■BASEBALL
Gred Maddux to retire
Four-time pitcher of the year Greg Maddux will announce his retirement tomorrow at the Major League Baseball winter meetings in Las Vegas. Maddux, who turns 43 in April, ranks eighth on the MLB career wins list with 355. He went 8-13 with a 4.22 ERA last season with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. Maddux made three relief appearances in the playoffs for the Dodgers this year — he had an 0.00 ERA over four innings — and then filed for free agency amid speculation he would retire. On Friday, confirmation came from the office of Maddux’s agent, Scott Boras. Maddux, his family and Boras will hold a news conference at the hotel where the meetings are being held to announce one of the greatest pitchers is finished after 23 MLB seasons.
■SKELETON
Rommel wins World Cup
Frank Rommel of Germany won his first World Cup men’s skeleton race on Friday, overcoming a low starting position to edge Martins Dukurs of Latvia. Rommel, who was disqualified in the season opener last week in Winterberg for missing a start signal, started 19th and finished third in the first heat, which was led by Dukurs. The German posted the fastest time in the second to beat Dukurs by .12 seconds. Rommel finished in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 57.41 seconds. Sandro Stielicke of Germany moved up four places after the first heat to take third. Florian Grass of Germany finished fourth to lead the overall World Cup after two of eight races. Anja Huber beat German teammate Kerstin Szymkowski in the women’s race for her second straight World Cup.
■BASKETBALL
Countries bid for 2014
Three countries competing to host the men’s basketball World Championship in 2014 delivered their bids to governing body FIBA on Friday. China and Italy included taped messages of support from NBA stars Yao Ming and Andrea Bargnani in presentations made at a theater in FIBA’s home city of Geneva. Defending world champion Spain is the third candidate. FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann said China would be a leading contender after the successful Olympic tournament in Beijing last August, which was won by the US. “China are clearly favorite in terms of coming in with the experience,” he told reporters. “Spain is the reigning world champion and Olympic silver medalist. Italy has a strong history and passion for basketball.” Turkey is scheduled to host the next world championship, in August and September 2010.
■FOOTBALL
Buffalo takes MAC title
The 12th-ranked Ball State Cardinals fumbled the ball four times and Buffalo scored off each turnover, routing the previously unbeaten team 42-24 Friday in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship game. Ball State (12-1) finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1949, but entered the game without much of a shot to bust into the Bowl Championship Series because it trailed Utah in the standings. The Bulls returned fumbles 92 and 74 yards on consecutive drives late in the third quarter to take a 28-17 lead. Buffalo (8-5) won its first MAC title, capping the program’s first bowl-eligible season since joining college football’s top tier of teams in 1999. NFL scouts at Ford Field saw Ball State quarterback Nate Davis struggle to hold onto the ball. The Cardinals fumbled four times and Davis was involved each time. Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy, meanwhile, played mistake-free football. Willy was 19-of-28 for 206 yards.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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