A.D. Ibarra
-EPHS & CC Winn HS

    Gerardo Ramirez of the Texas A&M International University sponsored Gear Up Program, has informed The News Gram that former NFL player TJ Duckett will be in our fair city on Friday to address students at both Eagle Pass High School and CC WInn High School.
Duckett was a first round draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons in the 2002 NFL Draft out of Michigan State where he was part of a very effective backfield there alongside Warrick Dunn and the incomparable Michael Vick from 2003-2005.
    Now retired after stints with the Washington Redskins, the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks, Duckett has hit the speaking circuit in support of New World Flood, a non-profit organization that believes citizens can be agents of change in their communities by using education and service as a means to sustain the overall welfare of their environment.
According to the mantra of New World Flood, every individual can make a difference in their communities, because a single raindrop is the beginning of any flood.
    Duckett will bring his message to Eagle Pass on Friday at the CC Winn Auditorium and the Eagle Pass High School Gymnasium.

By TIM DAHLBERG AP
    Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were both exceptionally well dressed for their appearance together in Los Angeles, not terribly surprising given the number of cameras focused on them.
    Exceptionally well behaved, too, which was also no surprise. No need for trash talk when the $1,500 seats in the upper reaches of the MGM Grand Garden will be snapped up the minute they go on sale and people at home won't think twice about spending $100 or so on the pay-per-view.
    Just two men who beat people up for a living acting like perfect gentlemen. Not a new role for Pacquiao, but certainly one for Mayweather, who has made most of his millions by getting a lot of people to buy his fights just to see him lose.
    He was once Pretty Boy Floyd, then became Money Mayweather. Now he's Floyd Mayweather the businessman, working hard to earn his $120 million payday.
    "No different than WWE," Mayweather said. "It's all about reinventing yourself. That's what we did. And it's worked so far."
    It has, in ways that seem unimaginable for any fighter, much less one who doesn't knock people out. Mayweather is perennially on top of the highest paid athlete list, and this year it will be no contest. He'll do it this time with a new persona that would make anyone in pro wrestling proud.
    It was barely two years ago that Mayweather sat in a jail cell, serving a domestic battery sentence while wondering if he would ever fight again. Now no one mentions his checkered past because they're so eager to see him in the fight that will break all records.
    He's still got more pricey cars than the average Bentley dealership, lives in the Big Boy Mansion on a golf course in Las Vegas, and has a team of bodyguards that tower over him wherever he goes. The entourage is still around, too, eager to please his every whim.
    But the new Floyd Mayweather is all business. And right now business couldn't be better.
    "Floyd Mayweather is a winner when it's all said and done," Mayweather said.
    Pacquiao is a winner, too, of course, and maybe a bigger one than Mayweather. He made it out of the depths of poverty in the Philippines to become a multimillionaire fighter and a congressman from the Sarangani province. He's a national hero at home, where everything stops anytime he steps into the ring.
    Like Mayweather, Pacquiao has reinvented himself in recent years. He's trimmed his huge entourage, given up the late night partying and gambling, and turned to religion to guide his life.
    Along the way he learned English as a second language and is comfortable enough with it that he spent the entire day Wednesday speaking confidently to hundreds of media, even managing to get in a slight - though very polite - dig at Mayweather.
    "I'm not worried about this fight," Pacquiao said. "I was more worried about my last few fights with (Oscar) De La Hoya, (Antonio) Margarito and (Miguel) Cotto than this."
    They have contrasting styles in the ring, and they are a stark contrast outside of it. It's what makes this fight so intriguing, almost irresistible.
    The fight that doesn't need any promoting will still get some, of course. There was a frenzy in downtown Los Angeles this week, where some 700 media members were credentialed for what was billed as the only joint appearance of the two fighters before the week of the fight.
    And there will surely be a steady trickle of news from the camps before the craziness of fight week finally arrives.
    But it isn't business as usual, as evidenced the other day when trainer Freddie Roach threw comedian Dave Chappelle and his family out of Pacquiao's workout at his Hollywood gym. Roach and Chappelle are friends, but there were things to attend to, and they were getting in the way.
    "I felt really bad," Roach said, "but that was four bodies that didn't need to be there."
    Mayweather is also showing signs that this fight is different. The usual crowds at his Las Vegas gym, insiders say, are being thinned out by security. There's too much at stake here, for a fighter who has never lost in 19 years as a pro.
    Yes, Mayweather has a new persona. He's still hanging with Justin Bieber, though you probably won't see him before this fight counting out big stacks of $100 bills, or bragging about the score he made betting on the NBA playoffs.
    But he's got the same burning desire, magnified even more by what is at stake in the Fight of the (Young) Century.
    Yes, Pacquiao has the weight of a country on his shoulders. But Mayweather has his entire legacy on the line.
    "I've never wanted to win a fight as bad in my life," Mayweather said.

TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer
    With the game ball safely tucked under his arm, Kyrie Irving stood under the basket and accepted congratulations from awed teammates following a performance none of them will soon forget.
    He slapped some hands, hugged a beaming LeBron James and then handed the ball to the Cavaliers' security director — a turnover of joy.
    This one was a keeper.
    It's not every day you score 57 points. It's not every day you bring the defending NBA champions to their knees. It's not every day you upstage the irrepressible James. And, it's not every day you leave Charles Barkley speechless.
    Cleveland's awesome guard did it all Thursday night, scoring a franchise-record 57, zipping around the floor with stunning ease and dropping 3-pointers from every angle like he was an avatar in a video game as the Cavs beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-125 in overtime, a game for the ages.
    Irving was spectacular, stunning, and simply sublime.
    "Kyrie Irving was unstoppable," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I don't know how to guard that. He did a hell of a job. We all know how talented he is, but he really went to a new level tonight."
    This wasn't necessarily a breakout for the soon-to-be 23-year-old Irving. More of a validation.
    Irving has arrived.
    After all, he's already been a No. 1 overall pick, a three-time All-Star and regarded as one of the league's elite in a stellar class of point guards. He scored 55 in a game against Portland earlier this year, and Irving has shown a maturity off the floor that has impressed even his toughest critics.
    This, though, was something more. This was Irving's apex.
    "The kid is special," said James. "We all know it we all see it and for him to go out and put up a performance like he did was incredible."
    Let us count the ways:
    — Irving's stat line was almost otherworldly. He made 20 of 32 field goals, going 7 of 7 on 3-pointers. He went 10 of 10 from the free-throw line and added five assists, three rebounds and four steals in 46 minutes. Most of his baskets came on did-he-just-do-that? drives to the rim, where he spun in layups with both hands.
    — His 57 points were the most in the league this season, broke the Cavs' franchise record (James scored 56 in 2005), and Irving tied the record for the most points against the Spurs at home, matching the 57 Golden State's Purvis Short laid on San Antonio back in 1984.
    — Irving scored 16 points — 15 straight in one stretch, and Cleveland's last nine — in the fourth quarter. He added 11 more in overtime.
    — With the Cavs down 110-107 in regulation, Irving knocked down an off-balance 3-pointer as the horn sounded to force OT.
    "One of the best individual performances I've ever seen," the loquacious Barkley said during TNT's broadcast, surely echoing the sentiments of anyone who stayed up late to watch two of the league's best squads.
    Irving's magical night would have been an afterthought if Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard hadn't clanked two free throws with 4.3 seconds left in regulation. Those misses set up perhaps Irving's finest moment, the game-tying 3-pointer from the right wing that sucked the air out of raucous AT&T Center.
    Coming off a screen set at the top of the key from Tristan Thompson, Irving got separation from Tony Parker, caught the inbounds pass from James and took one dribble to the right. He rose and buried his jaw-dropping 3 over the extended arm of Leonard, who immediately flashed two fingers to the officials in a vain attempt to diminish Irving's clutch bucket — the signature field goal of the four-year guard's blossoming stardom.
    "As long as my elbow's pointed at the rim, I feel like it has a great chance to go in," Irving said of his signature 3. "I learned that from Kobe Bryant."
    The lessons he's getting from James are deeper.
    The two have grown closer during their first season together and the look of pride on James' face following the game spoke to the bond they have developed.
    Although he has never been to the playoffs, Irving appears ready for the bigger stage. The one where a golden trophy is handed out after the final act. James is confident his younger teammate will be ready for more important games ahead.
    "The best teacher in life is experience and I think tonight was a great experience for all the guys that haven't been a part of huge games like this," James said. "Not in the sense that it was nationally televised but (in the sense) of the competition. ... That was a big step for our team. We're going to have a few moments where you know we took a step forward and tonight was one of those moments."
    Irving made it all possible.

SCHUYLER DIXON, AP Sports Writer
IRVING, Texas (AP) —
    Darren McFadden will get a chance to replace NFL rushing champ DeMarco Murray in Dallas after the former high draft pick never could find a dominant form in Oakland.
    The Cowboys and McFadden agreed on a contract Friday, a day after Murray bolted for NFC East rival Philadelphia on a big contract that Dallas owner Jerry Jones said he couldn't match because of the strain it would have put on the salary cap.
    McFadden had seven mostly disappointing seasons in Oakland after the Raiders drafted him fourth overall in 2008. His agent, Ian Greengross, tweeted Friday that McFadden was joining the Cowboys. The deal is reportedly for two years and worth up to $5.9 million.
    Murray signed a five-year, $42 million contract with the Eagles on Thursday, with $21 million guaranteed. Jones said Murray would have remained in Dallas without salary cap restraints.
    It's an Arkansas reunion for McFadden and Jones, who played football for the Razorbacks in the 1960s.
    Jones has drafted just one player from his alma mater since buying the Cowboys in 1989. It was McFadden's backfield mate, Felix Jones, who went 18 picks after McFadden in the first round seven years ago. That's the only time Dallas has taken a running back in the first round since getting all-time NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith at No. 17 in 1990.
    The 27-year-old McFadden has 4,247 yards for his career, with highs of 1,157 yards and seven touchdowns in 2010. That was his only 1,000-yard season in an injury-riddled career. He finally had a full 16-game season in 2014, but averaged just 3.4 yards per carry with only two touchdowns.
    The Cowboys added McFadden a year after rejuvenating the career of linebacker Rolando McClain, another former high draft pick that had a disappointing career in Oakland.
    McClain, dumped by the Raiders three years after going eighth overall in 2010, had a hard time staying on the field for Dallas because of injuries, He still finished second to safety Barry Church with 108 tackles. He skipped the 2013 season and twice walked away from football after Baltimore signed him. The Cowboys got him in a trade.