BLACKBOARD » disincentive to investment and commerce in the State, dir

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- As expected, NASCARs four championship rivals were cordial, candid and comical.No one tried to swing a chair, or even take a verbal jab.UFC, this isnt.Sorry were letting you down, six-time champion Jimmie Johnson quipped Thursday.The winner-take-all championship race Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway should be creating a semblance of tension between four rival drivers. But this quartet went bike riding together in one of their many stops on a seemingly sunshine-and-roses media tour. A week after Conor McGregor nearly threw a chair at Eddie Alvarez in a UFC pre-fight hype session, NASCARs ferocious four let trash-talking take a backseat on an easy afternoon full of heaping accolades for each other.NASCAR had the four pull up a chair on the stage during a cozy championship introduction Thursday -- you know, just like a late night talk show -- and the drivers delivered the yuks. They joked among each other, Kyle Busch repeatedly wise-cracked under his mic to teammate Carl Edwards and everybody grinned like it was Christmas morning.Come Sunday, theyll have to psychologically flip a switch and turn against each other. Even Busch and Edwards, teammates in a proud Toyota effort for Joe Gibbs who have shared everything in an open-book organization, must now toss aside professional courtesy to be the last man standing on the championship stage.But why do they have to be so chummy?You know that youre not going to beat up on a guy in a media session and make his car go any slower, said Busch, the reigning champion. To be honest with you, youre probably going to make (the car) go faster. Youre going to make him want it more. Theres no sense is doing any of that. Thats why with UFC fighters, they egg each other on, youre just going to get hit harder.This group is void of any conflict, and there are plenty of other storylines. Johnson is trying to tie Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with a record seventh title. Busch is trying to repeat, and beat his teammate. Logano wants a title to go with the IndyCar championship Team Penske already won this year in its 50th season of racing. And Edwards? Hes finally got another shot after losing the 2011 title on a tie-breaker.Theres a Chevrolet, a Ford and a pair of Toyotas. The group is represented by Roger Penske, Rick Hendrick and Gibbs, three of the heaviest hitters in auto racing.Yet with all that on the line, this group is like four buddies putting on a one-act play. Theyve been asked and answered the same questions so many times this week, they can almost finish each others sentences. Theyve got oft-told anecdotes for the repeated topics, everything is good-natured.Part of it is because its a genuinely likable group of drivers. Even Busch, so surly so many times, is at heart a good person.Theres really nothing bad to say to one another.Jimmie is one of those guys you want to hate but you cant because hes too nice, Logano said.On race day, it becomes driver vs. driver, the brutal length of the NASCAR schedule has turned all of the racers into a traveling community. They spend up to four nights a week inches apart in motorhomes, run into each other in the infield playgrounds and gyms.Bad blood doesnt boil very long in these parts.We do have a rapport, and we also do learn how to socialize outside of the car and then how to flip the switch, Johnson said. Its just something that I guess we grow up dealing with from a young age racing, however we did it as youngsters up until now. A fighter is somebody, they might see that guy one or twice in that moment, and oh, by the way, in the UFC they try to kill each other anyway, so its all about killing the guy.Logano doesnt think this cordial attitude is any different than any other sport. The drivers do their jobs when the green flag falls, and they co-exist when they climb from their cars.You watch a football game, after the game theyre all shaking each others hands after they just knocked the heck out of each other, Logano said. That happens. You even watch a hockey game, afterward they all shake hands, whether they want to or not. Its enforced.But I do think theres obviously a switch that everyone, maybe when they put their helmet on, things change. Were all out there as competitors, but right now were outside the car, we also get along, right? Salomon Shoes Outlet Canada . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Wholesale Salomon Shoes . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. http://www.wholesalesalomoncanada.com/ . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Discount Salomon Shoes .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Salomon Shoes Canada Clearance . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. RALEIGH, N.C. -- The NBA All-Star Games exit from North Carolina because of a law limiting protections for LGBT people represents some of the worst publicity yet for Republican Gov. Pat McCrorys re-election campaign, even as he dismisses the move as political correctness gone too far.The 2017 events departure from Charlotte deprives the state of an estimated $100 million economic impact and comes after the law prompted PayPal and Deutsche Bank to cancel plans to add hundreds of jobs. The law known best for its restrictions on transgender bathroom access looms large in an election season that includes one of the nations most closely watched governors races.On Friday, McCrory told Charlotte radio station WFAE that the NBAs decision was total P.C. B.S.Its an insult to our city. Its an insult to our state. And I think it sets a dangerous precedent of the corporate sports and entertainment elite basically asking for a quid pro quo on legislation or else theyll deny their service, he said.Shortly after the NBAs announcement Thursday night, the governor who promotes himself as pro-business issued a statement lashing out at the sports and entertainment industries, the liberal media and his opponent in the fall race, the states Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper.Cooper has refused to defend the law in court, while McCrory filed a federal lawsuit seeking to uphold it.The law enacted in March requires transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates in many public buildings. It also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from statewide antidiscrimination protections.Republicans including McCrory are likely to maintain their rhetoric surrounding the law known as HB2, banking on conservative voters in rural areas who support the law, said Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College.If you are seen as compromising or trying to find some way out of this, you will simply get hammered by your core base supporters, he said.Still, Bitzer said that if more events pull out of the state, it will be hard for voters to ignore the laws impact. The NCAA, which has 2017 basketball tournament games scheduled in Greensboro, issued a policy shortly after the North Carolina law passed requiring host sites to demonstrate that they are free of discrimination.When it comes to these kinds of events, maybe future NCAA basketball tournaments, I just have to wonder when that breaking point is over ones partisanship, Bitzer said.LLocal tourism officials estimated that the NBA All-Star Games economic impact would likely have ranked second in Charlottes history behind the $164 million brought in by the 2012 Democratic National Convention.dddddddddddd The annual exhibition basketball game showcasing the leagues stars draws visitors from around the country and is held in a different city each year.Its definitely going to hit us pretty hard, said Morgan Conroy, marketing director for The Bottle Cap Group, which owns several bars and restaurants in Charlotte.Cancellations of special events booked at the groups Slate Billiards and Oak Room for the week of the All-Star Game are expected to deprive the company of an estimated $300,000 in sales, Conroy said. Conroy compared that amount to the $20,000 to $100,000 in sales at the companys venues on the day of a home NFL game.Around the state, entertainers including Bruce Springsteen have canceled concerts to protest the law, while 68 businesses signed an amicus brief urging a federal judge to block the provision on bathroom access.Lawyers for the companies -- including General Electric Co., Microsoft Corp. and United Airlines Inc. -- wrote that the law is already damaging their ability to recruit and retain a diverse workforce and is imposing a substantial disincentive to investment and commerce in the State, directly impacting their bottom line.Coopers campaign was quick to criticize McCrory over the NBAs move, issuing a statement saying: While the economic consequences of HB2 grow, Governor McCrory continues to pass the blame onto others while refusing to take any action to stop the bleeding.State Sen. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat whose district includes part of Charlotte, put the blame for the NBAs move squarely on McCrory, saying the governor is so closely tied to the issue.There is a very good chance the All-Star Game just cost him the election, he said.However, Republican strategist Dee Stewart said polling data suggests McCrorys position on the LGBT law wont hurt him because other issues are more important to voters.With so many issues on voters minds today like national security, our economic recovery and the need to take care of our vets ... I dont believe that HB2 will sway many votes either way, said Stewart, who is not involved with McCrorys campaign.---Follow Jonathan Drew on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jonldrew ' ' '