Thursday, July 15, 2010

Latest Sports Buzz

Latest Sports Buzz

Raja Bell Joins Jazz; Rockets Retain Lowry

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

AHN Sports Staff

Salt Lake City, UT, United States (AHN) – The Utah Jazz continued to add pieces to their already formidable team Wednesday with the acquisition of defensive stopper Raja Bell.

Multiple sources reported Bell, a two-time NBA all-defensive team member, agreed to sign with the Jazz on a three-year, $10 million deal.

The Jazz hopes Bell will fill the void left by restricted free agent guards Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver, who signed with the Blazers and the Bulls respectively.

The 33-year old Bell averaged 10.3 points and 2 boards per game while shooting .411 from the three-point line for 12 seasons.

Known as one of the league’s toughest one-on-one defender, Bell spurned the Los Angeles Lakers to reunite with Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan.

Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets kept point guard Kyle Lowry by matching Cavs’ four-year, $24 million offer.

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey needed roughly 12 hours to re-sign the reliable bacup point guard, who made strides last season.

The 24-year old Lowry averaged 9.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.6 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per game for the Rockets.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Verdasco Rolls In Sweden; Garrigues Clips Castano In Prague

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

AHN Sports Staff

Bastad, Sweden (AHN) – Spanish clay court expert Fernando Verdasco rolled on to the quarterfinal round of the ATP SkiStar Swedish Open Thursday after demolishing Stephane Robert of France 6-1 6-1 at Bastad Tennis Stadium in Sweden.

Verdasco, 26, unleashed powerful ground strokes and crosscourt beauties to wrap up the match in one hour and six minutes.

Ranked 10th in the world, Verdasco has now reached the Swedish Open’s quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.

Aiming for his fourth ATP finals appearance in the season, Verdasco should play his best game against two-time Swedish Open titlist Tommy Robredo of Spain Friday.

Robredo set up an all-Spanish quarterfinal affair with a gutsy 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, another Spanish rising star entered the Swedish Open quarterfinal Thursday, after Nicolas Almagro blasted Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4, 6-4.

Almagro, who reached the French Open semifinals this year, will play Croatian Franco Skugor, who defeated Ervin Eleskovic of Sweden 6-2 6-3.

Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues also booked a quarterfinal seat at the ECM Prague Open with 6-4 6-2 win over Catalina Castano of Columbia.

Garriguese, who wrapped up her match in one hour and 50 minutes, will play Czech Lucie Hradecka in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Wimbledon Open quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi of Estonia blasted Raluca Olaru of Romania 6-1, 6-2 at Internazionali Femminili di Palermo in Palermo Italy.

Kanepi, two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist, will face home favorite Sara Errani , who overcame Mirjana Lučić of Croatia 6-0, 7-6.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Semenya Wins Women`s 800 In Return To Track

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

Kareem Shaker – AHN Sports Reporter

Lappeenranta, Finland (AHN) – Caster Semenya returned to the track Thursday after being cleared following gender testing and won the women’s 800 meters in 2 minutes, 4.22seconds at the Elite Athletic Games.

Semenya was subject to scrutiny after winning the 800m gold medal in Berlin in 1:55.45.

After gender tests, the International Association of Athletics Federations cleared Semenya to resume her career last week.

Semenya, 19, finished just ahead of Finland’s Mari Jaervenpaese (2:04.71) and Ukraine’s Olga Jekimenko (2:05.00).

The South African is expected to race two more times before competing in the Commonwealth Games in India in October.

Though she was way off her career best before the gender questions, Thursday’s race makes Semenya the clear favorite at the Games.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Heat Rounding Out Roster, Complete Mike Miller Signing

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

Kareem Shaker – AHN Sports Reporter

Miami, FL, United States (AHN) – The Miami Heat further bolstered their roster Thursday by officially inking free agent shooting specialist Mike Miller to complement the signings of mega-free agents LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.

James, Bosh and Wade took reduced salaries in order for the Heat to be able to accommodate Miller and his University of Florida roommate Udonis Haslem.

Haslem, 30, averaged 9.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in his sixth season with Miami last year. Miller, also 30, averaged 10.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists for Washington in 2009-10.

Miller is expected to be command a five-year contract in the $25 million range, while Haslem, who is native of Miami, should receive slightly more.

With Haslem and Miller sewn up, Miami is expected to re-sign center Joel Anthony and go after former Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas .

The signing of Anthony would allow the Heat to exceed the league’s soft salary cap since he holds Bird Rights.

The exception allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents, provided they have played three seasons without being waived or changing teams.

The Heat are also said to be interested in Blazers power forward Juwan Howard for the veteran’s minimum.

Tracy McGrady, Jerry Stackhouse, Eddie House, Keyon Dooling, Jason Williams, Kwame Brown and Rasual Butler are some other names that have floated around.

In addition, the Heat could very well choose to retain members of their 2009-10 roster, including James Jones, Carlos Arroyo and Jamaal Magloire .

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

New Format For New-Look NCAA Men`s Hoops Tourney

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

Jojo Doria – AHN Sports Contributor

Indianapolis, IN, United States (AHN) – Beginning next March, eight teams will see action early during the opening week in the “First Four” round, according to the new format of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee for the newly expanded 68-team field in the NCAA Tournament.

Two of the first-round contests will feature the tournament’s lowest seeds, Nos. 65 through 68, with the winners advancing to play the No. 1 seed.

The other two games will pit the last four at large qualifiers.

