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Mayor vows regional effort to keep Kings

SACRAMENTO, April 19 (UPI) -- Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Tuesday he's teaming with regional leaders in a bid to keep the NBA's Kings from moving to Anaheim.

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Johnson, who met with the league's Board of Governors last week, said his effort to team up with political leaders across a six-county Northern California region is meant to show the city isn't alone in wanting to keep the Kings, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Previous attempts led by the city to build a replacement for aging Arco Arena have failed, but with regional help "it will be different this time," Johnson said.

"[The NBA] is going to want to know what's different this time than the previous times when we've tried to do a new entertainment and sports complex and failed, and I think there's a political will and leadership," he told the Bee.

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The league extended a deadline until May 2 for Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof to make a formal request to move the team to Anaheim's Honda Center after Johnson's presentation.

The chairman of the NBA board's relocation committee will be in Sacramento Thursday to get an update on progress toward a new arena, the newspaper said.


H.S. team forfeits season after drinking

BURBANK, Calif., April 19 (UPI) -- Administrators at a Burbank, Calif., high school said Tuesday they have canceled the varsity baseball season after a coach allegedly supplied beer to players.

Principal Emilio Urioste Jr. of John Burroughs High School fired the team's coaching staff and disciplined 18 players in response to a drinking incident during a tournament last month in Arizona, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Uroiste said in a statement that "an adult coach purchased beer and made it available to students while in their hotel rooms. Eleven team members admitted to drinking beer during this incident. Seven team members admitted to being aware of the beer but not participating in the drinking."

Coach J.R. Schwer told the newspaper he and three assistants who were on the road trip were fired Monday, confirming that many players were served alcohol by an assistant coach without his knowledge.

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The John Burroughs Indians baseball team will forfeit the rest of the games on its varsity schedule, the Times reported.

The 11 students who admitted drinking beer were suspended from school for five days and the other seven were suspended for two days. All 18 have been suspended from the baseball team for four weeks.


NFL releases 2011 season schedule

NEW YORK, April 19 (UPI) -- Assuming a lockout doesn't delay or cancel it, the 2011 NFL season opener will be Sept. 8 when New Orleans visits Green Bay, the league announced Tuesday.

The NFL announced its 17-week, 256-game regular-season schedule for 2011 amid a labor impasse and court battle over a move by team owners to lock players out of training camp in the absence of a new collective bargaining agreement.

Should the season begin on time, the schedule kicks off with a Thursday night Saints-Packers game -- an opening weekend that also features 13 Sunday games, including a prime time matchup of the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Jets.

Also on the slate during opening weekend is a game pitting the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Baltimore Ravens.

The first Monday night of the season features a doubleheader for the sixth straight season. The New England Patriots will visit the Miami Dolphins in the early game with the Oakland Raiders hosting the Denver Broncos in the nightcap.

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The Super Bowl champion Packers will be featured on Thanksgiving Day at Detroit, on Christmas Day against Chicago and New Year's Day, again vs. Detroit.


Lakers' Odom wins Sixth Man award

NEW YORK, April 19 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom has been awarded the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year trophy, the league announced Tuesday.

A panel of 117 sportswriters and broadcasters gave Odom 513 of a possible 585 points, including 96 of a possible 117 first-place votes, the league said.

The runner-up for the second straight year was Dallas' Jason Terry, who garnered 244 points, while Philadelphia's Thaddeus Young came in third with 76 points.

Eligibility criteria for the award state that a player must have come off the bench in more games than he started -- Odom qualified because he started in only 35 of his 82 appearances for the Lakers this season.

Odom reached double figures in scoring 63 times, racking up 20 or more points 14 times.

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