Breast Cancer Month Happenings

ONGOING

Shop Pink and Save, through October, St. Augustine Outlets, Interstate 95 and Florida 16, St. Augustine. Discount cards available at Guest Services for $2. Receive up to 30 percent off a purchase or item to benefit area charities that support breast cancer research, support and treatment, including the Susan G. Komen Foundation, The Donna Foundation, Bosom Buddies and Pink Up the Pace. Free Women’s Health Fair, focusing on all aspects of healthy living on Saturday, with information on breast health, diabetes, nutrition and more. (904) 826-1052 or staugoutlets.com.

Pink Sisters and Friends Advocacy support for breast cancer survivors. Pink sisters go through the regular on-boarding process, education, testing and training related to breast cancer, then are matched with a patient (pinkie) whose diagnosis and treatment is similar. Hotline, (904) 953-6316.

Survival Strap breast cancer ribbons and 26.2 Donna bracelets, with 25 percent of proceeds to benefit The Donna Foundation. survivalstrapsusa.wordpress.com.

 

FRIDAY

Upbeat Pink: A Musical Tribute to Breast Cancer Survivorship themed “An Evening with James Bond and Friends,” 7:30 p.m., University of North Florida’s Lazzara Performance Hall. Features the UNF Wind Symphony and guest ensembles. Free. (904) 953-0707 or facebook.com/breastclinic.

 

SATURDAY

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Jacksonville 5K Walk, 9 a.m., Best Bet, 455 Park Ave., Orange Park. Wear a pink bra (optional). (904) 284-2661 or facebook.com/makingstridesagainstbreastcanceroforangepark.

Shop Pink Women’s Health Fair, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., St. Augustine Outlets, Interstate 95, Exit 218, east side of interstate. Features information on healthy living, demonstrations, giveaways, health screenings, Chase the Pink Heals fire truck and a gift bag. Includes Bobbi Hanks, founder of Bosom Buddies, at 1 p.m. and Managing Diabetes at 2 p.m. (904) 826-1052 or staugoutlets.com.

VIPink Bridal Experience to benefit Brides Against Breast Cancer, 1-5 p.m., CoWork Jax, 5 W. Forsyth St. Includes a silent auction. $10 in advance, $15 at the door; $20 VIP, includes a gift bag with coupons and gift certificates; $25 Platinum, includes a swag bag filled with goodies. Print ticket and bring to event. vipinkbridalexperience.eventbrite.com.

Breast Cancer Awareness Tea Party: A Cup of Inspiration, 1-5 p.m., Hyatt Regency Hotel, 225 E. Coast Line Drive. Includes Angela Robinson of the Tyler Perry Show, singer Akia Uwanda and comedian Terry Harris. $30. (904) 469-4136.

Get hair and nails done to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, 2-5 p.m., Victoria’s Hair and Nails, 2485 Monument Road. $10, haircuts, manicures and paraffin services. Includes entertainment by Party Solutions, representatives on hand to register participants for the Oct. 19 Race for the Cure at Metro Park, raffle prizes and refreshments. (904) 642-0488 or komennorthflorida.org.

Anniversary celebration to benefit The Donna Foundation, 5-7 p.m., Royal Palm Village Wine and Tapas, 296 Royal Palms Drive, Atlantic Beach. Second-year anniversary celebration with a grand wine tasting and luau-style roasting. $30 a person, includes an etched wine glass. (904) 372-0052 or royalpalmwines.com.

Victory in Pink, a celebration of women who have fought breast cancer, 6-9 p.m., St. Johns Town Center, 4663 River City Drive. Includes free food, free samples, makeovers, the mobile mammography unit — call (904) 308-5490 for an appointment, a Breast Cancer Survivor Show and Education, face painting for the kids and live entertainment with The Gootch. (904) 308-7300 or jaxhealth.com.

 

SUNDAY

Cut-a-Thon to benefit Breast Cancer Research Foundation, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Daniel James Salon, 45 W. Bay St. In addition, offering waxes, styles and haircuts. (904) 359-2006.

