2012 Nike Outpost in Mammoth

The Nike Outpost in Mammoth Re-Opens For The Summer of 2012
By Rich Gonzalez
Editor, DyeStatCal/ESPNHS (July 14, 2012) - Despite concerns that have come in from the local running community, it appears that the recent bankruptcy filing by the city of Mammoth Lakes will have no effect on the annual migration boon to the famed altitude-training locale.
"From what I gather, it'll be business as usual," said Scott Lash, a Pacer for Nike L.A. who'll be co-hosting at the popular "Nike Outpost" cabin this summer. "It seems like the city is pressing forward without cutting key corners."
Summertime is always a particularly busy time in the otherwise sparsely populated resort town located roughly 300 miles north of Los Angeles. That's when legions of pro, collegiate and high school runners and teams converge on the locale for quality altitude training as a precursor to their upcoming cross-country seasons.
Lash said the city aims to continue expanding its reputation as a leading running hub.
"I met with the Director of Tourism there and it's clear they are trying to define (Mammoth Lakes) as the global altitude destination (for runners)" said Lash. "They want to welcome competitive runners year-round for their training, make it even more conducive to team training, build altitude houses and more."
The Nike Outpost will be among the central gathering points for most runners, located at 126 Old Mammoth Road, Suite #101. Open every Monday through Saturday from July 16th to August 24th, it will house various running parties and Olympic viewing parties nightly at 7:30 p.m. during the Olympic Games.
"We want to provide a 'safe house' for runners," said Lash. "All schools will still do their own thing. We just want to supplement their needs in any helpful way we can. They can borrow a new pair of shoes, borrow a watch, borrow foam rollers to aid while stretching, whatever we can do to help."
Coaches can also schedule a 'college night', where individuals such as Nike's Tim Ramirez and Brendan Gregg can share their own experiences on how to make college destination decisions, what to expect at the next level, and so on.
Other options and activities at the Nike Outpost include the use of the popular Photo Booth machine, ping-pong tables, and more.
Details and RSVP links appear below.

USA Midwest wins Nike Global Challenge

by Jim Halley on Jul. 15, 2012, under USA Today Sports
Source: USA TODAY
Led by James Young’s 29 points and 10 rebounds, USA Midwest defeated Canada 100-86 Sunday to win the Nike Global Challenge.
The event came during the first of three, five-day evaluation periods this month for Division I men’s coaches, 37 of whom attended at least a portion of the three-day tournament. Included in that number were all the coaches from the 2012 Final Four.
However, none of was able to be around to see every game Sunday. The evaluation period officially ended at 5 p.m. ET, which came with about 39 seconds left in the Midwest’s win.
Tournament organizers alerted the coaches to the deadline, leading to a quick exodus of those still around, including Kentucky’s John Calipari.
The win helped make up for an embarrassing loss this month when Canada defeated Team USA in the under-19 International Federation of American Football World Championship in Austin.
“We wanted to represent the United States,” said Midwest coach David Boyd of Milton, Ga. “Even though these kids from Canada have played a lot together, we took a lot of pride in that we played hard and got after them and made up for our lack of being together with effort.”
Young, a 6-6 forward from Troy, Mich., chosen MVP among the three U.S. teams, was familiar with the Canadian players because most play for U.S. high schools and on the U.S. summer club circuit.
“I’ve played these guys a bunch of times,” Young said. “I played them in EYBL (Nike Elite Youth Basketball League) and they beat us, so I felt like we had to get revenge.”
Unlike the Canadian team, many of whose players also play for the AAU team CIA Bounce, Team Midwest had to come together quickly. The squad practiced 45 minutes Thursday before its first game in a tournament that included eight teams from six countries.
“Off the court, we hung out with each other to bind together,” Young said.
“I wanted to win this game for my country,” said Hall (Little Rock) center Bobby Portis, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. “Our intensity in our defense helped us get the lead and then we started playing together more.”
USA Midwest players had a scary moment with less than a minute left when Nick King of Memphis East fell face first. The game was stopped for several minutes as King, bleeding from his nose, was wheeled out on a stretcher. An update on the condition of King, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds, was not immediately available.
Ranked the No. 1 player in the 2014 class by Rivals.com, 6-7 Andrew Wiggins led Canada with 24 points and said after the game that he thought Canada could win the 2016 Olympics in basketball.
Wiggins played last season for Huntington (W.Va.) Prep. His father, former NBA and Florida State player Mitchell Wiggins, is an American. But his mother, Marita Payne-Wiggins, won two silver medals on Canadian track relays in the 1984 Olympics.
Though Canada is producing more good basketball players, most of the top ones still are honing their skills part of the year south of the 49th parallel.
“That’s an ongoing debate in our country,” said Team Canada coach Roy Rana. “We do have some quality programs and some great coaches. I think there was a little bit of a flood that began when Tristan Thompson (now with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers) and Cory Joseph (with the San Antonio Spurs), and those guys found it was the thing to do.
“I think we’re seeing more kids who will choose to stay home. If you’re Andrew Wiggins, it may make sense to go to the United States, but if you’re just a solid talent, maybe it makes more sense to stay close to your family and home.”
USA West took third place in the tournament, defeating Brazil 88-63 on Sunday as Nigel Williams-Goss of Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) had 18 points and six assists.
Wiggins and Trey Lyles of Canada were named co-MVPs of the International teams. Lyles was born in Saskatchewan but played for Indianapolis Tech last season.
The rest of the U.S. all-tournament team included Porter, Theo Pinson of Wesleyan Christian (Greensboro, N.C.), Troy Williams of Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), Williams-Goss and Sindarius Thornwell of Oak Hill.
Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Nike Baltimore Elite's game vs. Harrison twins' AAU team moved to BCCC

