SOCCER
Newly signed Ortega injured
Colombian starlet Michael Ortega is expected to be out for several weeks after tearing knee ligaments in his first training session with German league club Bayer Leverkusen, team officials said on Wednesday. Leverkusen signed the 20-year-old last month on loan from Mexican side Atlas Guadalajara after he impressed at the Under-20 World Cup in Mexico. Ortega will now undergo rehabilitation in Leverkusen.
FOOTBALL
Manning’s streak finished
Peyton Manning’s starting streak is over. The Colts announced on Wednesday that Manning would not play on Sunday in the NFL season-opener in Houston, Texas, bringing an end to his streak of 227 consecutive starts. The Colts say they will start 38-year-old Kerry Collins against the Texans. Manning has not been able to fully recover from neck surgery in May. During his streak, he has led the Colts to 11 playoff appearances, 11 double-digit win seasons, eight division crowns, two AFC titles and the first Super Bowl championship in the franchise’s Indianapolis era. The streak is the second-longest among NFL quarterbacks behind only Brett Favre.
CYCLING
Porte to join Team Sky
Highly rated Australian rider Richie Porte, of Saxo Bank, will join Team Sky next year, the British outfit announced on Wednesday. The 26-year-old emerged at last year’s Tour of Italy when he held the overall leader’s pink jersey from stages 11 to 13 before eventually finishing 7th. This year he competed in the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France alongside Spain’s Alberto Contador. The Tasmanian native, a capable climber and time-trialist, is Team Sky’s third new signing this week. The 21-year-old duo Salvatore Puccio, of Italy, and Welshman Luke Rowe will also race for Sky next year. Puccio won the recent under-23 Tour of Flanders, while Rowe has made his name in track cycling, including winning two junior European Championship titles.
BASKETBALL
NBA owners, players talk
NBA players and club owners met in New York for talks on Wednesday for only the third time since a July 1 lockout shutdown of the league and planned to continue negotiations yesterday and possibly today. Six hours of talks last week led to the five-hour session on Wednesday in New York, and while owners and players agreed not to talk about how talks were progressing, both sides faced pressure as precious time ticked away. NBA training camps are scheduled to open on Oct. 1, just three weeks from tomorrow, with a month of pre-season exhibitions ahead of the planned Nov. 1 start of the next season season.
BASEBALL
Clemens’ team broke rules
Representatives of Roger Clemens’ legal defense team contacted jurors from his July mistrial in violation of court orders against doing so, US District Judge Reggie Walton said on Wednesday. Walton has scheduled a retrial starting April 17 on charges the former Major League Baseball superstar pitcher lied to Congress when he denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs during a 2008 hearing. The first trial began, but was halted on the second day when prosecutors presented evidence that Walton had already been banned from being seen by jurors. After learning that a defense investigator contacted some of the 12 jurors and four alternates seated in July, prosecutors asked Walton for permission to contact them as well.
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