SOCCER
Valdano mends with coach
Real Madrid director-general Jorge Valdano sought to mend his fractured relationship with coach Jose Mourinho on Wednesday by offering the Portuguese more autonomy within the La Liga club. Mourinho has barely concealed his contempt for Valdano, who is No. 2 to president Florentino Perez, and pointedly told reporters last week he does not speak to the Argentine about player transfers. “The most important thing, from my responsibility, is to avoid creating more tension,” Valdano said after Real won 1-0 at Sevilla in their King’s Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday. “We have to see in what way the coach can feel more comfortable,” he added. “We are working to create the necessary conditions for the coach to act autonomously.” Mourinho has complained of a lack of support from club officials over his criticism of referees and was unhappy that Real initially appeared reluctant to bring in a striker to replace the injured Gonzalo Higuain. The former Inter and Chelsea manager’s request was granted this week when Real signed Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City on loan until the end of the season.
HOCKEY
Jewish player sues Ducks
A Jewish hockey player is suing the Anaheim Ducks alleging he was discriminated against while a member of the National Hockey League’s California-based affiliate team. Bakersfield Condors head coach Marty Raymond and Mark Pederson have both apologized to Jason Bailey for apparently making anti-Semitic remarks in the ECHL team’s facilities. The 23-year-old minor league hockey player filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court. The suit says Bailey, a forward, was given limited ice time despite being one of the top players on the team.
BASKETBALL
Cavaliers take a nosedive
The downtrodden Cleveland Cavaliers are on the verge of a record-setting tailspin just one year after being the NBA’s best regular-season team. A Cleveland loss to Denver today would equal the longest single-season losing streak ever by the once-proud franchise, which has been in a nosedive since the offseason departure of LeBron James. Not since 1982 has a Cleveland team dropped 19 consecutive games. “That’s something that we don’t need [reminding about],” Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison told reporters after loss No. 18, a demoralizing 112-97 defeat at Boston on Tuesday. The Cavaliers of 1982 combined for an NBA record 24 consecutive defeats over two seasons, not winning a game from March 19 until Nov. 10, 1982. The single-season record is 23 by Vancouver, in 1996, and Denver, in 1997-1998.
SOCCER
Bayern chair seeks calm
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Wednesday moved to calm the troubled waters at the German giants in the wake of captain Mark van Bommel’s shock move to AC Milan. It has been a difficult week for Bayern after van Bommel, 33, who was out of contract at the end of the season, quit the club in dramatic fashion on Tuesday and revealed he had not said goodbye to coach Louis van Gaal. Then last weekend, Bayern president Uli Hoeness re-ignited his feud with van Gaal when he questioned the Dutchman’s methods. Rummenigge has moved to calm Munich’s troubles. “We shouldn’t make life any harder for ourselves,” Rummenigge told Munich newspaper TZ. “There is a motto at Bayern, ‘Mia san mia,’ that means harmony, loyalty and a desire to work for the well-being of Bayern.”
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
The Philippines curling team has been rocking it in Harbin, claiming the tropical nation’s first Asian Winter Games medal yesterday with a victory in the men’s final against South Korea. The team of Marc Pfister, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and alternate Benjo Delarmente took gold with a 5-3 win at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. The Philippines Olympic Committee was quick to celebrate with a post on Instagram to mark the historic gold. “This is the first-ever medal for the Philippines at the Asian Winter Games, and the highest achievement for a Southeast Asian athlete in the Games’ history! What an incredible
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round. Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7),