Blount offers blunt message

Football: Suspended Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount met with a group of at-risk teenagers and spoke about punching a Boise State player, telling them he would not let it define him as a person.

Blount told the teenagers about his upbringing in Florida, his brother’s brushes with the law and his own struggles academically.

“I took the long road here,” Blount said. “I didn’t come straight out of high school. My grades was not enough to go Division I, so I had to go to a junior college in Mississippi. I did what I had to do … to get in the position I was in at the beginning of this season … and I screwed that up.”

Associated Press

Single-session tickets available

Figure skating: Individual session tickets for the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane go on sale at 10 a.m. today.

Individual sessions offer fans the option to pick the events of their choice without purchasing an entire package of tickets. Ticket prices range from $15 for several novice and junior events to $108 for the senior ladies free skate.

Tickets are available at the Spokane Arena box office or on the Web at spokane2010.com.

Boxers all ears on Oprah show

Boxing: Mutual praise and admiration dominated during a face-to-face meeting Friday between former world champion boxers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on a live episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

On June 28, 1997, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Tyson was disqualified after biting off part of Holyfield’s right ear during their heavyweight title fight.

A respectful Tyson said it was his first chance to speak at length with Holyfield since the ear chomp.

Associated Press