N.C. basketball: Freedom, North Rowan win Western Regional titles

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GREENSBORO After battling through a last-second victory in its semifinal win a day earlier, the last thing Freedom coach Casey Rogers wanted Sunday was another close game.

The Patriots made sure that didnt happen, bolting to an early lead against North Forsyth, then holding off a pair of comeback attempts in a 76-59 victory in the N.C. High School Athletic Associations Western Regional 3A boys final.

Gabe Logan, named the tournaments most valuable player, scored 20 points and three other players finished in double figures for Morganton Freedom (31-1), which will play Wilson Hunt (26-6) for the state title on Saturday in Chapel Hill.

This will be the Patriots first trip to the state finals since 1998, when they won the 4A boys title for the second time. They also won in 1994.

Its a testament to these guys, said Rogers, whose team advanced to the regional final by beating Weddington 63-60 on Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center.

Weve talked about building a foundation of toughness. To come back 20 hours later to play in the regional final, and to play well, speaks to that toughness.

It helped that Freedom opened by outscoring the Vikings 17-5 in the first quarter and led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter.

While North Forsyth (22-9) led by Kedrick Flomos game-high 39 points twice fought back and cut the Patriots lead to single digits in the second and third quarters, Freedom was able to respond and blunt both Vikings rallies.

We just continued to talk about getting stops on the defensive end and doing a good job on the glass (rebounding), Rogers said. When they made moves, we got enough stops and did a good job of limiting their second-chance points.

North Rowan 58, Smoky Mountain 56: The Cavaliers advanced to a state championship game for the first time in three years after rallying late in the fourth quarter against the previously unbeaten Mustangs.

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N.C. basketball: Freedom, North Rowan win Western Regional titles

Scottish salmon farming is Freedom Foods greatest success

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This means more salmon farmers are working to the RSPCAs higher welfare standards than in any other farming sector - including chicken, duck, dairy, beef, sheep and egg production. It makes the Scottish salmon farming industry Freedom Food's biggest success story to date.

The news comes as Freedom Food celebrates 20 years of improving the lives of farm animals and over 11 years since the RSPCA's welfare standards for farmed Atlantic salmon were first introduced (2002) and the approval of its first salmon producer - Sutherland based Loch Duart**.

Commenting on this success leading Scottish chef, Nick Nairn, said: "The salmon industry is so important to Scotland and I have been saying for years that good welfare practice inevitably results in a superior product that simply tastes better. So it's great news to hear that 70% of the Scottish Salmon farming industry is now part of the Freedom Food scheme."

Why is Freedom Food salmon such a success story?

Freedom Food's agricultural manager, Bob Waller, explains: "We believe it is because we have clearly shown that farming to RSPCA welfare standards makes good business - as well as good welfare - sense. For example, healthier fish and better bio-security means lower mortality, and therefore increased salmon production.

"Success for us, of course, means more animals benefiting from higher welfare standards. But to achieve that, we have to demonstrate to our members that there are not only measurable commercial benefits to joining Freedom Food, but that there is also a growing demand from consumers for higher welfare food.

And all the signs show that this is the case, with more Freedom Food labelled smoked and fresh salmon available than ever before in UK supermarkets including the Co-operative, Somerfield, Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco.

The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) who confirmed the current 70% estimate also expects that this figure will continue to rise over the coming years.

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Scottish salmon farming is Freedom Foods greatest success

Freedom: What in the (modern) world does it mean?

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Years ago I pointed out in my first column for this paper that the word freedom and its relatives free and liberty are forever being bandied about by politicians (in particular) without anyones attempting to define them i.e., to find the referent, a term Stuart Chase uses in his classic book The Tyranny of Words.

This term means discovering what in the real world a word actually means and its critical to do this if we want language to mean anything. For example, it is easy to find a referent for the word hammer, less easy for the word water, even harder for more abstract words like (say) beauty, and, as I see it, nearly impossible for very abstract words like freedom. But if we just say, Oh, of course, freedom, and let it go without thinking seriously about it, we will be at the mercy of (and manipulated by) the blowhards and the demagogues. What does it mean to you?

For many years New Hampshire residents have been driving around with license plates that proclaim Live Free or Die. (Note: You can alter the motto on your plate if it conflicts with your beliefs, says the N.H. Supreme Court.) But few people seem to have asked what that injunction actually means for each individual. Live Free or Die may stir the soul, but what is its practical day-to-day impact? As I asked then, Who decides how free you are, and if youre not free enough, do you have to die, and if so, how? If apparently absurd questions like these arent answered, the motto, while perhaps inspiring, is essentially meaningless.

