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(08/15/07 7:30pm)
The 2007-08 Indiana University men's basketball schedule will test the Hoosiers against four non-conference teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. \nThe non-conference matches will begin in November with exibition contests against North Alabama and Pembroke State. Then the Hoosiers will play in the Chicago Invitational Challenge with a first-round test against Longwood on Nov. 18. \nOther non-conference teams the Hoosiers will face include Georgia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Southern Illinois, Tennessee State and Kentucky. \n"Good programs are able to put together a schedule that quality athletes like to play and fans want to come out and see," said IU coach Kelvin Sampson in a IU news release. "Our non-conference schedule will test us and the Big Ten is as tough as ever."\nIn addition the team could be showcased 12 times on National TV during conference play. IU will play on ESPN or ESPN2 seven times, on the Big Ten Network on five occasions and on CBS twice.
(08/05/07 10:35pm)
NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez leaned to his right and watched the ball as it sailed toward the foul pole in left. When it stayed true, he raised his hands in the air – the long wait for No. 500 was finally over.\nRodriguez became the youngest player in major league history to hit 500 home runs, connecting on the first pitch he saw Saturday to end a 10-day wait.\n“I acted like a goofball running around the bases, but you only hit 500 once,” he said after the New York Yankees beat Kansas City 16-8.\nThe 32-year-old Rodriguez stood at home plate for a second after his first-inning drive off Kyle Davies, waiting to see where it would land.\n“I haven’t hit one in so long I didn’t know if it was going to be foul,” he said. “Where that ball started, last week that ball would’ve hooked foul probably about 20 feet.”\nAfter more than a week of watching his teammates hit a lot of home runs, it was A-Rod’s turn. He started trotting around the bases with a wide grin on his face as the sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium cheered wildly. He finished with three hits, along with a hug from Derek Jeter.\n“I’ve conceded the fact that you can’t will yourself to hit a home run. I tried hard for about five days,” Rodriguez said.\nA-Rod spoke with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and commissioner Bud Selig after the game. Selig was in San Diego to watch Barry Bonds tie Hank Aaron’s career home run record, and reportedly hasn’t talked to the Giants slugger in years.\nRodriguez homered eight days after his birthday and surpassed Jimmie Foxx (32 years, 338 days) as the youngest player to reach 500. A-Rod is the 22nd player to reach the mark, the second this season behind Frank Thomas – Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome might get there this year, too.\nRodriguez leads the majors with 36 home runs this season, one more than he hit last year.\n“His prime years are ahead of him, basically,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “This is a stop-off for him. It’s not a destination.”\nRodriguez hugged Jeter and Bobby Abreu, who both scored on the landmark home run, and blew a kiss toward the stands after completing his trip around the bases. His teammates were already on the field and he embraced several of them on his way back to the bench.\n“It was awesome and then you kind of get that high-school reception when you hit a home run and all of the guys are out of the dugout,” Rodriguez said. “It was awesome. Pretty cool.”\nThe crowd buzzed and roared again when A-Rod stuck his head out of the dugout for the long-awaited curtain call, which came 10 days after he hit No. 499.\n“He deserves it,” teammate Johnny Damon said. “He has been a tremendous asset to this game.”\nAfter he took his seat next to Jeter, the Yankees captain reached out and playfully rubbed A-Rod’s head as the two superstars laughed. They were close when they were younger, but Rodriguez admitted in spring training that their relationship had cooled over the years.\nThe All-Star third baseman became the third player to hit 500 as a Yankee and the second to do it in the Bronx. Babe Ruth did it at Cleveland on Aug. 11, 1929, and Mickey Mantle reached the mark at home against Baltimore on May 14, 1967.\n“Nobody wants to give up a homer, be a part of history that way,” Davies said. “I was trying to throw a sinker down and in and I didn’t get it down and in far enough.”\nRodriguez went into a tailspin after hitting No. 499 on July 25 at Kansas City. He was hitless in a career-worst 22 straight at-bats before ending the slump Thursday.\nHis 500th came in his 1,855th game. Only two players took fewer games to reach 500: Mark McGwire (1,639) and Ruth (1,740).
(08/05/07 10:34pm)
SAN DIEGO – With a short swing, a half stare and an emphatic clap of his hands, Barry Bonds rounded the bases. After so many days and so many tries, he had finally caught Hammerin’ Hank.\n“The hard part is over right now,” Bonds said.\nHigh above the field in a private box, baseball commissioner Bud Selig was a reluctant witness to history. Choosing to overlook the steroid allegations that have dogged the San Francisco slugger, Selig watched Bonds tie Hank Aaron’s home run record – his mouth agape, hands stuffed in pockets and nary a cheer on his lips.\nNo. 755 was a strong shot for all the doubters, an opposite-field drive of 382 feet to left-center, moving Bonds within one swing of having baseball’s pinnacle of power all to himself. It came on a 2-1, 91 mph fastball Saturday night.\n“This is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my entire career,” he said. “I had rashes on my head, I felt like I was getting sick at times.”\nIt had been eight days and 28 plate appearances since Bonds hit his 754th home run, and he came out for early batting practice Saturday, hoping to break his slump. He did it quickly, leading off the second inning.\n“No matter what anybody thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds’ achievement is noteworthy and remarkable,” Selig said in a statement.\nSelig said either he or a representative would attend the Giants’ next few games “out of respect for the tradition of the game, the magnitude of the record and the fact that all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty.”\nBonds said he hadn’t spoken to Selig, but welcomed him anytime.\nAaron was not in attendance. The Hall of Famer had previously said he would not follow the chase in person.\n“It’s a little bit different than any other milestone I’ve ever gone through,” Bonds said. “It’s Hank Aaron. I can’t explain the feeling of it, it’s just Hank Aaron.”\nBonds drew a mixed reaction from the crowd at Petco Park after he homered off Clay Hensley. Several fans held up asterisk signs and the San Francisco slugger was booed as he headed to left field at the end of the inning.\nBonds walked his next three times up and left the game in the eighth for a pinch-runner. He raised his helmet with his left hand, then his right, and drew a standing ovation from many fans who chanted his name.\n“I want to thank the fans. They have been outstanding,” Bonds said. “It’s been a fun ride. I really appreciate the way San Diego handled it and the way their fans handled it.”\nThe Padres won 3-2 in 12 innings.\nBonds said he would not start Sunday, which would give him a chance to break the record at home beginning Monday night.\nBonds hit the tying homer off a former Giants draft pick who was suspended in 2005 for violating baseball’s minor league steroids policy.