■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.
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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