Marketing
NCAA president says he's willing to use 'death penalty'
NCAA President Mark Emmert said he is willing to back up his tough talk about punishing rule-breakers — even using the "death penalty" as a deterrent.
With allegations swirling around Miami's football program, and one week after Emmert joined with university presidents to discuss toughening sanctions against cheating schools, the NCAA's leader said he thought the infractions committee should make the harshest penalty an option.
"If — and I say if — we have very unique circumstances where TV bans and death penalties are warranted, then I don't think they are off the table and I would be OK with putting those in place," Emmert told the Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday.
Emmert later said the "death penalty," which prohibits a school from competing in a sport, should be used only in rare cases. He was quick to distance his comments from the Miami case.
Convicted Ponzi scheme architect Nevin Shapiro has said he provided improper benefits to 72 Hurricanes football and basketball players from 2002 to 2010 and that a handful of coaches in both programs were aware of the infractions. Yahoo Sports first reported the allegations after an 11-month investigation in which it said it audited thousands of business and financial documents and spent more than 100 hours interviewing Shapiro.
The NCAA has already spent five months investigating Miami and calls speculation about penalties for an ongoing case premature.
"I will say that the university is being extremely cooperative and that is extremely helpful," Emmert said. "But if, and I underline the word if, the allegations are true, that's extremely disappointing."
Police are investigating allegations that Louisiana State quarterback Jordan Jefferson and unidentified teammates were involved in a fight outside a Baton Rouge bar early Friday.
Baton Rouge Police Sgt. Donald Stone said witnesses claimed Jefferson and other players were involved in a fight in the parking lot outside Shady's bar around 2 a.m., but investigators hadn't substantiated that allegation or spoken to Jefferson.
LSU Coach Les Miles said some players were present during the incident, but he didn't identify them.
TENNIS
Clijsters withdraws from U.S. Open
Two-time defending champion Kim Clijsters withdrew from the U.S. Open because of a stomach muscle injury. She said she also would pull out of tournaments in Japan and China in September.
"Obviously I'm very disappointed," she said. "I trained very hard this summer and felt in a good shape to play the U.S. Open."
Clijsters' absence leaves Serena and Venus Williams and Sharapova as the headliners in the women's draw of the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 29 in New York.
A weary Rafael Nadal and an off-target Roger Federer were knocked out of the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open at Mason, Ohio, and No. 1 Novak Djokovic had to scuffle to avoid an upset.
Nadal lost, 6-3, 6-4, to Mardy Fish, who had never beaten the second-ranked Spaniard. Federer struggled with his groundstrokes during a 6-2, 7-6 (3) loss to Tomas Berdych, who has won three of their last four matchups. Djokovic survived a match of long rallies and electrifying shots, beating Gael Monfils, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Fourth-seeded Andy Murray also advanced.
In the women's bracket, second-seeded Vera Zvonareva, No. 4 Maria Sharapova and No. 9 Andrea Petkovic advanced in straight sets. Jelena Jankovic moved into the semifinals when Peng Shuai withdrew because of a sore left hip.
Fred Couples shot a five-under-par 66, taking a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Senior Players Championship, the Champions Tour's final major of the season, at Harrison, N.Y.
Couples was at eight under for the tournament and trying for his fifth Champions Tour victory. Peter Senior remained in second at seven under after a 69. Corey Pavin (69) was third at six under and John Cook (68) was fourth at five under.
Tommy Gainey shot a five-under 65 and moved to 12-under 128, taking a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship at Greensboro, N.C.
Ernie Els (66), Webb Simpson (65), Stuart Appleby (67) and Daniel Summerhays (65) were at 131.
Na Yeon Choi double-bogeyed the final hole, but her six-under 65 held up for the first-round lead in the LPGA Safeway Classic at North Plains, Ore. Grace Park (67) was two strokes back.
ETC.
Rangers' Drury retires from NHL
Chris Drury retired from the NHL after 12 seasons, unable to hook up with a new team after the New York Rangers bought out the final year of his contract in June.
Drury's four seasons with the Rangers, including three as captain, were largely disappointing. He got $3.333 million for the buyout that closed the five-year, $35.25-million deal he signed after leaving Buffalo as a free agent in 2007.
In 892 games with Colorado, Calgary, Buffalo and the Rangers, Drury had 255 goals and 615 points. Even more impressive was his knack to make the big play at the key time. Drury scored 47 game-winning goals in the regular season, but he really made his mark in the postseason, where 17 of his 47 goals in 135 playoff games were winners.
Prosecutors in the Roger Clemens perjury case said they made an honest mistake in showing jurors inadmissible evidence and that should not save the baseball star from facing a new trial.
The prosecutors filed arguments in Washington disputing Clemens' position that a second trial would violate his constitutional protection against double jeopardy by making him face the same charges twice.
Clemens had argued the showing of the evidence was a deliberate ploy to invoke a mistrial because the prosecutors' case was going badly. But the prosecutors say their case remains strong and Clemens wants to "gain an unwarranted windfall from this inadvertent error."
Greg Biffle won the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. He posted a qualifying lap of 190.345 mph for his first pole since June 2008. … Local favorite Jacques Villeneuve won the pole for the NASCAR Nationwide race Saturday at Montreal, posting a time of 1 minute 41.80 seconds on the 2.7-mile track named after his father, Gilles.
U.S. sprinter Jeremy Dodson was arrested on suspicion of identity theft in Boulder, Colo., days before he is to leave for the world championships in Daegu, South Korea. He was arrested and released Wednesday after posting a $10,000 bond. His next court hearing is Aug. 26. A condition of his bond is that he surrenders his passport. Dodson is scheduled to run the 200 meters at worlds, an event that begins Sept. 2.
The start of the Spanish league soccer season will be delayed by a strike after league officials and player representatives failed to reach a last-minute deal. Spanish players representing all 42 teams in the top two divisions backed the first work stoppage in 27 years. The season was scheduled to start this weekend.
Post je objavljen 20.08.2011. u 09:27 sati.