UPDATE: Hector Camacho declared clinically 'brain dead'

Doctors say flamboyant former boxer Hector `Macho' Camacho is clinically ''brain dead'' after being shot in the face.

Dr. Ernesto Torres said at a news conference Thursday that doctors are still performing tests on Camacho before meeting with his family, according to The New York Daily News.

Torres had said late Wednesday that Camacho was showing irregular and intermittent brain activity.

The 50-year-old Camacho was shot as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar Tuesday night. Police spokesman Alex Diaz has said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket, and a 10th bag open inside the car.

Metta World Peace doesn't like how Nets represent Brooklyn

Metta World Peace was happy to hear that Reggie Evans was fined $5,000 for flopping — and went on Twitter to praise the NBA's new rules which punish players for embellished contact — but had some harsh words for the Brooklyn Nets — particularly Evans and Gerald Wallace for how they are representing the borough.

World Peace wasn't thrilled after both players committed questionable flops when the forward had the ball during Tuesday night's Lakers' 95-90 victory over the new Brooklynites  W.P. was even more incensed to find out Wallace wasn't $5,000 lighter as well.

On Wednesday morning the Queens native tweeted:

"What was the best flop tonight? Out of three? I am so happy the NBA charges $5,000 for flopping," he posted.  "The two Gerald Wallace flops were crazy. . . lol  I am on the court like, 'What in the world.!! ...The refs did a good job on the Gerald Wallace flops. ...but they missed the Reggie Evans flop. . . I can see overseas players

"You cannot flop and play for Brooklyn.!!!," he continued.  "Brooklyn equals red bricks, streets, the gutter, Marcy, soul in the hole, Gershwin Park, etc. ..."




Evans was the first player fined by the NBA for flopping after his exaggerated contact with a World Peace shove while running up the court during the third quarter of Tuesday's game.  After Evans stumbled into the bench, Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni yelled at the referee, "It's a flop."

World Peace was called for a foul on the play, but the NBA reacted later and fined Evans the five large for his second blatant flop — he was warned last week against the Celtics — this season.

The Lakers forward doesn't exactly have a stellar history with NBA disciplinarians but, this time, it looks like World Peace and the league agree on something.

Nets' Reggie Evans first NBA player to be fined for flopping

Brooklyn Nets forward Reggie Evans made history by becoming the first NBA player to be fined for flopping.

Evans achieved the dubious NBA footnote after he stumbled into the bench when Metta World Peace brushed up against his arm in Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

 He was fined $5,000 for his second flopping offense under  the NBA's new policy instituted to cut back on the exaggerated pratfalls.

In the first three weeks of the season, Evans already has flopped twice and a third violation could cost the 11-year journeyman player $10,000.

While World Peace has a reputation for rough play, Evans has been known to take more falls than a soccer player.  In a preseason flopping video shown to players, Evans was what one league executive called, "the star."



Evans' style of play could lead to fines of $15,000 for a fourth violation, and $35,000 for a fifth.  His on-the-court acting may not lead to an Academy Award but a sixth violation could lead to Evans' suspension.

J.J. Barea, Kevin Martin and Donald Sloan are the only other players with reported warnings at this time.

Americans prefer Tebow to Obama as Thanksgiving dinner guest, says poll

He may have won the election but, if it came down to setting a seat at Thanksgiving dinner, Americans would prefer breaking bread with Tim Tebow over President Obama, a new survey shows.

And it wasn't even close.  Just don't ask him to toss you a biscuit.

According to the survey, conducted by Nielsen, when asked who they would like to have as a Thanksgiving guest, 23% of the anonymous Americans questioned preferred the New York Jets quarterback over the Commander in Chief.  The Leader of the Free World garnered only five percent of of the vote.

It seems they didn't poll the Jets locker room.

The survey, released Wednesday by Destination America, shows Obama was also soundly beaten out by Big Bird (23%) and Lady Gaga (15%).

In Obama's defense, many of those polled probably thought Big Bird meant a succulent Butterball turkey and Lady Gaga — a walking ham sandwich.

For any of those Americans saving a seat for Tebow, hold your stuffing.  The closest you'll get to saying grace with the Wildcat quarterback is praying for him to get into Thursday night's game on TV.  The Jets play the New England Patriots in the third game of the annual football extravaganza.  It'll be about the same time the third round of leftover turkey sandwiches come out.

Other fun facts discovered from the multi-selection survey include:

—44% said pumpkin was their favorite pie.

—64% of men said they were looking forward to watching football on TV, with 43% of women preferring the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

—"Family" beat out "food" as the favorite part of the holiday — but it was close 68% to 53%.

While a large percentage of Jets fans would probably say that Mark Sanchez was the cause of a lot of indigestion so far this season — 15 percent of those surveyed said the in-laws made them reach for the Pepto.