The new format would translate to successful at-large teams in the opening game garnering seeds where they would normally be placed in the bracket.

It will mean that a first-round clash between a pair of No. 12 seeds would result in the winner advancing to face the No. 5 seed.

According to the overhauled format, the two teams from bigger conferences, those generally seeded 11th, 12th, or 13th, could be eliminated before the tournament really gets going.

On April, the committee decided to increase the teams invited from 65 to 68.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Girl, 14, Named To Wales` Commonwealth Table Tennis Squad

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

Jojo Doria – AHN Sports Contributor

Wales, United Kingdom (AHN) – Rising teen Charlotte Carey is likely to become the youngest member in the 150-member Welsh contingent bound for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India in October after being named the eight-member table tennis squad.

Carey, who turned 14 last month, will be joining the women’s team led by British champion Naomi Owen.

British Schools and Welsh champ Carey will part of the young table tennis squad that also includes 16-year-old twins Angharad and Megan Phillips.

It will be the first Commonwealth Games for the Phillips twins and Carey, who is also is a three-time European junior tournament winner.

It will be a “family affair” with player coach Ryan Jenkins, a nine-time Welsh champion, being joined by younger brother Stephen, winner of two table tennis Commonwealth championship bronze medals.

Veteran Adam Robertson and 18-year-old Patrick Thomas are also on the men’s team.

Robertson, 26, was a silver medalist at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, while Thomas, who was selected for the British senior team in the European and pro tours, made it to the last 16 in the 2008 Youth Commonwealths.

Stephen Gertsen, who is the women’s team coach, was named reserved for the men’s team.

The lineup for table tennis was revealed Monday in Cardiff.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be staged in Delhi, India on Oct. 3-14.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Favre Still Considering Options On NFL Return

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

AHN Sports Staff

Los Angeles, CA, United States (AHN) – Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre remains optimistic for a possible return next season despite concerns over his surgically repaired ankle, a major sports media outlet reported Wednesday.

Favre, three-time NFL MVP, expressed his desire to play for another season with the Vikings, but much depends on the recovery of his ankle.

“It starts with the ankle,” Favre told ESPN correspondent Hannah Storm Wednesday” I can walk fine, but you don’t walk in football.”

Favre graced the ESPY Awards Wednesday in Los Angeles, where he and wide receiver Greg Lewis won the best play award.

Lewis caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Favre to nail a thrilling come-from-behind 27-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers on September 27.

The 40-year old Favre felt his recovery has been quite slow eight weeks after the operation.

“When you wake up in the morning and your feet hurt it kind of makes the rest of your body hurt,” Favre told ESPN Wednesday. “And If you’ve been sacked 700 times that usually adds to it.”

Favre wanted to join the Vikings for another crack at next year’s Super Bowl title but insisted his body must cooperate.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Bettencourt Leads Tahoe-Reno Open; DiMarco One Shot Back

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

Tom Edrington – AHN Sports Reporter

Reno, NV, United States (AHN) – With temperatures pushing towards 100, Matt Bettancourt kept his cool and shot a six-under par 66 to take the first round lead Thursday at the Tahoe-Reno Open.

Bettencourt, looking for his first PGA Tour win, had six birdies and an eagle on the day to offset two bogeys.

He held a one-shot lead over veteran Chris DiMarco, who is looking for his first win in eight years.

DiMarco shot 67 and was tied for second with John Merrick.

Will McKenzie and Craig Bowden were two shots back at 68.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

Cohan Sells Warriors For Record $450 Million

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 05:43 PM PDT

Jojo Doria – AHN Sports Contributor

Oakland, CA, United States (AHN) – The Golden State Warriors could be heading in a new direction after owner Chris Cohan reached agreement Thursday to sell the franchise to an investor group led by Joseph Lacob for a reported record price of $450 million.

The deal, which needs approval by three-quarters of the NBA Board of Governors, surpasses the sale price of $401 million Robert Sarver had to raise to buy the Phoenix Suns in 2004.

Lacob, a Boston Celtics minority partner who would have to sell his portion of that team, and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber beat out front-runner bidder Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who reportedly made the highest bid.

Cohan, who owned the team since 1995, has reached the playoffs just once in his tenure.

In the 2007 playoffs, the Warriors became the first No. 8 seed to topple the top seed in a best-of-seven series. Golden State exited in the second round after succumbing to Utah.

Despite posting 48 wins the Warriors failed to reach the postseason in 2008 and struggled the next two seasons.

The Warriors have packed Oracle Arena in recent years due to a loyal fan base.

It is viewed as one of the reasons the Warriors remained a desirable acquisition despite the team’s lackluster performances in recent campaigns.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

NASCAR Crew Member Suspended

Posted: 15 Jul 2010 08:02 AM PDT

Edward Lewis – AHN Sports Reporter

Daytona Beach, FL, United States (AHN) – NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy has claimed yet another crew member.

Phillip Gibson, a crew member in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR Wednesday for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

The violation was discovered via a random test on July 11 and Gibson, a member of Mike Skinner’s No. 5 ride, was cited for violating Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 19 (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.

He is the second crew member in the last two weeks to be sidelined for violating the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.

Chris Moore, who works on the No. 43 NASCAR Sprint Cup car driven by AJ Allmendinger, was suspended two weeks ago.

Former two-time Nationwide Series champion Randy LaJoie was nabbed by the same policy three weeks ago. LaJoie, also an analyst for ESPN, had filed for a spotter’s license with the No. 18 car in the Nationwide Series.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)