■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.
RSS