 

MONDAY

Mobile Mammogram Unit as a kickoff to Community Days, 1-3 p.m.; volunteers package Comfort Kits, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4345 Southpoint Blvd. Comfort Kits care packages contain essentials that help provide comfort and relief to men, women and children undergoing chemotherapy treatment. givingcomfort.org.

Pink Ribbon Ladies breast cancer support group in Nassau County, 6-7:30 p.m., Baptist Medical Center Nassau, Conference Room. (904) 321-2057 or 261-2976.

Pink Ribbon Golf Classic, Underwood Jewelers Trunk Show and Cocktail Party, 6-8 p.m., Underwood Jewelers, 330 Florida A1A N., Ponte Vedra Beach, with a raffle drawing (tickets $20) and check presentations to Baptist Medical Center Beaches and Mayo Clinic-Jacksonville. Registration, pinkribbonjax.org.

Bosom Buddies, support and education program for breast cancer survivors and women at high risk, 7-8:30 p.m. Mondays, Women’s Center of Jacksonville, 5644 Colcord Ave. (904) 722-3000, ext. 224.

 

TUESDAY

Candid Conversations about Breast Cancer, educational support group for breast cancer survivors and their caregivers, 6-7 p.m., St. Vincent’s Mary Virginia Terry Cancer Center, 2 Shircliff Way, second floor. Park free on second floor of the DePaul Building parking garage. (904) 308-5490.

 

WEDNESDAY

Interchanges Pink Out to benefit North Florida Susan G. Komen for the Cure, 5:30-8:30 p.m., River City Brewing Company, 835 Museum Circle. Includes a raffle giveaway. Wear pink. (904) 834-4662 or 398-2299.

SenioRITAs Tennis Tournament to benefit The Rita Foundation. (904) 806-3613 or the-rita-foundation.org/senioritas.

■ Auction and Cocktail Party, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sawgrass Country Club. Includes light cuisine and a cash bar. $40, included in player registration fee.

■ Women’s Doubles Tennis Tournament for women 40 and older, 8 a.m. Oct. 18-20, Sawgrass Country Club. $85, includes auction and party.

 

THURSDAY

Your Financial Future, Now! Seminar, presented by MassMutual, 6-7:30 p.m., Julington Creek Plantation Recration Center’s Cypress Room, 350 Plantation Club Parkway, St. Johns. Includes a Vera Bradley bag giveaway and refreshments. Mass/Mutual will donate $1,000 to The Donna Foundation. Reserve by Tuesday. (904) 599-2588 or 997-2325.

 

OCT. 19

Touchdown Against Cancer Games, 8 a.m., Bob Hayes Sports Complex, 5054 Soutel Drive. Breast cancer survivors who are ex-flag football players will be honored. Includes several flag football games. Donations being accepted for the Sister/Hermane Foundation, beginning in 2014. (904) 765-4321.

Race for the Cure to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, late registration, 6:30 a.m.; 5K race, 9 a.m.; 2K run/walk, 9:45 a.m.; awards, 10:30 a.m.; Metropolitan Park, across from EverBank Field. komennorthflorida.org.

 

OCT. 21

Bosom Buddies, support and education program for breast cancer survivors and women at high risk, 7-8:30 p.m. Mondays, Women’s Center of Jacksonville, 5644 Colcord Ave. (904) 722-3000, ext. 224.

Young Survivors Group, presented by the Bosom Buddies program, 7-8:30 p.m., Women’s Center of Jacksonville, 5644 Colcord Ave. Registration, (904) 722-3000, ext. 224.

Wrap Up Halloween Party to benefit Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Best Bet, 455 Park Ave., Orange Park. (904) 284-2661 or facebook.com/makingstridesagainstbreastcanceroforangepark.

 

OCT. 26

5K Walk/Run to benefit Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Jacksonville, 9 a.m., The Jacksonville Landing. Wear a pink bra (optional). (904) 285-4225, makingstrideswalk.org or facebook.com/makingstridesjax.