Tom Brady warns Patriots teammates: No video games

The New England Patriots are coming off a explosive 59-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts and head into MetLife Stadium to face off with the high-flying New York Jets with only four days to prepare for their Thanksgiving night matchup.

Nobody knows preparation against Gang Green better than Tom Brady (he is 17-5 vs. the Jets since 2001) and, while it's not hard to picture the Patriots quarterback looking at anything but game film during the short week, Brady knows his teammates like to spend a lot their spare time playing "Call of Duty" or any of the other video games flooding the market.

On Tuesday, during his weekly news conference, the Uggs-wearing QB made it clear that the Patriots players should stay focused on the duty at hand — namely the game plan against the Jets.

"We're just trying to prioritize our time," said Brady.  "We don't have much of it, so we've got to leave tomorrow and hopefully everyone is spending their time wisely, not playing video games and stuff like that.

"It's a very tough place to play, we've always played this team very tough, so it should be a fun night."

Brady has led the Patriots (7-3) to four straight wins and has thrown 11 touchdowns with no interceptions over that span.  The team has scored an amazing 170 points during the streak which began with a last second 29-26 win over the Jets.

The Jets (4-6) have a habit of bringing their division rivals back down to earth, even when Brady is soaring.  Rex Ryan's Jets beat Brady three times in his first two seasons but have been on the losing end of the last three meetings. They know this game could make-or-break the season.

"This team makes it tough on you," said Brady.  "They do quite a few things defensively.  They really played us well last time.  It certainly wasn't our best performance out there offensively, so we've got a big task."

NBA stars dribble 'Carol of the Bells' to promote new BIG Color uniforms

If the stress of Thanksgiving dinner or the door-busting crowds of Black Friday shoppers don't get you into a holiday mood, maybe the sound of a popular Christmas carol played by NBA stars dribbling basketballs will do the trick.

The NBA is giving fans the first look of its new and ingenious "BIG Color" marketing campaign — the one that features single color with the stencil-font letters that will be worn during the Christmas Day NBA quintuple-header — as a teaser.

The ad — which will be released Wed. — features Lakers center  Dwight Howard, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, Nets guard Joe Johnson Thunder guard Russell Westbrook and Heat guard Dwyane Wade dribbling basketball to the tune of "Carol of the Bells."  The players are all wearing the monochromatic uniforms and take turns hitting the various notes of the carol.

You know a couple of elves probably did a lot of editing to pull off this Christmas miracle.



Not surprisingly, all five players are scheduled to play during the holiday marathon featuring the Celtics at Nets, Knicks at Lakers, Thunder at Heat, Rockets at Bulls and Nuggets at Clippers.

Former boxer Hector 'Macho' Camacho in critical condition after getting shot in face

Former three-division world champion boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho, the flamboyant and often troubled Puerto Rican fighter who was raised in New York City, was shot in the jaw while in a car outside a bar in Bayamon, Puerto Rico on Tuesday night.  He is listed in critical condition.

A man driving the car was also shot and killed.  Police have one suspect in custody according to reports in the local newspaper Primera Hora.  It was not clear what relationship, if any, Camacho had with the other victim and the motive was unknown.

The 50-year-old Camacho was unconscious as he was taken to the trauma center at Centro Medico in San Juan.  Hospital officials said he was in serious condition.  

According to doctors, Camacho was struck once in the left jaw and the bullet travelled down his neck and lodged in his right shoulder.  Along the way the bullet fractured his 5th and 6th cervical vertebrae and Camacho lost so much blood that he needed a transfusion.  There was no mention of paralysis and doctors could not determine if he had been struck by any other bullets.

Camacho won super lightweight, lightweight and junior middleweight world titles in the 1980's and gained notoriety for entering the ring in outlandish gladiator outfits.   He also made headlines for a series of run-ins with the law.

The hard partying fighter's most memorable bouts were a split decision loss to Julio Cesar Chavez in 1992 — when both fighters were undefeated — and his fifth-round knockout of a fading Sugar Ray Leonard in 1997 — which was to be Camacho's last real hurrah in the ring.

Camacho's son, Hector Jr., followed his dad into boxing and went on to have a respectable career but without any of his father's acclaim.

The older Camacho, a three-time Golden Gloves winner,  ended his career with a record of 79-5-3 and Macho attempted a comeback as recently as 2009.

UPDATE: Camacho declared clinically 'brain dead'

Doctors say boxer Hector `Macho' Camacho is clinically ''brain dead'' after being shot in the face.

Dr. Ernesto Torres said at a news conference Thursday that doctors are still performing tests on Camacho before meeting with his family, according to The New York Daily News.

Torres had said late Wednesday that Camacho was showing irregular and intermittent brain activity.

The 50-year-old Camacho was shot as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar Tuesday night. Police spokesman Alex Diaz has said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket, and a 10th bag open inside the car.