■ INDY 500
Buddy Rice to race
Former Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice will drive one of six cars entered by Rahal Letterman Racing on Thursday for the May 28 race. Last year, he was unable to defend his 2004 title after a crash during the first week of practice. He received a concussion and neck injury when he spun and hit the wall. Doctors found he partially tore a spinal ligament, and he was not allowed to drive in qualifications or the race. Former winner Kenny Brack took his place and finished 26th. Rice will drive the team's No. 15 Panoz-Honda and have an identical backup car available. Rahal Letterman also entered two cars each for Danica Patrick, last year's rookie of the year, and rookie Paul Dana. Patrick qualified fourth and finished fourth last year, becoming the first woman to lead the Indy 500. Dana also passed the Indy rookie test last year but sustained a spinal fracture in a crash during practice and was unable to compete.
■ FA CUP
Match ends in draw
Charlton and Middlesbrough played to a 0-0 draw on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup, failing to decide the last club to to advance to the final four of England's premier knockout competition. West Ham, Liverpool and Chelsea won their quarterfinals earlier in the week. The draw for the semifinals is Friday with Charlton and 'Boro facing a replay to determine which team advances. The semifinals will be played at neutral venues that have yet to be announced by the Football Association. The game at Charlton offered both teams few chances. The best opportunity in the first half -- and probably in the game -- came in the 36th when Charlton's Hermann Hreidarsson struck a left-footed, close-range shot that 'Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer blocked with his left hand in a diving save.
■ Formula One
Fuji gets nod for 2007
Fuji Speedway will replace Suzuka International Racing Circuit as host of the 2007 Formula One Japanese Grand Prix. "Fuji Speedway will be the new home of the Japanese F1 Grand Prix," Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said in a statement released Friday in conjunction with Fuji International Speedway Co Ltd.
Former NBA sensation Jeremy Lin, who recently announced he is joining the Kaohsiung Steelers in the P.League+, is to arrive in the country next week, the Taiwanese American wrote on Instagram yesterday. “I want to be very honest in telling everyone my plans because I don’t want any miscommunication. As of what I know, I will be flying to Taiwan next week, but I don’t know which day as I will need some time to meet my teammates, fit into the [team’s] system, and get prepared physically,” Lin said. Lin said he has not played an official basketball game for about two
Australian Open director Craig Tiley yesterday advised Novak Djokovic’s family to be “really careful” of people using the tournament’s global exposure as a platform for “disruptive” purposes. It follows a video posted on a pro-Russian YouTube account showing Djokovic’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, posing in Melbourne Park with a fan holding a Russian flag that featured the face of Vladimir Putin. It sparked a backlash from Ukraine and led to calls for Srdjan Djokovic to be banned from the tournament. He skipped his son’s semi-final victory on Friday, and it remains to be seen if he will be at today’s final. Tiley told the
More than two decades since their last FIFA World Cup triumph, and without a local consensus pick, Brazil are considering breaking an unwritten taboo: hiring a foreign coach. After six years in the job, Tite left the Brazil post last month following the Selecao’s World Cup quarter-final exit against Croatia. Despite knowing for some time before the Qatar showpiece that Tite was leaving, Brazilian Football Confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues still has not found a replacement. Now he is widening his search. “We have no nationality prejudices,” he said on Tuesday last week. “We want it to be a respected coach who can bring a
A decade ago when the whippet-like Nairo Quintana burst onto the scene with stunning mountain escapes, Colombian cyclists looked poised to take over the world, but now the nation is in shock as three of its biggest stars flounder for very different reasons. At 32, Quintana is still Colombia’s most popular “beetle” — as its cyclists are known collectively — but he cannot even find a team. Egan Bernal, the only Colombian to win the Tour de France, is struggling to rediscover his former level after a near-fatal training crash, while Miguel Angel Lopez, nicknamed “Superman,” was kicked out of his team
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