■ FOOTBALL
Favre put on reserve list
The Green Bay Packers placed Brett Favre on the NFL’s reserve-retired list on Friday, meaning he no longer counts on the team’s 80-player roster. General manager Ted Thompson said the move was procedural in advance of the NFL draft. The 38-year-old Favre announced his retirementon March 6 in an emotional news conference. The team has announced it will retire the three-time MVP, No. 4 when the season starts in September. On Friday, Favre was unveiled as the cover boy for Madden NFL ‘09, the first retired player to have his face on the video game. He admitted he did not play the Madden game, which is celebrating its 20th year by highlighting Favre on the cover.
■ GYMNASTICS
Hamm gets approval
Morgan Hamm had his petition to the US gymnastics championships approved on Friday, keeping alive his quest to make a third Olympic squad. Hamm dropped out of a qualifying meet in Colorado on Wednesday, suffering from an allergic reaction that made breathing difficult. He is on the comeback trail after tearing a pectoral muscle in October. He planned to compete in four events, but dropped out after two, saying he could barely breathe during the floor exercise. It meant he had to file a petition to gain a spot in next month’s nationals. Predictably, the request was approved.
■ FIELD HOCKEY
Australia to play S Korea
Reigning Olympic champions Australia will play South Korea in the final of the four-nations field hockey tournament after beating the Koreans 3-2 in their final round-robin match yesterday. The Australians topped the standings after three games with seven points and will back up again to play second-placed South Korea in today’s final. A 3-0 halftime lead put the game in Australia’s control after a penalty conversion by Luke Doerner, and field goals from Andrew Smith and Simon Orchard. Yeo Woon-Kon pulled back two goals for South Korea in the 48th and 56th minutes.
■ BOXING
Calzaghe criticizes Hopkins
Joe Calzaghe has accused American Bernard Hopkins of being a “sore loser” after their light-heavyweight clash in Las Vegas yesterday. Unbeaten Welshman Calzaghe, the undisputed super-middleweight world champion, won a split decision after recovering from a first-round knockdown against the 43-year-old. Hopkins looked stunned after two of the three judges gave the fight to Calzaghe, one of them by a large 116-111 margin, and claimed he won the fight. “He should get over it,” 36-year-old Calzaghe told the BBC on Friday.
■ SWIMMING
Australians set records
Australian swimmers Leisel Jones and Libby Trickett set short-course world records yesterday at a national Grand Prix meet at the Australian Institute of Sport. Jones clocked 1 minute, 3.72 seconds in the 100m breaststroke to take 0.14 seconds off her own mark set at the Australian championships in Hobart in 2006. Just moments after Jones performance, Trickett finished in a time of 55.74 in the 100m butterfly to take 0.15 seconds off the mark set earlier this month by compatriot Felicity Galvez at the short-course world championships in Manchester, England. Galvez did not compete in the 100 butterfly at this meet. Jones, a five-time Olympic medalist, did not compete at the world short-course titles.
■ SOCCER
Players call off strike action
Players at struggling Spanish first division side Levante have called off their threat to strike during today’s match at Recreativo Huelva after the cash-strapped club found a way to pay debts to the squad. “We finally have a solution. I think it is good for everyone,” Levante captain Luis Rubiales told radio Cadena Ser in the early hours of yesterday. The squad announced on April 17 that it would strike yesterday and today over unpaid wages and bonuses. The players had up until now rejected all offers to settle the debts that were made by the club. Overall debts to the players total 18 million euros (US$28.4 million), local newspaper Levante EMV reported earlier this week. Some players are still owed bonuses from last season, it said.
■ CRICKET
Harbhajan in slapping row
India spinner Harbhajan Singh could face disciplinary action following reports he slapped compatriot Shanthakumaran Sreesanth at an Indian Premier League game. Television pictures showed Sreesanth sobbing at the end of the game late on Friday after his Mohali team defeated Mumbai, which is captained by Harbhajan. The Hindustan Times daily reported that Harbhajan had slapped the young fast bowler. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Niranjan Shah said the spinner had been asked to explain his actions. “The BCCI condemns the behavior of Harbhajan Singh as a contracted player of the board and he is called upon to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him and has been asked for clarification by Monday evening,” he said in a statement. Harbhajan said the media were trying to sensationalize the issue. “It is between me and Sree. What you’re showing on TV, it is between us.”
■ SOCCER
CSKA Sofia close in on title
CSKA Sofia moved within one victory of their 31st Bulgarian league title with a 4-0 drubbing of Marek Dupnitsa on Friday. The Reds, as CSKA are known, top the table with 68 points from 26 matches and will wrap up the championship if they beat mid-table Botev Plovdiv on Wednesday. Brazilian striker Nei scored twice, with the other goals coming from Romanian midfielder Florentin Petre and Yordan Yurukov. Levski Sofia, CSKA’s bitter rivals, are second on 58 points with four games remaining. Champions Levski kept alive their slim title chances with a 4-0 home win over Pirin Blagoevgrad.
■ CRICKET
Bransgrove criticizes wait
Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove said on Friday it was ludicrous to wait until 2010 to launch the English version of the Indian Premier League. “We conceived Twenty20, but India has been quicker to exploit its commercial potential,” Bransgrove said. “The idea to launch in 2010 is ludicrous. I would have started making changes this year, including more overseas players or making it two-divisional. It’s not brain surgery.”
■ SOCCER
Dortmund salvage a point
Jakub Blaszczykowsk’s 51st-minute header salvaged a 1-1 draw for Borussia Dortmund against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Friday. Six days after losing the German Cup final, struggling Dortmund held 12th place as they matched Benjamin Koehler’s headed goal for Frankfurt seconds into the second half. The goals kicked off a furious half in which both teams traded chances following a cautious approach before the break. Eighth-placed Frankfurt suffered a setback in their hopes of gaining a UEFA Cup berth.
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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