By Matt Bracken The Baltimore Sun

7:31 p.m. EDT, July 15, 2012

Baltimore City Community College is set to play host Monday night to this city’s top AAU basketball event of the summer.

At 7 p.m. at the Liberty Heights Ave. gymnasium, Nike Baltimore Elite will take on the Houston Defenders, which are led by five-star guard prospects Aaron and Andrew Harrison.

The game, which was originally slated to be played at St. Frances, has been a month in the making.

“We’re about to leave for the [Peach Jam on Tuesday], and [the Defenders] had a day in between from Reebok Camp” in Philadelphia, said Carlton "Bub" Carrington, Nike Elite's coach. “[The Harrisons are] coming in to see their family and had a day to kill, [so we said], ‘Let’s just do a game.’”

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The Harrison twins, whose father Aaron – the Defenders’ coach – is a Baltimore native, will be the main draw for Monday’s event. Aaron, Scout.com’s top-ranked shooting guard, and Andrew, the consensus No. 1 point guard nationally, are Maryland’s top targets for the 2013 class. In addition to the Terps, the Harrisons are also considering offers from Baylor, Kentucky, SMU and Villanova.

Nike Baltimore Elite is led by a quartet of guards with high-major offers. Mount St. Joseph’s Kameron Williams claims scholarships from Clemson, Dayton, DePaul, Drexel, Marquette, Massachusetts, Miami, Richmond, Rutgers, South Florida, VCU, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Xavier, according to Rivals.com. Carrington said Ohio State could be close to offering the 6-foot-2 shooting guard.

Daxter Miles, a former Dunbar player who suited up for IMG Academy in Florida as a junior, has offers from Dayton, Drexel, Kansas State and North Carolina State, in addition to interest from Miami, Richmond and Xavier. Jamel Artis, a 6-foot-6 wing, is down to Pittsburgh and La Salle, Carrington said. Artis’ Vermont Academy teammate, combo guard Daquein McNeil, sports scholarships from Alabama-Birmingham, Florida International, Memphis, Richmond and Southern Cal, according to Carrington.

Doors open at BCCC for Monday’s event at 6:30 p.m. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door, are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.

** Under Armour B'More Finest will not be participating in the event, team officials said Sunday night.

U.S. Olympic Committee to Promise American Made Uniforms by 2014

Ralph Lauren / AP Photo

The U.S. Olympic Committee will change its policy so that U.S. Olympic uniforms are made in the USA by the next Olympics, in 2014.
Ralph Lauren is the official maker of the Olympic uniforms and made the pledge in a statement.
“Ralph Lauren promises to lead the conversation within our industry and our government addressing the issue of increasing manufacturing in the United States and has committed to producing the Opening and Closing ceremony Team USA uniforms in the United States that will be worn for the 2014 Olympic Games,” according to the statement from the Ralph Lauren Corporation.
But nothing will be done about this year’s uniforms, which were made in China.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was happy with the move.
“When America’s best athletes are representing our country on the world stage, we should be representing the best of American-made goods,” she said in a statement. “The pride of our Olympic athletics goes hand in hand with the pride of American innovation and manufacturing. While I am disappointed our athletes will not be dressed head to toe in Made in the USA this year, I greatly appreciate the USOC and Ralph Lauren have heard our voices and worked to correct this mistake going forward. I look forward to cheering on Team USA.”

Good News And Not So Good News On China

Kenneth Rapoza, Contributor

Covering Brazil, Russia, India & China.

I know, everybody loves the Apocalypse.  But sadly, the Chinese economy is not heading for a hard landing, with second quarter GDP growth coming in at 7.6 percent, far above the 7 percent and under considered by economists to constitute the start of a China crash.
But while China’s economy is firing on, let’s say, all two cylinders instead of all four, there’s a mix of good news and bad news regarding the world’s No. 2 economy.
The headline macro data released Friday showed the second quarter growth was less than the first, which came in at 8.1 percent. That was to be expected, though the numbers were a little under consensus estimates of 7.7 percent for 2Q.  Then there’s China’s industrial production (IP) figures. Growth slowed a smidgen to 9.5 percent in June from 9.6 percent in May, lower than the market consensus yet again, which was 9.8 percent. Fixed asset investment (FAI) growth for the first half rose surprisingly to 20.4 percent year over year from 20.1 percent in the first five months, as the Chinese government does what it can to stimulate the economy as Europe’s woes continue to pack a punch on China exporters.