\n“I don’t think we’re here to discuss those matters,” Bonds said.\nBonds’ milestone shot clunked off an advertising sign on the facade and fell into the navy blue bleachers below – right under the main scoreboard featuring a giant photo of the smiling slugger.\nA fan sitting in that area threw back a ball onto the field, but that was not the historic one. Instead, the souvenir wound up in the hands of 33-year-old plumber Adam Hughes of La Jolla, and he was whisked to a secure area so the specially marked ball could be authenticated.\nHughes said he hadn’t decided what to do with the prize.\n“I don’t know what direction I am going,” he said.\nEven with Bonds at 755, there is bound to be a split among many fans over who is the real home run champ.\nThere will be some who always consider Babe Ruth as the best – those old films of him wearing a crown will last forever. Others will give that honor to Aaron, as much for his slugging as his quiet dignity in breaking Ruth’s record in 1974.\nWhile steroids tinged Bonds’ chase, race was the predominant issue when Aaron took aim at Ruth’s mark of 714.\nAaron dealt with hate mail and death threats from racist fans who thought a black man was not worthy of breaking the record set by a white hero, the beloved Babe. Bonds, too, has said he deals with racial issues and that threats have been made on his life at times.
(08/05/07 10:32pm)
LONG POND, Pa. – Robby Gordon was suspended by NASCAR for the Nextel Cup race at Pocono on Sunday because of his misconduct on the race track at the Busch Series race in Canada.\nGordon refused to forfeit his position on the track when ordered to by NASCAR late in Saturday’s race. Officials said Gordon intentionally knocked Marcos Ambrose out of the race, then refused to pull off the track as ordered.\n“It certainly is way over the line when it comes to conduct on the track and doing what is expected of the driver to keep the event orderly,” said NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp.\nP.J. Jones will drive the No. 7 Ford for the Pennsylvania 500 and will start at the rear of the field. Gordon had qualified the car 30th and was 27th in the points standings.\nJones is making his second start this season and the 24th of his career. He has one top-five finish back in 2002.\nTharp said NASCAR will determine Gordon’s status for the race at Watkins Glen this week. Tharp didn’t rule out NASCAR would hand down additional disciplinary action against Gordon.\nTharp quoted the rule book when making his announcement, stating that NASCAR may take emergency action against any driver who “constitutes a threat to the orderly conduct of the event.”\n“The way he performed and his actions on the track, in our mind, certainly disrupted the conduct of that event,” he said. “We’re not going to permit that; we’re not going to allow that. It’s way over the line when it comes to conduct on the track.”\nGordon also celebrated as if he had won the event, doing victory burnouts and pumping his fist at the crowd at the same time as winner Kevin Harvick.\nGordon did cross the finish line first, though the results showed he finished 18th based on the number of laps he completed when he was disqualified. Gordon also refused to acknowledge the black flag that NASCAR waved at him every time he crossed the line over the final few laps.\n“I did the most laps; I was the first car to complete them. I won the race,” Gordon said. “We came here to win the race, and that’s what we did.”\nGordon was summoned to meet with NASCAR officials after he climbed out of his car.\nNASCAR suspended Harvick from a Cup race in 2002 because of an altercation during a truck series race. Jimmy Spencer was suspended one race for punching driver Kurt Busch after a 2003 race at Michigan.
(08/05/07 10:26pm)
TERRE HAUTE – Before last season, Marlin Jackson had started one NFL game.\nNow, with key defensive starters lost to free agency, he’s a full-time starting cornerback for the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts and a team leader who is expected to help mentor younger players.\nThe departures of Nick Harper and Jason David left Jackson and Kelvin Hayden as the team’s most experienced cornerbacks.\nCoach Tony Dungy said he believes both are ready to blossom and help second-year defensive backs Tim Jennings and T.J. Rushing and rookies Daymeion Hughes and Michael Coe develop. More pressure will be on Jackson, who has 10 career starts to Hayden’s one.\n“They’re looking forward to showing they can handle things and kind of guide the younger guys that we’ve got back there,” Dungy said after Friday morning’s practice.\nJackson has bounced between cornerback and safety because of injuries to others the past two years. After seeing limited work as a rookie in 2005, Jackson started eight regular-season games last year at safety, then started once in the playoffs at cornerback. His last-second interception of a Tom Brady pass sealed the Colts’ 38-34 win over New England in the AFC championship game.\nNow, Jackson is practicing full-time at cornerback, and Dungy thinks that’s good.\n“If we can get him zeroed in at one spot, he’s got a chance to be a really good player,” Dungy said. “He loves to play. That’s the thing that you notice.”\nJackson said he learned from Harper before he left for the Tennessee Titans and hopes to pass his knowledge along.\n“He was a guy who really worked hard in the weight room and on conditioning,” Jackson said. “He watched a ton of film, and he really understood the whole aspect of playing corner – recognizing routes, formations. I really picked up all that stuff from him.”\nJackson, 6-foot and 196 pounds, said once he learned he’d be a starting cornerback, he focused on running and showed up to camp in the best condition of his career.\nJackson has been switching between cornerback and safety since playing college football at Michigan. He was a cornerback his sophomore year, a safety as a junior and a cornerback as a senior. Now, he needs to regain the mental sharpness of being a full-time cornerback.\n“It takes you a while to get your technique back,” he said. “If you’re a safety, you’re not used to always being down and covering somebody all the time. The switching is a negative and a positive sometimes.”\nJackson said playing safety improved his awareness as a cornerback. He said he notices personnel more than a normal cornerback would, and can anticipate a formation quickly after an opponent breaks the huddle. He’ll need those safety skills when he defends slot receivers in nickel packages.\n“I look at myself as a football player,” he said. “When I’m on the outside, I’m a corner. When I’m on the inside, I’m a corner with a safety’s mentality.”\nWith four new starters on defense, the Colts will spend much of training camp trying to build a cohesive unit.\n“We need to go out there and get used to playing together,” he said. “Just get on the same page, and when we get to the regular season, just start running right away.”\nThe Colts struggled defensively last season before improving in playoff wins over Kansas City and Baltimore and the Super Bowl win against Chicago. Jackson said the Colts want to play well all season, but the new starters will have to come through for that to happen.\n“We went through the regular season and played horrible run defense,” he said. “We didn’t have the energy we needed to be out there and be a good defense in the NFL. We definitely want to go out there and prove that we can play the way we played in the playoffs all season.”
