BASKETBALL
Butler out with knee injury
Dallas Mavericks forward Caron Butler underwent right knee surgery on Tuesday to repair a ruptured right patellar tendon and is expected to miss the rest of the NBA season, the team announced. Losing the 30-year-old playmaker will be a major blow for the Mavericks, who are 25-8 and second in the Western Conference to Southwest division rival and overall NBA leader San Antonio. Butler, who suffered the injury in a loss on Saturday in Milwaukee, has averaged 15 points to rank third in team scoring and also contributed 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in almost 30 minutes a game for Dallas this season. In messages posted on his Twitter account from the hospital, Butler was optimistic about the Mavericks’ chances for success even without him. “Championship! Remember that fans that’s what its about and we have what it take in that lockeroom to get it done,” Butler posted on Twitter.
BASEBALL
Price wins Spahn award
Tampa Bay’s David Price was on Tuesday named the winner of the Warren Spahn Award as the top left-handed pitcher in the major leagues last season. The award is based on a pitcher’s wins, strikeouts and earned run average. Price had 19 victories, 188 strikeouts and a 2.72 ERA last year. “I am honored,” Price (19-6) told major league baseball’s official Web site (www.mlb.com). “To be included in a group with the past winners — CC Sabathia, Randy Johnson and others — is very exciting.” Hall of Famer Spahn, who died in 2003, holds the major league record for victories by a left-hander with 363.
BASEBALL
Scout charged with fraud
Authorities in the Dominican Republic have accused a scout of fraud and of falsifying documents to obtain professional contracts for talented players. Police said in a statement on Tuesday that the arrest of Victor Baez is part of a new push to investigate scouts they say are selling false hopes to young players. Baez has for many years run a well-known development program for local standouts that have gone on to play in the US.
RUGBY UNION
Dafydd Jones retires
Wales flanker Dafydd Jones has retired from rugby union after failing to recover from a shoulder injury, the Scarlets, the back-row’s club, announced on Tuesday. Jones was injured during Wales’ international against New Zealand in November 2009 and subsequently underwent two operations. However, the 31-year-old, capped 42 times by his country, has now decided to retire from rugby after consulting specialists following 13 seasons with the Llanelli-based Scarlets. “This has been a really tough time for me and my family,” Jones said in a statement issued by his club. “It’s a very hard decision to retire from rugby, which has been the sport and career I’ve known and loved since I was a teenager. All my efforts have gone into playing rugby for the Scarlets and for Wales, and I am very proud of and enjoyed everything I have done. It has taken a while to sink in that I’m not actually going to be playing any more, but the decision was really made for me as the medics said there was no way back from the damage caused by the injury.” Scarlets coach Nigel Davies added: “Dafydd has been a trusted, committed and respected senior member of this Scarlets squad and a loyal servant to our team for over a decade.”
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
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