BASKETBALL
Harden under investigation
Houston Rockets guard James Harden was allegedly involved in a nightclub incident that is under investigation by the Scottsdale Police Department in Arizona. The incident took place at about 2:30am on Saturday last week, police said. TMZ reported that a member of Harden’s entourage got into a fight, and when a woman started to record the scuffle, Harden grabbed her wrist and threw her phone onto a nearby roof. The woman, who was treated for a wrist injury at a hospital, said one of Harden’s associates offered her US$200 for the phone and that Harden later gave her US$300 to pay for a replacement. Police on Monday confirmed that they are looking into the allegations, but told the Arizona Republic that it was “far too early” to know Harden’s role.
SOCCER
Bus crash kills 12 fans
A bus loaded with fans overturned on a highway in Ecuador after a game, killing at least 12 people and injuring 30, Ecuadoran police said on Monday. The accident happened on Sunday afternoon as Barcelona SC fans were heading back to Guayaquil following a draw against a team from Cuenca. Police said they were investigating to determine what happened, but witnesses told local media that the bus was seen trying to overtake other vehicles shortly before the crash. The team has decided to honor the dead with a memorial service at their stadium.
BASEBALL
Ball sells for US$623,369
A ball with the signatures of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and eight other greats of the game has sold for US$623,369, SCP Auctions said on Monday. The players all signed the ball on the same day in 1939, when they gathered to become the first class to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. That crushes the previous record of US$345,000 for a signed ball set in 2013. The winner was identified only as a southern California collector. The only original inductee who did not sign it was Lou Gehrig, who on that day was headed to a hospital where he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
SOCCER
La Liga, Facebook ink deal
La Liga yesterday announced a landmark deal with Facebook that would allow viewers in the Indian subcontinent to watch every game over the next three seasons free of charge on the social network. All 380 league matches for the new season, which begins on Friday, would be available to viewers in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, La Liga said. “One of our goals for the last two years has been to offer content to the widest audience possible, so partnering with free platforms like Facebook, which has 270 million users in India, is key to us,” La Liga head of digital strategy Alfredo Bermejo said.
BASKETBALL
Anthony signs with Rockets
Carmelo Anthony has signed a one-year, US$2.4 million deal with the Houston Rockets. Anthony was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks last month, before the Hawks released him. The 34-year-old joins a team led by MVP Harden and star point guard Chris Paul. The Rockets hope the addition is to help them contend for their first title since 1995.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later