(08/04/07 4:00am)
The way to any man's heart is through his stomach -- at least that's how the old saying goes. "No Reservations" takes that proverb seriously by combining romance with the art of cooking and pleasing movie-goers who enjoy sappy love stories. Luckily for those fans, this film will cause tears both of pain and happiness as only a good romance film can.\nKate (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is the best chef in Manhattan, and her kitchen is a straight business environment where mistakes are not tolerated and her orders are followed to a T. But when she is given charge of the life of her niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin), her organized life gets turned upside down. With the help of Nick (Aaron Eckhart), the quirky and fun-loving fill-in-chef, Kate learns about life, love and her own obsession with cooking.\n"No Reservations" could have been just another chick flick that went through the box office unnoticed by anyone but couples until it was released on video. However, the film will not suffer that fate, thanks mostly to a fantastic musical score. While the plot is predictable and the actors' performances ordinary, the use of music in the film at the right moments with just the right chords makes for a compelling movie.\nJones and Eckhart each do their job well enough, but it is clear that Breslin has a long career ahead of her. The child actress stole the show as far as the cast goes, as she did in "Little Miss Sunshine." Her performance alone takes a mediocre cast and puts it above the standard.\nWhile romance fans will be pleased, like most love stories "No Reservations" can be just as good from the couch as on the big screen. But if you're in the mood for love or need a good date movie, the film is a sure winner.
(08/04/07 4:00am)
My friend tried to persuade his girlfriend to see this movie by describing it as "Caddyshack" meets "Soul Plane." Needless to say, she was not expecting much going into this movie, and neither was I. \nWhile the movie was entertaining (most of the laughs go to Faizon Love's fart jokes and Andy Milonakis' "white kid gone gangsta"), there were so many subplots it felt as if I had spent 90 minutes channel-surfing. \nThe movie's premise is simple -- rapper C-Note, a.k.a. Christopher Hawkins (played well enough by Outkast's Big Boi), is determined to join Carolina Pines, a country club full of stuffy white guys. They try to keep him out, so he purchases the land containing the 17th hole, forcing the club to include Hawkins and his entourage. Hilarity ensues.\nThe tee shot had potential, but the ball bounces in the rough. Amidst quick music clips that read like mini music videos, the viewer is left juggling a love story, a flashback sequence featuring C-Note's father (a former caddy whose course record is not recognized by the club), an assassination plot carried out by two little people (apparently a comedy staple these days), a polo match, and a young, white caddy who has shots in his bag Happy Gilmore would envy. \nWith production backing from big names -- including Queen Latifah and the Weinsteins -- one would expect this movie to at least be cohesive. After sifting through the detritus, however, you'll feel as if you've wasted two hours of your life. Sure, you might laugh, but you can laugh for free by watching the dramatic chipmunk on YouTube for two hours.\n"Who's Your Caddy" misses its chance to be a sport comedy hit and would be better described as "Caddyshack II" meets "Soul Plane." Fore!
(08/04/07 4:00am)
It's hard to watch Lindsay Lohan's new movie "I Know Who Killed Me" without conjuring up associations to the actress's troubled personal life. It's harder still to believe that the young adult horror genre can successfully buttress a deluge of manic cultural references -- from Cindy Sherman to "Twin Peaks" to Edgar Allen Poe -- but you do what you can to justify an overpriced matinee ticket. \nIn "I Know Who Killed Me," Lohan plays double-duty as studious Aubrey Fleming and exotic dancer Dakota Moss, raven-haired doppelgangers with a shared secret past. \nThe film opens with a flickering montage of neon, touting in varying degrees of wit and subtlety the life and environs of stripper Dakota. As she slicks up, down and around a metal pole, a morass of blood oozes forth from her opera-length gloves. The intrigue, I suppose, is whether this image is an exercise in the surreal or the linchpin to the ensuing murder-mystery. \nAs the movie stammers along, Aubrey goes missing at the hands of a blue-gloved serial killer, only to turn up missing a forearm and tibia in a roadside ditch of wet leaves and mud. Much to the dismay of her parents (Neal McDough and Julia Ormond), Aubrey's path to recovery is hampered by her insistent belief that she is Dakota. The punch line is only slightly less inert than the film's title. \nTentative kudos to director Chris Siverston for attempting a new synthesis of the thriller genre, but the majority of "I Know Who Killed Me" plays out like a tedious slide show, with a color palette of punchy Kodachrome and a story line completely obliged to the perverse worship of imagery and intermittent sensations. Nevertheless, all judgments of exploitation aside, the film does place on display the spunk that at another time more properly defined Lohan's career.
(07/29/07 11:43pm)
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Tommie Harris sang in the huddle and made it clear he would like to be known as the “Real Deal.”\nThe Chicago Bears’ Pro Bowl defensive tackle was ready to perform when training camp opened and that’s because he showed up healthy.\n“I’m basically full tilt, something they better be aware of,” he said. “They better watch out for, yes.”\nAlthough the Bears got to the Super Bowl after Harris suffered a season-ending hamstring injury last season, they realize his health will go a long way toward determining whether they make another run. Harris has made it clear he feels fine. There are no restrictions on what he can do, and he was ready to prove that when camp began.\nAfter all, he hasn’t played since Dec. 3.\nThe Bears beat Minnesota 23-13 that day to clinch the NFC North, but Harris left in the third quarter with what the team initially said was a sprained left knee. It turned out he also suffered a torn hamstring and needed surgery.\nHarris had a career-high five sacks and 48 tackles and would ultimately be named to his second straight Pro Bowl, but a defense that had already lost safety Mike Brown to a foot injury six games in was missing two of its key players. And more bad news was coming.\nCornerbacks Nathan Vasher and Charles Tillman missed time over the final month due to injuries, and there was Tank Johnson’s trouble. The defensive tackle was arrested on misdemeanor gun charges following a raid on his home, and less than 48 hours later, he was at a nightclub with a friend who was shot to death.\nWith the injuries and turmoil, a defense that had dominated suddenly looked vulnerable. It allowed an average of 364.7 yards over the final six games after giving up just 251.8 yards through the first 10, and its ranking fell from No. 1 to No. 5.\nThe Bears never really regained their swagger. Even though Chicago made that run to its first Super Bowl in 21 years, the Indianapolis Colts gained 430 yards of offense on a rain-soaked field in Miami to win the championship 29-17.\nBears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye wonders what might have happened if Harris and Brown had stayed healthy.\n“It’s amazing to lose two Pro Bowlers and we still make it to the big game,” he said. “We lost them with some serious time left in the season, and to make the big game, it was a big step for us. To get them back, I think we’ll be that much better.”\nTo Ogunleye, keeping Harris healthy is the Bears’ “primary goal.”\nWhen he saw Harris lining up at camp, one thought crossed Ogunleye’s mind.\n“Thank God for that,” Ogunleye said. “I understand his name is the Real Deal; I’m all for that.”\nSo is coach Lovie Smith: “He is the real deal. I’ll say that.”\nHarris said that was his nickname in high school, and he would repeat it to himself after breaking the huddle during his first three years with the Bears. Now, he’s going public with it.\n“I’ve always been called that,” Harris said. “In my mind I would say ‘Real Deal, Real Deal’ when I’m running out of the huddle, but now everybody’s starting to say that, so hopefully I can show that. I play better when I hear that.”\nAlthough he participated in offseason workouts, Harris has some rust to scrape away. And the Bears aren’t as deep as they were last season at defensive tackle.\nBackups Ian Scott and Alfonso Boone left as free agents, and Johnson is gone, too. The Bears finally decided they had seen enough when Arizona police pulled him over shortly after offseason workouts ended. It was another in a long list of run-ins with the law for Johnson, who had served two months in jail on the gun charges and was suspended the first eight games of the season by the NFL.\nAntonio Garay, Dusty Dvoracek and Anthony Adams will get looks at defensive tackle.\n“Now, it’s back to business, back to (where it) feels just like the first day of camp last year,” Harris said. “You’re getting out there, your stance isn’t quite right, everything’s not polished up yet. So I’m working it off right now. I’ve got the sandpaper and I’m filing everything down so pretty soon I’ll put on the finisher.”
(07/29/07 11:41pm)
PARIS – Alberto Contador won the doping-scarred Tour de France on Sunday, a new, young and unlikely winner for the three-week race shaken to its core by scandals.\nThe 24-year-old rider for the Discovery Channel team was the youngest champion since Jan Ullrich of Germany in 1997. He was the first Spaniard to stand on the winner’s podium since the last of Miguel Indurain’s five titles in 1995.\nHis margin of victory – just 23 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans of Australia – was the second-narrowest in the Tour’s 104-year history, even after 2,200 miles of racing through Britain, Belgium, Spain and France.\n“I think we’ve seen the future of Spanish cycling and perhaps international cycling,” seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong said.\nContador had seemed destined for second place until the Tour was hit by a bombshell just five days from the finish: the ouster of race leader Michael Rasmussen. His Rabobank team accused the Dane of having lied about his whereabouts before the Tour to evade doping controls.\nRasmussen’s departure catapulted Contador into the race lead, Evans to the runner-up spot, and U.S. rider Levi Leipheimer into third. Those standings held through the closing four days – including a thrilling time trial Saturday that Leipheimer won and the 91-mile final ride Sunday to Paris’ fan-lined Champs-Elysees from Marcoussis, west of the capital. The stage was won by Daniele Bennati of Italy.\nContador high-fived and hugged his teammates after crossing the line. His original goal was to take the white jersey for the best young rider. In the end, he got both white and yellow jerseys.\nContador was a new star for a race that has been searching for a successor to Armstrong, who retired in 2005, and which is struggling to repair its credibility after two straight years marred by doping.\nThe 2006 winner, Floyd Landis, did not defend his crown because of doping charges hanging over him. This Tour turned into a circus after it emerged that Rasmussen was competing despite missing doping controls in May and June, and after Kazakh star Alexandre Vinokourov – a pre-race favorite – and Cristian Moreni of Italy failed doping tests. They and their teams left the race, and police raided their hotels, searching for doping products.\nInstead of putting the doping cloud left by Landis behind them, Tour organizers again found themselves having to contend daily with the issue. The feel-good factor generated by the race’s July 7 start in London, England – watched by millions of fans – quickly faded.\nA split emerged as Tour organizers blamed the sport’s governing body for not telling them that Rasmussen had missed doping tests. The organizers said they would have prevented him from taking the start had they known. Some newspapers in France declared the Tour dead and said it should be suspended until the sport cleans up.
