announcing his departure from the club by driving off in the middl

Growing up with a dad who was a longtime member of the Harlem Globetrotters, McKenzie Forbes never had a shortage of moves or basketball tricks in her back pocket.Two years ago, she decided to master spinning a basketball on her finger.She practiced relentlessly -- before school, in between homework assignments and during TV commercials. When she timed herself against her dad, Sterling Smooth Forbes, she surprised even herself. Her dad lost the ball after four minutes. She went much longer: 6 minutes, 12 seconds.It was crazy because I had worked so obsessively to get this time, Forbes said. It was a pretty cool moment because he had so much confidence that he was going to beat me.He was like, Theres no way youll spin it longer than me.In a way, Forbes obsession with the trick symbolizes her never-give-up attitude.Her competitive drive is unreal, Folsom coach Lynn Wolking said. Anything where theres a score kept, shes so motivated by winning and not losing.The 6-foot wing, ranked No. 40 in the espnW HoopGurlz Super 60 for the 2018 class, brings a fierce edge -- not to mention her Globetrotter pizzazz --?to Folsom.She routinely pulls off behind-the-back passes during games, a move she has become known for in the Sacramento area. Last year as a sophomore, Forbes averaged 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 blocks per game.Shes got that inner fire, said Wolking, who has known Forbes since she was 3. I know some of the coaches who are recruiting her have mentioned it on multiple occasions.When she was younger, Forbes and her three older brothers -- Mason, 17, Max, 19, and Marcus, 21 -- routinely attended Globetrotter games as VIPs. Sterling taught Globetrotter camps across the nation, which the kids attended.Thats how McKenzie realized basketball is bigger than wins and losses.For us, it was like, OK. This is our dad. We see him every day, Forbes said. We practice with him. We eat dinner with him. But to see the impact he can make and just the smile that you can put on someones face through basketball, that really taught us about the game.Growing up with the boysForbes sampled nearly every sport available as a youngster.She played baseball, soccer and football, mirroring the sports her older brothers liked. When she was 7, the Folsom Junior Bulldog Mighty Mite team named her starting quarterback.?Although the only girl in a program of about 100 boys, she always felt welcome.Everything my brothers did, Forbes said, I was like, OK. Im doing that too. There wasnt really a question about it.She threw touchdown passes to her brother Mason -- the teams receiver -- in her second year.I definitely think it helped with my toughness factor, Forbes said. I love the contact and going to the rim. I think playing football definitely had a hand in that.Forbes played on the gridiron for four years, but her family could see that basketball was her first love. In third grade, she began asking her parents to see local college basketball games in Northern California. She was also hard at work on her ballhandling skills, which her father said has paid dividends already.One of her biggest assets is her ability to handle the ball, Sterling said. Thats a big advantage for kids because theyre not afraid of pressure or being pressed.Forbes played basketball with boys until seventh grade and joined Arizona Selects AAU team after her freshman year at Folsom. For her initial tryout, she and her family drove 12 hours straight to Phoenix.Many weekends, Forbes flies to Phoenix on Friday and comes back Sunday. She has grown accustomed to the travel. When she gets to college, she said it wont be too much of an adjustment to balance school and travel.She just loves the game that much that it doesnt bother her, Sterling said. She sacrifices because she has a vision that she wants to play college basketball at a high level.Spinning to the futureForbes has had college coaches interested in her game since she was offered her first scholarship in eighth grade. She has trimmed her list to California, Stanford, UCLA, Oregon, USC, Ohio State, Louisville, Kentucky, Tennessee, Baylor and South Carolina.Last month, she asked her dad to order Pac-12 Network so she can keep a closer eye on programs on the West Coast.I know what Im looking for in a coaching style and staff, Forbes said. I feel like I needed to see that, considering a lot of schools Im talking to are in the Pac-12. It was a necessity.Those closest to Forbes know that wherever she ends up, she will be successful.Anywhere she goes in college, she will be like a sponge, Wolking said. You can go through something one time, and she gets it.The final piece on Forbes preseason list is her 3-point shot.The range is there, but just trying to get it very, very consistent before high school season, she said.If she does, shell leave coaches and fans near and far awestruck, mirroring the astonished looks her father brought to Globetrotter fans around the world. Nike Free Australia Online . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Nike Free Shoes Clearance . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. http://www.nikefreecheapaustralia.com/ . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Nike Free On Sale . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Nike Free Shoes Australia .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week.SEATTLE -- Once Ken Griffey Jr. got the phone call about the honour the Seattle Mariners wanted to bestow upon him he started getting nervous about having to be the centre of attention. Standing before a large audience and getting lauded is not a circumstance where Griffey feels comfortable. "I grew up in a household where it was a lot easier to talk about somebody else than talk about you," Griffey said. "My dad came home hed always say How did the team do? What did you do? would always be the last question. "Having this, I understand the honour that it brings. Am I nervous? Yes. Its a lot easier to be in centre field and stand at home plate than to talk in front of thousands of people." The greatest player ever to wear a Seattle Mariners uniform is back this weekend to become the seventh inductee into the Mariners Hall of Fame on Saturday night. Itll be an emotional night for Griffey, but also for many fans and former teammates who were witness to arguably the best all-around player of his day. Jay Buhner choked up on Friday when talking about his close friend and outfield mate for most of the 1990s. "Every time he came to the plate we were expecting a human highlight reel," Buhner said. The two-day celebration began on Friday when Griffey was lauded by former teammates and opponents during a luncheon on the field Friday. During the 90 minute luncheon, Griffey looked uncomfortable at times receiving all the focus. But when he finally spoke, Griffey was calm and relaxed, cracking jokes about times in the clubhouse and his former teammates. Of the previous six inductees to the teams Hall of Fame, five are players, all of which played with Griffey and showed up to support their former teammate. Griffey was even razzed by his father, who sat next to his son on the stage, and reminisced about the two playing together in 1990 in Seattle. "It was tough. The biggest thing was he was the boss and I didnt like that at all," Ken Griffey said. If there ever was an induction to Seattles Hall of Fame that goes without debate, its Griffey. Griffey spent 13 of his 22 seasons in the majors with the Mariners and was the face of the franchise for most of the 1990s. He was drafted by Seattle in 1987 with the No. 1 overall pick, made his debut at the major league level two years later and went on to have one of the finest careers in baseball history. Griffey finished with 630 home runs -- sixth all-time -- aand was a 13-time All-Star and the 1997 American League MVP.dddddddddddd Griffeys arrival in Seattle immediate brought relevance to a franchise that earned little in its first decade of existence. He was a marketing magnet, known for his glowing smile and backward hat -- which Griffey says was a product of having to wear his dads hat that way as a kid and not a fashion statement. He won legions of fans with his style of play and the obvious fun he was having while being among the best in the game. Among those paying tribute to Griffey via video on Friday were one-time Seattle teammate Ichiro Suzuki -- who greeted Griffey with "What up George?" -- and Willie Mays. "He was just a good player, a player young people should emulate a little bit and make sure their kids look up to him," Mays said. "Name another centre fielder who can do the things that he did when he was playing. He did a lot of things that I did and its very hard to do. Hell get into the Hall of Fame with no problem." Most Seattle fans have put aside any resentment from Griffey strong-arming his way into a trade to Cincinnati before the 2000 season. There also seems to be little bitterness from Griffeys abrupt retirement in 2010 after a story leaked about Griffey sleeping in the clubhouse during a game and eventually announcing his departure from the club by driving off in the middle of the night. "When I got the phone call asking me where I was, I was in Montana. But like I told everybody from Day 1, I didnt want to have a press conference, I didnt want to be a distraction," Griffey said. "I told Chuck (Armstrong) and Howard (Lincoln) that from Day 1, I was not going to be a distraction to this ballclub. People when you tell the truth and then it happen and then people believe its supposed to happen a certain way they get upset. Ive always said I didnt want a press conference, I didnt want a farewell tour. It wasnt me. I did the best way I thought was easier for everybody, was to get in the car and drive off." Despite the way his career ended, Griffey remains thankful that he got to end his career playing for the Mariners and not just honoured for what he did in Seattle. "People didnt ask me who the best player was I ever played with. The question assumes the answer," former Seattle first baseman Alvin Davis said. "By far the most talented, best player I ever played with is Ken Griffey Jr." ' ' '