Vail partner, Northstar home for White
BROOMFIELD, Colo., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Vail Resorts announced Thursday Olympic gold medalist Shaun White will set up camp at California's Northstar-at-Tahoe, where he will design a 22-foot halfpipe.
White, the two-time defending Olympic champion in halfpipe, will front all six Vail Resorts -- Colorado's Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone; and California's Heavenly and Northstar -- and will make Northstar his primary training grounds.
"Shaun White is the ultimate personification of the new energy and vibrancy we see across the mountain resort industry. Shaun's creativity and innovation has led the way for the self-expression we see in the halfpipes and terrain parks at all six of our resorts," said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts.
"This feels like a homecoming because I have spent so much time riding at most of Vail Resorts' mountains," said White, the only person to win four consecutive gold medals in the Winter X Games Halfpipe competition.
"With Northstar as my home mountain, I now have the ideal place to train and continue to grow as an athlete, and I am looking forward to all the possibilities this partnership brings."
Vail resorts said it will donate $5 for every Epic Pass sold to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, White's charity of choice.
White had two open-heart surgeries before the age of 1 to repair a congenital heart defect.
Jalen Rose finishes DUI jail time
DETROIT, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Former NBA player and ESPN broadcaster Jalen Rose has been released from a Michigan jail after serving 16 days for a drunken driving offense, authorities said.
Rose was released from the Oakland County Jail in Pontiac early Thursday, The Detroit News reported.
Rose was arrested in March after he ran his SUV off a snowy road in West Bloomfield, and a blood test showed a 0.12 alcohol level.
Under Michigan law, 0.08 is considered drunken driving.
48th District Court Judge Kimberly Small, known for handing out jail sentences for first-time drunken drivers, sentenced Rose to 20 days in jail, a sentence Rose's lawyer has protested.
"Jalen Rose is one of the finest men I have ever had the privilege to have represented," attorney James Burdick said in a written statement Thursday.
"He is the most hands-on, socially conscious and charitable person I have known. He is the last person, in my opinion, for the judge to have imposed her rule that everyone with a DUI 'must' be sent to jail."
Rose, 38, is known for his work helping inner city kids and for fundraising for charity events, the Detroit Free Press said.
Lawrie takes lead at golf's Czech Open
CELADNA, Czech Republic, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Peter Lawrie turned in a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 Thursday and owns the first-round lead at the European Tour's Czech Open.
Lawrie has a one-stroke advantage over Victor Dubuisson, Damien McGrane and Pedro Oriol, who each had six birdies and a bogey in finishing the first round at 67. Shane Lowry and Mikael Lundberg were tied for fifth at 4-under 68.
Lawrie played the back nine of the Prosper Golf Resort course first Thursday and was 2-under after nine holes. He had a birdie at the first hole but jumped into the lead with three birdies over the four-hole span from Nos. 5-8.
"I played lovely golf today," Lawrie said. "No bogeys, which always helps. A couple of nice up-and-downs when I really needed them -- on 2 and 3 -- my 11th and 12th.
"Other than that, I played lovely, solid golf and every chance I gave myself from short range, I holed it -- though I missed about a 10-footer at the last."
Pryor eligible for NFL supplemental draft
NEW YORK, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has been declared eligible for the NFL supplemental draft, which is set for Monday.
The supplement draft is for players who have eligibility issues or otherwise missed the regular NFL draft. It was scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed while NFL officials considered Pryor's eligibility.
Pryor left Ohio State in June as part of the series of scandals at the Big Ten school. Pryor allegedly received improper benefits for selling memorabilia. The resulting investigation forced Buckeyes Coach Jim Tressel from his job.
The NFL's determination making Pryor eligible for Monday's draft stipulates that Pryor won't be eligible to practice or appear in the first five games of the 2011 season. Pryor had been suspended from Ohio State's first five games this upcoming season.
The NFL said Pryor "made decisions that undermine the integrity of the eligibility rules for the NFL Draft. Those actions included failing to cooperate with the NCAA and hiring an agent in violation of NCAA rules."
Five other players are also eligible for the supplemental draft. Georgia running back Caleb King heads that list and is joined by North Carolina defensive end Mike McAdoo, Northern Illinois defensive back Tracy Wilson, Western Carolina defensive back Torez Jones and Lindenwood defensive end Keenan Mace.
