HOCKEY
Champs thrown off flight
Russia’s drunken gold-medal celebrations have prevented the World Junior Hockey champions returning home, as they were thrown off a flight on Thursday. About 30 members of the Russian contingent were asked to get off a Delta Air Lines flight for being unruly as they boarded for takeoff early on Thursday morning, an airport spokesman said. After players and managers spent the day at a hotel — where a front desk clerk said they were “sleeping it off” — a team spokesman said the group would fly out in two groups yesterday. Mikhail Zislis, the team’s media officer who had shaved his head during the celebrations, refuted Delta’s claim the group was unruly and accused the crew of overreacting. The group had arrived at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport for a flight to Atlanta, but was turned back by the flight crew. Russia beat Canada 5-3 in Wednesday’s final.
FOOTBALL
Cowboys give Garrett job
The Dallas Cowboys named Jason Garrett as their head coach on Thursday, removing the interim tag from his title after he helped bring a spark back to the team following a dismal start to the NFL season. Garrett, 44, posted a 5-3 record since stepping in on Nov. 8 for Wade Phillips, who was fired after the Cowboys had a 1-7 start to the campaign despite being a pre-season favorites to reach the playoffs. “He passed the test,” team owner Jerry Jones told a news conference at Cowboys Stadium. “Though our 2010 season did not play out in any way in the manner that we all would like, it did give us the opportunity to evaluate Jason Garrett under pressure and in pressure situations that come with being an NFL head coach.” The Cowboys, who began the season with hopes of becoming the first team to play in the Super Bowl at their home stadium, finished with their worst record since 2004. Dallas’ three losses since Garrett was named interim coach were by a combined seven points against the New Orleans Saints. Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals.
FORMULA ONE
Indian driver returns to F1
Narain Karthikeyan of India said yesterday he would return to the Formula One circuit after six years following a deal with the Spanish Hispania racing team. “Back in F1 in 2011. Signed a deal to race for Hispania. I’ve always maintained that my time in F1 was not over,” Karthikeyan, 33, wrote on his Twitter page. Hispania confirmed they had signed the Indian driver in a year during which his country will host its maiden F1 race on Oct. 30. Karthikeyan became India’s first F1 driver when he raced for the now defunct Jordan team in 2005.
BOXING
Tyson gets own TV show
Mike Tyson shows a gentler side of himself in an upcoming TV show as a man with a lifelong passion for raising racing pigeons. Taking on Tyson, which comes to the Animal Planet cable TV channel in March, is a six-part documentary in which the former world heavyweight champion returns to his Brooklyn neighborhood to race pigeons. Tyson recalls in the show how as a child he skipped school to escape bullies, but found solace raising pigeons. His pigeon coop is now in a tall house next to the gym where he trained. The documentary shows Tyson and a group of other pigeon fanciers training their birds and readying them for races. “Our lives are dedicated to pigeons, even when I have been fighting or getting locked up,” Tyson told TV reporters on Thursday. “This is not no hobby. This is something we are going to do until the day we die,” he said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB