AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Prosecutors told a federal jury on Wednesday that a man they say is the brother of leaders of Mexico's most blood-soaked criminal organization used the proceeds from their brothers' ill-gotten gains to bankroll his horse-racing stable.

Defense attorneys, however, say the federal government is trying to squeeze Jose Trevino Morales to get to two brothers reputed to be leaders of Los Zetas in Mexico.

The jury deliberated for about two hours Wednesday afternoon before recessing for the night. Deliberations are to resume Thursday morning.

Trevino is the central figure of five men charged in a Texas federal court with using a race horse breeding operation to launder millions of dollars in drug cartel money.

The prosecution's case rises or falls on the testimony of admitted criminals, including a hit man who has admitted involvement in multiple homicides, said defense attorney David Finn of Dallas.

Defense attorneys for Trevino have argued throughout that prosecutors wrongly targeted their client due to the alleged illegal actions of his brothers Miguel Angel Trevino Morales and Oscar Omar Trevino Morales. Each time Jose Trevino Morales, a U.S. citizen, enters the United States, he is handcuffed and interrogated in the hope of extracting information about his brothers, Finn said.

"He's honest. He's ethical. He's frugal. He's not in the dope business," Finn said of his client.

"The government wants you to engage in what I call 'funky math.' That's zero plus zero plus zero plus zero equals something other than zero," he said.

But federal prosecutor Douglas Gardner said the government case was strong enough for conviction without the testimony of informants and cooperating witnesses.

"I want you to forget about the cooperators," Gardner told jurors. Speaking of Trevino and his co-defendants, he said, "They hang themselves by their actions."

As for motive:"It's about ego. It's about pride. It's about winning the horse race at all costs," Gardner said. "It's not built on sweat, ladies and gentlemen. It's built on the money from his brothers."

The defendants are charged with money laundering conspiracy related to operations of a horse ranch near Lexington, Okla. Prosecutors say ranch operators went through $16 million in horse-related expenses in 30 months. Several other defendants remain at large, including Trevino's brothers. His wife and daughter have pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would require the Obama administration to prioritize government debt payments and retirement benefits if Congress fails to reach a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

The legislation is not expected to go anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has said it will veto the bill, but what is essentially a tactical maneuver will allow the Republicans, who control the House, to argue they have done their best to avoid a potential U.S. credit default.

By the end of next week, the Obama administration will no longer be able to borrow money to fund government operations because Congress has only agreed to extend the government's borrowing authority until May 19.

This will force the U.S. Treasury to start using its limited accounting maneuvers to extend the debt limit but such measures are not permanent and analysts say they could be exhausted by October.

The Republican bill, which passed 221-207 with a few Republicans dissenting and no Democratic support, would allow the U.S. Treasury to borrow more funds to pay the interest and principal on government bonds as well as retirement benefits.

Democrats called it the "pay China first" legislation as the Asian country holds more than $1.2 trillion in U.S. government bonds and is America's largest foreign creditor.

The bill "says we should pay the government of China before we pay our troops, before we pay our veterans, before we pay other bills here in the United States," said Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

But Republicans argued that it would take the threat of default off the table.

"Financial markets ought to be confident that their Treasury bonds are safe, regardless of what political storms are raging in Washington," said Republican Representative Tom McClintock of California, who crafted the original version of the bill.

REPUBLICAN STRATEGY

House Republicans are looking for ways to deal with the debt limit while staying true to House Speaker John Boehner's rule that any debt-cap increase be matched by budget cuts and reforms.

The Republicans have been trying to force the administration to slash government spending and reform Medicare and Social Security benefits in return for an increase in the debt ceiling.

However, with no deal along those lines in sight, some allies of chief Republican tax writer Dave Camp, a representative from Michigan, have floated the idea of linking a debt-limit increase to a revamp of the tax code and lower tax rates.

This would allow lawmakers to skirt the politically painful decisions to cut Medicare and Social Security.

However, it is unclear if mainstream party supporters, much less the conservative faction of the Republican Party, will go along with this.

"It wouldn't be enough," said Kevin Brady, a senior Republican from Texas who is on Camp's tax-writing committee.