(07/29/07 11:40pm)
While his team didn’t fare so well at the Pan American Games, senior IU basketball forward DJ White, shined for the American basketball team, leading the team in scoring points in three out of five games.\nWhite started in all five of Team USA’s games as the United States team went 1-2 in group play to finish last place in Group B before winning the last two games to finish the tournament in 5th place. The tournament took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.\nTeam USA kicked off its campaign Wednesday with an 81-72 loss to Uruguay. In the game, White scored 14 points to lead the team, along with Oregon’s Maarty Leunen who also scored 14 points. White scored 12 points Thursday in the team’s second game, a 75-67 loss to Panama. The loss to Panama knocked White and the United States out of contention for the gold medal.\nBut just because the U.S. was knocked out of contention did not mean they would give up. In the final game of group play Friday, the Americans took a 74-71 win over Argentina behind White, who scored a game high of 22 points.\n“I think since we got knocked out of medal contention, we played with more of a sense of pride,” White said in a statement. “I think this was our best effort so far – as far as playing together as a team, sharing the ball and playing together on defense. That’s what made us win tonight.”\nWhite followed his performance Friday with another 22 points Saturday in an 84-58 win against the U.S. Virgin Islands, to set up Sunday’s rematch with Panama.\n“We just did some things in the first two games that didn’t help us,” White said in a statement after the game. “We didn’t come together like we should. But I think in these past two games, we came together as a team and really played.”\nIn the final game against Panama, White had 14 points to help bring Team USA from a 9-point halftime deficit to a 77-74 win Sunday.\n“D.J.’s probably played the most minutes of anybody, and he’s been our go-to guy,” Team USA and Villanova coach Jay Wright said about White in a statement. \n“When it’s tough and we need a basket, we go to D.J., and he’s made the right play every time,” Wright said. “He’s doing a good job on the defensive end, too. I’m really impressed with him. He’s been a joy to coach.”
(07/29/07 11:38pm)
DES MOINES, Iowa – Big Ten officials will likely discuss expanding the division to 12 schools to accommodate the new Big Ten Network, commissioner Jim Delany said.\nThe network, which is scheduled to launch Aug. 30, would benefit from an additional big-name university in a large television market, Delany said.\n“I think we need to look at it in the next year,” he told the Des Moines Register on Wednesday. He offered no specific candidates.\n“The broader (the network) is distributed, the more value (expansion) has. We have eight states. With expansion, you could have nine,” he said.\nIn football, a 12th school could mean two divisions and a postseason playoff. That’s an appealing concept to the startup network.\n“Any television executive would do whatever they could to be able to air a game like the Big Ten championship,” Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said. “It would be worth a considerable amount of value.”\nCoaches think otherwise, said Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz.\n“I’ve not met anybody in coaching that really enjoys it,” Ferentz said of the divisional playoff format. “There’s a lot of downside to it, in my opinion.”\nAmong the concerns are missing out on a BCS bowl by losing the conference title game.\nDelany said expansion would not guarantee the Big Ten would create an extra game.\n“I could live with two divisions and a championship game, but I think that has a tendency to devalue the season-ending game and have a negative impact on your losing team in season-ending games,” he said.\n“I don’t want us to tear ourselves apart over the structure of football for the sake of expansion.”\nThe Big Ten tried to lure Notre Dame into the conference in 1999, but the Fighting Irish chose to remain a football independent after lengthy discussions.\nDelany said of Notre Dame: “There aren’t many universities that produce that kind of value.”
(07/25/07 11:57pm)
Phegley earns All-Star start\nSophomore catcher Josh Phegley, playing for the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod summer league, has earned a starting spot for the Western Division in the Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game this Saturday at Spillane Field in Wareham, Mass.\nPhegley was one of four Big Ten players who will be playing in the All-Star Game for one of the top collegiate summer leagues in the country. Along with Phegley, Iowa second baseman Kevin Hoef will start for the West, representing the Bourne Braves. Also for the West, Purdue pitcher Josh Lindblom, playing for the Cotuit Kettleers, will be a reserve. For the East, Michigan State outfielder Kyle Day was selected as a reserve, representing the Harwich Mariners.\nAs of Wednesday, Phegley is batting a .269 batting average for the Gatemen, good for second place on the team. He is one of 10 Hoosier sports team members who are playing in summer leagues across the country.
(07/25/07 11:46pm)
SAN FRANCISCO – Baseball commissioner Bud Selig was at home watching Barry Bonds and the Giants play when he decided he needed to be at the ballpark to see the San Francisco slugger break Hank Aaron’s career home run record.\nSelig arrived Tuesday in San Francisco and said he’ll try to be present when Bonds passes Aaron. In a statement earlier in the day, Selig said he decided to attend “out of respect for the tradition of this game, the magnitude of the record, and the fact that all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty.”\n“It’s a huge moment in baseball history,” Selig said as the Giants played the Atlanta Braves. “It just struck me this was the appropriate time. Really, it’s no more involved than that.\n“I’m confident in my decision,” he added. “I think it was the right thing for me to be here, and I’m here.”\nSelig does plan to leave Friday for Cooperstown, N.Y., where he’ll attend Sunday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. But he said he’ll rejoin the Giants afterward if Bonds still is chasing the record.\nSelig didn’t commit to being part of any on-field celebrations, saying that was up to the Giants organization. He also said he has not talked to Bonds nor does he plan on doing so.\n“I try not to talk to players period during the course of the season,” Selig said. “Unless they’ve acted badly.”\nBonds, who turned 43 on Tuesday, has been dogged for years by suspicions that he used performance-enhancing drugs. But he’s never tested positive, and has said he’s never knowingly taken steroids or any other drugs.\n“Everyone has to make their own judgment,” Selig said. “I’m just here to watch it.”\nBonds didn’t speak before the game, but his teammates were happy that Selig will be on hand to see Aaron’s record fall.\nAs recently as last weekend, when Selig watched Bonds and the Giants play in Milwaukee, the commissioner said he remained undecided on whether to be in attendance when the record falls. Selig skipped the Giants’ homestand opener on Monday, watching the game from his home in \nMilwaukee instead.\nBut he arrived just before gametime Tuesday and watched from a box on the broadcast level of the press box with Giants executive vice president Larry Baer. Team owner Peter Magowan joined them later.\n“It’s a prestigious record; it’s hard not to be there,” Steve Kline said. “It would contradict his words on someone being innocent until proven guilty. They’ve been after him for a while. If he’s found guilty, they can do something different then. Right now, he’s about to be the new home run king.”\nThe former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, Selig has been friends for years with Aaron, who began his career in 1954 with the Milwaukee Braves and ended it in 1976 with the Brewers.\nIn 1974, commissioner Bowie Kuhn was criticized when he was not at the ballpark in Atlanta when Aaron hit his 715th home run to surpass Babe Ruth. Kuhn was at the game in Cincinnati when Aaron tied Ruth.\n“Bottom line, Barry’s good for the game,” Barry Zito said. “People on the upper levels might not want to embrace that. But the way he draws people to the game is second to none.”\n– AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York and AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.
