■ NFL
Titans stomp earns ban
Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth received a five-game suspension -- the longest for on-field behavior in NFL history -- for stomping on Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode's head and kicking him in the face on Sunday. The suspension, which is without pay, is effective immediately, the NFL said on Monday. Haynesworth will be eligible to return on Nov. 19 for the Titans' game at Philadelphia. Haynesworth was penalized and ejected from the game early in the third quarter after he stomped on Gurode's head, causing his helmet to pop off, then kicked him again following a five-yard touchdown run by Julius Jones of the Cowboys.
■ Rugby Union
Brian Fitzpatrick dies
Brian Fitzpatrick, a New Zealand rugby union representative and father of former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick, died yesterday, aged 75, his family said. Fitzpatrick played three Tests and 19 other matches for New Zealand on tours to Australia in 1951 and Britain in 1953-1954. He was a strongly built inside back of whom the New Zealand Rugby Union Web site records "but for a wretched run with injuries his international record may have been even more illustrious." The Web site said Fitzpatrick "has a special place in New Zealand rugby [as] the father of the most-capped All Black of all time, Sean." Brian Fitzpatrick made his first-class debut, aged 18, in 1949.
■ Baseball
Cubs let Baker go
Dusty Baker will not be back as manager of the Chicago Cubs next season, the team said on Monday after finishing the campaign with the worst record in the National League. "I guess all things must come to an end, and all things come to pass," Baker told MLB.com. After 10 seasons in San Francisco guiding the Giants to the 2002 World Series, Baker moved to Chicago, where he was expected to work his magic with the Cubs, who have not won a championship since 1908. But after reaching the NL championship series in 2003, the Cubs never returned to the post-season and sunk to new lows this year with a record of 66-96.
■ Rugby Union
Toulouse hold on to Thomas
Wales captain Gareth Thomas will not be allowed to leave French rugby giants Toulouse and return to his former club, Cardiff, the French team's director of recruitment said on Monday. Jean-Michel Rancoule said the 32-year-old 88-times capped fullback had been linked with a return to Cardiff when the Welsh club's coach Dai Young had said on Sunday he wanted Thomas, whose contract runs till June next year, to come back. "Gareth Thomas is under contract till June 2007 and there is no question of us letting him go," Rancoule said.
■ Baseball
Giants sack Alou
Felipe Alou was sacked as the manager of the San Francisco Giants on Monday, culminating a four-year stint that ended with a losing season. Giants general manager Brian Sabean announced on Monday that the 71-year-old Alou will not return next Major League Baseball season. With a veteran roster that included his son, Moises, Felipe Alou guided the Giants to a 76-85 record and a third-place finish in the National League West this season. San Francisco stumbled down the stretch, losing 11 of its last 13 games. The Giants went 342-304 in Alou's four seasons.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later