Therefore, I have for some time felt I should try harder to define free and freedom. (I am putting liberty to one side, since it tends to be defined by, and is used to define, freedom.) The Finedictionary.com gives the following broad definition of freedom:

Exemption from the constraint or restraint of physical or moral forces independence. The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint (Oxford Dictionaries). I cant find a way to give any meaning to these broad terms except by coming down to specific instances of freedom and non-freedom as they affect us as individuals.

One can start with the question generated by New Hampshires motto. What does free or freedom mean as applied to each of us every day? My quest for the referent begins with a recognition of the innumerable constraints or restraints that actually affect ones power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.

Let us visualize freedom metaphorically as a large of piece of canvas, and then see what pieces of it have been cut out and what holes made by these various constraints or restraints. I was somewhat shocked to see that the canvas of freedom ended up pretty shredded by a vast variety of constraints, of some of which I had never thought.

Most obvious are the legal laws and rules. The state prohibits you from doing many antisocial things, and fines or punishes you if you hurt people or property. You are not free to do all sorts of anti-social things, such as shoot people, drive too fast, steal and so on and on. Were used to these, and trade our freedom to do them for the freedom from being shot, run over or robbed. They do, nevertheless, greatly curtail the total freedom Rousseau envisioned in his state of Nature.

These laws and regulations, strangely, may be less important than hundreds of other constraints in our lives limits cultural (dont malign your countrys values), societal (dont spit on the floor, dont be gay), familial (dont contradict your father), economic (dont get into debt), security (dont walk late at night in a strange place), all enforced by the omnipresent fear of criticism, of being thought a fool or a boor, of being hurt, of being ostracized.

Religious prohibitions are widespread they often prescribe what to eat (or not), to wear (or not), what not to read, what observances are required of the faithful. All are enforced by fear of punishment during life or after death.

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Freedom: What in the (modern) world does it mean?

Larissa Reis & Cris Cyborg training for Muscular Development Spain – Las Vegas 2014 – Video

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Larissa Reis Cris Cyborg training for Muscular Development Spain - Las Vegas 2014
Our most international athletes train by shoulder specialist expert in nutrition coach Sergio fernandez with great intensity Coming soon you will have long...

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Cris 'Cyborg' on Lion Fight 14, Invicta and Ronda Rousey 'Running' from Her

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Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

There are a lot of things on Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino's mind these days, but only a few she can do anything about at the current time.

The Brazilian wrecking machine has hovered near the pinnacle of the sport for the past six years as she's proved time and time again to be one of the most devastating strikers in the world. Her power and tenacity carved out a place as the elite featherweight fighter in the female ranks and put her in a position far beyond the rest of the field.

That said, the current surge WMMA has experienced over the last two years has had little to do with her, as former Strikeforce and current UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey's rapid ascension has captivated the spotlight. While Cyborg and Rousey are undoubtedly the two biggest names on the women's side of the sport, and a showdown between the two would certainly be the biggest fight in the history of women's mixed martial arts, obstacles have consistently appeared to block this from happening.

While the two fighters have launched shots andbarbs at one another, the current state of things has Rousey under the UFC banner while Justino is waiting just outside the gates. This situation could certainly change, but Justino isn't going to sit idly by until the doors to the premier organization in MMA open.

In the coming weeks, she is slated to return to action as the former Chute Boxe fighter reconnects with her muaythai roots as the main event for Lion Fight 14. The former Strikeforce and current Invicta featherweight champion is set to square off with Jorina Baars to determine who will be the promotion's inaugural welterweight champion.

The bout will be her second showing under the Lion Fight banner, and she will be once again looking to put her ferocity on display on March 28.

"I'm very happy to be fighting muaythai again," Justino told Bleacher Report. "I started my career doing muaythai and to fight for this belt is a dream. It's also exciting for me because the people who follow my MMA career are now going to be watching muaythai and Lion Fight. I'm happy to keep learning, and when I pick up something different, I am also learning it for my MMA game as well.

"It's a big opportunity for me. I always go out there to make exciting fights, and I am always looking for the knockout. Anytime you are in a fight, losing is a consequence you face. But I go out there looking to get the finish and give the fans the best fight they will see that night."

In addition to her muay thai showcase at Lion Fight 14, Justino is also preparing to return to the MMA scene in the coming months.

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Cris 'Cyborg' on Lion Fight 14, Invicta and Ronda Rousey 'Running' from Her