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CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A humbled and emotional Michael Jordan fought back tears, feeling vindicated after years of criticism, after being named the Charlotte Business Journals Business Person of the Year.The Charlotte Hornets owner said during a nine-minute acceptance speech Tuesday night posted on Sports Business Daily website, that while hes received many awards as a player, this one was different.Ive been criticized in a lot of different areas from a business standpoint, but I take pride in the ideas and concepts and views that come out of this organization to build the type of basketball program... that the city of Charlotte can be proud of, Jordan said as he began tearing up.Jordan won six NBA titles as a player, but his front-office leadership abilities had been questioned — including his decision to take Kwame Brown with the No. 1 pick while an executive with the Washington Wizards.But Jordan has repeatedly said he is committed to turning the Hornets around and members of his team echoed his sentiments on Wednesday.Charlotte president and COO Fred Whitfield said Wednesday that Jordan was genuinely honoured and humbled by the award.Whitfield said Jordan has listened to fans, including changing the teams name back to the Hornets upon their request. The franchise had been known as the Bobcats.He is so proud to be building something in his home state, Whitfield said. So to be recognized with such a prestigious award for his business accomplishments was really, really special to him.Jordans long-time business manager Estee Portnoy was in attendance at the ceremony, and called the speech genuine and beautiful in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday.Jordan, a 14-time NBA All-Star who took over as the Hornets majority owner in 2010, said he plans on winning multiple championships with the franchise.For all of the people that think that Im in this for the short term, you better pull your socks up and just hang around — because my promise to this organization and this community is to bring a winner, Jordan said.Jordan said when he joined the Hornets as a minority owner he never anticipated taking over as majority owner, but rather was interested in helping bring a winning franchise back to his home state.But he said when Bob Johnson decided to sell the franchise, it felt like karma that allowed him the opportunity own a team in North Carolina.I left home. I came back home. And I plan on staying home, Jordan said.Jordan, who grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, talked at length how much of his family still lives in the state.And he said hes still driven to win.Me personally I could ride off into the sunset and never worry about a thing, Jordan said. But my pride brought me back to North Carolina for whatever reason.Jordan, who won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, went on to say a lot of my credits from a basketball standpoint are going to be attributed to Chicago. But Im from North Carolina.Jordan also thanked his employees and his family for their input on his business decisions.I take input from all sources of this community be it from my family or be it from business leaders, be it from people walking in the streets, Jordan said. And that gives me a sense of my pride in my connection to the community. I dont take that for granted. I take it with a lot of pride and a lot of respect.The Hornets made the playoffs last year but were swept in the post-season by the Miami Heat.They are currently ninth in the Eastern Conference standings this season.We still have a long ways to go as an organization, Jordan said. We are just scratching the surface. Kevon Looney Jersey . Although Olivetti, a qualifier, had 13 aces, he failed to force a single break-point chance on Gasquets serve and lost his own three times. Gasquet next plays third-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, who won had 18 aces in a 6-2, 6-4 win against seventh-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. Draymond Green Jersey . Amid a rain of confetti, Shabazz Napier basked in the celebration on the court after being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four following the 60-54 win over Kentucky. http://www.cheapwarriorsjerseysstore.com/.Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games. Latrell Sprewell Jersey . -- Howie Kendrick had a two-run single in his first game batting leadoff this season, Chris Iannetta hit a pair of RBI singles and the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 6-4 Tuesday night, sending the Indians to their fifth straight defeat. Jacob Evans Jersey . New York City FC introduced Frank Lampard in Brooklyn on Thursday after signing the 36-year-old former Chelsea midfielder to a two-year contract. TORONTO -- Its been a bad three-game stretch for the Blue Jays and the numbers tell a bleak story: three straight home losses, 29 runs given up on 42 hits and 13 walks. Toronto (11-12) gave up leads in 10-8 and 11-4 losses to the Baltimore Orioles this week. It was never close Friday as the Boston Red Sox got to Mark Buehrle early en route to an 8-1 win. "Tomorrow comes quickly and early," Jays manager John Gibbons said hopefully, "So we need to get back out and play some good baseball." Its sorely needed. Torontos pitching staff has a combined earned-run average of 4.70 with 99 walks. And the Jays are hitting .247. Boston slugger David Ortiz hit his 50th career homer against the Jays and right-hander Jake Peavey scattered five hits over seven innings in a tidy outing to earn his first win after four non-decisions. A unanimous NL Cy Young Award-winner in 2007, Peavey struck out seven and walked two. The lone blemish on the Peavey scoresheet was a Juan Francisco home run -- his first as a Blue Jay -- in the seventh inning. The six-foot-two 245-pound designated hitter muscled a moonshot that landed in the right-field boxes just under the 500 level. Buehrle (4-1) was trying to become first Blue Jays starter to win his first five starts of the campaign. Instead he wobbled early as the Red Sox (11-13) recorded their 300th career victory against Toronto before an announced crowd of 29,411. The 35-year-old left-hander came into the game with a 4-0 record and MLB-leading 0.64 ERA. Buehrle had allowed two runs in 28 innings, striking out 19 and walking only five batters. The opposition was batting .210 against him. On Friday, he gave up seven runs on 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings, throwing 101 pitches that included 64 strikes. Buehrle walked three, had no strikeouts and saw his ERA increase to 2.16. "Hes been so good. Thats baseball, youre not going to be perfect every time out there," Gibbons said. "Hell bounce back. He was just off tonight, its that simple." Buehrle pointed to his walks and some bloop hits that found holes and eluded defenders. "Youve got to have the luck on your side. I wasnt hitting my spots as good as I was in the past. And when I did they got some base hits. But overall, too many strikes in the middle of the zone and they took advantage of it." Boston outhit Toronto 16-6 with all nine Red Sox starters registering hits on the night. The roof was closed on a wet, windy evening in Toronto. But down the street, Raptors fans braved the elements at Maple Leaf Square to watch Game 3 of Torontos NBA playoff series against the Nets in Brooklyn on the big screen outside the Air Canada CCentre.dddddddddddd. That ending was closer but no more satisfying to locals. A leadoff walk and four hits in the second inning put the Jays behind 4-0 as Boston sent seven men to the plate and Buehrle threw 30 pitches. An A.J. Pierzynski sacrifice fly, Will Middlebrooks single and Dustin Pedroias two-RBI single kept the Boston scoreboard ticking. The inning snapped Buehrles streak of 0-23 with runners in scoring position. An Ortiz home run to deep right field made it 5-0 in the third. It was Ortizs fifth homer of the season and the 436th of his career, moving him within two of tying Andre Dawson and Jason Giambi for 40th place on the MLB all-time list. The Ortiz blast was also his 33rd at the Rogers Centre. Only Alex Rodriguez (36) has hit more in a visitors uniform here. Torontos Jose Bautista doubled in the fourth and has now reached base safely in all 23 games this season. The feel-good story ended quickly when he was caught stealing third, with one out and Edwin Encarnacion on first. Dioner Navarro then popped up to end the threat. "Ive got no idea," Gibbons said when asked what Bautista was thinking. "Its not smart winning baseball. Im sure he wont do it again." Said Peavey: "That was a shot in the arm for us." Middlebrooks, returning to the Boston lineup from a strained right calf injury that had sidelined him since April 4, doubled home Pierzynski in the sixth to make it 6-0. Buehrle exited one hitter later after walking the No. 9 hitter, Jackie Bradley Jr. Neil Wagner followed Buehrle and soon had to deal with the bases loaded, with two out, after a Jose Reyes error and Ortiz walk. Wagner walked Mike Napoli to make it 7-0, after the Boston first baseman had fouled off a string of balls with the count full, before striking out Jonny Gomes. The Jays had men on first and third with two out in the sixth but Peavey struck out Bautista and Encarnacion to snuff out Torontos first threat of the night. Boston manager John Farrell called it a key moment. "Jake gets two big strikeouts to end their threat, to keep the momentum on our side." The hard-throwing Wagner, who complicated matters with two walks and one hit batsman in 1 1/3 innings, was followed by Todd Redmond. The Jays sent Wagner to Triple-A Buffalo after the game, calling up pitcher Chad Jenkins. Bradley, who had three extra base hits on the night, made it 8-1 with a two-out RBI double off Redmond in the ninth. Chris Capuano pitched the eighth for Boston, striking out the side. Andrew Miller worked the ninth, giving up a single while striking out two. 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