■ICE HOCKEY
Coyotes’ chairman resigns
Jeff Shumway resigned as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the financially troubled Phoenix Coyotes on Friday. Shumway had served as CEO of the Coyotes since April 2006. He was relinquishing his duties with the NHL team to manage other business ventures of team owner Jerry Moyes. “Jeff has done a great job in managing the team for me but right now I need him to focus on some of my other projects,” Moyes said in a statement. The 51-year-old Shumway’s resignation removes an upper layer of management for the team coached by Wayne Gretzky. Moyes will take over as the Coyotes’ governor on the NHL Board of Governors, and president Doug Moss and general manager Don Maloney will report directly to Moyes.
■ICE HOCKEY
Players decline agreement
The executive board of the NHL Players’ Association turned down an opportunity to reopen the collective bargaining agreement with the NHL on Friday, ensuring labor peace through the 2010-2011 season. The union had until May to decide, but chose to make the announcement early during NHL All-Star weekend. The players’ association can extend the deal, which ended the yearlong lockout in 2005, for another season if it chooses. That determination won’t have to be made until May 2011. The NHL held out to get a “cost-certainty” model and finally convinced the union to accept a salary cap system after the 2004-2005 season was canceled due to the lockout.
■BASKETBALL
Iavaroni fired by Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies announced the firing of coach Marc Iavaroni on Friday. The Grizzlies also said assistant coach Johnny Davis would take over the National Basketball Association team on an interim basis. In one-and-a-half seasons, Iavaroni compiled a 33-90 record. The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, now an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks, will be eventually be named as Iavaroni’s replacement. The newspaper said that Hollins plans to bring with him former Philadelphia 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks and former Los Angeles Clippers coach Barry Heckler.
■ICE HOCKEY
Jazz owner has surgery
Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller, who suffers from diabetes, underwent double amputation surgery on Friday. As part of the operation, Miller’s lower legs were amputated 15cm below each knee. Miller has type two diabetes and the Jazz said his recovery could take months. “Larry is doing well and is expected to continue to recover in the coming weeks and months,” said Greg Miller, chief executive of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies. The 64-year-old business tycoon Miller has owned the Jazz for 23 years.
■FOOTBALL
Chiefs’ head coach fired
Herm Edwards, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs during the worst two-year span in team history, was fired on Friday. Edwards goes out with a three-year regular-season record of 15-33 and with one year remaining on a four-year, US$12 million contract. As head coach of the New York Jets in 2001-2005, he had a regular-season mark of 39-41 and was 2-3 in the playoffs. Edwards had been waiting to learn his fate since president and general manager Carl Peterson abruptly resigned on Dec. 15. When Scott Pioli was introduced as Peterson’s successor on Jan. 13, he was noncommittal and said only that he intended to speak with Edwards.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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