cheap jordan shoes-Cubs to honor Santo with mass heel clicking

ST. LOUIS -- Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum came up with a creative way for the players to honor Ron Santo Sunday as he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"When they jog across the line, they're going to click their heels," he said.

The sight of nine Cubs players clicking their heels as they go out to their positions in the first innings should be something to see. The Cubs will also wear shoulder patches with Santo's No. 10 and the HOF insignia for the Hall of Fame.

t� i ��K zK owed me so much, and now it's my turn to get my confidence and every part of my game up and learn how to be a better leader."

Teague and Butler are the only locks here to land on the 2012-13 Bulls roster, and it's clear this summer league is all about their development.

In the first two games, Butler displayed a more aggressive mindset and ability to attack the rim, shooting 24 free throws. He also continued the physical defense that highlighted some of his higher-profile, regular-season appearances from his rookie season.

However, his work is not done, according to the man whose opinion counts the most.

"He has to do a lot better than he did last year," coach Tom Thibodeau said.

This is a huge summer for Butler, last year's first-round pick. Thanks to last season's NBA lockout, Butler had no summer league. He had no offseason supervision from coaches and the Bulls' strength and conditioning staff. He had an abbreviated training camp. He barely had any practice time because the compressed schedule meant non-game days were days off.

Thibodeau knows this as well as anyone.

"It's very important, not just in terms of summer league but in terms of working on his game, working on his body, studying the league, knowing what we're trying to get done," Thibodeau said. "I have to be able to count on him. He has done a terrific job so far this summer but this isn't the NBA. This is basically a rookie league. It's a good step. He's in great shape, which is always a good sign. He's playing with confidence. But he has to keep working.

"There are a lot of things he has to do better to be in the regular rotation. He understands that and I love the way he has approached things this offseason."

Before coming to Las Vegas, Butler practically lived at the Berto Center. He would work out, rest, then work out again. His body looks fit. His mind sounds sharp. He knows the opportunity ahead of him.

"I'm still kind of a rookie, but I feel I'm a veteran on this (summer league) team so I have to lead," he said. "If that means trying to take over a game, that's what I'll do. Going against this competition helps me. It's teaching me to play through everything. A lot of fouls aren't being called. That's OK. It'll make me tougher when the real season starts."

Butler averaged 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds in 8.5 minutes over 42 games last season. With Brewer gone and with a slim possibility Luol Deng will miss time with his injured wrist, Butler knows he has to be ready for increased responsibility.

Assistant coach Adrian Griffin, who is heading the summer-league squad, goes so far as to say Butler is "the man" and "go-to guy" until the Bulls' five-game schedule concludes Sunday. Relayed this news, Butler smiles.

"I feel like my hard work is paying off," he said. "But that doesn't mean you stop working."

Layups: The Bulls still haven't received Omer Asik's three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet he signed with the Rockets on Friday. They will have three days to match or decline once they do. Attempts have been made, so the league could get involved as it did when the Rockets had difficulty presenting Jeremy Lin's offer sheet to the Knicks. … The Bulls improved to 1-3 in the Vegas Summer League with a 77-74 victory against the Clippers behind Butler's 23 points. Malcolm Thomas added 21 points and 16 rebounds.

ot; � � s a �/O �I ad in part. "We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth. The Freeh report, though it has been accepted by the media as the definitive conclusion on the Sandusky scandal, is the equivalent of an indictment — a charging document written by a prosecutor — and an incomplete and unofficial one at that."

cheap jordan kicks-Time for Butler to make big strides

LAS VEGAS — Jimmy Butler is projected to take Ronnie Brewer's defensive sparkplug role off the bench next season, but that's not all the second-year player from Marquette grabbed from Brewer and other departed veterans.

"I want to show Marquis (Teague) the ropes like Ronnie and all those guys did for me," Butler said last week at the Vegas Summer League. "They took me under their wing and showed me so much, and now it's my turn to get my confidence and every part of my game up and learn how to be a better leader."

Teague and Butler are the only locks here to land on the 2012-13 Bulls roster, and it's clear this summer league is all about their development.

In the first two games, Butler displayed a more aggressive mindset and ability to attack the rim, shooting 24 free throws. He also continued the physical defense that highlighted some of his higher-profile, regular-season appearances from his rookie season.

However, his work is not done, according to the man whose opinion counts the most.

"He has to do a lot better than he did last year," coach Tom Thibodeau said.

This is a huge summer for Butler, last year's first-round pick. Thanks to last season's NBA lockout, Butler had no summer league. He had no offseason supervision from coaches and the Bulls' strength and conditioning staff. He had an abbreviated training camp. He barely had any practice time because the compressed schedule meant non-game days were days off.

Thibodeau knows this as well as anyone.

"It's very important, not just in terms of summer league but in terms of working on his game, working on his body, studying the league, knowing what we're trying to get done," Thibodeau said. "I have to be able to count on him. He has done a terrific job so far this summer but this isn't the NBA. This is basically a rookie league. It's a good step. He's in great shape, which is always a good sign. He's playing with confidence. But he has to keep working.

"There are a lot of things he has to do better to be in the regular rotation. He understands that and I love the way he has approached things this offseason."

Before coming to Las Vegas, Butler practically lived at the Berto Center. He would work out, rest, then work out again. His body looks fit. His mind sounds sharp. He knows the opportunity ahead of him.

"I'm still kind of a rookie, but I feel I'm a veteran on this (summer league) team so I have to lead," he said. "If that means trying to take over a game, that's what I'll do. Going against this competition helps me. It's teaching me to play through everything. A lot of fouls aren't being called. That's OK. It'll make me tougher when the real season starts."

Butler averaged 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds in 8.5 minutes over 42 games last season. With Brewer gone and with a slim possibility Luol Deng will miss time with his injured wrist, Butler knows he has to be ready for increased responsibility.

Assistant coach Adrian Griffin, who is heading the summer-league squad, goes so far as to say Butler is "the man" and "go-to guy" until the Bulls' five-game schedule concludes Sunday. Relayed this news, Butler smiles.

"I feel like my hard work is paying off," he said. "But that doesn't mean you stop working."

Layups: The Bulls still haven't received Omer Asik's three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet he signed with the Rockets on Friday. They will have three days to match or decline once they do. Attempts have been made, so the league could get involved as it did when the Rockets had difficulty presenting Jeremy Lin's offer sheet to the Knicks. … The Bulls improved to 1-3 in the Vegas Summer League with a 77-74 victory against the Clippers behind Butler's 23 points. Malcolm Thomas added 21 points and 16 rebounds.

ot; � � s a �/O �I ad in part. "We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth. The Freeh report, though it has been accepted by the media as the definitive conclusion on the Sandusky scandal, is the equivalent of an indictment — a charging document written by a prosecutor — and an incomplete and unofficial one at that."

cheap air jordans-Paterno statue comes down a day before NCAA's hammer

Penn State removed the statue of former coach Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on Sunday in advance of NCAA sanctions that could cripple the football program for years.

The NCAA, a methodical and procedural organization not known for tipping its investigative hand, has scheduled a Monday morning news conference at which it stated it will levy "corrective and punitive measures" against the school in the wake of a child sex-abuse scandal that led to the conviction of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

The penalties will be disclosed at the organization's Indianapolis headquarters by NCAA President Mark Emmert and Ed Ray, chairman of the NCAA's executive committee.

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Photos: Penn St. removes Paterno statue

Multiple news agencies, including ESPN and Yahoo, reported that the penalties would be "significant" and "staggering" and include a bowl ban and loss of scholarships, but wouldn't require the school to shut down its famed program.

CBS News, quoting industry sources, reported Penn State would receive "unprecedented" punishment for its role in the scandal, including a fine of at least $30 million to perhaps as much as $60 million. CBS reported the fine would go toward an endowment for children's causes.

For the 2010-11 school year, Penn State's athletic department had $116 million in revenue, CBS reported.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported Sunday the impending sanctions against Penn State would not be appealed or "substantially challenged." A Penn State spokesman reached Sunday said he had no information on the announcement.

The NCAA hasn't banned a program from television appearances since 1996, but that remains one of the more punitive options. The NCAA has not used the "Death Penalty" in football since it imposed a one-year ban on Southern Methodist in 1987 for a litany of violations, most involving payment to players by boosters. The school elected not to play in 1988 and has since recorded only three winning seasons.

The potential extraordinary NCAA action comes less than two weeks after an investigation led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh charged top officials at Penn State, including Paterno, of conspiring to cover up Sandusky's abuses.

It is a contention Paterno's family has vehemently denied. Paterno, who spent 61 years at the school and compiled a major college-record 409 victories, died in January at age 85.

Sandusky, a longtime Paterno assistant who retained access to school facilities after his 1999 retirement from the coaching staff, is awaiting sentencing after his conviction on 45 counts that he sexually abused 10 boys.

Emmert, as NCAA president, has reportedly received unprecedented permission by the NCAA's board of directors to bypass normal channels of enforcement to act in this case. Penn State under Paterno, the school's head coach from 1966 until his firing last November, was never cited for an NCAA violation.

Dawn broke Sunday at Penn State with the removal of Paterno's 7-foot, 900-pound statue, built in 2001 to commemorate the coach's record-setting 324th victory.

Workers barricaded the streets and nearby sidewalks and covered Paterno's likeness with a blue tarp. A bulldozer lifted Paterno's statue off its moorings as an estimated 100 to 150 students chanted, "We are Penn State."

Penn State President Rod Erickson said he ordered the statue moved into storage because it had become a source of division.

"I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse," Erickson said in a statement.

Erickson said Paterno's name would remain on the school's library as a "tribute to Joe and Sue's commitment to Penn State's body and academic success."

Joe Paterno's family, in an issued statement, objected to the statue's removal and the continued assault on Paterno's legacy.

"Tearing down the statue of Joe Paterno does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky's horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State community," the statement read in part. "We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth. The Freeh report, though it has been accepted by the media as the definitive conclusion on the Sandusky scandal, is the equivalent of an indictment — a charging document written by a prosecutor — and an incomplete and unofficial one at that."