■ Basketball
Timberwolves fire coach
The Minnesota Timberwolves fired head coach Dwane Casey on Tuesday and named assistant coach Randy Wittman as coach of the NBA team for the rest of the season. The Timberwolves have lost four straight games to slip back to the .500 mark at 20-20, and the club was underachieving in the mind of vice president of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale. "We started the season with certain goals and expectations that have not been met," McHale told reporters. "We've struggled with being consistent throughout the year and ultimately that's the head coach's responsibility. I want to thank Dwane for his hard work and commitment to this team, and wish him well." Casey posted a record of 53-69 in less than two full seasons as head coach of the T-Wolves. He spent 11 seasons as an assistant with the Seattle SuperSonics prior to taking the job in Minnesota.
■ Football
Tank Johnson can play
Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson will play in the Super Bowl -- with court approval and a warning from a judge to stay out of trouble. Cook County Judge John Moran granted a defense request on Tuesday to allow Johnson to leave the state as he awaits trial on gun possession charges. The Bears will play the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl in Miami on Feb. 4. Moran set no special restrictions on Johnson but said he must obey the law "or dire consequences will result." Johnson was arrested on Dec. 14 after police raided his home in Gurnee, about 65km northwest of Chicago. Prosecutors say officers found three rifles, three handguns and ammunition in Johnson's home. He faces 10 counts of possession of firearms without a state gun-owner identification card.
■ Soccer
Haiti wins Caribbean Cup
Haiti won the Caribbean Cup by defeating Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 in Tuesday's soccer final in Port-of-Spain, and Cuba claimed third place after downing Guadeloupe 2-1. First-time winner Haiti, contesting only its second final in the Cup's 18-year history, emerged triumphant after a competition lasting 73 matches and involving 25 teams. Eight-time winner Trinidad, fielding a fledgling side because of club commitments for many star players, fell behind in the 22nd minute when Alexandre Boucicaut scored off a rebound. The strength and pace of Eliphene Cadet took him round the Trinidad defense on the right flank, and his cross found Fucien Brunel, whose shot was saved by Jan Michael Williams but Boucicaut followed up. Brunel profited from confusion in the penalty area to double the advantage in the 51st.
■ Ice Hockey
East defeats West
New Jersey Devils forward Zach Parise had two goals and four assists to lead the Eastern Conference over the Western Conference 9-8 in the NHL YoungStars game on Tuesday. Parise, a first-round pick by the Devils in 2003, was selected the MVP. Boston's Phil Kessel scored his third goal four minutes into the third period, assisted by Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal and Parise to give the East a 9-4 lead. The West scored the last four goals in the game, and had a chance to tie in the final 30 seconds when Finland's Jussi Jokinen of the hometown Dallas Stars -- the lowest draft pick in the game, picked 192nd overall in the sixth round in 2001 -- missed from the front of the net. Jokinen had a goal in the first period and another was disallowed.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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