He said reform of the Social Security and Medicare benefits programs still would be required.

Camp has been working for more than a year to draft an overhaul of the entire tax code and has vowed repeatedly to move legislation out of his Ways and Means Committee this year.

House Republican are due to hold a meeting next Wednesday to discuss the various options.

(Additional reporting by Kim Dixon; Editing by David Brunnstrom and Bill Trott)

Lillard, the sixth overall pick in the 2012 draft, was not the highest profile rookie entering the season but he quickly claimed the spotlight to be the unanimous selection for the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy.

The six-foot three-inch guard averaged 19 points per game and 6.5 assists while finishing with 185 three-pointers to set a new rookie record.

"When I first got drafted, I knew that I was up against it. There was a lot of doubt," Lillard told reporters in a television interview. "I just wanted to help the team and exceed people's expectations. It's an honor."

Lillard is just the fourth rookie to win the award unanimously, joining Blake Griffin (2011), David Robinson (1990) and Ralph Sampson (1984).

More importantly, he proved to be one of Portland's most consistent performers, and was the only Blazer to appear in all 82 games.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles, editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Healthcare reform should be the signature Democratic achievement of President Barack Obama's presidency.

But with "Obamacare" five months from show time, Democrats are worried about whether enough Americans will sign up to make the sweeping healthcare overhaul a success - and what failure might mean for Congress heading into the 2016 presidential race.

Some of the law's main advocates fear that not enough of America's 49 million uninsured will know about health coverage offered in their own states. Even if they do, new insurance plans may not be attractive to young, healthy consumers needed to offset an expected influx of older and sicker patients.

Only a handful of states are beginning campaigns to promote the online health insurance marketplaces created by the law. Known as exchanges, the markets will offer private coverage at federally subsidized rates to individuals and families with low-to-moderate incomes, with enrollment set to begin October 1.

The federal government has kept quiet about its promotion plans, which are expected to begin in earnest over the summer.

While Obama and his administration say they are working nonstop on reform, analysts believe a poor performance could make the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act a big enough campaign issue in 2014 to jeopardize Democratic control of the Senate - particularly if insurance costs rise sharply.

"There is reason to be very concerned about what's going to happen with young people. If their (insurance) premiums shoot up, I can tell you, that is going to wash into the United States Senate in a hurry," said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat.

Some Democrats are frustrated about the lack of details surrounding administration plans to promote the exchanges.

Senator Max Baucus, a chief architect of the reform law, said federal outreach efforts deserve a failing grade so far and could be heading for a "huge train wreck." [ID:nL2N0DA1A1] He criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for the scant information her department has provided.

FUNDING EMBARGO

"Why in late April can't they show us any of what they've got planned? The rollout plan should already be in existence," an exasperated Democratic Senate aide said separately.

The law is expected to cover 15 million Americans next year through the exchanges and an expansion of Medicaid. The overall number is forecast to jump to 38 million by 2022.

Reform is facing challenges on several fronts. Big insurers appear wary of participating, raising questions about how competitive the exchanges will be. [ID:nL2N0DJ1MU] Businesses are mounting a new legal effort to stop the use of federal subsidies in exchanges run by Washington. [ID:nL2N0DJ1JJ] And most states have balked at the exchanges and the Medicaid expansion.

Meanwhile, the enrollment effort is under threat from months of delay, a congressional Republican embargo on new funding and worries about how affordable the new plans will be, according to analysts, lawmakers, congressional aides and former officials.

"I don't see how what they're planning to do is going to be adequate. The resources are too limited, the (law's) penalties are too weak and elite opposition in much of the country will undermine" enrollment, said Paul Starr, a Princeton professor and former health adviser to President Bill Clinton.

Add to that the challenge of reaching a public that is highly skeptical and often misinformed about the most complex social legislation since Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 77 percent of Americans know little or nothing about exchanges, while 40 percent erroneously think reforms create a government panel to make end-of-life decisions for people on Medicare.

An April survey of 1,003 people by HealthPocket, an online company that helps consumers find insurance, also found that the law's penalty for not buying coverage would not induce most 25-to-34-year-olds or 18-to-24-year-olds to purchase it.

GLITCHES AND BUMPS

Obama this week defended the pace of implementation, telling reporters that the government was working hard to "make sure that we're hitting all the deadlines and the benchmarks" even with the challenge of building the new online exchanges.

"That's still a big, complicated piece of business," Obama said, adding the task was made harder by a dedicated Republican opposition still determined to block the law's implementation.

"Even if we do everything perfectly, there'll still be, you know, glitches and bumps," he said.

The administration is building exchanges in 33 states that are unwilling or unable to do so on their own, and has limited funds for marketing. The remaining 17 states are building their own and have received sizable budgets for outreach.

Among states taking the lead, Vermont has launched radio advertising to raise public awareness. Colorado begins its public outreach this month, while California, Maryland and the District of Columbia will hold off until later in the year.

For the federal exchanges, HHS has a contract worth at least $8 million with public relations firm Weber Shandwick and $54 million to train and pay "navigators," or counselors who will help consumers choose a health plan. It also has a $28 million contract with General Dynamics to set up a call center and will make its Healthcare.gov website consumer-oriented.

The administration is seeking help from major U.S. insurance providers to market aggressively to consumers on the federally run exchanges and help convince healthy citizens between 26 to 45 to pay for insurance instead of a first-year penalty amounting to $95 per person or 1 percent of household income.

BLOWING UP

But reform advocates worry that the HHS budget is too small and the spigot for new funding from Congress is shut off by partisan politics. The "navigator" program allocates just $600,000 each for 13 states including Delaware, Iowa, Kansas and New Hampshire.

"There's a limited amount of money that should be increased. But that's subject to appropriations and Congress is not likely to appropriate additional money," said Ron Pollack of the advocacy group Families USA. "It's going to require a very robust effort in the private sector."

Analysts say reform could be as big an issue in next year's congressional midterm elections as it was in 2010, when dislike for the law among senior citizens helped install a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. This time, failed implementation could end Democratic hopes of recapturing the House and leave enough Senate Democrats vulnerable to give Republicans an edge in that chamber.

"We have to see how bad it is. This issue blowing up on Democrats would make the Republicans' job a lot easier," said Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report.

But Democrats believe implementation will also provide favorable coverage of deserving individuals and families finally being able to secure adequate and affordable health coverage after a long sojourn through the current marketplace.

There has been encouraging news for consumers. Vermont says 2014 premium rates will save money for residents. A family of four with an annual income of $75,000 would pay less than $600 per month for coverage with a federal subsidy, versus $900 for the cheapest small group plan available today.

(Additional reporting by Sharon Begley and Caroline Humer in New York; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Thursday cleared BlackBerry and Samsung mobile devices for use on Defense Department networks, a step toward opening up the military to a wide variety of technology equipment makers while still ensuring communications security.

Lieutenant Colonel Damien Pickart, a Pentagon spokesman, said the department cleared the use of BlackBerry 10 smart phones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets using its Enterprise Service 10 system, as well as Samsung's Android Knox.

"This is a significant step towards establishing a multi-vendor environment that supports a variety of state-of-the-art devices and operating systems," Pickart said in a statement.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it also expected to clear Apple mobile devices using the iOS 6 system at some point in early May.

The move to open up Defense Department networks is expected to set the stage for an intensified struggle for Pentagon customers among BlackBerry devices, Apple's iPhones or iPads and units using Google's Android platform such as Samsung Electronics' phones.

The Pentagon currently has some 600,000 users of smart phones, computer tablets and other mobile devices. The department has 470,000 BlackBerry users, 41,000 Apple users and 8,700 people with Android devices. Most Apple and Android systems are in pilot or test programs.

The move to open up the networks to a broader array of mobile devices is part of a Pentagon effort to ensure the military has access to the latest communications technology without locking itself in to a particular equipment vendor.

To ensure security, mobile devices and operating systems go through a security review process approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency. Once their Security Technical Implementation Guide - or STIG - is reviewed and approved, the devices can be used on the network.

