■ Rowing
Oxford wins boat race
Sporting the heaviest crew in history, Oxford won Sunday's Boat Race on the Thames near London, easily beating Cambridge in the 6.8km classic through west London. Bigger and stronger, Oxford also showed better technique and led from the start. Cambridge leads the series 78-72. One race, in 1877, ended in a draw. Oxford has also won three of the last four. Oxford's eight-man crew averaged 98.5kg (217 pounds) at Tuesday's weigh-in. Cambridge averaged 88.6kg. Oxford beat the previous weight record -- set by Cambridge in 1998 -- by 3.2kg per man.
■ Curling
Sweden takes title
Sweden beat the US 10-4 to win the World Women's Curling Championship in Paisley, Scotland on Sunday. Cassie Johnson's US team was ahead 3-1 after six ends but the Swedes, led by Anette Norberg, took the lead for the first time with a triple on the seventh. The Americans pulled one back on the following end to draw level at 4-4, only for their opponents to score a double on the ninth for a 6-4 lead. The US looked upbeat going into the final end but Sweden scored four points, while the Americans remained scoreless in the decider to concede defeat.
■ Cycling
Britain wins madison
Germany's Rene Wolff won the men's match sprint and Britain took the men's madison as crashes marred the Track Cycling World Championships in Carson, California on Sunday. The duo of Mark Cavendish and Robert Hayes didn't earn a point in getting Britain's fourth title of the four-day competition at the ADT Event Center at Cal State-Dominguez Hills. But they finished one lap ahead of the field to claim the 200-lap, 50km madison in 55 minutes, 28.49 seconds. Second place went to the Netherlands and third to Belgium. Wolff, the 2003 world sprint bronze medalist, beat Mickael Bourgain of France in two straight rides in the best-of-three final. Jobie Dajka of Australia defeated France's Gregory Bauge, an earlier crash victim, also in two straight rides, to finish third.
■ Hockey
NHL files lawsuit
The NHL filed an unfair labor practice charge with the US National Labor Relations Board in New York, claiming that a players' association policy that would penalize members who became replacements is coercive and in violation of their rights. The league and the union have been unable to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement, and the lockout imposed by the NHL in September forced the cancellation of the entire top North American ice hockey season. If a new deal can't be reached in time for next season, the NHL said it would explore the use of replacement players. Union members currently receive between US$5,000 and US$10,000 per month during the lockout. "The practice of conditioning the receipt of work stoppage benefits on a player's agreement not to return to the NHL without a new CBA was coercive, and in violation of the player's rights under the labor laws," NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly said. The players' association denied the charges. "We are confident the NHL's actions and allegations are without merit," the union said in a statement.
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
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