FOOTBALL
NFL to probe Favre photos
The NFL has launched a probe into allegations that all-star quarterback Brett Favre transmitted lewd photos to a former female New York Jets employee. The allegations were made on a Web site, called Deadspin, which posted a video of a man it claims was Minnesota Vikings player Favre, who is a grandfather, showing him from the waist down. The Web site claims the person who received the indecent photos and spicy voice mails was Jenn Sterger, who got the graphic images via cellphone. “We are reviewing the matter,” league spokesman Greg Aiello said. “I’m not getting into that. I’ve got my hands full with the Jets and am trying to get some timing down with our guys, so that’s all I’m going to discuss,” Favre said. Favre and his wife, Deanna, have been married 14 years. He turns 41 on Sunday and became a grandfather earlier this year. If the NFL finds that he violated its player conduct rules, Favre could be fined or suspended.
EQUESTRIAN
Lamaze, Le Jeune move on
Canada’s Eric Lamaze, Belgium’s Philippe Le Jeune, Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa and Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al Sharbatly advanced to the show jumping final on Friday in the World Equestrian Games. Para dressage continued as well, with individual freestyle tests in the grade I-A and III divisions. Britain swept the grade I-A competition with Emma Sheardown taking the gold medal, Sophie Christiansen the silver and Anne Dunham the bronze. The grade III division was won by Germany’s Hannelore Brenner. In other news, carriage driving, which is a four-day event, held its second day of dressage. In team competition, the US and the Netherlands were tied for first and Australia was third.
FORMULA ONE
Hamilton faces penalty
Lewis Hamilton’s Japanese Grand Prix nightmare intensified yesterday when McLaren said their Formula One title contender would have a five-place penalty on the starting grid for a gearbox change. “In P3 [final practice] today, we noticed abnormal gearbox oil pressure on Lewis’s car which we believed we had corrected ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session,” the team said in a statement. “This afternoon, as we fired up Lewis’s car several times in preparation for qualifying, we became aware that the symptoms were worse than we’d originally diagnosed. A decision was later taken to change the gearbox ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying session and the grand prix. As a result, Lewis will receive a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race.” Qualifying could not take place yesterday due to heavy rain at Suzuka and was postponed to this morning. Hamilton, the 2008 champion who has failed to finish three of his last four races, has completed only a handful of laps so far after crashing in Friday’s first practice and missing most of the second.
VOLLEYBALL
US, Russia battle for fifth
The US were to play Russia for fifth place at the men’s volleyball world championships after cruising past Germany on Friday. The US won in the fifth-to-eighth place playoff and is guaranteed its best finish at worlds since winning bronze in 1994. The US finished 10th in 2006 and ninth in 1998 and 2002. Russia, ranked No. 2 in the world, defeated Bulgaria 25-20, 26-24, 20-25, 25-23 to ensure it would do better than its worst finish of seventh at a world championships. The third-ranked US and Russia were to meet yesterday in Modena, Italy. Serbia and Cuba were to play in the tournament semi--finals in Rome, followed by Italy and Brazil in the other semi-final.
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
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
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,
RSS