Category Archives: Xbox 360

UPDATE 1-Golf-US pair Kuchar, Woodland win World Cup

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

* US win 24th World Cup

* Ireland falter, finish fourth

(Adds details, quotes)

HAIKOU, China, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Matt Kuchar and Gary

Woodland gave the United States a 24th World Cup on Sunday after

the duo reeled in overnight leaders Ireland and held off the

charge of fast-finishing England.

The victory at the Blackstone course comes a week after

Kuchar helped the United States win another team event, the

Presidents Cup, in Australia.

The U.S. team fired a final round of 67 to take the title

with a combined 24-under-par 264, two shots ahead of England and

Germany in joint second place.

Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell started Sunday

with a two-shot lead but endured a frustrating day and carded an

even par 72 for a share of fourth.

Kuchar told reporters he was proud to have won the title for

America.

“You think of all the sporting events, and you think of all

the teams that become world champions, and in golf there are not

that many opportunities to be world champions,” he said.

“So to represent the United States of America and become

world champions just feels great.”

The American duo began the final round two strokes behind

McIlroy and McDowell but moved to the top of the 28-nation

leaderboard after birdies on the opening two holes and at the

sixth and seventh. A bogey on 11 was the only blip but they

rebounded with birdies on the 12th and 13th.

Kuchar and Woodland cruised home to slip on the traditional

golden jackets and take first prize cheques of $1.2 million.

“On Saturday we really clicked together and played a great

round and when Matt got up-and-down at the last that gave us the

momentum into today’s final round,” Woodland told reporters.

“So we came out today to birdie the first two holes and that

really got us going.”

FROM SUBDUED TO CRAZY

England’s Ian Poulter and Justin Rose produced the round of

the day, a nine-under 63, to climb to second place on 22-under

par with Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka (69).

Poulter and Rose were eight strokes off the lead going into

the final round but started their charge with four birdies in

their opening six holes before playing the closing four holes in

four under.

“We … were a little subdued last night and neither of us

were much company,” said Poulter. “We stayed in our own rooms,

and kind of rightly so as four-under par in fourball was very

disappointing.

“But to go and shoot nine-under par in foursomes is crazy.

“When we look back at rounds of golf, that’s why we play

golf, and to have that much fun with a few holes to play, like

to birdie 15 and to eagle 16, was great.”

However, it was disappointment for Ireland for the second

World Cup in a row after McIlroy and McDowell faltered when it

mattered most. The pair had also been leading the event in 2009

but were overhauled by Italy on the final day.

They had four birdies and bogeys for a level par 72, sharing

fourth with Australians Richard Green and Brendan Jones (69),

the Scottish duo of Martin Laird and Stephen Gallacher (66), and

Joost Luiten and Robert Jan Derksen (68) of Netherlands.

The Guatemala team of Jose Toledo and Pablo Acuna were

celebrating their 27th place after a final round 70. They

finished 11 shots better than Belgium.

“We’ve had a fantastic week and have easily exceeded our

expectations,” Toledo told Reuters. “It’s been a good experience

for Pablo and myself.”

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Please double-click on the newslink:

for more golf stories

Golf-Leading sponsor slams ‘greedy’ Tours

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

HAIKOU, China, Nov 27 (Reuters) – One of golf’s leading

sponsors has slammed the game’s main Tours, describing them as

“greedy” and saying they show little respect to Asia.

Stephen Urquhart, president of Swiss watchmaker Omega,

singled out the U.S. PGA and European Tours for continually

adding tournaments to their schedules.

Omega currently sponsors the European Tour’s Dubai Desert

Classic and European Masters in Switzerland. It recently signed

a deal to become the ‘official timekeeper’ of the PGA of America

and will include next year’s Ryder Cup, PGA Championship and

Grand Slam of Golf.

“The big problem with golf at present is a calendar issue

and we’ve told all the Tours that they have to stop being so

greedy,” Urquart told reporters. “There are too many tournaments

and they are adding tournaments all the time.

“And to treat Asia as the stopgap as they do with this

week’s World Cup is not right. It’s wrong and the Tours are not

going to win if they keep treating Asia as a stopgap. They need

to show Asia more respect.

“Why can’t there be a big event like the World Cup here in

Asia in June. What’s the difference in taking a flight from

London to Beijing or London to Los Angeles?

“This is the mentality of the Tours and it is not right.”

Urquhart, who confirmed Omega was ending its sponsorship of

the World Cup and would from next year again sponsor the Hong

Kong Open, said Chinese organisers should be fighting harder for

better scheduling of the World Cup.

