■ Rugby
England dumps players
England coach Andy Robinson dropped six World Cup winners on Tuesday for the Six Nations game against Ireland this weekend after his team was beaten 31-6 by France. With flyhalf Charlie Hodgson out of Saturday's game at Twickenham from an injured hamstring, Robinson dropped fullback Josh Lewsey, center Mike Tindall, scrumhalf Matt Dawson, hooker Steve Thompson, prop Julian White and lock Danny Grewcock. Of the six axed players who won the World Cup in November 2003 and have 300 test caps between them, only Lewsey wasn't on the bench alongside former captain Lawrence Dallaglio. Substitute Andy Goode takes over at flyhalf, while Robinson named Tom Voyce at fullback, Stuart Abbott at center and Harry Ellis at scrumhalf. He recalled Andrew Sheridan at loosehead prop and shifted Matt Stevens to tighthead, with Lee Mears the new hooker. Grewcock was replaced by the experienced Simon Shaw, and flyhalf Dave Walder came on to the bench. England is third in the Six Nations, behind France and Ireland.
■ Football
Eagles release Owens
The Philadelphia Eagles released wide receiver Terrell Owens on Tuesday, ending a tumultuous, two-year relationship with the five-time NFL Pro Bowl selection. Owens was due a US$5 million bonus for being on the team's roster on Wednesday, so the Eagles had to cut him or trade him before then to avoid paying it. The move was a formality because Owens was kicked off the team in November following a series of incidents and infractions, including repeated criticism of quarterback Donovan McNabb. The Eagles gave Owens and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, permission to talk with other teams in January. The former All-Pro met with the Denver Broncos. Miami and Dallas reportedly have interest in Owens, and Kansas City president Carl Peterson has said he'd consider giving him a one-year, incentive-laden deal.
■ Soccer
Bundesliga profit rises
The Bundesliga's income rose by 19.1 percent last season even as the number of foreign players in the league fell to its lowest level in five years, figures released on Tuesday revealed. The 36 first and second division clubs making up the Bundesliga earned 1.52 billion euros (US$1.81 billion) as German football reversed a downward spiral which began when Kirch Media -- its biggest television contract went bankrupt. The Bundesliga hopes the league can now reverse its slide in European play. In the past four seasons, only one team has reached a Champions League quarterfinal. Before the Kirch bankruptcy, four German teams reached the final in six years, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund winning.
■ Football
Culpepper goes to Miami
The Minnesota Vikings traded three-time NFL Pro Bowl selection Daunte Culpepper to the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday, granting the disgruntled quarterback's wish to leave the team after a subpar season that ended with a serious knee injury. Vikings spokesman Tom West confirmed the deal, but did not give specifics. Several media reports say Minnesota received a second-round pick in return. Culpepper had asked to be traded or released by Minnesota, where he was chosen for the NFL's post-season all-star game three times in seven seasons. But his relationship with the organization had deteriorated swiftly in recent weeks, when Culpepper said he was upset by the tone of an e-mail from the club's front office.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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