Run for the Tata’s to benefit the American Cancer Society, kickstands up at noon, Lakeshore Bar, 2420 Lakeshore Blvd. $15 a bike, $5 passenger. Includes a meal at the end of the run. (904) 389-9224.

 

OCT. 28

Bosom Buddies, support and education program for breast cancer survivors and women at high risk, 7-8:30 p.m. Mondays, Women’s Center of Jacksonville, 5644 Colcord Ave. (904) 722-3000, ext. 224.

 

UPCOMING

Bike 26.2 with Donna, check-in, 6:30 a.m. Nov. 10, Bartram Trail High School, 7399 Longleaf Pine Parkway, St. Johns. Includes a 110-mile ride, 7:45 a.m.; 52.4-mile ride, 8 a.m.; 26.2-mile ride, 8:15 a.m.; and 13.1-mile ride, 8:30 a.m.; postrace celebration with free lunch for registered participants, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Register online by Nov. 4. breastcancermarathon.com.

 

Fax to (904) 359-4478 or email events@jacksonville.com. Complete listing at jacksonville.com/calendars. To put your event in the free online calendar, go to events.jacksonville.com.

Source: http://jacksonville.com/news/health-and-fitness/2013-10-10/story/breast-cancer-month-happenings
Related Topics: obamacare   broncos   nfl   Jesse Jackson Jr   Baby I Ariana Grande  

For those who leave the Hasidic world, new life starts slowly

By Alissa Figueroa
Rock Center

In the heart of New York City, a deeply religious community has created its own secluded island, where Yiddish is the primary language, men wear towering black hats and long robes even on the most sweltering summer day, and mothers lead broods of eight or 10 children.

They are Hasidic Jews - the descendants of a small group of ardent followers whose Eastern European villages were all but decimated during the Holocaust. For the better part of the last century they've been building their own communities in Brooklyn, maintaining the dress, language and traditions of their ancestors.

There?s an estimated 300,000 people living in various Hasidic communities in New York City, and they're poised to become the largest Jewish denomination in the city in the next two decades.

"There's a conviction that their way of life is special, unique, authentic," says Samuel Heilman, professor of Anthropology at Queens College. "It's a belief that what comes from the past is superior to what is in the present."

Much of the secular world is off-limits, including television, non-religious books and most websites.

Instead, religious study is emphasized, as is devotion to God and family. Most Hasids are wedded in arranged marriages while in their teens or early 20s. In a few years, they?re expected to be on their way to building a large family.

Avraham Berkowitz is a rabbi in the Lubavitcher Hasidic community. He says that this focus on family and religion is worth preserving.

?The modesty in the dress, the language in the house, standing up for parents, not interrupting when adults are speaking. That kind of protected lifestyle, that is what we have today,? says Berkowitz.

?You have to be able to pick and choose what to bring in and what to keep out that's negative.?

LEAVING THE COMMUNITY

But that seemingly simple life, while comforting and fulfilling for some, can feel oppressive for others.

?Most of the individuals that are coming to us, what we're seeing is they just want to learn. They want to study physics.? And they want to study how atoms work.? And they want to study math.? says Lani Santo, executive director of Footsteps, the only organization in New York that helps people leave Hasidic communities.

Sam Katz is a Footsteps member. A yearning for knowledge drew him away from the Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn where he was raised and into Manhattan. He describes sneaking into the Museum of Natural History, where the dinosaur skeletons caught his imagination like nothing in his religious books.

?There was something so connected about standing next to a dinosaur, something so-- universally harmonious-- for lack of a better word,? says Katz. ?It was just a feeling of this fantasy world.?

Katz?s secular education stopped when he reached middle school, when he, like other Hasidic boys, began focusing exclusively on religious study.?Yet, he?s managed to earn a bachelor?s degree in biochemistry, and is headed to Berlin in the fall on a Fulbright scholarship.

Hindy Sabel, who also left her Hasidic upbringing with the help of Footsteps, says she started questioning the Hasidic way of life as a child. She wanted to ride bikes around the neighborhood, says Sabel, like the boys could. And she wasn?t ready to get married before finishing college.