Retail sales growth for June slowed slightly to 13.7 percent, better than the market consensus 13.4 percent.
Growth in approved investment for new projects rose by 23.2 percent in June from 22 percent in May, which suggests public investment growth will pick up further in the coming months. Second, property market transactions rose strongly, which should help to mitigate the downside risks of property investments in the second half. Third, new loans and money supply growth — what bankers are putting into the market through short term debt — were both upside surprises. Loans are on the upswing.
This data release will reinforce the view among some major investment banks that GDP growth bottomed in the second quarter and will rebound, albeit slowly, in the second half.
Although everyone loves a rip-roaring good time with end-timers, the market has been overly pessimistic on China’s growth outlook. This is not a Western democracy.
“We believe the government is becoming less tolerant of an economic slowdown,” said Zhiwei Zhang, an analyst at Nomura Securities in Hong Kong.  The government of Beijing changes hands next year. The last thing they want is to shift gears when the economy is going to hell in a handbasket.  They won’t allow it.  Zhang said he believes Beijing policy makers will be supportive of growth going forward.
“We are approaching the important Communist Party meeting in October where the leadership transition is expected to take place. We expect the pace of policy easing to accelerate,” he said.
On Friday, Nomura said that it revisted the China 2012 GDP forecast down to 8.2 percent from 8.4 percent and its 2013 GDP forecast down to 7.9 percent from 8.2 percent.

Warmer weather heats up lobster landings off Cape Breton

By Chris Hayes - Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Fishermen around Cape Breton were looking at weather as a factor when it comes to lobster landings this year.

Steve Wadden - Cape Breton Post

The lobster season in eastern Cape Breton wrapped up on Thursday, but the work is far from over for many fishermen like Herman Wadden of Main-a-Dieu, who spent the day laying out his gear to dry on Friday.

Leonard LeBlanc said warmer water had lobsters on the move in an area off western Cape Breton where he sets his traps.
“We had a very good year,” he said. “The weather was excellent for the lobsters to move, the water was warmer.”
LeBlanc, who as president of the Gulf Nova Scotia Fishermen’s Coalition represents about 146 fishermen from Margaree Harbour to Pleasant Bay, said he went around in a T-shirt most of the time.
“The catch was excellent.”
LeBlanc said he personally landed about 17,000 pounds over the May 2-June 30 season, which would be a 30 per cent increase over last year.
Larger landings made up for prices that remained at $4.75 a pound, which was slightly lower than last year, he said.
“I think everybody is very satisfied with their season.”
Glace Bay fisherman Herb Nash said weather played a part in his lobster landings in the season that started on May 12 and wrapped up Thursday.
Landings started out strong in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 pounds a week for the first three weeks, dropped to around 1,000 a week for four weeks that followed, before rebounding to end the season.
Fishermen in the harbour operating a single vessel probably ranged from 10,000 to 16,000 pounds over the season, he said.
“Our season wasn’t bad, we can’t complain about it,” he concluded.
Landings dropped off when the wind was blowing from the ocean toward the land, making for colder temperatures and higher swells, he said.
“This easterly wind, the wind is the wrong way, the water gets cold and nothing crawls,” he said.
“When it comes off the land it’s good, and when it’s on the land you starve to death.”
Nash said he believes fishermen elsewhere along Cape Breton’s eastern shore had worse landings than those in Glace Bay.
Fishermen in his area were getting $5 a pound until near the end of June, when the price dropped to $4.50.
The cost of lobster fishing is going up when bait, fuel and wages for helpers are added in, he said.
“Most people, their expenses are $600 to $1,000 a day.”
Nash also has a snow crab boat that is currently fishing near Sable Island and landing in Glace Bay.
Catching his crab quota is not a problem, said Nash.
LeBlanc was ready to start fishing snow crab Friday morning in an inshore fishery that ends on Sept. 13. He expected landings to be bountiful and for fishermen to catch their quotas before the end of the season.
As Cheticamp fishermen loaded their boats Thursday to prepare for the start of crab fishing season, representatives from the Workers Compensation Board, Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education were on the wharf urging them to wear personal flotation devices and take heed of safety at sea in general.
LeBlanc, who was taking part with the officials, said there are too many drownings that could be avoided if fishermen wore the flotation devices.

chayes@cbpost.com

New York Cosmos return to NASL for 2013

The New York Cosmos, who once featured star player Pele, are returning after a 30-year absence. (Photo: AP)

July 12, 2012, 3:11 pm

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- The New York Cosmos are back.
After a nearly 30-year absence, the Cosmos joined the North American Soccer League on Thursday. The team will begin league play in the 2013 season.
The former Cosmos team in the late 1970s featured soccer great Pele, who helped raise awareness of soccer in the United States. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL championships in his third and final season.
NASL commissioner David Downs says the plan will "reunite the Cosmos, Strikers, Rowdies and several markets with ties to the NASL's early days."
The Cosmos ownership group is led by Seamus O'Brien. The team will announce details on its stadium, ticket sales and players at a later date.
The NASL includes professional teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.