“Done properly and packaged properly, and staged at a better

time of year, no one … would go anywhere else in the world

that given week but to play in the World Cup,” he added.

Urquhart also questioned the decision by the Federation of

Golf Tours, who run the World Cup, to award Mission Hills

hosting rights for 10 years.

“The Federation and Mission Hills know my feeling on this

because before this year I was not happy with the fields we were

getting, but we’ve got three Major winners here this year and

there’s been a lot more respect shown to the event,” he said.

Urquhart said he felt it was too early for China to be

supporting a tournament on the scale of the World Cup.

“While there are not too many countries in the world who

could organise an event like China, the tournament needs to

travel around the world.”

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Please double-click on the newslink:

for more golf stories

Golf-Confident Otto in sight of victory at SA Open

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

KEMPTON PARK, South Africa, Nov 26 – Hennie Otto, the

former bad boy of South African golf, says he is a new man and

ready to prove it as he takes a three-shot lead into the final

round of the SA Open on Sunday.

Otto shot a seven-under-par 65 on Saturday to move to

14-under overall, ahead of two-time champion Retief Goosen,

Sweden’s Magnus A. Carlsson and rising South African stars

Thomas Aiken and Garth Mulroy.

The 35-year-old once threw his clubs into the Umtamvuna

River after a final-round collapse in the Nashua Masters in

2001, but Otto believes he has the temperament to complete

victory at the Serengeti Golf Estate.

“I’m a new man and I’ve won coming from behind, I’ve won

when I’ve been leading, and I’ve also lost when I’m in front,”

he told a news conference. “Whoever plays the best golf tomorrow

wins, it’s as simple as that.

“No psychologist, hypnotist or doctor could save me from my

hell. Only God could save me. I’m a new man and I don’t even

feel like breaking a club these days.”

Otto, who has won 12 times on the Sunshine Tour and is

chasing a second European Tour title after success at the

Italian Open in 2008, began the third round four shots off

Briton Steven O’Hara’s lead.

He started slowly, with two bogeys and a birdie in his first

five holes, but he played the next 12 holes in eight-under,

capping his run with an eagle at the par-five 11th.

O’Hara slipped from contention as he shot a two-over-par 74

to finish five strokes back. Birdies from the last three holes

rescued the Scotsman from an even bigger collapse.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Goosen, the runner-up last year,

bogeyed the last two holes to complete a battling 71, while the

defending champion, Ernie Els, slumped out of contention after a

76 that left him on two-under for the tournament.

Els was seemingly disturbed by spectators taking photgraphs

with their mobile devices and found the water off the tee on the

par-five 16th hole on his way to a quadruple-bogey nine.

Otto, Els’s playing partner, said: “Ernie stepped away twice

from his drive and asked the people with cameras to stop taking

photos. All you can hear is ‘click, click, click’ and it gets to

you. In the old days, I would have sworn at them, knocked their

heads off!

“But there’s no control. They should ban all cellphones,

iPhones, etc from the course.”

(Editing by Stephen Wood)

Sanchez throws 4 TDs as Jets top Bills 28-24

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — This was one frantic finish the New York Jets might consider a turning point if they end up pulling off another late-season playoff push.

Mark Sanchez threw a career-high four touchdown passes, including the winning 16-yard score to Santonio Holmes with just over a minute remaining, as the Jets kept pace in the AFC playoff race with a 28-24 comeback victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

“He’s at his best,” coach Rex Ryan said of his quarterback, “in big moments.”

And, this was certainly one of them. One win down. Five more to go.

With several Jets players saying they needed to win each of their last six games to reach the postseason, things appeared bleak with New York (6-5) trailing 24-21 after Dave Rayner’s 53-yard field goal and facing a third-and-11 from the Bills 36. But Sanchez connected with Plaxico Burress, who reached up and made an impressive one-handed grab along the left sideline for 18 yards and the first down.

“It was crazy,” Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis said of the catch. “He’s 6-foot-5 and he’s got those ‘Go-Go-Gadget’ arms. It was probably one of the best catches I’ve seen in a while.”

Added Sanchez: “I don’t know if words could do it any justice. It was a big-time catch in a crucial situation.”

Sanchez quickly ran a quarterback sneak — just to make sure there was no challenge, even though replays showed Burress caught it cleanly. On the next play, Sanchez rolled out to his right to buy some time and found Holmes alone in the right corner of the end zone to give the Jets the lead with 1:01 left.

