■ Basketball
Brezec out for two weeks
Charlotte center Primoz Brezec is expected to miss the first two weeks of the NBA season as he recovers from exhaustion and dehydration, the Bobcats said on Wednesday. Brezec, 27, spent most of his offseason helping the Slovenian national team prepare for the world championships. Due to the lack of rest, he missed a portion of training camp and sat out of three of the Bobcats' eight preseason games. Brezec appeared in 79 games with Charlotte last season, averaging 12.4 points and 5.6 rebounds. The Bobcats can slide Emeka Okafor from power forward to center or start Melvin Ely or Jake Voskuhl in the middle.
■ Baseball
Mota gets 50-game ban
Free agent reliever Guillermo Mota, who ended the season with the New York Mets, was suspended for 50 games on Wednesday for violating MLB drug policy. In keeping with the league's policy, the nature of Mota's violation was not revealed when his punishment was announced by the MLB commissioner's office. "I have no one to blame but myself," Mota said in a statement. "I take full responsibility for my actions and accept MLB's suspension." Mota, who came to New York in August in a trade with Cleveland, was an effective set-up man for the Mets, posting a 3-0 record with a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings pitched over 18 games.
■ Beach Soccer
Brazil want crown back
Brazil is eager to reclaim the title of champion when the second FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup gets under way today. Brazil was a nine-time champion under Beach Soccer Worldwide's reign, but France won the inaugural title when FIFA took over last year. Brazil was upset by Portugal in the semifinals and failed to win the crown for only the second time since it was first contested in 1995. France and Brazil remain the teams to beat this year on Copacabana Beach, even though they won't come with some of their top players. This year's tournament will have 16 teams.
■ Baseball
Simmons dies aged 111
Silas Simmons, a pitcher-outfielder who played in the US Negro leagues and was said to be the oldest living professional baseball player, died two weeks after his 111th birthday. He died on Sunday in a nursing home, Zion Hill Mortuary said on Wednesday. Simmons, a left-hander, played for several teams from 1912-29, including the New York Lincoln Giants of the Eastern Colored League, the Cuban Stars and the Blue Ribbons of Germantown, who later became the Homestead Grays. Simmons was born in Middleton, Delaware, in 1895, the same year as Babe Ruth, and honored by the Center for Negro League Baseball Research on his birthday on Oct. 14. A Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan, Simmons was presented with a No. 111 jersey. Researchers this year identified him as the oldest living man to have played professionally.
■ Spain
Huge bid for TV rights
Madrid's regional government and a local bank have bid 600 million euros (US$765.7 million) to broadcast Real Madrid's games, the ABC newspaper reported on Wednesday. The team has been offered 120 million euros for each of the five seasons from 2009 to 2013 by free-to-air network Telemadrid -- which is controlled by the regional government -- and bank Caja Madrid. Sogecable, which forms part of media giant Prisa, currently pays 55 million euros a season for Real Madrid's matches, which are shown via digital platform Digital Plus. This deal runs until 2008, although Sogecable has the option to extend it for a further year by paying 60 million euros.
■ Brazil
Veteran star out of hospital
Brazilian World Cup veteran Nilton Santos was released from hospital on Wednesday, 20 days after being admitted with heart disease. The 81-year-old former defender left a Rio de Janeiro hospital after a heart catheterization conducted on Monday showed he would not need surgery, doctors said. Doctors said Nilton Santos suffered from a dilated cardiomyopathy, or an enlargement and weakening of the heart, but it could be treated with medication. Doctors had said earlier he also suffered from an ischemia, or lack of blood flow to the heart. Nilton Santos had been hospitalized since Oct. 11 after feeling ill at his home near Rio de Janeiro. Nilton Santos, a defender for Rio de Janeiro's Botafogo, helped Brazil win the 1958 and 1962 World Cups. He played 85 matches for Brazil, scoring four goals. With Nilton Santos and others including striker Garrincha and midfielder Didi, Botafogo was the only club to rival Pele's Santos in the early 1960s.
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
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