BOSTON (AP) - BOSTON MARATHON ANNIVERSARY
Survivors, first responders and relatives of those killed in the Boston Marathon bombing marked the anniversary with tributes that combined sorrow over the loss of innocent victims with pride over the city’s resilience in the face of a terror attack.
“This day will always be hard, but this place will always be strong,” former Mayor Thomas Menino told an invitation-only audience of about 2,500 people at the Hynes Convention Center, not far from the finish line, where two pressure cooker bombs hidden in backpacks killed three people and injured more than 260 others a year ago.
Vice President Joe Biden, who attended the ceremony, said the courage shown by survivors and those who lost loved ones is an inspiration for other Americans dealing with loss and tragedy.
“You have become the face of America’s resolve,” he said.
Biden also praised the 36,000 runners who plan to run the marathon next week, saying they will send a message to terrorists.
CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago White Sox paid tribute to victims of the Boston Marathon bombing before their game against the Red Sox.
The White Sox played a video montage and held a moment of silence as both teams lined up outside their dugouts to mark the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. White Sox players and coaches wore T-shirts with the Boston Strong logo that the Red Sox often donned last year.
JACKIE ROBINSON
NEW YORK (AP) - Marking the 67th anniversary of the day Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier, the Rev. Jesse Jackson praised Commissioner Bud Selig for the strides the sport has taken in minority opportunities over the past two decades.
Jackson traveled to baseball’s 1992 winter meetings to criticize its lack of minorities in management, and he pushed for change. Selig retired Robinson’s No. 42 in 1997 on the 50th anniversary of the big league debut of the Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman. Selig established a Diverse Business Partners program the following year and in 1999 started requiring clubs to consider at least one minority for each manager and major executive opening. MLB also sponsors 35 Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholars.
Jackson said Jackie Robinson Day had become “a national holiday for all practical purposes.”
HOCKEY
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Another group of former NHL players has joined the fight for compensation for head injuries they say they incurred while playing, while at the same time targeting the violence of the game that they believe brought about those injuries.
Retired players Dave Christian, Reed Larson and William Bennett filed a class action lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday alleging that the league has promoted fighting and downplayed the risk of head injuries that come from it.
“I think the glorified violence is really the Achilles heel for the NHL,” said Charles “Bucky” Zimmerman, an attorney at Zimmerman Reed that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the players. “If anything comes of this, the focus on the glorified violence and perhaps the change to that will be a good thing.”
The lawsuit, which is similar to one brought by former football players against the NFL, joins others filed by hockey players in Washington and New York and seeks monetary damages and increased medical monitoring.
BASEBALL
NEW YORK (AP) - Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says the sport’s new replay system is working well despite a few problems during its first two weeks.
While baseball began video review late in the 2008 season, it was limited to potential home runs and boundary calls. The new system that began March 30 vastly expands the types of plays that managers and umpires can ask to be reviewed at a replay center in New York.
Calls by umpires on the field have been confirmed in 33 of 89 challenges through Monday and overturned in 30. For 25 others, calls stood because of a lack of “clear and convincing” evidence. In one instance, umpires asked for a video review to check the balls-strike count.
BALTIMORE (AP) - Tampa Bay left-hander Matt Moore will miss the remainder of the season after opting to have elbow-ligament replacement surgery.
Dr. James Andrews is to operate next week on the 24-year-old pitcher, who made the AL All-Star team last year. Moore will be the first Rays pitcher to undergo Tommy John surgery since Jason Isringhausen in June 2009.
Moore hasn’t pitched since walking off the mound with elbow soreness on April 7 in Kansas City. He was placed on the disabled list the following day.
CHICAGO (AP) - Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia had a cortisone injection in his left wrist and hopes to return to Boston’s starting lineup on Wednesday night.
The AL MVP was injured April 4 when Milwaukee’s Carlos Gomez broke up a double play at second base in the ninth inning. Pedroia is hitting .139 (5 for 36) since then with one RBI and no walks, leaving his season average at .236. He missed Sunday’s series finale at the New York Yankees.
PISTORIUS TRIAL
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) - Wrapping up five days of relentless cross-examination of Oscar Pistorius at his murder trial, the chief prosecutor insisted that he intentionally shot his girlfriend to death after they argued and - in a final exchange - urged the Olympic athlete to take responsibility for the Valentine’s Day killing.
“Who should we blame for the fact that you shot her?” prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked Pistorius. It came right at the end of Nel’s intense scrutiny of nearly every aspect of the double-amputee runner’s story that he killed Reeva Steenkamp last year after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder.
“I don’t know, my lady, I was scared,” Pistorius replied, his voice cracking slightly as he addressed the judge and maintained his argument that he shot through a toilet cubicle door in his home at a perceived intruder who he thought was about to attack him.
PRO FOOTBALL
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Chad Johnson is back on a football field, and says he’s humble for the opportunity.
The former NFL receiver who once went by the last name of Ochocinco is in a minicamp this week with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes. The three-day session began Tuesday and there’s a real chance Johnson will be with the club when its season begins in June.
Johnson last played an NFL game in the 2011 season. He was with the Miami Dolphins for training camp the following season, and his contract was terminated one day after he was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge.
NEW YORK (AP) - Former Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson visited the New York Jets, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
Johnson was released by the Titans on April 7, three days after the team informed him of the decision. The former 2,000-yard rusher met with the Jets at their facility and took a physical, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team doesn’t make player visits public.
The running back attended the Knicks-Nets basketball game in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, and told reporters that his visit with the Jets “went well,” but he wasn’t ready to make a decision. The Jets were the first team Johnson has met with since becoming a free agent.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian is up and moving around at a Las Vegas hospital and could go home this weekend after suffering a heart attack and contracting pneumonia.
“He’s feeling much better,” said Tarkanian’s son-in-law, Zafi Diamant. “He’s been up and walking around, all in all feeling much better.”
Tarkanian was admitted to Valley Hospital last Wednesday after attending the Final Four in North Texas, complaining of weakness, lethargy and labored breathing.
Doctors determined the 83-year-old had pneumonia and tests later revealed he also had a heart attack.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - California hired Tennessee’s Cuonzo Martin as its coach, charging him with taking over another program after a successful run by his predecessor.
Martin replaces Mike Montgomery, who retired last month after six seasons in Berkeley. Martin went 63-41 in three seasons at Tennessee, including a 24-13 mark and an appearance in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament this season. He also was previously the coach at Missouri State.
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