■ Baseball
Marines crush Blue Wave
South Korean slugger Lee Seung-yeop connected for his first homer in Japan Friday as the Lotte Marines cruised to a 12-2 victory over the Orix BlueWave in a preseason exhibition game. Lee, who broke the Asian single-season home run record with 56 homers last season for the Samsung Lions, hit a solo homer in the second inning at Yahoo BB Stadium as the Marines took a 5-0 lead. Kazuya Fukuura, Koichi Hori and Masaumi Shimizu also homered for the Marines. Lotte starter Tomohiro Kuroki, looking to make a comeback after several injury-plagued seasons, picked up the win after giving up two runs on three hits over three innings. At Nagoya Dome, Masahiko Morino belted a two-run homer in the seventh inning to power the Chunichi Dragons to a 4-0 victory over the Seibu Lions.
■ Soccer
Maradona blasts agent
Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona has accused his longtime agent of mismanaging his finances, saying in a television interview he was "betrayed" by his former associate. "Some of my money is missing," Maradona told news talkshow El Diario de la Tarde on Wednesday, accusing former manager Guillermo Coppola of mishandling his funds. "He was the only one in charge of my things," Maradona said. "Coppola betrayed me. There is no other way around it." Coppola did not immediately respond to the accusations. The comments by the former Argentine captain marked another turbulent twist in the nearly 20-year relationship between Maradona and his former manager, who for years were practically inseparable. Maradona said he has yet to account for hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties and other fees, some of it proceeds from a 2001 farewell match played in Buenos Aires.
■ Soccer
Man Utd eyes bigger stadium
Manchester United already has the biggest stadium in England. Now it wants to increase Old Trafford's seating capacity from 67,500 to 75,000 -- twice that of most clubs in the Premier League. United told the London Stock Exchange yesterday it had launched a feasibility study into the cost of filling in the two corners of the ground at the North Stand side, opposite the managers' dugouts. "Any decision to proceed will be taken by the board in due course and announced thereafter," the statement said. United has sold out every league match since Old Trafford's capacity was increased from 55,000 to 67,500 four years ago. News reports said the extra seats could generate more than ?400,000 (US$724,000) a year.
■ Rugby Union
Player steals taxi cab
The ACT Rugby Union yesterday barred Henari Veratau from the Brumbies' tour to South Africa after he was charged by police with stealing a cab in Canberra, the union said. Veratau, a 20-year-old winger or center, was being held in the Canberra watch house yesterday until he appeared before magistrates court today. It is alleged a 38-year-old taxi driver was dragged from his seat after an argument over a fare early yesterday and had his cab stolen. ACT Rugby Union CEO Rob Clarke said his organization was cooperating with police and the union would conduct a separate internal investigation. "We've been in touch with the police and we'll do what we can to assist them with their investigation," he said. "We've also opened a separate internal investigation into the matter." Clarke said the allegations and charges were extremely disappointing.
■ Rugby League
New scandal erupts
A second top Australian rugby league side was implicated yesterday in the scandal which has engulfed Sydney's Canterbury Bulldogs, as the Melbourne Storm club admitted two of its players were under investigation for alleged rape. A spokesman for the Storm confirmed a report in yesterday's Herald Sun newspaper that police had questioned two unnamed players about the alleged rape of a young woman in a suburban Melbourne apartment on Feb. 8. However, Melbourne Storm executive director John Ribot defended a delay in notifying the National Rugby League about the investigation. He said the two players admitted they were with the woman and, as far as he knew, "relations" had taken place, but the club had conducted its own inquiry and decided the players were not guilty.
■ Motor Racing
Election held on race day
National elections will be held on the same day as the Malaysian Grand Prix, but officials promised that neither would interfere with the other. Organizers yesterday predicted that the election might cause crowd numbers to be down slightly on race day, March 21, but otherwise the election will have no effect. "The race will go on," said Azhar Ghazali, a spokesman for the Sepang International Circuit where the race is held. "We hope to see both the elections and the race proceed smoothly, because both are of national interest." Election officials, who announced the polling date yesterday, urged Malaysian Formula One fans not to neglect their democratic responsibilities by shirking voting to watch the race.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS