Verizon Wireless to sponsor Shrine Bowl

The country's oldest high school all-star game has landed its first title sponsor.

Officials for the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas said Thursday that Verizon Wireless will sponsor this year's game. It pits the top senior players from North Carolina against those from South Carolina.

The annual game was first played in 1937. This year's match will be Dec. 19 at Gibbs Stadium on the campus of Wofford College.

Shrine Bowl chairman Billy Benfield said he was pleased to have Verizon Wireless as the new face of the all-star game.

Limestone begins season in Top 10

The Limestone College men's lacrosse team is ranked

No. 6 in the Inside Lacrosse

Face-Off Yearbook's 2010 preseason national rankings. Spencer Wims, Thomas Langan, Mike Poerstel, and Teddy Prager were named preseason All-Americans. Wims garnered First-Team preseason honors. Langan and Poerstel were named Second- Team Preseason All- Americans, and Prager earned Honorable Mention accolades.

The Saints are coming off a very successful season that saw the team claim the Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament championships, and earn the program 's 10th consecutive appearance in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

Wims was a First-Team All- American last season. As a defender, he played in every game as he posted 29 ground balls and 9 caused turnovers. Langan, an attackman, scored 31 goals in 2009 as he earned Second-Team All-Conference honors. Poerstel garnered Honorable Mention All- American honors last spring at midfield as he recorded 26 goals, 6 assists, and 26 ground balls. Prager, another midfielder, was a 2009 Second-Team All-Conference honoree. He posted 24 ground balls, 3 goals, and 4 assists last spring.

C.W. Post, the defending national champion, topped the poll. LeMoyne, Mercyhurst, New York Tech, and Merrimack round out the top five.

Iverson returns “home” to 76ers

A tearful Allen Iverson is happy to be back with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Iverson is returning to the franchise where he was an MVP, calling it an opportunity he couldn 't turn down. The 10-time All- Star guard signed a non-guaranteed deal with the 76ers on Wednesday, and said at the Wachovia Center that he's ready to prove he can still play.

“I want to retire here,” Iverson said Thursday.

The 34-year-old Iverson was teary almost from the start of his news conference. He said he retired after his ill-fated stint with the Memphis Grizzlies because he felt like “the basketball part of my life was over.”

Iverson will play his first game for the 76ers against Denver on Monday.

“Coming back home, all I could think about was the people who made me who I am,” said Iverson, the NBA MVP in 2001, when he led the Sixers to the finals.

Philadelphia hasn't won a playoff series since 2003.

In 10 seasons with the Sixers, Iverson posted the highest scoring average in team history (28.1), was second on the points list (19,583) and holds the record for 3-pointers (877). He was a seven-time All-Star, won four scoring titles and two All-Star game MVPs.