?I couldn?t be a leader in that community and I wanted to do something with my life,? says Sabel. That?s when she came to Footsteps with an older sister. Today, she?s working full time and studying for an MBA at New York University.

But picking up and leaving behind everything they?ve ever known isn?t easy. The process can take years of catching up.

?Footsteps members are very much like immigrants,? explains Santo. ?But they're immigrants to a country that they're citizens in.?

CONFRONTING PROBLEMS WITHIN

For Judy Braun, 31, getting out was particularly difficult.

Braun grew up strictly Hasidic in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and recalls a happy childhood filled with summer camping trips in the Catskills.

But when she was 12, Braun says she had a terrifying experience that would haunt her the rest of her life ? she found her friend trying to hang herself in the bathroom, and learned she?d been sexually abused.

Braun says the adults she told about the attempted suicide turned a deaf ear. She says she saw firsthand how the community refused to acknowledge that one of its own could abuse a child.

?Our rules and our laws will keep us pure, will keep these things from happening. Coming to terms with the fact that they will happen regardless undermines the entire idea of the truth,? says Braun. ?If our way of life doesn't prevent our men from turning into beasts, then what's the point of our way of life??

---

Feeling trapped by tradition, Braun ultimately got married and had children.? But in her mid-twenties, she started secretly writing about what she saw as a child.

That fictionalized account of her ordeal, "Hush," was published anonymously in 2010. While some supported her efforts, when her real name leaked out as the author, she said threats started coming in.? She received a copy of her book covered in fake blood, her car windows were smashed, and threatening messages were left on her phone.

?When you're an author of a book and you publicly shame the community, there is a full-out campaign against you at every level,? says Braun.

Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz says people are now acknowledging sexual abuse is happening.

?These type of crimes have to be eradicated,? He says. He insists, though, that the community can handle the problem internally.? ?We have to do it within the way the community knows how to solve its problems.? Cause sometimes when you come banging with drums from the outside, the community becomes more insular.?

In the last two years, Braun has come out publicly as the author of "Hush"? and started speaking out against abuse in the community. She recently divorced her husband and moved her children outside the boundaries of her old Hasidic neighborhood.

?It gives you more psychological safety,? says Braun. ?Even though it's not that far a drive, but you?re in a different place.?

?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2da1685b/l/0Lrockcenter0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C210C190A80A2780Efor0Ethose0Ewho0Eleave0Ethe0Ehasidic0Eworld0Enew0Elife0Estarts0Eslowly0Dlite/story01.htm

lisa marie presley florida panthers tannehill joel ward mock draft north country brian mcknight

Wing walker, pilot die in crash at Ohio air show

CINCINNATI (AP) ? The plane that crashed at an Ohio air show, killing the pilot and stunt walker, is registered to a veteran wing walker.

Federal records show that the Boeing Stearman biplane that crashed Saturday at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton was registered to Jane Wicker of Loudon, Va.

The Federal Aviation Administration says Wicker was also a contract employee who worked as an FAA budget analyst.

An FAA official says the kind of aircraft that crashed was heavily used for pilot training during World War II.

The plane turned upside-down as Wicker sat on top of the wing before it titled and crashed into the ground, bursting into flames.

The air show canceled the rest of Saturday's events after the crash but planned to resume Sunday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wing-walker-pilot-die-crash-ohio-air-show-191655523.html

jim irsay the new ipad apple announcement indianapolis colts joseph kony joseph kony ipad 3 release date

Looking for a home on land within commuting ... - Zillow Real Estate ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Looking-for-a-home-on-land-within-commuting-distance/498405/

Niels Bohr the Rumble 2012 Columbus Day 2012 carlina white Sam Champion Engaged Infield fly rule Taken 2

Changes in cell shape may lead to metastasis, not the other way around

June 21, 2013 ? A crucial step toward skin cancer may be changes in the genes that control cell shape, report a team of scientists from The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Harvard Medical School in an upcoming issue of Nature Cell Biology (now online).

