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NEW YORK -- Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling responded to the NBAs attempt to oust him on Tuesday, arguing that there is no basis for stripping him of his team because his racist statements were illegally recorded "during an inflamed lovers quarrel in which he was clearly distraught." According to the response, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, Sterling says V. Stiviano recorded him without his knowledge and thus the recording was illegal under California law. He also said he could not have "wilfully" damaged the league because he did not know it would be made public. "A jealous rant to a lover never intended to be published cannot offend the NBA rules," Sterling said in the document, which was first reported by USA Today. Meanwhile, the attorney for Shelly Sterling confirmed that Donald Sterling has given her written permission to sell the team. According to a person who is in contact with a potential bidder, who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the process publicly, the Clippers are seeking binding bids before next Tuesday -- the day NBA owners are scheduled to meet in New York and vote on whether to strip Sterling of the team. The league said in a statement Tuesday that if three-quarters of the 30 owners voted to sustain the charge, "the Sterlings interests in the Clippers will be terminated and the team will be sold." The NBA charged Donald Sterling with damaging the league and its merchandising partners, and the leagues constitution gave him until the end of Tuesday to respond. According to a basketball official familiar with the proceedings, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss Sterling, the NBA has scheduled a call of its executive committee for 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. Shelly Sterling submitted her own separate response to the NBAs charges Tuesday that included a "vigorous defence of the attempt by the NBA to blame her for doing nothing wrong," according to a person with knowledge of the proceedings. The individual wasnt authorized to speak publicly about the response. In his response, Donald Sterling says that next weeks hearing cannot be fair because the owners have already made up their minds, quoting 10 teams who commented on Twitter or elsewhere that they supported the seizure of the team. An AP survey on the day Commissioner Adam Silver announced Sterlings lifetime ban found that half of the teams supported it and no owner was against it. "These procedings will be a spectacle meant to mollify the popular opinion, not a fair and impartial hearing: the outcome of these procedings became a foregone conclusion weeks ago," the response states. The response also notes the disparity between his lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine and previous NBA punishments, including the $100,000 fine levied on Kobe Bryant when he was caught referring to a referee by a homosexual slur, and the 72-game suspension of Ron Artest for punching a fan. The NBA said Sterling is in violation because his racist comments were harmful to the league and its business partners, including the players. Sterlings response argues that because his comments came in the privacy of his girlfriends living room he cannot be considered "taking a position" that damaged the NBA, as required under the league constitution. "Mr. Sterling was not conducting the sport of professional basketball when he was arguing with Ms. Stiviano in her living room," the response says. "Not even the Commissioner alleges that Mr. Sterling intended to harm the NBA with his comment. Nor could he. This was an argument between a jealous man and the woman he loved that should never have left the privacy of his living room." Sterling also noted his history of supporting racial diversity, including five black head coaches and a black general manager, Elgin Baylor, who held the job for 22 years. Baylor eventually unsuccessfully sued Sterling, accusing him of racist behaviour. It also notes that he was due to receive his second lifetime achievement award from the NAACP before the recording of his comments was leaked. The response claims that it would cost Sterling $300 million to $500 million in capital gains taxes if he is forced to sell now rather than pass the team to his heirs. Jerry Rice Jersey . Granada defender Diego Mainz barged into the back of Villa to send the Spain striker to the ground inside the area and Costa stepped up to the spot to score his 12th league goal in the 38th minute. 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Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill.SAN DIEGO - The "Bryan Bump" returned to the Davis Cup on Saturday. As soon as Bob Bryans overhand smash on match point zipped past Britains Dominic Inglot and Colin Fleming, the celebration was on. Bob and identical twin Mike leaped into the air to do the famed chest bump they use to celebrate their victories. The Bryans 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory Saturday pulled the United States to 2-1 against Britain in the first round of the Davis Cup and ended the brothers Davis Cup losing streak at two. "Weve been waiting a long time to get another opportunity to get that bad taste out of our mouth," Bob Bryan said. "It always feels bad to let the team down. We were kind of coming out of our shoes, really itching to get on the court." The twins had a mini-chest bump after breaking Inglots serve to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth set. The match will be decided Sunday in reverse singles, when Wimbledon winner Andy Murray of Britain faces Sam Querrey. If Querrey can somehow pull an upset, it will then come down to James Ward of Britain against Donald Young. Murray won the opening singles match in straight sets against Young on Friday while Ward rallied to beat Querrey in five sets. "We brought some good energy. Now its our job to get behind Sam and fire up for tomorrow," Bob Bryan said. "Sam has a win over Andy. What do you tell him?" U.S. coach Jim Courier said. "He has to play better than he did yesterday to stand a chance. Andy is a great player who plays well under pressure and tomorrow is going to be one of those matches, where Andy knows if he loses then everything is on the table in that fifth match. "For Sam its a free swinging match," Courier added. "So hopefully hell go out there and let it fly." With Britain leading 2-0 entering Saturday, captain Leon Smith replacced Murray with Inglot for doubles.dddddddddddd Courier said the Americans werent surprised by the switch by the British. "We had every game plan on the table and we prepared in the warmup for Inglot," he said. The Bryans broke Inglots serve in the second game of the first set and then broke Flemings serve to win the set. The Bryans didnt face a break point until they trailed 30-40 in the sixth game of the third set. Fleming hit a backhander down the line to win the game for a 4-2 lead for the British. The teams held serve and the British won the set when Inglot had two straight aces in the ninth game. Fleming said the British were hoping to pull off an upset to make Sundays matches moot. "There is no doubt that yesterday sets us up in a position where we could go out there and have a really good go at the match," he said. "We spoke before the match. Obviously they were big favourites, but we felt like if we could go out there and just focus on the tennis match, we would have a chance of causing an upset and winning the tie today. "Thats why were disappointed because we didnt play as well as we were hoping for. You know, credit to the Bryans." The Bryans "take it to you every single time," Inglot said. "Theyre never going to give you any free points. Theyre always going to put it in the court on the big points and always going to make you play." The match is being played on a red clay court in a temporary stadium built against the left-field bleachers at Petco Park, the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Three World Group matches have been clinched with 3-0 scores: Switzerland over Serbia, Germany against Spain and France against Australia. In other matches, the Czech Republic leads Netherlands 2-1, Japan leads Canada 2-1 and Italy leads Argentina 2-1. ' ' '