|  SUSPENSION REDUCED IF JACKSON DEALT
San Diego Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson will be eligible to play in Week 5 if he's traded, under the terms of a settlement between the NFL and the players' union. The NFL and the NFL Players Association settled the case in talks on Thursday, the same day Jackson was to appeal for his suspension to be halved to three games. The settlement provides for Jackson to sit out a total of four weeks -- all of his league-mandated three-game suspension and one additional week with his new team. He was due to sit out six weeks as a result of the Chargers placing him on the roster exempt list. The pact clears the way for an NFL team to acquire Jackson, a top-tier wide receiver who caught 68 passes for 1,167 yards and nine touchdowns last season, for most of the season.
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|  WOLFPACK BITES BEARCATS
NC State QB Russell Wilson looked a little more like his old self Thursday night, while the defense is showing some improvement of its own. Now North Carolina State is celebrating its best start to a season in nearly a decade, back when Phillip Rivers was at quarterback. Wilson threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns to help the Wolfpack beat Cincinnati 30-19, giving NC State its first 3-0 start since 2002. Jay Smith and Curtis Underwood Jr. had first-half touchdown catches and Mustafa Greene had a 31-yard scoring run that gave NC State a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The Wolfpack never trailed thanks to Wilson and a defense that pressured Zach Collaros much of the night, a welcome sign considering the questions that followed both coming into the season.
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|  "IT'S NOT A DIRTY PROGRAM"
27 players have racked up 30 arrests at the University of Florida during Urban Meyer's tenure running the Gators football program. Sure he has brought home 2 national titles, but if this pattern of behavior continues, how long before the Gators are labeled a "dirty program"? One thing is for sure, Urban Meyer is fed up with this type of behavior. "I try to evaluate everything about our program," Meyer said Thursday. "After a while, enough is enough. If there's something we can improve on, we're certainly looking into that. It's like if our graduation stinks, then we've got to improve that. If there are other issues in a program that's our job to get it better. People making stupid mistakes, that's something we've got to correct. It's not a dirty program. We follow the rules and some guys make mistakes and we've got to correct those mistakes. We follow the rules. We do it the right way at Florida and we have to do a better job with correcting some of the people making mistakes."
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|  LEBRON'S TEAMMATES UNFAZED
We are only two weeks away from the opening of NBA training camps and LeBron James is still the target of criticism for his decision to leave Cleveland and head to Miami. According the latest Q-score ratings, the measure of how something or someone appeals to a broad audience, James' image has taken a big hit. Many of his new teammates either insist they're not paying attention to the steady stream of critics who continue denouncing how the NBA's two-time reigning MVP's made his decision to join the Heat, or say they believe it'll all give him plenty of motivation for the coming season. In January, James' had a positive Q Score of 24, and a negative Q Score of 22 -- meaning 24 percent of Americans familiar with James listed him as one of their favorite personalities, and 22 percent said he was among their least-favorites in sports. Now, his positive Q Score number is 14. His negative Q Score? 39. "I think it's probably the biggest negative jump I've seen not related to any anti-social behavior," said Henry Schafer, executive vice president of The Q Scores Company. "It was clearly perceived as a negative move on LeBron's part." Only Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Terrell Owens, Kobe Bryant and Chad Ochocinco have worse negative numbers, Schafer said.
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| 7,000 | The San Diego Chargers say their home opener Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars will be blacked out on local TV because they fell more than 7,000 tickets short of reaching a sellout. The Chargers had a streak of 48 straight sellouts, playoffs included. The last Chargers game blacked out was against New Orleans on Nov. 11, 2004. The Chargers, Southern California's only NFL team, say other games are in danger of being blacked out this season. They say more than 12,000 tickets remain for their next home game against Arizona on Oct. 3.
Chargers' 48-game sellout streak over | Attendance Issues In The NFL |
| 17 | Since the 162-game schedule took effect in 1961, the 2010 Pirates have the fewest road wins of any team through 74 away games. Pittsburgh, with the worst record in the majors at 48-98, fell to 15-59 away from home. The Pirates must win three of their last seven road games (three in St. Louis Sept. 27,28,29, four at Florida Sept. 30, Oct. 1,2,3) during the final week of the season to avoid matching the 1963 Mets for the worst road record (17-64) in a 162-game season.
Mike Pelfrey dominates Pirates as Mets cap 4-game sweep | Box Score | Highlight |
| 7-0 | Swin Cash led five Storm players in double figures with 18 points and Seattle rallied with an 18-3 run in the second half, then held off a late Atlanta comeback to win the franchise's second WNBA Championship. Finals MVP Lauren Jackson (who was also league MVP in the regular season) and Camille Little each had 15 points, while Sue Bird had 14 points and Tanisha Wright added 13 for the Storm, who were a perfect 7-0 in the playoffs, becoming the first WNBA team to have a perfect postseason since Los Angeles went 6-0 in the 2002 playoffs. The three Finals games were decided by a combined total of just eight points.
Game Recap | Second title even sweeter for Storm | Box Score |
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| "In my case, I do push the limits, so I can't scream too loudly. But you wonder how many people go to games because of characters like me. I think I add to the experience." Buffalo Bills fan Ken Johnson on being told by NFL to move his tailgate. Aside from his tailgate creating a potential crowd control issue, Johnson was informed by security that the league official frowned on the bowling ball shots he provides to passers-by who line up at his site.
NFL intercedes in Bills fan's tailgate | "It's going to be better for our fans in the stadium and those watching the broadcast. It'll lead to less wear and tear on our newly renovated stadium and over time, it will be a financially good decision, too." Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon, talking about The University of Michigan's decision to spend $1.8 million to add permanent lights at the venerable stadium. The school's board of regents approved the project Thursday. Michigan Stadium will host its first night game on Sept. 10, 2011.
Big House to get lights | The Detroit News | ESPN Blog |
| Where will the BCS national champion come from? | 
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9AM ET | Josh Elliott, Robert Flores | 12PM ET | Kevin Negandi, Chris McKendry | 3PM ET | Ryan Burr, Michelle Bonner on ESPNEWS | 6PM ET | Brian Kenny, Jay Harris | 8PM ET | Jonathan Coachman, Max Bratos on ESPNEWS | 11PM ET | John Anderson, Linda Cohn | 1AM ET | Neil Everett, Stan Verrett from Los Angeles |
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