Using automated high content screening and sophisticated computational modeling, the researchers' screening and analysis of tens of millions of genetically manipulated cells helped them identify more than a dozen genes that influence cell shape. Their work could lead to a better understanding of how cells become metastatic and, eventually, pinpoint new gene therapy targets for cancer treatment.

"We found that by altering the way the cells are grown to better mimic conditions in a living organism, gene expression could have a profound impact on cell shape," said Zheng Yin, the paper's lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Systems Medicine and Bioengineering of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute (TMHRI). "This matters because many cancer biologists believe metastasis depends in part on the ability of cells to take on different shapes to escape their confines and spread to healthy tissue. We developed a method of identifying and analyzing the shapes of fruit fly cells, then validated and expanded the discoveries in mammal cancer cells.."

The scientists began their study in fruit fly immune cells called hemocytes. Under normal conditions, each hemocyte was found to take on just one of five distinct shapes about 98 percent of the time. In contrast to conventional wisdom, other shapes and "intermediate" forms were rare, suggesting genes that control cell shape behave more like light switches than teakettles coming to a slow boil. Genetic manipulation of these cells in a lab setting supported that view as well.

Next the group examined human and mouse melanoma cells, which also take on a variety of forms. The researchers identified seven genes that cause cells to take on an especially rounded form, or else an elongated form. One of these genes, PTEN, had a particularly strong impact. When turned off, virtually all cells became elongated or large and rounded, two shapes that can help cancerous cells escape confinement, travel blood vessels, and infiltrate healthy tissues. This information about PTEN is new, even though the gene was previously known to scientists as a tumor suppressor.

"By increasing the frequency of rounded and elongated cells this would provide metastatic cells with a survival advantage that is otherwise not gained by adopting only a single shape, or being highly plastic," said TMHRI Department of Systems Medicine and Bioengineering Chair Stephen T.C. Wong, Ph.D., P.E., who with Institute of Cancer Research, London, Fellow Chris Bakal, Ph.D., are the corresponding authors who oversaw the research.

Bakal added, "The cells have to become rounded to travel through the bloodstream or invade soft tissues such as the brain, but they take on an elongated shape to travel through harder tissues like bone. But until now, we knew hardly anything about how the cells assume either of these shapes and how they switch between the two."

Yin said he hopes data from the study will be useful to cell and developmental biologists who are interested in how and why many different kinds of animal cells change their shapes.

"I believe this dataset has great potential," he said. "We still saw three distinct shapes other than rounded and elongated, and a handful of cell populations enriched with intermediate shapes -- a lot of possibilities for hypothesis generation."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/MZnLMdSRuDo/130621141658.htm

acapulco mexico hines ward robert deniro mexico news the talented mr ripley weather new orleans orcl

Dakar Fashion Week targets city's working class

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) ? Organizers of Dakar Fashion Week have staged a show in a working-class suburb as part of a bid to democratize high fashion.

The show on Friday night attracted thousands of residents, who offered vocal, real-time assessments of the clothes on display while cheering loudly for the more famous models.

Organizer Adama Ndiaye, who launched Dakar Fashion Week 11 years ago, said she hoped the project would further her dream of making high fashion as accessible to the working-class as it is for the wealthy.

The show was part of a six-day event featuring 18 designers, seven from Senegal and others from as far away as Germany and Brazil. Shows were scheduled to be held in three different locations throughout Dakar.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dakar-fashion-week-targets-citys-working-class-145325716.html

peanut butter recall jason aldean Brigitte Nielsen Geno Smith ny giants brandon marshall ryder cup

LeBron James Leads Heat To NBA Finals Game 7 Win Over Spurs, 2nd Straight Title (VIDEO/PHOTOS)

MIAMI -- Victory in Game 7 brought more than another crown for LeBron James and the Miami Heat. It validated the team and its leader, forever cementing their place among the NBA's greats.

For the vanquished San Antonio Spurs, it simply compounded the misery of a championship that got away.

James led the Heat to their second straight title, scoring 37 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in a 95-88 victory Thursday night in a tense game that was tight until Miami pulled away in the final minute.

