■ 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."
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
Bjorn Werner on Saturday signed everything thrust in front of him by NFL fans who packed a Berlin plaza. His old Indianapolis Colts jersey — it is a best-seller in Germany — footballs, scarves, miniature helmets. Even a cleat. Werner’s NFL career ended after three seasons because of injuries, but he has become a star in his home country as a TV commentator and media personality. He cohosts a popular podcast, has a big social media presence and is credited with helping popularize the sport in Germany. As the former first-round draft pick waded through throngs of fans, he looked around and took
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