FOOTBALL
School sorry for ‘Hitler’ play
The headmaster of a Connecticut high school has apologized after its football team named one of its plays “Hitler.” Chris Winters, of Greenwich High School, issued the apology on Friday. He called the designation offensive and said the practice has been stopped. The mother of a Trumbull High School player told the Connecticut Post her son’s freshman football team was playing Greenwich on Thursday when the players charged onto the field shouting “Hitler,” adding that the signal for the play was an index finger laid across the upper lip. The team and coaches met with the Connecticut Anti-Defamation League to make sure they understand why it was offensive. The group’s executive director told the newspaper he did not see intent to intimidate or anti-Semitism.
MOTORSPORT
Marquez wins his third title
Honda rider Marc Marquez yesterday secured his third MotoGP championship in four years by winning the Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix after his nearest rivals, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, both crashed out. The 23-year-old Spaniard had only an outside chance to seal the title, but his win at Twin Ring Motegi gave him an unassailable 77-point lead over Italian Rossi, who started on pole, but slid into the gravel early. Already the youngest rider to win a MotoGP race and the title in his maiden season in 2013, Marquez’s triumph in Japan made him the youngest to seal three championships. He finished nearly three seconds ahead of Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso, with Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales third.
ATHLETICS
Bolt to run last home race
Jamaica’s Olympic sprint champion, Usain Bolt, is to run his last race on home soil at the Racers Grand Prix on June 10 next year before retiring from competition two months later, he said on Friday. The 30-year-old, who won the 100m at this year’s Racers Grand Prix, has already said he plans to retire from the sport after the Aug. 5-13 world championships in London, having won nine Olympic gold medals. “The Racers Grand Prix is to be my last race in Jamaica, people, it will be the last time I run in Jamaica,” Bolt told Television Jamaica’s Smile Jamaica morning magazine program.
SOCCER
Cahill marks debut with goal
Tim Cahill on Saturday marked his A-League debut with a spectacular long-range goal as Melbourne City beat the Melbourne Victory 4-1 to continue its winning form. Cahill, the former Everton forward who is playing in Australian soccer’s domestic competition for the first time in 20 years, lived up to his star billing with his goal in the Melbourne derby in the 27th minute. In front of 40,000 fans, Cahill struck a half-volley from 40m that caught Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas unprepared and sailed into the top corner of the net.
MOTORSPORT
Busch wins three in a row
Kyle Busch on Saturday won his third straight NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Kansas, while Chase contenders Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez followed him to the line. Busch started from the pole and led 150 laps for his ninth series win this season, although it was not easy all afternoon. He dropped a lap behind the leaders at one point before getting a wave-around. Fellow Sprint Cup regulars Joey Logano and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five on a damaging day for several drivers starting a three-race round of eight of their title run.
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