st the third win in the Cavaliers last 23 trips to the Sunshine Sta

NEW YORK -- Mark McGwire is getting another swing at the Hall of Fame.The former slugger who admitted using steroids joins Bud Selig, George Steinbrenner and seven others on the Todays Game Era ballot to be considered for election to Cooperstown in December.The announcement was made Monday by the Baseball Hall of Fame. The ballot is part of changes to the election process announced by the Halls board of directors in July. It includes five players, three executives and two managers who made their biggest impact from 1988 on.Its flattering. Its fantastic. I mean, thank you, McGwire told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Its very flattering to have another opportunity to possibly get into the Hall of Fame. Its exciting.McGwire said hed heard of the committee, but didnt think his name would come up for a long time.I didnt know it was going to be this year, considering last year was my last year on the (writers) ballot. Its very flattering.Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser, Davey Johnson, Lou Piniella and John Schuerholz round out the class of 2017 candidates on the new ballot.All are alive except for Steinbrenner, the bombastic and successful owner of the New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010.Selig served as baseballs acting commissioner from September 1992 to July 1998 and then as commissioner until January 2015. He oversaw an era of immense change that included expansion, wild cards and interleague play.It is Seligs first appearance on a Hall of Fame ballot, and the third for Steinbrenner. He fell short on 2010 and 2013 Expansion Era ballots.Voting is Dec. 5 during the winter meetings in Maryland. To be enshrined, candidates must receive votes on at least 75 percent of the ballots cast by the 16-member Todays Game Era Committee.Those voters, appointed by the Hall of Fame board, will be announced this fall.McGwire ranks 11th on the career list with 583 home runs. Tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, however, he never came close to getting elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America and dropped off that ballot this year after his 10th and final chance.Numbers-wise, what Ive done, I truly believe they are Hall of Fame-worthy. For what I did hitting home runs, 583, Im the only guy in history averaging one in every 10 at-bats, he said. If you look at how many games and at-bats I did it in, it was a lot less than most guys in the Hall of Fame. Im proud of that. I truly believe I was born a home run hitter.Yet McGwire, who spent this past season as bench coach for the San Diego Padres, never received more than 23.7 percent of the vote from the BBWAA -- far short of the 75 percent required for election. He garnered 12.3 percent in his last appearance.He was asked whether he thinks his steroids admission and subsequent apology will sway this particular committee.Its obviously up to them. Theyre obviously up to speed with that. The writers felt the way they did. I truly respect how they felt. I did admit to it, and you know, theres nothing else I can say. I did what I did and I apologized for doing what I did, McGwire said.The Era Committee process provides an avenue for Hall of Fame consideration to managers, umpires and executives, as well as players retired for more than 15 seasons -- like McGwire. Todays Game Era was one of four Eras Committees outlined in July when the Hall detailed its latest set of election changes.Finalists on the ballot revealed Monday were selected by the Historical Overview Committee appointed by the BBWAA, made up of 11 veteran historians.Any candidates elected Dec. 5 would be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 30 next year along with any players voted in by the BBWAA. Those results will be announced Jan. 18, 2017.---AP Sports Writer Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report.Air Max 90 Sale Cheap . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Cheap Air Max 90 Wholesale . Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. http://www.wholesale90airmax.com/wholesale-air-max-90-woven.html . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Air Max 90 Sneakerboot For Sale . -- In a span of seven Washington Redskins offensive plays, Justin Tuck sacked Robert Griffin III four times. Wholesale Air Max 90 Off White . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night.NICEVILLE, Fla. -- Stifling defense, as usual, carried the day again for No. 7 Virginia as the Cavaliers cruised to their fifth straight win.Jerred Reuter led a well-balanced scoring attack with 14 points, but it was that trademark defense that set the tone for a 74-41 victory over Iowa on Friday night in the semifinals of the Emerald Coast Classic.Its what we do, said London Perrantes, who added 12 points and led the Cavaliers with four assists. We work on defense every single day in practice. We know what we have to do to win games.The Cavaliers (5-0) will play for the tournament title on Saturday against Providence, which beat Memphis 60-51 in the other semifinal.Isaiah Wilkins had 11 points for Virginia and Darius Thompson had 10.Offense, though, took a back seat as it often does whenever Virginia plays.The Cavaliers began the day leading the nation in scoring defense by holding opponents to 38.8 points per game.Iowa (3-2) barely bested that average, led by Peter Joks 13 points.They really are a great example of five guys playing as one, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. Theyre in the gaps, theyre fighting the post, they close off penetration.The Hawkeyes shot only 31.3 percent from the field including 26.1 percent from 3-point range.The Cavaliers hit 48.3 percent from the field including 47.1 percent on 3s.You could see they had some inexperience, just like we do, Virginia coach Tony Bennett said of Iowa. Theyre still coming together and finding themselves.Iowa opened the scoring with two free throws by Nicholas Baer, but Virginia went on an 11-0 run that began with a 3-pointer by Thompson and the Hawkeyes never threatened again.The win was the first for Virginia in only the third game between the schools. The previous meetings came in the 1997 NCAA Tournaments first round and the 2013 NIT quarterfinals.Virginia is seeking itts fourth straight regular-season tournament championship.ddddddddddddBIG PICTUREVirginia: The Cavaliers passed their first real test of the season on Black Friday after fattening up with four easy pre-Thanksgiving wins against UNC Greensboro, St. Francis, Brooklyn, Yale and Grambling State. They did it without Memphis transfer Austin Nichols, who was expected to provide low post scoring but was dismissed from the team for rules violations a week earlier. Now the going continues to get tougher with Memphis or Providence on Saturday and then Ohio State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday, followed by No. 19 West Virginia and East Carolina.Iowa: The high-flying Hawkeyes, who had been averaging 96.2 points per game before Friday, crash landed against Virginias defensive scheme.The Hawkeyes considered it a learning experience going in and theyll quickly get a chance to see how well they grasped that lesson against Memphis, a proficient defensive team. Then it doesnt get any easier next week when Iowa plays at Notre Dame in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge on Tuesday.POLL IMPLICATIONSDefeating Iowa will strengthen Virginias Top 10 ranking as it marks the Cavaliers first win against a major conference foe. Their No. 7 ranking is based on blowout wins against four much weaker opponents to open the season.FLORIDA HEXVirginia broke a two-game losing streak in Florida, but it was just the third win in the Cavaliers last 23 trips to the Sunshine State including 1-11 at Florida State and 1-6 at Miami.UP NEXTVirginia: The Cavaliers play for the tournament championship Saturday against Providence at Northwest Florida State College.Iowa: The Hawkeyes play in the Emerald Coast consolation game Saturday against Memphis. ' ' '