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Capt. Nathaniel Lantz (right) of Bound Brooke, N.J., commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 104th Cavalry, knights Spc. Andrew Kline of Reading, Pa., Aug. 12. The ceremony marked the squadron's Troopers earning the right to wear gilded gold combat spurs with their uniforms. Photo by Sgt. Doug Roles. CAMP TAJI — Troopers with the 2nd Squadron, 104th Cavalry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, are leaving Iraq with new spurs jangling from their combat boots.In keeping with cavalry tradition, troop commanders conducted award ceremonies, at the "Fiddler's Green" rest area of the squadron's footprint. The area is the...

FORT STEWART, Ga. - More than 20 spouses and one mother of a Soldier assigned to the 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team took part in the squadron's first Spouse Spur Ride at Fort Stewart, April 30. The Spouse Spur Ride is a variation of the Cavalry Spur Ride, which is designed to test Soldiers' physical and mental endurance in a series of tasks. Additionally, the event allows spouses to bond with one another and gives them an opportunity to experience a day in the life of their Soldier. "It is important for spouses to see...

FORT HOOD, Texas - When Christine Tharp saw her husband talk about getting his cavalry spurs, she knew she wanted the opportunity to earn them as well. So, when 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division got together to put on a Spouses' Spur Ride competition March 6, on Fort Hood, she was "thrilled" to say the least and more than 60 other spouses and family members came out to the competition. "I was like, 'thank God,'" said Tharp, of St. Johnsville, N.Y. "It's come to 2-12....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HUNTER, Iraq, Oct. 28, 2008 – For their efforts in building more than 25,000 square feet of housing and administrative offices for 1st Cavalry Division soldiers of 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 29 Air Force airmen received cavalry combat spurs – symbolic of cavalry service in a combat zone -- from the squadron’s commander here Oct. 20. Army Lt. Col. Daryle Hernandez, left, accepts the symbolic key to the newly built Forward Operating Base Hunter, Iraq, from Air Force Capt. Jason Glynn, Oct. 20, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Mark...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2008 – Based on the idea that with their grace, elegance and unconditional acceptance, horses may be just what many servicemembers and veterans need, a former Marine has formed an organization to introduce them to what he calls “the power of partnership with horses.” “Horses have an incredible way of teaching and healing humans,” said Brad Myers, president of Operation Silver Spurs. A third-generation veteran, Myers started the endeavor after consulting with a master therapeutic riding instructor. Operation Silver Spurs is open not only to all veterans, but also to active-duty personnel, reservists, Guardsmen and their...

Warming up before Game 4, Tim Duncan decided to have a little fun. He threw the ball behind his back and between his legs, then went up for the lay-in. Yep, it was going to be that easy. Duncan had his best game of the series against New Orleans -- 22 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks -- to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 100-80 victory over the Hornets on Sunday. "I'm just trying to do my part," Duncan said. "It's just that. You've got to step up at playoff time. It's win or go home. So you've got...

The San Antonio Spurs' Big Three congregated around the scorer's table during a timeout in the fourth quarter, not long before they put the game away for good. Tim Duncan patted Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. They all laughed. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili scored 31 points apiece in Thursday's victory, marking the third time in the last 15 years two backcourt teammates each scored 30-plus points in the same postseason game. The NBA's defending champions were not going into an 0-3 hole against the New Orleans Hornets. (more at link)

Midway through the first quarter after missing two jumpers, Tim Duncan threw the ball up yet again, then held his arms wide. While it wasn't the same as the messy gash Steve Nash took in last year's playoffs, the Spurs' comebacks and win in double-overtime Saturday may have cut deep into the Suns' hopes of beating San Antonio in the playoffs. This time, would the shot fall? It did. And much later the Spurs' big man hit an even bigger one. Duncan's first 3 of the season with just ticks left sent his team into double overtime against the revenge-minded...

My top five (listed in alphabetical order) Tim Duncan Kevin Garnett Lebron James Kobe Bryant Chris Paul

The first six years of Johnson’s NBA career saw him play for five different teams. It was a vagabond NBA life that even included being cut on Christmas Eve by the Nuggets. Yet Johnson didn’t just persevere, he ultimately thrived. The man refused to listen to his doubters, many of whom questioned whether he can lead an NBA team. “You don’t have to be first to come in first,” said Johnson, . . . who recently became the fastest coach in NBA history to reach 150 wins. “You can be last and still come in first. And I was last....

