One of the best: Krystal Forthan, an LSU women’s basketball signee, has been named as one of five finalists for the Naismith High School Player of the Year Award, presented annually by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Forthan, a 6-foot 4-inch forward, has led Georgetown (Texas) High School into the area round of the Conference 5A Texas High School playoffs. Forthan has garnered WBCA High School All-America and McDonald’s High School All-America honors this season as a senior. Forthan signed with the Lady Tigers last fall, and she will be an incoming freshman for the 2011-12 season. The award will be presented March 21.
Let’s make a deal: The contentious NFL labor negotiations went in front of a federal mediator today, two weeks before owners could impose a lockout on players and threaten the 2011 season. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, players union executive director DeMaurice Smith and their respective bargaining teams arrived at the Washington office of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service shortly before 11 a.m. It was not known how long the meeting with federal mediator George Cohen would last. More than two hours later, league and players union officials tweeted a joint statement saying the mediation process had begun and both sides agreed to Cohen’s request not to make any public comment. Cohen announced Thursday that both sides had agreed to have him participate in talks. Mediation is not binding. The current collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of the day March 3, and the union has said it expects a lockout to come as soon as the next day. News of the start of mediation could be viewed as a positive sign after several months of infrequent negotiations.
