American Athletic Conference and ASUN Conference have formed a mens basketball officiating consortium, it was announced Wednesday.The consortium was established to allow th

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - The Southeastern Conference, American Athletic Conference and ASUN Conference have formed a mens basketball officiating consortium, it was announced Wednesday.The consortium was established to allow the three conferences to collaborate on all officiating matters related to recruitment, education and training, scheduling and evaluation of officials in the sport of mens basketball.Mark Whitehead, recently named Coordinator of Mens Basketball Officials in the SEC, will serve in the same position for The American and the ASUN and will oversee all operations of the consortium.We are pleased to be collaborating with The American and the ASUN to continue the enhancement of mens basketball officiating, said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. We are focused on improving the quality of mens basketball officiating and this consortium, with the leadership provided by Mark Whitehead, provides officials with coordinated assigning between our three conferences, offers opportunity for efficient evaluation and training of officials, and continues the SECs efforts to strengthen its commitment to mens basketball.I want to thank Greg Sankey for inviting us to join this officiating consortium which includes the SEC and ASUN, said The American Commissioner Mike Aresco. This partnership will ensure that we have the highest quality basketball officiating. We look forward to working closely with Coordinator of Mens Basketball Officials Mark Whitehead and our colleagues at the SEC and the ASUN.Partnering with elite conferences in the SEC and The American continues to showcase our commitment to enhancing the level of officiating within our league, said ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart. We look forward to the mens basketball officiating consortium providing top-level training as well as systematic assigning and evaluations for our officials. This collaboration will create great benefits for all three conferences. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. Discount Football Jerseys .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. http://www.cheapfootballjerseysoutlet.com/ . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Cheap Football Jerseys China . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Football Jerseys Outlet . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Angelina Nadai Lohalith did not qualify for the medal round in the womens 1,500-meter run Saturday night. She did not come anywhere close. She not only finished last in her heat, she ran a time that was 31 seconds slower that the next slowest runner and 47 seconds slower than the winner.But she was not devastated. She was proud. As well Lohalith should be because she is an inspiration on and off the track. Lohalith, you see, is one of the 10 athletes competing with the Refugee Olympic Team, and just being able to run in these Games is an amazing advance in her life. And perhaps it can similarly be a little advance for her fellow refugees.Even though I came in last, Im happy, Lohalith said. I was able to compete and able to finish off the race. Next time, I believe that I will be in front of them rather than be at the end. Im representing refugees from all over the world. Im becoming their ambassador now, and that made me happy.James Nyang Chiengjiek likewise finished last in his 400-meter heat, six seconds behind the next runner ahead of him. He also is an athlete from South Sudan on the refugee team. And he, too, was very proud to be running here.I think its a very important moment for all the refuges. Not me alone, Chiengjiek said. We are not getting the medals we hoped to get, but this is for spreading peace. I thank the IOC for giving us this chance. It is very important we are here today. Also, we have met and gotten to know so many people. I hope when we go back, we will have that experience, and it will help us in the future.While many people sympathize with refugees and the agonies they endure, some take negative views. They argue that allowing refugees into your country will take jobs from citizens. That they may be terrorists. That they are beneath the rest of us. Lohalith and Chiengjiek hope the performances of the refugees here will help end such views.When some people hear refugees, they do not see them as they are, Lohalith said. They do not see them as human beings. They see them as refugees, something negative. But we can do something better in our life. Like in sport. Refugees can do something for their lives. Wherever they are, they can do something positive.Lohalith escaped the war in South Sudan to the Kakuuma refugee camp back in 2002 while Chiengjiek left just before that to avoid being made into a child soldier.dddddddddddd The two each began running while in school, little dreaming that they would one day be running on another continent in the Olympics.Fortunately, the IOC voted to allow a team of refugees to compete in the Rio Olympics, picking a total of 10. Five (all runners) are from South Sudan, two from Syria, two from the Democratic Republic of Congo and one from Ethiopia. When the refugee team marched in during the opening ceremonies, they received perhaps the most enthusiastic ovation of any team other than host Brazil.I think it has been an amazing experience for them because it is something they have never dreamed about happening, said Luiz Fernando Godinho with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. They are very conscious of the role they are playing here at these Games. They know they are not here to win medals, that they are here to support the refugee case.We always look at the athletes to be looking for some personal achievement, and they truly are not looking for that. They know their limitations but they know they are here for a cause. They are leaders of tomorrow.Both Lohalith and Chiengjiek are staying in the athletes village and being treated just like all the other Olympians, which is what refugees hope for in their lives. They are people like you or me, Godinho said. If they have the chance they can achieve important things. They are normal people. The only thing they need is a chance to prove themselves and achieve important things.Lohalith and Chiengjiek are proving themselves and achieving something important. And they hope their performances here will inspire other refugees that they, too, can do what seems impossible. After all, Lopez Lomong was a South Sudanese refugee who wound up running the 1,500 in the 2008 Olympics and also carrying the flag of the United States after becoming an American citizen.Start making your mind to think positive, Lohalith said. And every time you go out, think positively that you will be able to tackle all the challenges that come in your life. Chiefs Jerseys China Cheap Nike Chargers Jerseys Cheap Nike Raiders Jerseys Wholesale Cowboys Jerseys China Cheap Nike Giants Jerseys Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys For Sale Wholesale Redskins Jerseys China Cheap Nike Lions Jerseys Packers Jerseys China Cheap Vikings Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Panthers Jerseys Hoodies Cheap Saints Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Nike Buccaneers Jerseys Cardinals Jerseys China Cheap Rams Jerseys Hoodies Cheap Nike 49ers Jerseys Seahawks Jerseys China Bears Jerseys China Cheap Nike Bills Jerseys Ravens Jerseys China Wholesale Falcons Jerseys China ' ' '