BASKETBALL
Parish visits Taiwan
Robert Parish, one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the NBA, arrived in Taiwan late on Thursday. Parish, nicknamed “The Chief,” was scheduled to visit National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday afternoon for a basketball event and to meet fans. He is scheduled to attend the 2011 NBA Youth Madness city championship, as a guest of honor, at the NTU Sports Center tomorrow. The retired basketballer played 21 seasons in the NBA, 14 of which were with the Boston Celtics. He won three titles for the team and was selected nine times to play in the NBA All-Star Games. In his last season, he played with the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, and won his fourth NBA Championship Ring. Another NBA star, Derrick Rose, who was named the most valuable player last season, is scheduled to visit Taiwan on Aug. 27 and 28.
BASEBALL
Minor leaguer tests positive
Colorado Rockies minor leaguer Mike Jacobs became the first North American professional athlete to be suspended for testing positive for human growth hormone (HGH), Major League Baseball said on Thursday. The 30-year-old first baseman, who has played six seasons in the major leagues, received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for HGH — the first such case since MLB instituted blood tests for doping in the minor leagues. Jacobs, who had played for the New York Mets, Florida Marlins and Kansas City Royals, was leading the Rockies’ Triple-A club in Colorado Springs in home runs (23), doubles (30) and runs batted in (97). The Rockies announced they were releasing him. Jacobs, who compiled a .253 batting average with 100 home runs and 310 runs batted in during 556 major league games, said he took HGH to try and recover from injuries and hopes to resume his career following his ban.
RUGBY UNION
Tonga avenges Fiji defeat
Flyhalf Kurt Morath kicked 17 points as Tonga beat Fiji 32-20 yesterday in the teams’ final warm-up match before next month’s Rugby World Cup. Morath kicked a conversion and five penalties as Tonga avenged a 27-12 defeat by Fiji last weekend. Vungakoto Lilo, Fetu’u Vainikolo and Alipate Fatafehi scored tries for Tonga who led 11-10 at halftime, then built a 32-13 second-half lead, before conceding a try in injury time. Fiji’s tries were scored by locks Rupeni Nasiga and Leone Nakarawa. Tonga will play New Zealand in the opening World Cup match in Auckland on Sept. 9.
FOOTBALL
Players allege violence
Former quarterback Jim McMahon and six other players accused the NFL of ignoring the consequences of head injuries to promote on-field violence for the fans. The NFL has known that players who suffered repeated concussions were likely to experience symptoms of post-traumatic brain injury including headaches, dizziness and memory loss, the group said in a complaint filed on Wednesday in a Philadelphia federal court. The league failed to develop appropriate ways to identify players who were at risk, said the players, who are demanding medical monitoring. Since the 1970s, the league has “turned a blind eye” to players being coached to tackle, butt and injure opposing players because of an “interest in keeping its fan base excited and interested in the violence of this sport,” according to the complaint. “We have not seen the complaint, but would vigorously contest any claims of this kind,” Greg Aiello, a spokesman for the New York-based NFL, said yesterday in an e-mail.
SOCCER
Inter hoist TIM Cup
Inter gained bragging rights over traditional rivals AC Milan and Juventus by claiming success in Thursday’s TIM Cup in Bari. The Cup holders beat both their rivals to top the three-way competition that sees each side play the other two in 45 minute matches. Inter began the competition by edging Juventus in a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw. New signing Mirko Vucinic gave Juve the lead before Andrea Ranocchia equalized just past the quarter-hour mark. Inter won the penalty shoot-out 6-5 after Andrea Barzagli missed for Juve following Walter Samuel’s successful conversion. Juve then went on to beat AC Milan 2-1. In the final game, Inter knew a win would land them the pre-season cup and they beat Milan 1-0 thanks to a goal from Diego Milito to ensure they took revenge for their defeat in the Italian Supercup just less than two weeks ago.
SOCCER
Coach seeks help whistling
Martin Allen, the manager of English third-tier side Notts County, wants somebody to teach him how to whistle so he can communicate with his players from the dug-out during matches. “I am desperately trying to find somebody that can teach me to whistle,” Allen told the club’s Web site. “This may sound like a joke but I can assure you it’s not. This is not for my dog, this is for me to whistle from my technical area.”
ATHLETICS
French gold medalist dies
Former French pole-vaulter Pierre Quinon, who won the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, has died in an apparent suicide, the French Athletics Federation said on Thursday. Quinon, who was 49 and known to suffer from depression, fell from a window late on Wednesday on the Mediterranean island of Hyeres. He did not leave a suicide note and police in nearby Toulon were investigating. “It is with great sadness and emotion that the French Athletics Federation and the entire family of French athletics has learned of the death yesterday evening, at the age of 49 years, of Pierre Quinon, Olympic pole-vault champion in 1984 in Los Angeles and world record holder in 1983 with 5.82m,” the Federation said in a statement. Quinon retired in the early 1990s and became a chef at a Mediterranean restaurant.
CRICKET
Australia shake up ranks
Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has lost his job following a major review into Australian cricket, Cricket Australia (CA) said yesterday. As a result of the seven-month review, a new chairman of selectors will be appointed on a full-time basis, replacing Hilditch, who had served in a part-time capacity. The review, ordered after Australia’s shattering 3-1 Ashes series defeat to England earlier this year, also claimed the jobs of selector Greg Chappell and team coach Tim Nielsen.
SOCCER
Atletico sign Porto’s Falcao
Atletico Madrid agreed a deal, believed to be worth 40 million euros (US$57.3 million), to sign Colombian international striker Radamel Falcao from Portuguese champions Porto, the Spanish side announced on Thursday. The deal will also see Portuguese midfielder Ruben Micael move to Spain as Atletico spent most of the 44 million euros they received from Manchester City for Sergio Aguero. Signed by Porto in 2009 from River Plate of Argentina, the 25-year-old striker, nicknamed “The Tiger,” scored 16 times in the Portuguese league last season and was top scorer in the Europa League, which the Portuguese side won.
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