“I felt good,” Sanchez said of his confidence entering the winning drive. “We’ve been in that situation before.”

But the Jets then had to overcome a valiant comeback attempt by the Bills (5-6), who have lost four straight. With Buffalo driving for a winning score, a wide-open Stevie Johnson dropped a pass that would have gone for a long gain. Ryan Fitzpatrick also threw behind Johnson in the end zone with 8 seconds left that might have been a touchdown.

“It’s hard,” Fitzpatrick said. “They scored at the end and we had a legitimate four chances to get it in there in the end zone and unfortunately we were unable to make the plays. It hurts real bad.”

Sanchez wasn’t great in this one, going 17 of 35 for 180 yards and an interception, but came through with the game on the line. It was his eighth fourth-quarter comeback victory in two-plus seasons. He also threw two touchdown passes to Dustin Keller and another to Burress as the Jets rebounded from a deflating loss to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos 10 days ago.

“Defensively, the one thing we can say is we finished,” Ryan said.

Fitzpatrick was 26 of 39 for 264 yards and three touchdowns, but couldn’t pull out one more in the end. Buffalo played without several injured starters, including Fred Jackson and George Wilson.

Johnson had one of the Bills’ touchdown catches late in the first half and got up and mocked being shot in the thigh, clearly making fun of Burress who served 20 months in prison for shooting himself in the leg in a nightclub in 2008 while he was with the Giants. Johnson then ran to the left side of the end zone mocking the “flight” celebration the Jets often use after scoring and fell to the ground, getting flagged 15 yards for excessive celebration on the play that gave Buffalo a 14-7 lead.

“I was just having fun and part of having fun ended up being a penalty and a touchdown for the Jets,” Johnson said. “It was a stupid decision by myself.”

New York was already going to have good field position, but Rayner flubbed a squibbed kick attempt that hit off the Jets’ Emanuel Cook, who recovered the ball at Buffalo’s 36.

The Jets moved to the 14 when Buffalo’s Marcell Dareus was hit for a 15-yard penalty for using his helmet to make contact with Sanchez. Three plays later, Burress caught a 14-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to tie it at 14 with 1:03 left in the half. Burress simply bowed to the crowd and ran to the stands and handed the ball to his son Elijah, as he always does after scoring receptions.

“I’ve seen worse, and I’ve heard worse,” Burress said of Johnson’s celebration. “So, it doesn’t bother me at all. The result I’m looking at is we won the football game.”

The Jets’ offense started the third quarter with a nice drive capped by Keller’s second touchdown catch of the game that gave New York a 21-14 lead with 3:50 remaining in the period.

After the Jets held the Bills to three-and-out late in the third quarter, Buffalo got the ball right back when cornerback Antonio Cromartie — who was returning the punt because Jim Leonhard was a bit banged up — muffed the fair catch and Leodis McKelvin recovered at New York’s 36. McKelvin injured his ribs on the play and left the game.

Fitzpatrick went for a big play right away, throwing a ball up deep down the right sideline to former Jets wide receiver Brad Smith, who appeared to get a hand on it, along with Cromartie, and tapped the ball up, grabbed it out of the air as the defender fell and took off into the end zone for a career-best 36-yard touchdown that tied it at 21 with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter.

Notes: David Nelson had the Bills’ other touchdown, an 8-yard catch that gave Buffalo a 7-0 lead late in the opening quarter. … Jets DE Mike DeVito left in the third quarter with a right knee injury, and Ryan had no update on the severity. … Former Bills first-rounder Aaron Maybin had two of the Jets’ three sacks. He had none in two unproductive seasons in Buffalo. … Fitzpatrick became the fifth QB in team history with 50 TD passes, joining Jim Kelly, Joe Ferguson, Jack Kemp and Drew Bledsoe.

Golf-Kaymer bemused by McIlroy and Westwood PGA return

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

HAIKOU, China, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Martin Kaymer has no

intention of following Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood to the U.S.

PGA Tour and says he finds their decision to rejoin the circuit

“strange”.

World No. 2 and reigning U.S. Open champion McIlroy will

again take up PGA Tour membership for the 2012 season.

McIlroy had announced two years ago that he would be taking

his game onto the PGA Tour but less than a year later he

revealed he was homesick and decided to focus on Europe.

“I just don’t know why Rory and Lee go back and forth and

that to me seems a little strange,” Kaymer told Reuters.

“One year they are on the PGA Tour and next they’re not. But

it’s their decisions and they can make up their own minds.”

The 26-year old German, who won the recent WGC-HSBC

Champions event in Shanghai, is not about to follow suit.

“No, I have no intention of joining Lee and Rory because it

means playing just too many tournaments,” he said.

“I sat down recently to look at both schedules and compare

for next season but it would mean having to play 12 in Europe

and the minimum of 15 in America to fulfil the status.

“That would be just far too much travelling.

“Maybe some time in the future if I was to move full time to

America then I might consider playing on the PGA Tour but not

for a while yet.”

Kaymer said his management company was continually being

approached by individual PGA Tour event organisers to play more

in the United States.

“With the amount of invitations I receive I could play a

good many weeks in America, for sure,” he said.

“But I still like competing more in Europe and while it

would be great to play in America more often I will stick to my

European Tour schedule.”

Kaymer and Alex Cejka recorded an 11-under par third round

61 in the Fourball format to move to 19-under par in the World

Cup.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Please double-click on the newslink:

for more golf stories

Lindsey Vonn, husband begin divorce proceedings

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn and her husband of four years are calling it quits.

Vonn confirmed Sunday night that she and Thomas Vonn have started divorce proceedings. Her husband also serves as her chief adviser.

“This is an extremely difficult time in my personal life and I hope the media and my fans can respect my need for privacy on this matter,” Lindsey Vonn said in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

Vonn elected to skip the season-opening World Cup slalom race Sunday to rest a sore back she recently tweaked in training. She plans to return to the slopes Tuesday for a downhill training run in Lake Louise, Alberta, the site of the next competition.

Thomas Vonn said in an email to The AP that he filed for divorce last Monday.

The couple were married Sept. 29, 2007.

Lindsey Vonn became one of the faces of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, winning a gold medal in the downhill and a bronze in the super-G — all on a badly bruised shin.

Her shining moment in Vancouver was years in the making, beginning when her father, Alan Kildow, introduced her to skiing. He even moved the family to Colorado to foster that passion for the slopes.

But she had a falling out with her dad a few years ago. By all accounts, the feud began before the 2006 Turin Olympics, when she was known as Lindsey Kildow.

Part of the escalating tension had to do with her relationship with Thomas Vonn, a former U.S. Olympic skier who is nearly nine years older.

Over the years, Thomas Vonn became a rock in her life as he helped coordinate interviews, provided tips on the course and made sure all the logistics were taken care, freeing Lindsey Vonn to focus on skiing.

She’s blossomed into one of the top racers in U.S. team history, winning three overall World Cup titles. She also has 42 World Cup wins, tying her with Sweden’s Anja Paerson for fourth place on the all-time list.

With her victory in the giant slalom last month in Soelden, Austria, Vonn became just the fifth female skier to win a race in all five Alpine disciplines. She’s also the second American skier to complete the discipline sweep, joining Bode Miller.

Vonn could add to her win total this week at Lake Louise, on a hill where she’s typically skied very well. She has 14 podium finishes at the venue, including eight wins.

Vonn said in a statement that she will “continue to be coached by the U.S. Ski Team and look forward to competing the rest of the season.”

Johnson’s TD celebration backfires in Bills’ loss to Jets

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Reuters) – Buffalo’s Stevie Johnson mocked Plaxico Burress’s gun incident when he mimicked being shot in the leg after scoring a touchdown in a loss to the New York Jets on Sunday that he blamed on himself.

Johnson’s celebration, a reference to the Jets receiver who shot himself in the leg in a nightclub three years ago, drew a crucial penalty flag after he spread his arms to mock the Jets’ “flight” celebration and then crashed to the ground.

The penalty pushed Buffalo back to their own 20-yard line for the ensuing kickoff and when Dave Rayner flubbed the kick, the Jets took possession on the Buffalo 36.

Four plays later, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez found a wide open Burress for a 14-yard touchdown connection that tied it at 14-14 with a minute to go before intermission. The Jets went on to win 28-24.

“It was very stupid of me going through that and I feel like I cost our team the win by doing that,” said Johnson, whose five-yard TD grab gave Buffalo a 14-7 lead late in the first half.

“At the end of the day, it cost our team seven points. I have to apologize to everyone and talk to coach. I can’t be doing that. I need to be mature about the situation.”

Johnson also muffed a chance for a potential game-winning catch when he dropped a pass over the middle with no defenders around on the Bills’ last drive of the game.

“My reaction was slow. It was there. I just didn’t react fast enough,” said Johnson. “It could have been a touchdown.”

While Johnson blamed himself for the loss, he produced the best game of the season against All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis, whose shutting down of opposing receivers has them famously complaining of being marooned on “Revis Island.”