Pickart said the decision on Thursday did not result in product orders. But it will enable user groups within the Pentagon to purchase the devices most appropriate for their work as the need arises.

"We are pleased to add Blackberry 10 and the Samsung Knox version of Android to our family of mobile devices supporting the Department of Defense," he said. "We look forward to additional vendors also participating in this process."

(Reporting By David Alexander; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Eric Walsh)

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Pacific Railway said on Wednesday the recent derailments of trains carrying crude and potash were caused by broken wheels and a broken rail, and the company was investing in technology to prevent such problems in the future.

Speaking at the company's annual general meeting in Toronto, Ontario Chief Executive Officer Hunter Harrison said the recent accidents were the result of "internal flaws" and were avoidable.

"You can always prevent them, but they were internal flaws in both the rail and the wheel," Harrison told reporters after the meeting.

Repeating comments made when CP reported its quarterly results last week, Harrison said CP's safety record has improved in terms of the severity of accidents - the railroad defines a severe accident as a derailment on its main track network involving three or more cars.

Harrison took over last year after a bitter proxy battle between CP and New York activist shareholder William Ackman resulted in both CEO Fred Green and Chairman John Cleghorn stepping down.

"What a difference a year makes," Harrison, an industry veteran with a history of turning around struggling companies, told shareholders. "We're on the way to becoming again the best railroad in North America."

Last week, CP reported its best first-quarter result in its 132 year history. Shares, which were down 1.9 percent on Wednesday, have climbed some 70 percent since Harrison took charge last June.

Harrison said he expected to stay at the helm for another 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years before handing the reins to chief operating officer, Keith Creel, a decades-long protg of Harrison's.

(Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Janet Guttsman and Kenneth Barry)

Col. Thierry Burkhard said Gilles Le Guen was arrested this week north of Timbuktu, the fabled city in Mali's northern desert that had been his base for some two years.

Le Guen, a former merchant marine from France's western Brittany region, was arrested overnight Sunday and was being interrogated by his French captors. He would be turned over shortly to Malian authorities, who can then decide whether to expel him to France, Burkhard said by telephone.

"We captured a French terrorist," Burkhard said.

Le Guen, thought to be in his 40s, is well known to the French. He appeared in an online video in October wearing a black turban with an assault rifle at his side, threatening France if it intervened in Mali to chase out religious radicals. He had flaunted his radicalism while living in Timbuktu, where residents said he had a wife and two children.

"I am following the road traced by Osama bin Laden," Le Guen said in a telephone interview with the French newsmagazine L'Express in January, days before the French intervention began.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, an Algeria-based al-Qaida offshoot, began moving into Mali's vast north a decade ago. Two other groups made up mainly of Malians joined the Algerian jihadist group, known as AQIM, and took over the north, controlling major cities and imposing strict Shariah law, like cutting the hands of thieves. AQIM is holding at least five French hostages. Other groups are holding hostages as well.

President Francois Hollande ordered a surprise French intervention in Mali in January to stop the west African country from becoming what he said was a sanctuary for terrorists that could threaten France and Europe. The first of some 4,000 troops arrived on Jan. 11. They quickly retook major cities like Timbuktu but are trying to clean out the region permanently, a task that some experts have said would be hard to achieve.

France has worried that Mali would become a magnet for Muslim radicals, particularly French citizens, or dual French-Mali nationals. It was a concern that grew with the intervention. However, only a handful of French are known to have joined the jihad in Mali. One French-Malian citizen suspected of being a scout to set up a jihadist network, Ibrahim Ouattara,was detained in Mali in November and sent to France in March. He remains in custody.

The French government also worries that French citizens hardened in battle or driven by jihad might continue their mission on home soil or spread their message to Malian immigrants in France.

The French Defense Ministry said last week that the military operation in Mali, which is now concentrated on combing the northern region to search for terrorists, has uncovered 200 tons of munitions and arms.

French forces in Mali are backed by Malian, Chadian and other African troops. France plans a staggered withdrawal with 1,000 French soldiers expected to still be in place by the year's end. U.N. peacekeepers are to join the troops to keep peace ahead of presidential elections that could take place as early as July.

