CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Nevada took a giant step closer to becoming home of the Raider Nation on Friday, after state lawmakers narrowly approved a hotel tax increase that would put $750 million in public money toward an NFL stadium partly funded by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.A cadre of lobbyists for the project strained over the past week to overcome conservative anxiety over a tax increase and liberal objections to subsidizing one of the worlds richest men, eventually securing the bare minimum number of Assembly votes to hit the required two-thirds majority. Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who views the $1.9 billion stadium as a way to ensure Las Vegas continued dominance in tourism, is expected to sign the deal Monday in Las Vegas.Raiders owner Mark Davis praised Sandoval and lawmakers in a statement.All parties have worked extremely hard to develop and approve this tremendous stadium project that will serve as a proud new home for the entire Raider Nation, he said.But its far from settled that Oaklands team will move to Las Vegas, a city thats only now ending its drought of professional sports after landing an NHL expansion team over the summer. Oakland still holds out hope that it can keep the Raiders from leaving them a second time, and a relocation needs the blessing of three-fourths of NFL team owners -- a conservative bunch thats historically shunned Las Vegas because of its legalized sports betting.Still, proponents who envision Raiders games in Sin City by 2020 will have a persuasive bargaining chip to show when NFL owners meet next week: The prospect of a sparkling, 65,000-seat domed venue close to the Las Vegas Strip, backed by $650 million from Adelson, $500 million from the Raiders and the NFL and a $750 million public investment.Its exciting, said Andy Abboud, chief lobbyist for casino mogul Adelsons Las Vegas Sands, after the financing deal passed its toughest vote on Friday. But this is really about jobs, and I think at the end of the day people saw this as a fantastic economic stimulus package.Sandoval called lawmakers into a rare special session to consider the deal, which raises a 12 percent hotel tax in the Las Vegas area by up to 1.4 percentage points to fund the stadium and a convention center expansion. Casino industry heavy-hitters from Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment urged lawmakers not to miss the game-changing business venture backed by their competitor, Adelson.Construction workers from the Laborers Union festooned the legislative building in Carson City with silver-and-black flags, pleading with lawmakers to give them back jobs that dried up in the recession and also threatening to sabotage the campaigns of Democrats who voted against the deal.Eventually, the Senate voted 16-5 and the Assembly voted 28-13 for the bill. Opponents included both Republicans and Democrats, many of whom balked that the Legislature put new tax revenue toward a stadium instead of bolstering Nevadas bottom-ranking public education system and mental health services.We are funding luxury items before were taking care of our needs, said Democratic Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson, who opposed the deal. I dont let that happen in my home and Im not going to let it happen ... in this house.The public contribution will be larger in raw dollars than for any other NFL stadium, although the publics share of the costs -- 39 percent -- is smaller than for stadiums in cities of a similar size, such as Indianapolis, Cleveland and Cincinnati.Critics pointed out that some outside economists, including Stanford professor and sports economist Roger Noll, have panned the deal as a boondoggle based on outlandish financial expectations. Defenders of the stadium say Las Vegas outsized tourism economy, with 150,000 hotel rooms and 42 million visitors each year, is just so different than other markets that are more dependent on locals.If we take the visitor component out of our economic impact model, it is negative, said economic analyst Jeremy Aguero, who helped develop the deal. He said he didnt disagree with analyses that other cities have been burned in stadium deals, but its inappropriately applied here.Proponents project 451,000 new visitors will come to Las Vegas as a result of the stadium, ushering in $620 million in economic impact. Thats based on the stadium hosting 46 events, including 10 NFL games, 6 UNLV football games and a variety of concerts, sports and other events.The deal puts $420 million toward renovating and expanding a dated convention center, which proponents say will help Las Vegas accommodate the largest conferences and keep its edge against competitors like Orlando. The two projects are projected to bring 25,000 construction jobs and 14,000 permanent jobs to the Las Vegas area.Tourists, mostly, will finance the improvements. They can expect to pay about $1.50 more per night on their hotel bill for an average-priced room on the Las Vegas Strip. LeBron James Sneakers Wholesale . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. Clearance Nike LeBron Shoes .com) - Yankee Stadium is the home of the Bronx Bombers, but on Sunday afternoon it will open its gates to host the latest addition of the Hudson River Rivalry. http://www.lebroncheap.com/ . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Cheap Lebrons From China . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. LeBron Shoes From China . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. BASEBALLCLEVELAND -- When the ball disappeared over the outfield wall, Francisco Lindor raised his right fist and took off.Smiling with every stride, Clevelands superstar-in-the-making shortstop sprinted around the bases like he was being chased. He and the Indians arent slowing down for anything this October.Lindor hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and Corey Kluber silenced Torontos booming bats, giving the Indians a 2-0 win over the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series.Lindor connected on an 0-2 changeup from Marco Estrada and tore around the basepaths as the bend-but-dont-break Indians won their fourth straight playoff game in this most unexpected season.CLEVELAND -- Losing the opener might not be Torontos only setback early in the AL Championship Series.Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis aggravated an injury in his right knee during a 2-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians and afterward sounded pessimistic about his chances of returning in the series.Travis is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Saturday before Game 2 and the Blue Jays are hoping for good results. Toronto manager John Gibbons didnt want to guess whether Travis would be available for the remainder of the series.WASHINGTON -- Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos had surgery on his right knee and his rehabilitation is expected to take six-to-eight months.Washington says Ramos had the operation hours after the teams season ended with a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of their NL Division Series.Ramos was injured last month, during the last week of the regular season. During Fridays surgery, he had his knees ACL reconstructed and the medial meniscus and lateral meniscus repaired.NFLCARSON CITY, Nev. -- Nevada took a giant step closer to becoming home of the Raider Nation after state lawmakers narrowly approved a hotel tax increase that would put $750 million in public money toward an NFL stadium partly funded by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.A cadre of lobbyists for the project strained over the past week to overcome conservative anxiety over a tax increase and liberal objections to subsidizing one of the worlds richest men, eventually securing the bare minimum number of Assembly votes to hit the required two-thirds majority. Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who views the $1.9 billion stadium as a way to ensure Las Vegas continued dominance in tourism, is expected to sign the deal Monday in Las Vegas.ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Raiders running back Latavius Murray will miss his second consecutive game because of a toe injury, leaving rookies DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard to split the majority of carries against Kansas City on Sunday.Murray has not practiced since Oaklands Week 4 win in Baltimore and has declined to discuss his injury with reporters. Murray wore a walking boot for a few days last week but has not been seen in it this week.FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Darrelle Revis gave his hamstring a workout and came away feeling pretty good about his chances of playing Monday night at Arizona.The New York Jets cornerback returned to practice for the first time since injuring a hamstring two weeks ago. Revis was a limited particcipant after doing just individual drills Thursday.ddddddddddddBACLEVELAND -- LeBron James, Kevin Love and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers spent the last month lobbying for their friend and teammate J.R. Smith to get rewarded for his role in their championship run last season.Eleven days before they begin their title defense, Smith finally got the deal he wanted.The shooting guard announced he has agreed to terms with the Cavs. A person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press its for four years and $57 million. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the package has not been signed.COLLEGE BASKETBALLCHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The college basketball season is officially here.From North Carolinas Late Night With Roy event to Kentuckys Big Blue Madness that drew a packed crowd to Rupp Arena, Friday night featured a busy schedule of Midnight Madness-style events around the country that stand as the ceremonial kickoff to the 2016-17 season.Similar events took place at Michigan State, Arizona, Maryland, Iowa State and Connecticut among other schools.COLLEGE FOOTBALLLOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisvilles lopsided victories had raised expectations so high for the No. 7 Cardinals that a close victory seemed unlikely against an outmatched opponent.But a second straight defeat looked possible against Duke until a late penalty by the Blue Devils allowed quarterback Lamar Jackson to seal a shaky win for the Cardinals.Jackson provided a cushion with a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:32 remaining and Louisville held off Duke 24-14, and the outcome was all that mattered to the Cardinals.GOLFNAPA, Calif. -- Scott Piercy keeps finding ways to score even when hes not making a lot of putts.Piercy pitched in from 40 yards for eagle on the par-5 ninth hole, helping him keep a two-shot cushion at the rain-delayed Safeway Open until it became too dark to continue.A steady rain that fell on Silverado for most of the bleak day halted the second round for 2 hours, 36 minutes as water began to pool on the tee boxes and the corners of the greens. The delay meant the second round could not be completed until Saturday morning.Bill Haas had a 2-under 70 in the morning and finished 36 holes in 8-under 136.Piercy, who opened with a course-record 62, made only one of his four birdie chances until his eagle at No. 9, and he followed with a 10-foot birdie on the next hole to reach 14-under par. He missed a 5-foot birdie on the 12th hole, his last of the day.AUTO RACINGKANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Joe Gibbs Racing made another big statement in qualifying at Kansas Speedway.The dominant Sprint Cup team this season, JGR swept the top three spots for the second race in the round of 12 of the Chase. Matt Kenseth will start on the pole after his lap of 192.089 mph, Kyle Busch will start alongside him and Carl Edwards will start right behind them in third.Throw in Martin Truex Jr., whose Furniture Row team has an alliance with the Gibbs boys, and there will be quite a Toyota presence leading the field to the green flag Sunday. ' ' '