■Football
NFL sponsors set to battle
Two companies backing an experimental impotence drug will become NFL sponsors, the American football league said Wednesday. The deal is expected to be the beginning of a ferocious marketing war in territory Viagra currently has to itself. Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp and GlaxoSmithKline, which expect their drug Levitra to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration later this year, wouldn't say how much they are spending on the three-year sponsorship. They also declined to disclose details of the agreement. Published reports said the companies are spending US$18 million. A source close to the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity said that figure was close to the actual amount of the deal. Each week, 120 million people watch the NFL. "This is a strategic opportunity for us. We will educate men on health issues," Bayer spokeswoman Nancy Bryan said.
■ Baseball
Minnie Minoso plays ball
Minnie Minoso became the first player to play professional baseball in seven decades when he took the field for the St. Paul Saints against Gary in the independent Northern League. Minoso, 77, was in the lineup Wednesday as St. Paul's designated hitter, as part of the team's annual Negro League tribute, and walked in the first inning. He became the first to play in six decades when he batted for the Saints in a game in 1993. He spent several years in the Negro Leagues before breaking into mainstream baseball in 1948 with Class A San Diego. He hit .298 in a 16-year major league career that ended in 1964 with the Chicago White Sox. Minoso, who currently works in Chicago's community relations department, came back with the White Sox in 1976 for eight at-bats (he got one hit) and two more in 1980.
■ Baseball
Julio Lugo gets acquitted
Former Houston Astros shortstop Julio Lugo was acquitted Wednesday of charges he assaulted his wife by banging her head against their car. She testified she exaggerated the story and he didn't mean to hurt her during an April 30 argument at Minute Maid Park. Mabely Lugo let out a big sigh and smiled when the jury returned the verdict after deliberating for 35 minutes. Lugo's mother, Rhina Lugo, hugged her son's wife as she began crying. "I was very upset, confused," Mabely Lugo said. "He wasn't at fault." Julio Lugo was pleased with the verdict. "The truth was going to come out," the Dominican said. Lugo was released by the Astros days after his arrest and now plays for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He had faced up to a year in prison and a US$4,000 fine if convicted of misdemeanor assault.
■ Golf
Bookies notice Langer
Bookmakers have installed Bernhard Langer as the 4-6 favorite to replace Sam Torrance as Europe's Ryder Cup captain next year. The official announcement is unlikely to come until the start of the 12-month long qualifying process in September. But Langer, who has played in 10 Ryder Cups including Europe's victory last year at The Belfry, has confirmed he wants to be a candidate for captaincy rather than as a player. "I called the office and told them I would like to have the job and I'm available," Langer said on Wednesday after practice for the British Open. "So it's up to the tournament committee or the Ryder Cup committee whoever they think is the right man for the job next year.
Agencies
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but