local

local

Thanksgiving charity basketball game

YOUNGSTOWN — The A.C.O.P Center will present a Thanksgiving charity basketball game, Nov. 29 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the South Field House, 1840 Erie St.

Various celebrities will participate and there will be entertainment at halftime.

The event is being hosted by 101.9 JAMZ radio personalities T-LUV and Lucky Penney.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door for adults and teens 12-up. Kids under 12 are $5 in advance and $10 at the door.

Ticket locations are: the A.C.O.P. Center in Warren; In The Cut Barber Shop Campbell; Step It Up Cut Youngstown and Klassy Kuts in Farrell.

Call (330) 369-1441 or (404) 667-8654.

Boardman’s O’Brien signs with B-G

BOARDMAN — Boardman senior pitcher/shortstop Patrick O’Brien signed a letter-of-intent to play baseball at Bowling Green University.

O’Brien is a three-year letterwinner for the Spartans and was an all-Federal League pitcher.

His older brother, Richie, already pitches for the Falcons.

Basketball benefit

NORTH JACKSON — A charity varsity/junior varsity boys basketball game between Crestview and Jackson-Milton high schools will be played here on Nov. 28 at 6 p.m.

Proceeds will go to a local charity and to the OHSAA Foundation.

nation

Ski areas face uncertain winter

KILLINGTON, Vt. — Forget the Rockies. With the economy in a tailspin, eastern skiers may be staying closer to home this winter.

Destination resorts out West are reporting slower-than-normal reservations, while New England ski areas say their business appears to be benefiting from the downturn — although resort operators everywhere are nervous.

“We were going to (go West), but this year, I don’t think we’re going to, unless the market turns around,” said 49-year-old Sue Martin, of West Greenwich, R.I., who was skiing Friday at Killington.

With lift tickets $40 to $80 a day, plus the expense of lodgings and meals, although deals can be had, ski areas are particularly vulnerable as discretionary income falls. University of Vermont economics professor Art Woolf predicts it’ll be a rough year for the industry.

US soccer team to open against Sweden

CHICAGO — The U.S. soccer team will open its 2009 schedule with an exhibition game against Sweden on Jan. 24 at Carson, Calif.

Coach Bob Bradley will run a training camp beginning in the first week of January, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Friday.

Most of the U.S. schedule for the year will be determined Saturday, when the draw is held in South Africa for both the final round of World Cup qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region and the Confederations Cup.

In qualifying, the U.S. is grouped with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago. The top three teams in the double round-robin, which runs from Feb. 11-Oct. 14, advance to the 2010 World Cup.

Curlin to stand stud

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin will stand at stud next year at Lane’s End, a Kentucky horse farm owned by a former U.S. ambassador to Britain.

Will Farish announced Friday the richest racehorse in North America will become a stallion at his Versailles farm, where Curlin’s sire, Smart Strike, is already a breeding star.

Curlin will command a stud fee of $75,000 his opening year, half what Smart Strike receives. But its $10,000 more than the fee for Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown.

world

Soccer ultimatum

SANTIAGO, Chile — FIFA president Joseph Blatter on Friday gave Peru an ultimatum to solve a dispute between the government and the Peruvian Football Federation or face suspension from all international competition.

Blatter said FIFA must receive a document by Monday in which both sides “agree to settle the problem in a 10-day period.”

The original deadline was Friday, but was extended to Monday because Friday is a holiday in Peru.

“Unless we receive that document by Monday, the Peruvian federation will be immediately suspended,” Blatter said.

Vindicator staff/wire reports