(07/25/07 11:46pm)
NEW YORK – David Stern has seen college basketball and German soccer overcome point-shaving scandals. He never imagined his own league would be thrown into one.\nThe NBA commissioner blamed “rogue, isolated criminal” Tim Donaghy for that, creating a betting scandal that has devastated the league and threatened the credibility of every referee.\n“My reaction was, I can’t believe it’s happening to us,” the commissioner said Tuesday.\nToday those other sports remain popular, and Stern thinks the NBA will also eventually recover from the “most serious situation and worst situation that I have ever experienced either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA or a commissioner of the NBA.”\n“It is my hope that the NBA will be similarly accorded the benefit of the doubt based upon what we have done, what we stand for and what we pledge to continue to do,” said Stern, who has held the top post for 23 years.\nA subdued Stern said he felt betrayed by the former referee – the target of an FBI investigation for allegedly betting on games, including some he officiated, over the last two seasons.\nStern said he believed no other officials or players would be implicated in the betting scandal.\nPausing often and carefully choosing his words during the packed, 1-hour, 10-minute news conference, Stern compared Donaghy to someone who’s committed treason.\n“I feel betrayed by what happened on behalf of the sport, regardless of how protective I’ve been,” he said. “This is not something that is anything other than an act of betrayal of what we know in sports as a sacred trust.”\nBesides allegedly placing his own wagers, investigators also are examining whether Donaghy provided inside information to others, including referees’ schedules, according to a person familiar with the investigation.\n“Not only aren’t they permitted to either gamble or provide information to people,” Stern said, “they may not even provide other than to their immediate family the details of their travel schedules or the games they are going to work.”\nThe FBI first contacted the NBA on June 20 to talk about a referee alleged to be gambling on games, and the two sides met on June 21, Stern said. Donaghy resigned July 9, though Stern said he would have fired him sooner but was told it might affect the investigation.\nAlthough Donaghy has not yet been charged with a crime, Stern said the referee’s lawyer told the league his client is contemplating a plea.\nHowever, as far as Stern is concerned, “If you bet on a game, you lose the benefit of the doubt.”\nDonaghy’s attorney, John Lauro, declined comment when reached by telephone. Donaghy is expected to surrender late this week or early next week.\nStern said there was nothing suspicious about the frequency of Donaghy’s foul calls, the size of his bank account or anything else that would have tipped off the league. And though the NBA stresses its system of monitoring referees gives it the best officials in sports, Stern said he wasn’t shocked Donaghy slipped through the cracks.\n“If you’re intent upon engaging in criminal activity, and if you are acting alone in many cases without the knowledge of even your family, it’s possible,” he said. “Our (country’s) history is replete with examples of that. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that you could go undetected.”\nAn NBA referee for 13 years, Donaghy was rated in the top tier of officials, Stern said. Still, this isn’t the first time he has been in trouble with the league.\nIn January 2005, Stern said, the NBA investigated a dispute between Donaghy and a West Chester, Pa., neighbor.\nThe neighbors, Pete and Lisa Mansueto, sued Donaghy for harassment and invasion of privacy, and accused him of vandalizing their property and stalking Lisa Mansueto. In their lawsuit, the Mansuetos also alleged that Donaghy set fire to a tractor they owned and crashed their golf cart from Radley Run Country Club into a ravine.\nDuring the NBA investigation, there were allegations that Donaghy was gambling – not on sports – in Atlantic City. Stern said the league contacted every casino in Atlantic City and Las Vegas and found no evidence of gambling by Donaghy.\nNBA referees aren’t even allowed in casinos. Stern said the only betting they can do is at the racetrack in the summer.\nDonaghy wasn’t allowed to officiate the second round of the 2005 playoffs because of the incident with the neighbors, but after he moved to Florida, Stern said there were no other complaints or allegations that turned up in NBA background checks.\nTuesday, Stern vowed to review the league’s procedures to make sure this wouldn’t happen again.\n“This is something that is the worst that could happen to a professional sports league,” Stern said. “And I want to say on the other hand that we are going to make good on the covenant that we believe we have with our fans, and I pledge that my involvement will be as intense and complete as it can possibly be.”\n– Associated Press writers Pat Milton in New York and Bob Lentz in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
(07/25/07 11:44pm)
GOURETTE, France – Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen of Denmark has been removed from the race, a devastating blow to cycling’s premier event which has been rocked by a series of doping scandals.\n“Michael Rasmussen has been sent home for violating (the team’s) internal rules,” Rabobank team spokesman Jacob Bergsma told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday.\nThe expulsion, which Bergsma said was ordered by the Dutch team sponsor, was linked to “incorrect” information that Rasmussen gave to the team’s sports director over his whereabouts last month. Rasmussen missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28.\nThe 33-year-old rider, who won Wednesday’s stage, had looked set to win the race, which ends Sunday in Paris.\nIn addition to Rasmussen, The Cofidis team pulled out of the Tour de France on Wednesday after rider Cristian Moreni of Italy failed a doping test and was led away by police at the end of the 16th stage.\n“The team will not be at the start tomorrow,” Tour spokesman Philippe Sudres said.