Burkhard said that Le Guen was found "in the zone north of Timbuktu" in a desert area, but provided no further information on the location and would not say whether he was alone. He said he was being held at a French camp, but did not name the location.

Le Guen has been an unusual case among foreign jihadists, refusing to hide his presence in northern Mali.

Agaly Cisse, who runs the restaurant in Timbuktu's largest hotel, said recently that Le Guen lived mostly off of wire transfers from his family in Europe, and did odd jobs, especially technical and mechanical work, like fixing cars and broken water pumps.

One of the notables of Timbuktu, Diadie Hamadoun Maiga, who was appointed to the crisis committee that attempted to represent the city during the 10-month-long occupation, said that although the village of Danga, where Le Guen is said to have lived, is not far from Timbuktu, people in the city only started seeing him after the jihadists invaded in the spring of 2012. Maiga said he was assigned to patrol the town, and carried a weapon. He was convinced of the jihadist ideology, said Maiga, but he endeared himself to residents by taking a firm stance against the flogging of women.

"He openly took a position against Mohamed Mossa (the head of the Islamic police) especially in regards to the brutal treatment of women," said Maiga. "He was among those who went to see the big boss, Abou Zeid, to ask for Mossa to be removed," he said, naming one of the top commanders of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the de facto ruler of Timbuktu during the occupation. Zeid was killed in February by troops.

"Gilles Le Guen won a lot of points with us because he took our side. He openly criticized Mossa, including in speeches that he gave at the market. One day he even burst into the prison and liberated the women that had been arrested by Mohamed Mossa," Maiga said by telephone.

The French press reported widely before the intervention that Le Guen had been arrested by other jihadists. Weeks later, he was shown on TV free again.

Some question how tight he really was with the jihadists. When French forces were closing in on Timbuktu, the jihadists fled en masse, but they reportedly left Le Guen behind. It's unclear if he stayed behind by choice, or was simply abandoned.

"The jihadists gave him a car. They had stolen lots of cars in the area. And they gave him a luxury, two-cabin, 4-by-4. They also gave him two barrels of gasoline, each of 200 liters," said Maiga.

He claimed that Le Guen was caught on the road to Taoudeni, around 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of the city.

___

Callimachi reported from Dakar, Senegal.

Jonathan Toews and Co. also know all the reasons for concern heading into their playoff series against the Minnesota Wild.

The Blackhawks are favored to make it to the Stanley Cup for the second time in four seasons, but the Wild bring plenty of talent into Game 1 on Tuesday night. Then there is Chicago's recent postseason history, and the checkered performance for past winners of the Presidents' Trophy, adding to the intrigue.

"Everyone knows, if you look at how the playoffs have gone the past couple years, if you're the first or the eighth seed, it doesn't really matter," Toews said after the Blackhawks practiced at the United Center on Monday. "So as soon as Game 1 starts tomorrow, everything that happened before that is pretty meaningless and we know that."

Minnesota was thought to be a Stanley Cup contender after it gave free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter identical 13-year, $98 million contracts last summer. But the Wild struggled when they finally got on the ice following the lockout, managing just 22 goals while sputtering to a 4-5-1 start.

They got hot in the middle of the season, winning seven in a row and 17 of 24 over one stretch, then slumped a bit at the end. With a chance to clinch a postseason spot, they lost 6-1 at home to Edmonton on Friday.

Minnesota finally secured its first playoff appearance in five years when Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots in a 3-1 win at Colorado on Saturday night.

"I think we expected ourselves to be in the playoffs, and I don't think you're going to find a lot of guys who are relaxing now and exhaling and just being satisfied that we're here," Parise said. "We want to win. We're not just happy that we made it. We want to keep playing, and we think that we're capable of it."

The Wild could get a boost in Game 1 from the return of Jason Pominville, who missed the last two games after taking an elbow to the chin against the Los Angeles Kings. The right wing practiced on Monday, but coach Mike Yeo was tight-lipped about his status for the opener at Chicago.

Blackhawks goalie Ray Emery and center Dave Bolland have been ruled out with lower-body injuries, but they could return for Game 2 on Friday night. Emery teamed with Corey Crawford to form the league's best goalie tandem this season, making his absence of particular note heading into the matchup with Mikko Koivu and Minnesota.