Johnson, usually covered one-on-one by Revis, caught eight passes for 75 yards including the touchdown grab.

Burress, who served 20 months in prison on a gun charge stemming from his incident in 2008 while he played for the New York Giants, did no seem concerned with Johnson’s antics.

“It doesn’t really bother me at all.” Burress told reporters when asked about Johnson’s antics.

Former Jet Brad Smith, who also caught a TD pass for Buffalo, shrugged off Johnson’s behavior and said his team mate was just having fun.

“It might not have been in the best taste. But everybody makes mistakes,” said Smith. “If everybody looked in the mirror and realized how much stupid stuff they’ve done, they’d be a little less quick to say something bad about somebody.”

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

Golf-Home favourite Otto survives tense finish to win

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

KEMPTON PARK, South Africa, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Home-town

favourite Hennie Otto survived a nerve-racking last few holes to

win the South African Open by one stroke at the Serengeti Golf

Estate on Sunday.

Otto frittered away a three-shot overnight lead with three

bogeys in four holes between the 13th and 16th holes as

Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger threatened to become only the eighth

non-Southern African winner of the second-oldest national open

in the sport.

Wiesberger, who began the day five strokes behind Otto, gave

himself a chance by going out in three-under-par 33, to move to

within three shots of the South African. However, the

24-year-old Austrian could only claim two birdies, offset by a

bogey on the par-four 13th hole.

Otto sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the 343-yard penultimate

hole, after driving over the green, and then two-putted on the

last to finish his round on level-par 72 and a 14-under-par

total of 274.

The 35-year-old Otto, whose previous European Tour win was

at the 2008 Italian Open, won 158,500 euro and will play in the

lucrative season-ending Dubai World Championship, having moved

to 56th on the money list.

(Editing by Clare Fallon. To comment on this story email

sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

((clare.fallon@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7933; Reuters

Messaging: clare.fallon.reuters.com@reuters.net)

Please double-click on the newslink:

for more golf

Tentative deal moves the NBA lockout closer to end

by

0

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

NEW YORK (AP) — With a Christmas Day tripleheader on everyone’s wish list and a tentative labor agreement in place, NBA owners and union officials went back to work Saturday, relaying details of the deal with hopes of cementing it quickly.

After a 149-day lockout that ultimately will cost the league approximately a half-billion dollars in losses, a marathon bargaining session produced a handshake agreement earlier in the day — actually, just a few hours before daybreak.

Commissioner David Stern still must sell his owners on an agreement that could change the way they do business. And the players, looking beat and beaten, face a tougher healing process in approving a pact that significantly limits their earnings.

But considering everything owners sought when these negotiations opened with a contentious meeting at the All-Star break in February 2010, perhaps they will feel relieved they got as much as they did.

Players’ association executives Derek Fisher and Maurice Evans hardly looked enthused about the agreement as they sat next to executive director Billy Hunter on the same side of a conference table with Stern, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver and Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the league’s labor relations committee.

But at least they weren’t sitting in a courtroom, where they appeared headed less than two weeks earlier.

Just 12 days after talks broke down, Stern and Hunter appeared together after 3 a.m. Saturday to announce the 10-year deal, with either side able to opt out after the sixth year. It leaves the NBA with its second shortened season (the first was the 50-game 1998-99 season), with the hope of getting in 66 games instead of a full 82-game schedule.

Stern said he expects the labor committee to endorse the deal and recommend it to the full board for approval.

The players’ side has revealed little of its feelings about the deal, noting the pending antitrust litigation in its desire to keep details quiet. But players always preferred to be on the court, rather than in it, and now they finally have the chance — starting Christmas Day.

For the season openers, it would be Boston at New York, Miami at Dallas and Chicago at the Lakers — sorry, little guys, the big markets still rule Christmas.

Now, the regular season would end one week later and push back NBA finals a week, potentially setting up a Game 7 on June 28, 2012.

The deal also calls for no hard salary cap, no rollbacks of existing salaries and contracts can still be fully guaranteed. Owners had called for all of that, seeking a route to profitability after saying they lost $300 million last season, and believing they would create a level of parity that had been missing.

But players’ annual raises were trimmed from 10.5 percent for those re-signing with their own teams and 8 percent for those leaving to 7.5 percent and 4.5 percent respectively. Rules implemented to curb spending by teams over the luxury tax will limit some of their options in free agency.

