■RUGBY LEAGUE
Aussie player wields knife
A rugby league player tried to threaten an opponent with a knife after a brawl during a playoff match in a lower-tier competition in Victoria state, Australia. Police say teammates had to restrain the 26-year-old player during the Sunraysia Rugby League semi-final, and his coach quickly disarmed him. The Chaffey Titans player is facing a possible life ban from the sport when the league board meets later this week. The incident started early in the first half on Saturday when players fought after a hard hit. A player involved then left the field to get a knife from his car. After the incident, the Mildura Tigers were awarded the match.
■NEW ZEALAND
Unique sportsman dies
Eric Tindill, who achieved unique status in world sport by playing both rugby and cricket for New Zealand, then refereeing test rugby and umpiring test cricket, died on Sunday in Wellington Hospital. At 99 years, 226 days he was the world’s longest living test cricketer and New Zealand’s oldest rugby international. Tindill played 16 matches for New Zealand’s All Blacks between 1935 and 1938, but only one rugby test, against England in 1936. He played five cricket tests for New Zealand between 1937 and 1947 in a career punctuated by World War II. Although George Dickinson, Curly Page, Charlie Oliver, Jeff Wilson and Brian McKechnie also represented New Zealand in both rugby and cricket, Tindill was the only player to play tests in both codes. He was referee in two rugby tests between the All Blacks and British and Irish Lions in 1950 and New Zealand’s second test against Australia in 1955. He then umpired New Zealand’s cricket test against England at Christchurch in the summer of 1958 to 1959.
■ATHLETICS
Riseley to miss New Delhi
Australian middle-distance runner Jeff Riseley said yesterday he would miss October’s New Delhi Commonwealth Games after requiring foot surgery. Riseley, 23, said he had been troubled by a plantar fascia injury for the last 18 months, having partially torn it at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. He said after recently returning to the track that it became clear he still couldn’t run properly and he will have surgery tomorrow. “It’s a massive blow in what has been a horrible year for me, but it’s better to have it done this year because in the big picture, the Commonwealth Games don’t mean anything with World Champs and Olympics around the corner,” Riseley wrote on his blog.
■BOXING
Klitsccko wants ‘little dog’
Vladimir Klitschko said it was time David Haye committed to a fight with the Ukrainian, telling the Briton he “owes it to the fans.” However, Klitshcko admitted the fight with Haye, who he described as a “little dog,” was unlikely to happen soon. “I am ready to fight against David Haye anywhere in this world,” Klitschko said in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday. “He [Haye] just needs to make the next step. Sign the contract, get in the ring and get the fight. “I have no respect for this man because he is nothing but a little dog who just runs away when the big dog turns around. It’s not about the money and the business, it’s about pride [for him], but I think he owes it to the fans.” Vladimir, the younger of heavyweight boxing’s dominant Klitschko siblings, holds the WBO, IBF and IBO belts. Vitali, his brother, is the WBC champion and Haye holds the WBA title. The Klitschkos will not fight each other, meaning that most boxing followers, and broadcasters, hope for a Vladimir Klitschko-Haye showdown.
■BOXING
Twins in Commonwealth
Australia’s first boxing twins are in a 10-strong team for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association said yesterday. Andrew Moloney will compete in the light-flyweight 46kg-49kg category, while his 19-year-old twin brother, Jason, will fight in the 49kg-52kg flyweight class. The Moloney siblings will be the third set of twins to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games. Legendary cricketers Mark and Steve Waugh competed at the Kuala Lumpur Games in 1998, while road cyclists Remo and Sal Sansonetti competed at the 1978 Edmonton Games and were flag bearers at the opening ceremony. One of Australia’s hottest young boxing prospects Damien Hooper, 18, will compete in the middleweight 69kg-75kg class. Hooper won a silver medal at this year’s World Youth Championships and will represent Australia at next month’s inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore. The super heavyweight and veteran of the team at 29 is Russian-born Alexey Mukhin.
■BASEBALL
Latinos unprivileged: Guillen
Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen says Asian players are given privileges in the US that Latinos are not afforded. In his latest rant, the outspoken Guillen also says he’s the “only one” in baseball teaching young players from Latin America not to use performance-enhancing drugs and that Major League Baseball doesn’t care about that. He says the MLB only cares about how often he argues with umpires and what he says to the media. Guillen says it’s unfair that Japanese players are assigned translators when they come to the US to play pro ball, but Latinos are not. He says players from Latin America are considered too old to sign if they’re past 16 or 17, yet college prospects from the US are often signed at age 22 or 23.
■BASKETBALL
Obama attends WNBA game
US President Barack Obama took his daughter Sasha to watch the Washington Mystics defeat the Tulsa Shock 87-62 in a WNBA game on Sunday with disgraced ex-track star Marion Jones on the losing side. Obama played basketball against a US Army team in the US capital before joining his daughter and one of her friends in courtside seats at the Verizon Center. Obama’s arrival was greeted with great applause when shown to the crowd on a large scoreboard videoscreen above the court. Obama has attended basketball games before, including college games involving Georgetown and George Washington universities.
■FOOTBALL
Revis seeks new contract
New York Jets All-Pro defensive back Darrelle Revis is holding out of training camp in search of a new contract, the team said on Sunday. Revis skipped the Jets’ conditioning session on Sunday and has indicated he will sit out of the team’s activities until his financial issues with New York are resolved. Revis is currently in the midst of a rookie contract that makes him one of the lowest-paid defensive backs on his team. Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said he had made multiple offers to Revis and his agents and that the lines of communication would remain open. Since being drafted in 2007, Revis has been a major catalyst for the Jets defense. He appeared in back-to-back Pro Bowls and was voted the team MVP last season after helping lead the franchise to the AFC Championship Game. The Jets have Super Bowl ambitions but will likely need their defensive anchor on the field.
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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