Capping their best season in franchise history ? and perhaps the three-superstar system they used to build it ? the Heat ran off with the second straight thriller in the NBA's first championship series to go the distance since 2010.

Two nights after his Game 6 save when the Heat were almost eliminated, James continued his unparalleled run through the basketball world, with two titles and an Olympic gold medal in the last 12 months.

"I work on my game a lot throughout the offseason," said James, who was MVP for the second straight finals. "I put a lot of work into it and to be able to come out here and (have) the results happen out on the floor is the ultimate. The ultimate. I'm at a loss for words."

He made five 3-pointers, defended Tony Parker when he had to, and did everything else that could ever be expected from the best player in the game.

The Heat became the NBA's first repeat champions since the Lakers in 2009-10, and the first team to beat the Spurs in the NBA Finals.

"It took everything we had as a team," Dwyane Wade said. "Credit to the San Antonio Spurs, they're an unbelievable team, an unbelievable franchise. This is the hardest series we ever had to play. But we're a resilient team and we did whatever it took."

Players and coaches hugged afterward ? their respect for each other was obvious from the opening tipoff of Game 1 through the final buzzer.

A whisker away from a fifth title two nights earlier, the Spurs couldn't find a way to win it all in what was perhaps the last shot for Tim Duncan, Parker and Manu Ginobili to grab another ring together.

"In my case I still have Game 6 in my head," Ginobili said. "Today we played an OK game, they just made more shots than us. LeBron got hot. Shane (Battier), too. Those things can happen. But being so close and feeling that you are about to grab that trophy, and seeing it vanish is very hard."

They were trying to become the first team to win a Game 7 on the road since Washington beat Seattle in 1978, but those old guys ran out of gas just before the finish.

Fans stood, clapped and danced as the clock ticked down, when every score was answered by another score, each stop followed by a better stop. The Heat pushed their lead to six points a few times midway through the fourth but San Antonio kept coming back.

Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, but missed a shot and follow attempt right under the basket with about 50 seconds left and the Spurs trailing by two.

James followed with a jumper ? the shot the Spurs were daring him to take earlier in the series ? to make it 92-88, sending San Antonio to a timeout as Glenn Frey's "The Heat Is On" blared over the arena's sound system.

He then came up with a steal and made two free throws for a six-point lead, and after Ginobili missed, James stalked toward the sideline, knowing it was over and that he was, once again, the last one standing.

Wade had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who overcame a scoreless Chris Bosh by getting six 3-pointers and 18 points from Shane Battier.

"It was a great series and we all felt that," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I don't know if `enjoy' is the right word, but in all honesty, even in defeat, I'm starting to enjoy what our group accomplished already, when you look back. And you need to do that, to put in perspective. So it's no fun to lose, but we lost to a better team. And you can live with that as long as you've given your best, and I think we have."

Streamers fell from the arena ceiling onto the fans for the second year in a row, but this one meant so much more. A narrow escape in Game 6 was still fresh in everyone's mind.

They were down 10 in the fourth quarter of that one before James led the charge back, finishing with a triple-double in Miami's 103-100 overtime victory. This one was nearly as tight, neither team leading by more than seven and the game tied 11 times.

Kawhi Leonard had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Spurs, who had been 4 for 4 in the championship round. Ginobili had 18 points but Parker managed just 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.

"Just give credit to the Miami Heat. LeBron was unbelievable. Dwyane was great. I just think they found a way to get it done," Duncan said. "We stayed in the game. We gave ourselves opportunities to win the game, we just couldn't turn that corner."

The Heat and coach Erik Spoelstra collected the Larry O'Brien trophy again from Commissioner David Stern, presiding over his final NBA Finals before retiring next February.

He couldn't have asked for a better way to go out.

James avenged his first finals loss, when his Cleveland Cavaliers were swept by the Spurs on 2007. That helped send James on his way to South Florida, realizing it would take more help to win titles that could never come alone.

He said he would appreciate this one more because of how tough it was. The Heat overpowered Oklahoma City in five games last year, a team of 20-something kids who weren't ready to be champions yet.

