Sports in brief: James wows London crowd

Basketball: King James got a royal greeting Saturday.

LeBron James spoke to dozens of children wearing T-shirts with “Earn the crown” and “The King is coming” written on them during a London stop in his promotional tour.

The Cleveland Cavaliers star has been traveling the world to promote his documentary, “More Than a Game.” His visit to the British capital was aimed at helping spread basketball to areas of London troubled by gang violence.

The 2009 MVP reiterated that he doesn’t yet know whether he will stay with Cleveland or test free agency when his contract ends after the coming season.

“I haven’t decided,” said James, who added that he is looking forward to Shaquille O’Neal’s arrival in Cleveland.

“I think it’s going to be great,” he added. “It’s an opportunity to play with a Hall of Famer. He demands respect.”

The youngsters who took part in the program got to hear what James did make the NBA.

“I wanted to play ball no matter what time of the day it was, no matter what the weather was,” he said. “Playing ball for me was a release as a kid.”

Associated Press

Monarchs arrive after 69 years

Football: Blue-and-white clad Old Dominion fans chanted “ODU! ODU!” as their first football team in 69 years made its inaugural march through the alumni tailgating area.

Saturday’s game was ODU’s first since 1940 – and a 36-21 win.

Some of the fired-up Monarchs faithful were so caught up in the moment that before ODU kicked off against Division II Chowan they were already challenging college football’s heavyweights.

“Today makes it evident that it’s totally possible, and the sky’s the limit,” said James Toscano, 29. “We have 1.7 million people in a region with no big-time football program. And this Hampton Roads area is a hotbed of football talent.”

While ODU, located in Norfolk, Va., will likely remain in the Football Championship Subdivision for the foreseeable future, Toscano is right about the football-crazed region that produced such NFL standouts as Bruce Smith and Michael Vick.

Residents turned out in force for Old Dominion’s first football game since the school was known as the Norfolk Division Braves of the College of William & Mary.

Associated Press