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■FOOTBALL

Boldin to miss game

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin had surgery to repair a sinus fracture on Thursday and will miss at least one NFL contest, the team said on Friday. Boldin, who turned 28 on Thursday, suffered the injury as a result of the hits he received from New York Jets safeties Kerry Rhodes and Eric Smith late in last Sunday’s game. Smith was suspended one game for what the league termed a flagrant violation of player safety rules. His helmet-to-helmet hit with 27 seconds remaining in the Jets’ 56-35 victory knocked Boldin cold.



■COLLEGE FOOTBALL

BYU extends winning streak

Max Hall threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns as No. 8-ranked Brigham Young University extended its winning streak to 15 games by beating Utah State 34-14 in college football on Friday. The Cougars converted three turnovers into 17 points while pulling ahead 24-0 in the first quarter, and held on for their ninth straight victory over the Aggies. Utah State became the first team to score against BYU in nearly a month with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the Aggies were down 34-0 at the end of the third quarter. Hall threw two interceptions and was sacked for the first time this season in the final quarter.



■BASEBALL

Yankee to have surgery

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera will have surgery on Tuesday on his sore right shoulder. New York Mets medical director David Altchek will operate at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Altchek operated on catcher Jorge Posada’s shoulder last summer. Altchek will shave down calcification of the A.C. joint on the top of Rivera’s shoulder. Rivera is expected to be ready for the start of spring training in mid-February. The 38-year-old Rivera had 39 saves this year, and his 1.40 ERA was his best since 2005.



■BASKETBALL

Parker wins WNBA MVP

Candace Parker received the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award on Friday, becoming the first player to win it and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season. The Los Angeles Sparks star was unanimously selected rookie of the year. The awards capped a big run for Parker, who was college player of the year last season for national champion Tennessee. Parker also was a member of the gold-medal winning US team at the Beijing Olympics. Parker edged Connecticut’s Lindsay Whalen and Seattle’s Sue Bird in the MVP race. Parker, the top overall draft pick this year, averaged 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. She had a high of 40 points and grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 17 games. She led the league in double-doubles with 17, led the league in rebounding and led rookies in scoring, blocks and minutes.



■BASKETBALL

Shock leads in WNBA finals

Katie Smith scored 22 points and the Detroit Shock built a big lead in the first quarter, then hung on to defeat the San Antonio Silver Stars 69-61 on Friday and take a 2-0 lead in the WNBA finals. Game 3 in the best-of-five series is today, when Detroit will try to wrap up its second title in the last three years. Deanna Nolan and Kara Braxton added 12 points each for the Shock, who led 19-2 less than 6 minutes into the game. Becky Hammon finished with 24 points for San Antonio, including 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.



■SOCCER

Wuhan fans in street protest

Tens of thousands of soccer fans marched in Wuhan, China, blocked traffic and some charged a police blockade in protest against an eight-game suspension of a star player, a Hong Kong newspaper said. The Chinese Football Association suspended defender Li Weifeng and fined him 8,000 yuan (US$1,169) on Tuesday for a scuffle with a player from an opposing team who was given the same punishment. The Sept. 28 game ended in a 1-1 draw. Li, 30, is a former captain of China’s national team who played in the Olympic squad in August. Li’s Wuhan Guanggu club later announced its withdrawal from the Chinese Super League in protest, saying it would sue the Football Association, which fueled the outrage of Wuhan’s fans. Tens of thousands hit the streets on Thursday, shouting slogans like “Dissolve the Football Association” and “the Super League is finished,” and staged a sit-in to block traffic, Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper reported yesterday. Wuhan’s deputy mayor went to the scene to try to calm the fans and about an hour later they left peacefully, the newspaper said.



■SOCCER

Moggi charged with fraud

Former Juventus executive Luciano Moggi, a leading figure in a match-fixing scandal that shook Italian soccer, was ordered by a court on Friday to stand trial on charges of sports fraud and criminal association. The trial will open on Jan. 20 in Naples, his lawyer Paolo Trofino said. The ANSA news agency said another 23 people, including club officials and referees, were also indicted by judge Eduardo De Gregorio on charges of conspiring to commit sports fraud. Former Italian soccer federation president Franco Carraro and federation secretary Francesco Ghirelli were cleared. Moggi was banned from soccer for five years by a sports court in 2006 on charges of influencing the outcome of matches. He denies any wrongdoing.



■RUGBY UNION

Wilkinson undergoes surgery

England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson underwent surgery on Friday on his injured left knee, with his Newcastle club reporting no complications, although he is still unlikely to play again before Christmas. England’s 2003 World Cup final match-winner suffered his latest injury in Tuesday’s Premiership match against Gloucester, a setback that has ruled him out of the fall Tests against the Pacific Islanders, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The 29-year-old Wilkinson’s career has been blighted by repeated injury setbacks since the World Cup almost four years ago. His latest setback came just four games into his return from summer shoulder surgery that meant he missed England’s two-Test New Zealand tour. Newcastle rugby director Steve Bates said: “Jonny has had his operation and the reports are that it went well. They are optimistic about it and we will have to see how it progresses.”



■TENNIS

Williams out of Kremlin Cup

Serena Williams has blamed a knee injury for her decision to pull out of this week’s US$2.4 million Kremlin Cup. “I was experiencing knee problems since the US Open and now I need a break to regain my top form,” the US star told organizers of the joint ATP and WTA event on Friday. She added: “I played a lot of events this year and now I need a break to recover. My aim this year is to regain the world’s top ranking. I played in the final here last year and will now lose a lot of points. But for now my only wish is to have some rest to recover and to be in my top form at Doha.”


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