ITPV » a great tomorrow. We come back (Sunday) and have

Michele Roberts has watched basketball for as long as she can remember. It was an easy choice growing up in a home with one TV and two older brothers. When she saw an interview last year with an NBA player and noticed how passionately he talked about trying to improve his embattled union, she wanted to be more than a fan. She wanted to be involved. Now the Washington trial lawyer is the first woman to lead a North American pro sports union. Roberts was elected Tuesday as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, and shes eager to provide the leadership it needs after a few difficult years. "They were looking for, not a man, not a woman, they were looking for a personality," Roberts said in a phone interview. "I think Im that personality and I intend to be what I have been in my entire practice, singularly devoted to this union. And thats what they were looking for. "Someone, whether it be a boy or a girl, who understood that this was their union, and they intended to run it, and they were looking for someone who appreciated that and was not going to deviate from that." Roberts received 32 of 36 votes at a meeting of players in Las Vegas, defeating tech industry CEO Dean Garfield and Dallas Mavericks CEO Terdema Ussery in the final vote. It capped a long and arduous process to replace Billy Hunter, who was ousted in February 2013. Roberts was one of the finalists initially offered to the rank-and-file during All-Star weekend in February, but the process was re-opened under another search committee at the urging of some players and agents. More than 100 players reconvened in Las Vegas this week, and after some tense moments leading up to the vote, Roberts emerged as the winner. "Obviously, I wouldve preferred that it happen sooner rather than later, but I completely understood when there were questions raised about the process," Roberts said. "Frankly, I would not have wanted them to ignore those questions and not affirmatively address those concerns. I wanted the job in February, but I wanted the job where there would be no questions about the fairness or the process, so I completely endorsed the executive committee to address these questions, and they did and now best I can tell theyre very pleased." The players considered more than 300 candidates during their 17-month search before picking Roberts, who has been called the finest trial lawyer in Washington by "Washingtonian Magazine." She said her new job will feature straight, honest talk, just like she delivers to a jury, and the strategizing that made her such a successful lawyer. The search to replace Hunter, who led the NBPA from 1996 until a review of the union was critical of his business practices, leaves players with less than two years to prepare for the next potential collective bargaining talks. Either the union or the league can opt out of the current agreement in 2017. The union has struggled for years with in-fighting and a lack of organization, and the players took a significant cut in their guarantee of basketball-related income -- 57 per cent to about 50 per cent, a drop of hundreds of millions annually in salary costs -- in the contentious lockout in 2011. League revenues are on the rise, a new TV contract is set to be negotiated in 2016 and franchise valuations are skyrocketing. "As far as Im concerned, preparations for CBA negotiations started yesterday," Roberts said. "Its at the top of my list of things that Ive been instructed to begin the process of preparing for, and sure its a lot to do, but Ive never been shy about hard work and long hours, so well get it done. Well be ready." NBA Commissioner Adam Silver congratulated Roberts in a statement, saying he looked forward to working with her "to ensure the continued health and growth of our game." "The partnership between our players and teams is the backbone of the league, and we are eager to continue working with the Players Association to build this relationship," Silver said. The fallout from the lockout and the Hunter ouster left the union reeling. But it also made Roberts want to get involved, which will bring the New York native back home. "The more I thought about it," she said, "the more I thought that would be a great opportunity to do something really important." Cheap Rockies Jerseys . -- Michael Bennett gambled last off-season that playing on a one-year deal in Seattle would pay off in the future with the long-term contract he always wanted. Colorado Rockies Store . When a game is in the balance, however, they still have the personnel and the experience to end up with the two points. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/ . The Raptors two leading scorers were never able to co-exist the way they hoped or the team had envisioned, but individually DeRozan was thriving, in the midst of a career season. Colorado Rockies Gear . The agreement comes a little more than one week after the video game manufacturer agreed to a $40 million settlement in a similar but separate case, bringing the total payout planned for athletes to $60 million, said Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, and the NCAA. Custom Colorado Rockies Jerseys .And although FIFAs investigators are preparing to release the findings of a World Cup corruption probe, Hassan Al Thawadi dismissed any chance of Qatar losing the showpiece event. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- It took a masterful performance for Jake Odorizzi to get a rare win. Odorizzi allowed one hit and struck out 10 while pitching into the eighth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Houston Astros 8-0 on Saturday. "A lot of things went right today," Odorizzi said. Odorizzi (3-7) retired his first 10 batters before Jose Altuves one-out infield single in the fourth that went off the pitchers foot. The right-hander, who went 7 1/3 innings, won for just the second time in his last 14 starts. "Tough luck," Odorizzi said of Altuves hit. "It was coming too fast." Only one runner reached second base against Odorizzi, who walked two. Brad Boxberger and Kirby Yates completed the one-hitter. "Thats the kind of game were capable of, absolutely," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "We finally got the hits when we needed them and the pitching was outstanding. Jake was really good." The Rays are 7-18 in their last 25 games. They have nine shutouts this year. Jake Buchanan (0-1) gave up five runs, eight hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings in his major league debut. He had his contract purchased from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill in for Brad Peacock, who was scratched from his scheduled start after having food poisoning earlier in the week. "It was pretty exciting to get out there and pitch in a big league game," Buchanan said. "I tried to settle in and battle and did the best I could." Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI double and James Loney hit a run-scoring single as the Rays took a 2-0 lead in the first. Buchanan avoided furtherr damage by getting an inning-ending grounder from Yunel Escobar with the bases loaded.dddddddddddd Tampa Bay had a three-run fifth to take a 5-0 lead. Brandon Guyer drove in a run with single before Matt Joyce had an RBI double that ended Buchanans day. Ryan Hanigan added a run-scoring double against Jerome Williams. Loney had a two-run single in a three-run eighth that extended the Rays lead to 8-0. Altuve went 1 for 3 with a walk, and has 12 hits in his last 21 at-bats. It was the ninth time this season, and second in three days, that Houston was shut out. "Thats the nature of baseball," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "You cant let a bad today ruin a great tomorrow. We come back (Sunday) and have an opportunity to get a split in a four-game series on the road, which is always good." NOTES: The teams wore retro 1970s uniforms on "Turn Back the Clock Day." Maddon remains a fan of the Astros rainbow uniforms that they wore Saturday. "They nailed it," Maddon said. "I do dig the uniforms." ... Houston C Jason Castro was the DH one day after taking a foul ball off his knee. He is expected to get Sunday off, ... To make room on the roster for Buchanan, RHP Paul Clemens was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City and RHP Jose Cisnero (sore right elbow) was transferred from the 15- to the 60-day DL. ... Houston RHP Anthony Bass (right intercostal strain) will start a minor league rehab assignment Sunday with Single-A Quad Cities. ... Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel (8-4) and Rays LHP Erik Bedard (3-5) are Sundays scheduled starters. ' ' '