\nMoreni tested positive for testosterone after stage 11 of the Tour last Thursday, said Didier Simon, of cycling’s world governing body, the UCI.\n“He accepted his wrongdoing and did not ask for a B-sample,” Cofidis manager Eric Boyer said.\nAthletes caught doping are entitled to ask for follow-up tests to confirm – and in rare cases deny – the results of the initial “A” sample.\nPolice were seen leading Moreni away from the Cofidis team bus. It was unclear where they were taking him. France has tough laws against trafficking in doping products.\nMoreni tested positive for testosterone after stage 11 of the Tour last Thursday, said Didier Simon of cycling’s world governing body, the UCI. He said it was for Cofidis to decide whether to pull its other riders from the Tour in the wake of Moreni’s failed test.\nNews of Moreni’s test came a day after star rider Alexandre Vinokourov and his entire Astana team were sent home after he tested positive for a banned blood transfusion.\nMoreni was in 54th place overall at the end of Wednesday’s stage, 1 hour, 56 minutes and 11 seconds behind Rasmussen.\nThe test analysis for Moreni was conducted by the Chatenay-Malabry lab on the outskirts of Paris. Traces of testosterone were found in the urine sample, L’Equipe said. The test showed that the testosterone was administered, and that the hormone was not naturally occurring.\nMoreni’s failed doping test was the latest blow to a race already reeling from doping revelations.\nRasmussen, booed by fans at the start Wednesday, extended his lead in the three-week event.\nThe Danish cyclist crossed the finish line alone after the 135.8-mile ride from Orthez to Gourette-Col d’Aubisque, the toughest ride in the Pyrenees this year.\nAmerican Levi Leipheimer finished 26 seconds behind, and Discovery Channel teammate Alberto Contador of Spain was third, 35 seconds back. Both lost time against Rasmussen, who broke away from the three-man group in the last half-mile, finishing in 6 hours, 23 minutes, 21 seconds.\n“I am one step closer,” said Rasmussen, who also won Stage 8 in Tignes.\nThat’s worrisome to some fans and dozens of riders who staged a silent protest against the doping scandals in their sport – delaying the start by 13 minutes.\nPreviously, Tour rider Patrick Sinkewitz had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone. Sinkewitz has denied doping and asked for his B sample to be tested, with the results expected to be known by July 29.\nSinkewitz tested positive in training on June 8 – a month before the Tour started – but he competed in the race until he crashed into a spectator during the eighth stage on July 15.\n–Associated Press Writers Jean-Luc Courthial in Gourette, France, and John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.
(07/23/07 12:27am)
For two IU soccer players, a run at Pan Am gold is over.\nSophomore midfielder Kevin Alston and redshirt freshman midfielder Daniel Kelly and the rest of the U.S. soccer team were sent home with a 2-0 loss against Mexico on Saturday in the group play of the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. \nAlston started for the third game in a row, while Kelly, who had started the first two games of the Pan American competition, came off the bench in the second half.\nMexico scored both its goals within a span of three minutes in the second half, after American team member Jalil Anibaba from Santa Clara University was ejected because he had received his second yellow card of the match. Rodolfo del Real scored the match’s first goal for Mexico in the 75th minute. Enrique Alejandro Esqueda extended Mexico’s lead to 2-0 just three minutes later. Soon after Esqueda’s goal, American team member Danny Barrera received his second yellow card, and the U.S. had to play the rest of the game with two men down.\nThe United States ended group play with a 1-2-0 record. Mexico will advance to the next round where they will play Jamaica on Tuesday.\nAnother Hoosier will represent the United States in the Pan American Games when the basketball play kicks off Wednesday. Senior forward D.J. White will be on the roster when the U.S. tips off against Uruguay.
(07/22/07 11:54pm)
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Padraig Harrington finally learned the lesson of Carnoustie, surviving a calamitous finish in regulation and a tense bogey putt in the playoff to win the British Open on Sunday.\nIn a final round that stirred memories of Jean Van de Velde’s collapse eight years ago, Harrington lost a one-shot lead on the 72nd hole by hitting into the Barry Burn twice for a double bogey, only to get another chance when Sergio Garcia couldn’t make par from a bunker.\nStaked to a two-shot lead in the four-hole playoff, Harrington played it safe the second time around on the 18th.\nHe hit iron off the tee, and another one to stay short of the burn. But a gutsy play by Garcia, who smoked a 6-iron from 203 yards out of the rough to birdie range, forced Harrington to make a nervy 3-footer to become the first Irishman in 60 years to win the claret jug.\nHarrington thrust his fists in the air, a survivor as much as a champion, and before long he was waving the Irish flag and doing his best to stop the tears.\n“I think if I had lost, it would have been hard to take it,” Harrington said. “But because I had a chance, I didn’t let myself get down about taking a 6. I convinced myself if there was a playoff, I would do the best in it.”\nIt was a devastating loss for Garcia, who had a three-shot lead going into the final round and was poised to win a major championship he has been chasing since he was a teenager. He was 10 feet away from winning, and his par putt on the 18th hole in regulation looked good all the way until it dipped slightly on the left side and spun out.\nHarrington, who closed with a 4-under 67 to make up a six-shot deficit, played the four playoff holes in even par, seizing control with a 7-iron into 8 feet for birdie on the first hole as Garcia made bogey from a bunker.\nA rainbow stretched over the course by the North Sea, capping another magical day on perhaps the toughest links in golf.\nLike the last Open at Carnoustie, there was chaos in the end.\nOnly this time, it involved more than one player.