"They're a scary team," forward Patrick Kane said. "You look at the talent they have, guys like Parise, Suter, Koivu, you could go on and on naming players. They got a great goaltender in Backstrom, who's proven that he can steal games. I think we just got to worry about ourselves first and foremost, but when you're facing a team like this, you know that they can win any game they play in."

Kane had the winning goal in Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup finals, lifting Chicago to its first championship since 1961. But it's been nothing but playoff heartbreak for the Blackhawks since the celebration in Philadelphia.

They were eliminated by Vancouver in seven games in the first round in 2011. They lost to Phoenix in six games in last year's quarterfinals, when each of the first five games went to overtime.

"Even the Vancouver series two years ago, we were frustrated with the way things ended up," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "Now two years removed now, I don't think we can be any hungrier to have success."

That frustration from the loss to the Coyotes turned into motivation for the Blackhawks, who set an NHL record by recording at least one point in the first 24 games of the season. They also finished strong, going 11-2-2 in their final 15 games to secure the Presidents' Trophy awarded to the team with the most points.

"Obviously we know how good they are, and we know the season that they've had and we know the challenge that it is," Yeo said. "We just have to make sure that we're focused on ourselves."

And about that Presidents' Trophy.

The team with the most regular-season points has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in three of the past four years. San Jose was bounced by Anaheim in 2009, and Washington lost to Montreal three years ago. Vancouver lost to Boston in the finals in 2011, then was eliminated by Los Angeles in the first round last season.

The Kings were the eighth seed in the West when they stormed to the Cup last year, and now the Wild are hoping for a repeat performance.

"I think we should be going into these playoffs knowing that anything can happen," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We're very respectful for our opponent. When we look at their lines and look at their lineup, it's a dangerous team. But I'm going to be concentrating on what we have to do."

___

AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minn., contributed to this report.

___

Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jason Collins decision to come out as an openly gay male athlete will serve as a test case for U.S. sports leagues, his future teammates and fans.

Not to mention Madison Avenue.

Collins, a veteran center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), on Monday became the first male athlete active in a major U.S. team sport to reveal himself as gay, a moment that could be a watershed for advertisers.

Backing an openly gay male athlete with an endorsement deal is not without risk for corporate marketers who are due to spend an estimated $20 billion this year on sports sponsorships, pitching shoes, beer and cars to consumers who have varying views on gay rights.

Nike, for one, was quick to offer support. "We admire Jason's courage and are proud that he is a Nike athlete. Nike believes in a level playing field where an athlete's sexual orientation is not a consideration," the sports apparel and shoe company said in a statement.

A Nike spokesman said the company does not discuss the details of its contracts with athletes.

Other companies could also be supportive, given the huge marketing opportunity presented by a gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual community that contributes $790 billion annually in spending to the U.S. economy, according to Bo Witeck, a gay-marketing strategist and corporate consultant.

As the first openly gay NBA player, Collins, 34, is likely to receive attention from sponsors looking to tap into that demographic, although it remains to be seen where, or if, he will play next season. Collins played last season with the Boston Celtics and then the Washington Wizards and is currently a free agent.

"He's going to witness a lot more endorsement options open to him and he'll be hearing from people in the next stage of his career - insofar as he continues to perform well," Witeck said.

Collins' announcement came on the heels of several high-profile American institutions adopting policies that are more gay and lesbian friendly. Last month, the National Hockey League (NHL) aligned itself with an anti-discrimination group. And last week, the National Football League (NFL) said it would work with the New York Attorney General's Office to ensure that gay players aren't discriminated against.

"The first step is for there not to be any kind of adverse impact on athletes who identify themselves as being gay or lesbian," said Marc Ganis, president of the consulting firm Sportscorp. "It's not so much looking for an advantage but not being viewed as a disadvantage."

Gay athletes, including now-retired pro tennis player Martina Navratilova, have been snubbed by sponsors in the past. Witeck said Navratilova, a lesbian, "didn't get any attention from sponsors because sponsors saw her as a toxic, high-risk deal and thought blowback would be severe."