Owners relented slightly on their previous insistence that players receive no more than 50 percent of basketball-related income after they were guaranteed 57 percent in the old CBA. The target is still a 50-50 split, but with a band from 49 percent to 51 percent that gives the players a better chance of reaching the highest limit than previously proposed.

“I appreciate what Billy and Derek and the players have compromised on because it will allow us, as a small market, to be competitive and create more parity across all 30 teams,” Holt said. “We are really excited. We are excited for the fans. We’re excited to start playing basketball for the players and for everybody involved.”

Details were provided to owners Saturday afternoon in what would be described as a largely congratulatory teleconference. A person with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press that some owners said they wished certain issues — usually ones specific to smaller markets — were addressed, but many were simply relieved the process was nearing an end.

“The way the deal shakes out, particularly the system issues, there’s something in there for every owner to hate,” the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the pact still needs to be ratified. “A number of the small market owners may feel bad that they were not protected the way they thought they were going to be protected. Having said that, virtually all of them say it’s better to play than not to play or lose the season.”

Players filed an amended antitrust lawsuit in Minnesota on Monday that could have earned the players billions but surely would have come at the cost of at least the entire 2011-12 season.

The sides said all along the only way to a deal was through negotiating. They got back together Tuesday, setting the way for the pivotal meeting that began Friday.

“I think we saw a willingness of both sides to compromise yet a little more and to reach this agreement,” Silver said. “We look forward to opening on Christmas Day and we are excited to bring NBA basketball back and that’s most important.”

Now, players must drop a lawsuit against the league and reform their disbanded union before they can vote on the deal. Hunter said it could take anywhere from three days to a week to get that completed.

Once the pact is approved, it would pave the way for training camps and free agency to open simultaneously Dec. 9, setting off a chaotic flurry of activity that could leave coaches running practices with different players arriving each day. There could be an even larger pool of free agents if teams use the amnesty clause, which allows them to waive one player during the deal and have 100 percent of his salary taken off the cap and the tax.

President Barack Obama gave a thumbs-up when told about the tentative settlement after he finished playing basketball at Fort McNair in Washington on Saturday morning.

Because the union disbanded, a new collective bargaining agreement can only be completed once the union has reformed. Drug testing and other issues still must be negotiated between the players and the league, which also must dismiss its lawsuit regarding the legality of the lockout.

“We’re very pleased we’ve come this far,” Stern said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

A number of minor issues remain unsettled, such as sponsorship patches being added to jerseys and how the preseason should work.

Some major matters — like revenue sharing, which the NBA has said it will not really dive into until a new CBA is complete — remain on the table as well. Meetings on that issue take place every few days, and the person briefed on the status of the NBA’s discussions said many teams are not thrilled by the notion of paying both a luxury tax and into a revenue-sharing pool.

When the NBA returns, owners hope to find the type of parity that exists in the NFL, where the small-market Green Bay Packers are the current champions. The NBA has been dominated in recent years by the biggest spenders, with Boston, Los Angeles and Dallas winning the last four titles.

“I think it will largely prevent the high-spending teams from competing in the free-agent market the way they’ve been able to in the past. It’s not the system we sought out to get in terms of a harder cap, but the luxury tax is harsher than it was. We hope it’s effective,” Silver said.

“We feel ultimately it will give fans in every community hope that their team can compete for championships.”

Owners locked out the players July 1, and the sides spent most of the summer and fall battling over the division of revenues and other changes owners wanted in a new collective bargaining agreement. They said they lost hundreds of millions of dollars in each year of the former deal, ratified in 2005, and they wanted a system where the big-market teams wouldn’t have the ability to outspend their smaller counterparts.

Players fought against those changes, and scored some concessions at the end. The full midlevel exception of $5 million a year for four years will be available to all teams as long as the signing doesn’t take them more than $4 million over the tax, and the “mini midlevel” for taxpayers was increased to $3 million a year for three years.

“This was not an easy agreement for anyone. The owners came in having suffered substantial losses and feeling the system wasn’t working fairly across all teams,” Silver said. “I certainly know the players had strong views about expectations in terms of what they should be getting from the system. It required a lot of compromise from both parties’ part.”

Stern denied the antitrust litigation was a factor in accelerating a deal, but things happened relatively quickly after the players filed.

“For us the litigation is something that just has to be dealt with,” Stern said. “It was not the reason for the settlement. The reason for the settlement was we’ve got fans, we’ve got players who would like to play and we’ve got others who are dependent on us. And it’s always been our goal to reach a deal that was fair to both sides and get us playing as soon as possible, but that took a little time.”

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: twitter.com/Briancmahoney