■ Football
McNair in car wreck
Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was involved in a car accident but not injured a week after having an operation on his sternum. Police said a woman pulled in front of McNair's pickup truck as he was traveling down a street in the Music Row area near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. "McNair had no contributing factor to the crash," Metro Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Thursday. Jennifer Conrad, 24, of Cedar Hill told police she was unfamiliar with the area and was trying to make a U-turn on the one-way street. Aaron said no injuries were officially reported. Conrad was cited for causing the accident and for driving without insurance.
■ Soccer
Blackburn gets Nelsen
DC United captain Ryan Nelsen moved to Premier League club Blackburn on a free transfer Thursday. The 27-year-old New Zealand international signed an 18-month contract with Rovers. He plays as a center-half but can also switch to midfield. Nelsen was voted to Major League Soccer's All-Star team twice during his stint in the US. Nelsen, who played with 15-year-old American soccer star Freddy Adu at DC United, was left unprotected in November for the MLS expansion draft.
■ Hockey
League bars Theo Fleury
Suspended NHL star Theo Fleury has been barred from playing for the Horse Lake Thunder in Canada's North Peace Hockey League. Fleury, suspended by the NHL for substance abuse violations, is ineligible to play because of a Hockey Canada ruling last month that NHL players under contract last season can not play for the Allan Cup, the top prize for senior hockey in Canada. "His registration has been turned down," said Brad Robbins, Hockey Alberta's manager of operations. "He was under an NHL contract in 2003-2004." Fleury, who was to have made his senior league debut Thursday in northern Alberta against the Grande Prairie Athletics, could not immediately be reached for comment. The 36-year-old forward has 455 goals in 1,084 NHL games.
■ Soccer
Reading secures player
Former England international Les Ferdinand signed with Reading on a free transfer Thursday. Ferdinand, 38, left Premier League team Bolton last week. Reading coach Steve Coppell jumped at signing the veteran striker, who is still an effective goal scorer and could have a big impact in the League Championship, or former first division. "Les Ferdinand is a tremendous player, and I hope he will help boost our goalscoring capabilities and act as a catalyst for the whole team at this crucial time of the season," Coppell said on the club's Web site. Ferdinand has also played for Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham, Newcastle, West Ham and Leicester. "I am highly delighted to welcome Les Ferdinand as a Reading player," chairman John Madejski said. "He is without doubt one of the greatest English strikers of the last decade and his goalscoring record speaks for itself."
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
His team were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in agonizing fashion on Tuesday, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DR Congo) human statue Michel Kuka Mboladinga would be remembered as the tournament’s most remarkable supporter. The colorfully dressed Kuka has earned fame as the fan who stands completely immobile throughout his team’s games, looking toward the sky with his right arm raised and palm open. He has become a media star and on Tuesday was accompanied by a delegation of several hundred Congolese supporters whose trip to Morocco was paid for by the country’s government. They took their
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