■FOOTBALL
‘Pacman’ enters treatment
Suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones has entered an alcohol treatment center. The oft-troubled player has checked into a facility “in another part of the country,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters in New York on Monday. “It’s totally done through and by the NFL,” Jerry Jones said. The league suspended Adam Jones for at least four games last Tuesday for again violating its personal conduct policy. Only six weeks after being reinstated from a 17-month suspension because of repeated legal problems, Jones was involved in an alcohol-related scuffle on Oct. 7 with one of his bodyguards at a private party in Dallas. Asked if he believed the treatment would help Adam Jones deal with his problems, Cowboys coach Wade Phillips stammered a bit before reiterating that he wasn’t going to discuss players not with the team. “Same as last week, he’s not with us,” Phillips said. “My concern is the guys that are with us, and try to get them to play well.”
■FOOTBALL
Johnson accused of spitting
Kansas City running back Larry Johnson is being investigated for spitting a drink in a woman’s face at a nightclub during the Chiefs’ bye week. It’s the fourth time in five years he’s been accused of assaulting a woman. Kansas City police are investigating a report of non-aggravated assault against Johnson for an incident at Club Blonde in Kansas City on Oct. 10. Ashley Stewart, 28, said Johnson told her he was going to kill her boyfriend, then took a drink and spit it in her face, according to the police report. Johnson was charged with simple assault last month for pushing the side of a woman’s face at a club in February.
■RUGBY UNION
MacLeod fails drugs test
Scotland international lock Scott MacLeod has failed a drugs test, bringing about the launching of an investigation by the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), it was revealed on Monday. A urine sample given by the Scarlets forward was found to contain abnormally high levels of testosterone and he has been suspended. BBC Sport reported, however, the 29-year-old has pleaded his innocence and asked for a B sample to be tested. “As part of Scottish Rugby’s anti-doping regulations a process is now under way,” the SRU said in a statement. “Until that due process is complete it would be inappropriate for us to make any further comment.” MacLeod, capped 21 times by his country, cannot play for or train with Scotland or the Scarlets until the investigation is completed.
■BOXING
Calzaghe rejects rematch
Welshman Joe Calzaghe has turned down a return fight against Bernard Hopkins, whom he beat in a split decision in a light-heavyweight bout earlier this year in Las Vegas. Calzaghe, the reigning WBC, WBA and WBO super-middleweight champion, on Monday ruled out the rematch following Hopkins’ stunning victory over Kelly Pavlik at the weekend. Hopkins, 43, rolled back the years to hand the world middleweight champion his first ever defeat in a lopsided points victory in Atlantic City on Saturday. Calzaghe rejected any chance of him fighting Hopkins again. “He is thinking of the money,” Calzaghe said when told Hopkins was prepared to face him on British soil. “At the end of the day, I didn’t fight my best and he lost and I did that in Las Vegas. What chance has he got over here? That fight is not getting me excited. I won the first fight and it wasn’t a great fight to watch ... I don’t think a second fight would be more exciting. It would probably be more boring.”
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
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