CLEVELAND — This city gave up hope Thursday even before Game 4's tip-off of the NBA Finals. It was evident in the ticket sales being hawked on the street, in the piles of merchandise left sitting on vendors' tables and the all-around depressed atmosphere of downtown Cleveland. Their mood didn't get any better after the San Antonio Spurs swept the Cavaliers 83-82 to win a fourth NBA title. The only thing left to root for was the Cleveland Indians, who are leading in their division and finally won a game this week at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, the first since...

San Antonio Spurs small forward Bruce Bowen was the man of the moment with his 3-pointer 36 seconds from time as the Spurs beat the short-handed Phoenix Suns 88-85 to go up 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals. The Spurs can close it out in Game 6 Friday night at San Antonio. The Suns, without their all-NBA center Amare Stoudemire and his replacement Boris Diaw, and using largely a six-man rotation, nearly won a grind-it-out kind of game the Suns aren't supposed to be able to play.Tony Parker: No time for a break

SAN ANTONIO - The Phoenix Suns went on a 12-1 run to close the game as they rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 104-98 last night and even their NBA playoff series 2-2. Fouled hard by Robert Horry with 18 seconds to play, Steve Nash jumped to his feet and decided he had to stand up for himself. His teammate Raja Bell was already doing that for him.The hit by Horry was one of several bad plays by the San Antonio Spurs.The Spurs led 97-92 with 2:23 to play on a rebound basket by Tim Duncan, their last field...

Amare Stoudemire called the Spurs a "dirty team" and was specifically angry with Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen, who he says have intentionally tried to hurt him.

NEW YORK -- NBA referee Joey Crawford was suspended indefinitely by commissioner David Stern on Tuesday for his conduct toward Tim Duncan, who contends the official challenged him to a fight. Crawford, regarded as a top referee, ejected Duncan from a game in Dallas on Sunday. He called a second technical foul on the San Antonio Spurs star while he was on the bench. "He looked at me and said, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?"' Duncan said. "If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don't have any problem with him, but we can...

BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) - An American schoolteacher said he was with 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey when she died, but questions surfaced over his story a day after his arrest in Thailand. A Colorado prosecutor cautioned that more work remained in the case. John Mark Karr, 41, who was arrested in a dramatic breakthrough in the sensational 1996 murder, spoke to reporters on Thursday while being escorted by authorities in Bangkok. Asked if he was innocent, Karr shook his head and said, "No." JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26,...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - It took help from the U.S. Postal Service to jump-start the nation's commercial aviation industry in the late 1920s and early 1930s. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin thinks a little push from government could do the same for the commercial space industry in the next several years. The U.S. space agency is sponsoring a competition in which winning companies will get $500 million in seed money to develop space vehicles that NASA will never design, build or own. Like a U-Haul truck rental, NASA instead will merely lease them on a per-trip basis for sending cargo and...

Five of the six games have gone down to the wire. Will Game Seven be in different?

Hundreds of people gathered along 40 miles of state Highway 111 in the Coachella Valley Sunday to protest a proposed federal law that would heighten enforcement targeting undocumented immigrants. In groups ranging from a few dozen to more than 150, the mostly Latino crowds of demonstrators cheered honking autos in Coachella and Indio; waved farmworker union, American and Mexican flags at a ritzy resort in Indian Wells; and held hands before a strip mall in Cathedral City. About 75 picketed the street in front of the office Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, to protest her vote in December for HR...

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Spurs guard Tony Parker was cited for impeding traffic and failing to produce a valid Texas driver's license during a traffic stop in which girlfriend and "Desperate Housewives" actress Eva Longoria was his passenger, police said. An officer on a bicycle saw the stopped car holding up traffic early Saturday and rapped the hood with his hand, according to a police report. Parker, behind the wheel, questioned why the officer touched the car, and the couple "began screaming in a verbally abusive and demeaning manner," police said. Longoria called the police report "highly inaccurate." Police say...