This came against a respected group of Spurs whose trio has combined for more than 100 playoff victories together and wanted one more in case this was San Antonio's last rodeo.

Duncan is 37 and Ginobili will be a 36-year-old free agent next month, the core of a franchise whose best days may be behind them.

Meanwhile, it's a potential dynasty along Biscayne Bay, but also one with a potentially small window. Wade's latest knee problems are a reminder that though he came into the NBA at the same time as James and Bosh, he's a couple of years older at 31 with wheels that have seen some miles.

James can become a free agent again next summer with another decision ? though hopefully not another Decision ? to make. He's comfortable in Miami and close with Wade, and the Heat have the leadership and commitment from owner Micky Arison and president Pat Riley to keep building a championship core around him.

Why would he want to leave?

San Antonio's most recent title came at James' expense. The Spurs exploited the weaknesses in James' game though knew someday they would be gone, Duncan telling him afterward that the league would someday belong to James.

And James simply isn't giving it back.

He came in averaging 33.8 points in Game 7s, already the best in NBA history, and was even better in this one.

He can't be defended the way he was six years ago, too strong inside and too solid from the outside. He drove Danny Green back like a tackling dummy to convert a three-point play in the second quarter, then knocked down a 3-pointer for the Heat's next score.

Heat fans, criticized over the last two days after many bolted before the finish Tuesday and then tried to force their way back in, weren't going anywhere early in this one. The game was too good.

And there was another celebration to watch.

The Heat had the classic championship hangover through the first few months of this season, too strong to lose at home but not committed enough to win on the road, where they were just 11-11 following a 102-89 loss in Indiana on Feb. 1.

They won in Toronto two nights later on Super Bowl Sunday and didn't lose again until well into March Madness, running off 27 straight victories before falling in Chicago on March 27 and finishing a franchise-best 66-16.

The small-market Spurs have always been a ratings killer, but interest grew throughout this series in their attempt to toppled the champs. Game 6 drew more than 20 million viewers, a total that Game 7 was expected to top.

And the games got better, too. Games 2-5 were all decided by double digits, neither team able to carry its momentum from one game to the next.

This one was back and forth for more than three quarters, with Mario Chalmers' 3-pointer at the buzzer giving Miami a 72-71 lead heading to the final 12 minutes of the season.

Game 6 could have shaken the Spurs, who were so close to holding the trophy that officials were preparing the championship presentation before Miami's rally. The Spurs held a team dinner late that night, figuring the company was better than having to dwell on the defeat alone in their rooms.

The pain of that game or the pressure of this one had little effect on their veterans but brought out a change in their leader, the subject of some rare second-guessing for his rotations near the end of the collapse.

The famously blunt Popovich was in a chatty mood pregame, actually preferring to stay and talk even when there were no more questions, saying the busier he was, the less he'd worry.

"It's torture," he said earlier of Game 7s. "It's hard to appreciate or enjoy torture."

But it sure was beautiful to watch.

The sport's most pressure-packed game had a nervous start, each team making just seven baskets in the first quarter and combining for seven turnovers. The Spurs took an early seven-point lead, but a pair of 3-pointers by Battier during an 8-0 run helped Miami take an 18-16 lead.

The Heat nursed a narrow lead for most of the second quarter, and after San Antonio went ahead in the final minute of the period, James tipped in a miss before Wade knocked down a jumper with 0.8 seconds left to send the Heat to the locker room with a 46-44 edge.

Notes: Home teams are 15-3 in Game 7s of the NBA Finals. ... Miami improved to 5-3 all-time in Game 7s in the postseason and became the fourth team to win the final two games at home since the finals went to a 2-3-2 format in 1985, joining the Lakers in 1988 and 2010, and Houston Rockets in 1994. ... Green was just 1 for 12, going 1 for 6 behind the arc. He started the series by making 25 3s in the first five games, a finals record for an entire series.

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/lebron-james-heat-nba-finals-game-7_n_3476078.html

CJ Spiller tracy morgan Chase.com Talk Like a Pirate Day raiders Demi Lovato iOS 6 Features