(07/22/07 11:53pm)
CHICAGO – Barry Bonds is finally willing to recognize his own countdown to the home run record.\nHe hit two more over the fences and, suddenly, is just two swings from tying Hank Aaron. And those commemorative balls now being worked in for Bonds’ at-bats serve as constant reminders that he’s right on the cusp of making history – and breaking the most hallowed record in sports.\n“It’s real now,” Bonds said after hitting his 752nd and 753rd home runs Thursday in the San Francisco Giants’ 9-8 loss to the Chicago Cubs.\n“I had to get over them switching those baseballs. Any time that happens, I kind of go into a slide. It’s tough because you actually really realize something’s going on and you don’t really want to think about it. ... But when they stop it for a second and switch baseballs, it’s very hard to not know something’s happening right in front of you.”\nHe was ready, all right, breaking out of his longest offensive funk in six years on a pair of fresh, rested legs.\nThe San Francisco slugger returned to the starting lineup for the first time in four games after sitting to let his sore lower body recover.\nHe didn’t just clear the fences in the second inning when he crushed the specially monogrammed ball for his 18th homer of the season and first in 25 at-bats, he cleared the bleachers altogether on a blustery day. There were wind gusts of 20 mph at first pitch.\nBonds sent the first pitch from Cubs starter Ted Lilly high over the right-field fence leading off the inning – the first drive out of Wrigley Field to reach Sheffield Avenue all season. Then he homered again in the seventh on a 3-2 pitch from Will Ohman, a three-run shot that stuck in the basket of the wall in left-center. Ohman became the 443rd pitcher to give up a home run to Bonds, who has 19 homers on the year.\nIt was Bonds’ 71st multihomer game, second behind Babe Ruth’s 72, and second this season. He went 3-for-3 with three runs scored.\nEven Bonds is having a tough time enjoying the home runs with the last-place Giants losing day after day.\n“Obviously he’s our guy who’s going to produce,” losing pitcher Matt Morris said. “I don’t know what the goal here is anymore – to win games? He’s our biggest threat. Today he produced and it still wasn’t good enough. I think it’s more about how we’re playing than what Barry’s got going on the side. That is something he’s been dealing with for a long time. We’re almost waiting to get it over with.”\nBonds’ first homer pulled the Giants within 4-1 and was San Francisco’s first hit off Lilly, who surrendered his third career homer to Bonds. The next homer got the Giants within one and gave Bonds six RBIs on the day, his most since driving in six runs Sept. 22 last year at Milwaukee. It was his seventh career game with at least six RBIs.\nThe second homer also moved Bonds past Carlton Fisk for most longballs by a player in a year he turns at least 43. Fisk hit 18 at age 43 in 1990 and 18 more the following year at 44. Bonds – who turns 43 on Tuesday – needs two more homers not only to match Hammerin’ Hank’s record, but also to tie Fisk’s 72 homers after turning 40.\nThe fans both cheered and booed when his second-inning ball sailed out in the direction of a beer billboard reading “755 BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL.” Dave Davison, a 39-year-old regular at Wrigley, retrieved the specially monogrammed ball in the middle of the street after it bounced off someone else’s arm.\nAnd it wasn’t the first souvenir for Davison, who has retrieved more than 4,200 keepsake balls including one other from Bonds. He might be a willing seller this time, but had already turned down an offer for $5,000.\n“I’d have to seriously consider anything over $25,000,” Davison said. “I’ll be happy to keep it.”\nTyler Olson, a 13-year-old from Freeport, Ill., came up with No. 753. The teen declined comment.\n“I was just hoping they were going to throw the balls back like they said. I guess they lied,” Bonds said. “I was going to put them in my trophy room.”\nBonds hadn’t homered since the first inning July 3 at Cincinnati and also ended a seven-game hitless stretch. In the third, Lilly had no choice but to go right after him again – and Bonds looped a bases-loaded, two-run single into left-center.\nLilly didn’t mind being connected to Bonds, who faces suspicions that his pursuit was fueled by steroids.\n“He’s one of the most special players the game has ever had,” Lilly said. “A lot of the negative attention has been unfortunate, not only for him but for the game. I don’t know what the facts are in his history. I respect him.”\nAs Bonds made his way out in street clothes afterward, he greeted and hugged Rev. Jesse Jackson near the Giants’ dugout and they pecked each other on the cheek.\nBonds was mired in a season-worst 0-for-21 slump, two off his career high set during his rookie season in 1986. The latest was his longest hitless stretch since one of the same length from April 5-12, 2001 – the year he broke Mark McGwire’s single-season home run record with 73.\n“It’s not too often you can keep him down,” the Cubs’ Cliff Floyd said. “I knew sooner or later he was going to break out.”
(07/22/07 11:50pm)
Two members of the IU football team were arrested early Sunday morning in Greenwood, Ind. Senior linebacker Adam McClurg and senior offensive lineman Sean Edmundson as well as University of Indianapolis defensive back Joshua Kimbowa were charged with failure to pay after a taxi ride from Indianapolis, police said.\nAccording to a probable cause affidavit from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, police responded to a call Sunday morning at around 4 a.m. after the three had fled after being dropped of by a Yellow Cab taxi driver in Greenwood. The taxi driver told police that he had picked up the three men in downtown Indianapolis around the area of the nightclubs. When they arrived at the address they gave, the driver told the men they owed him $39 in cab fare. After Edmundson gave the driver $8, the men told the driver they needed to go into the house to get the remaining fare, then took off running, the affidavit said.\nThe officer then went to the address the men had given the driver. The homeowner said he had been sleeping and that the only other person in the house was his juvenile daughter who had been sleeping at the time, according to the affidavit.\nBackup arrived on the scene and began checking the surrounding neighborhood. An officer saw two men running in a wooded area near a golf course. The officer found the house of one of the men’s aunts and went up to the house. The aunt told the officer the men had just arrived at the address. The officer told the three men to come outside, and they complied. Edmundson told the officer he had paid his share and the officer informed him that $8 did not add up to 1/3 of the $39 fare, the affidavit said. Kimbowa told officers the men had fled out of fear because they did not have the money. The three men asked the officers to call Yellow Cab so they could pay the driver the rest of the money they owed.\nAll three were arrested for theft and transported to the Johnson County Law Enforcement Facility, according to the affidavit.