-Herald that Favre was definitely taking a position at the school to "give him something to do."

Barr and Favre are reportedly close friends, and the coach has expressed a great deal of flexibility in potential roles for the legendary quarterback as a way to get him involved in the program.

Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard deal

There are rumors on Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard deal for days but they stay as rumors. Bynum's agent, David Lee, said Thursday that his client has not told him whether he would sign a contract extension with another team besides the Lakers, a move that is widely considered a precursor to any trade involving Howard.

It seems Dwight Howard isn't the only All-Star center dealing with commitment issues these days. Andrew Bynum might soon face a decision on his future as well.

Lebron "The Decision", Dwight Howard "The Indecision"

Nonito Donaire win by decision

One might be tempted to dismiss Donaire’s performance against Jeffrey Mathebula on Saturday as so-so because he struggled to find his target much of the fight and failed to put him away. The fact is Donaire (29-1, 18 knockouts) did an excellent job in difficult circumstances. The 5-foot-11 Mathebula is a nightmare of an opponent, one with in impossibly long jab – designed to keep his foe at bay and more all-around ability than might be obvious at first glance. Donaire had to work extremely hard – bobbing, weaving, leaping to get inside Mathebula’s defense and do damage. That he succeeded more than enough to win a one-sided decision and unify the WBO and IBF junior featherweight titles was an impressive accomplishment. Donaire is more than ready for anyone in or near his weight class.

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