But recent polls show public opinion is fast moving toward greater acceptance, although a core of social conservatives oppose such change.

For Collins, the chance to land big endorsements may depend on how he plays in coming seasons, rather than his sexual orientation. He is regarded as a journeyman, not one of the NBA's recognizable, bankable stars.

If a star athlete in one of the big four pro men's leagues - the NBA, the NFL, the NHL or Major League Baseball - were to come out, he may be looking at a massive endorsement deal.

"I don't see this exclusively dealing with gay-oriented products. It would be any product that would want a foothold in a broad market and it wouldn't exclude the holy grail of shoes and soft drinks," said Robert Boland, academic chair and professor of sports business at New York University's Tisch Center.

That could happen shortly, said Witeck.

"The ones that'll break out are younger players who were openly gay since they were aware of it. And that'll happen in next five years - maybe even the next two or three," said Witeck.

(Reporting By Atossa Araxia Abrahamian; Editing by Tim Dobbyn; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Tim Dobbyn)

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - If you're looking for a show where politicians occasionally do some good, you might want to check out Netflix's "House of Cards." At least Kevin Spacey's conniving congressman does the occasional favor as he tries to slash his way to the vice presidency.

On "Veep," Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Selina Meyer already has the job - and it sucks. As the show returns to HBO Sunday for its second season, she's still abusive to her underlings, ravenously ambitious, and desperate for the POTUS to call. But she's also sleep-deprived after traveling the highways and byways of a country she doesn't seem to like, stumping for candidates she hates, trying to help the party she's ambiguous about win midterm elections.

The premiere takes place as those self-serving dreams are dashed, on election night and the harsh morning after. The stench of death is in the air.

"Apparently POTUS' chief of staff is telling everyone to write their will," one character says. Another fantasizes about being cryogenically frozen. Then comes this pronouncement: "Put everything in the wagons and shoot the dogs, because we have lost the House."

Have I mentioned "Veep" is one of the funniest shows on television? It is, because of the deadpan frankness with which it stares into a pit of petty avarice. There's nothing to do but laugh at the prospect of someone like Meyer in a position of such power and responsibility. But you're laughing through your tears, because, well.

Louis-Dreyfus won and Emmy for the role last season, and would be a safe bet for this one, too. Selina was a knife of a character from the first episode because Louis-Dreyfus and creator Armando Iannucci have made no effort to soften her with likability - or even good intentions.

Like so many of our leaders, Selina cared about issues once, probably. But now it's all about power and access. She competes with similarly insecure narcissists.

Most pathetic of all are the supplicants who try to win her favor. These are the characters we relate to the most, because some of them seem to have some idealism, or at least a willingness to pretend Selina's self-centeredness is a means to and end.

In order from most to least ruthless, they are Dan Egan (Reid Scott), Mike McClintock (Matt Walsh), Sue (Sufe Bradshaw), Amy (Anna Chlumsky), and Gary (Tony Hale). Presidential aide Jonah (Timothy C. Simons) is arguably more powerful than any of them, despite looking like a giant kindergartner.

Every one of them is excellent, with similar but uniquely formulated concoctions of fear, jealousy, and resentment that make any interaction potentially disastrous. In the premiere, we're treated to the spectacle of "My Girl" star Chlumsky and the most arrested of the "Arrested Development" clan, Hale, becoming desperate allies. But everyone gets their moment to shine, or at least have a public meltdown. The premiere finds Mike lamenting a foolish purchase as the ever-efficient Sue gets to turn her cold, barely-hidden contempt on the press.

The show manages to add to and improve on the mix with the addition this season of Gary Cole as number-crunching strategist Kent Davidson and Kevin Dunn as breakdown-prone presidential chief of staff Ben Caffrey.

Cole, of "Office Space" and "Brady Bunch" fame, tends to steal whatever he does, and poses the usual threat here as he exhaustedly outwits Selina at every turn.

Caffrey, meanwhile, gets to hide in a closet - his de facto bunker - and wait for the horrors to pass. Fortunately for us, they never do.