- Associated Press - Saturday, March 22, 2014

PRO FOOTBALL

NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Vick is switching green jerseys - and maybe trading his clipboard for a starting job.

The New York Jets signed the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback to a one-year deal Friday, and released Mark Sanchez, the one-time face of the franchise.

“I love competition and I love football,” Vick said during a conference call Friday night. “And, I feel I have a lot of football left to play.”

Vick will present a real challenge to Jets starter Geno Smith, who played well down the stretch of his rookie season, but finished with 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) - Matt Schaub and the Oakland Raiders are both hoping to put the mistakes of 2013 in the past.

The Raiders acquired Schaub from Houston for a sixth-round draft pick, giving the quarterback a second chance after he lost his starting job with the Texans last season.

“A fresh start can do a lot of things for a player and a team and I’m one of those guys,” Schaub said.

The deal also is a second chance for Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie, whose trade last spring for Matt Flynn was a bust when he couldn’t win the starting job and was eventually released early in the season.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The estate of NFL Hall of Famer Mike Webster and dozens of former players suing the league over concussion injuries agreed to pause their lawsuit to see if it will join other similar cases being reviewed by a federal judge for settlement.

Webster’s estate and 65 former players and their families sued the NFL in February, claiming the league hid information about the seriousness of concussions and head injuries sustained during their playing careers.

Attorneys for the NFL and the plaintiffs filed a stipulation to stay the case to see if it should join other concussion lawsuits currently assigned to a judge in Pennsylvania.

MIAMI (AP) - Tennessee Titans defensive end Adewale Ojomo has been arrested in a prostitution sting.

A Miami police report stated the 25-year-old South Florida native was booked into jail Friday morning on a charge of soliciting a prostitute. He was being held on $500 bail.

___

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The billion dollar dream is over.

A second day of upsets ended any chance of someone having a perfect NCAA tournament bracket in Warren Buffet’s $1 billion challenge. It was a favorite that provided the first blemish on the final three people’s brackets in the Quicken Loans contest on the Yahoo Sports website.

All three had ninth-seeded George Washington beating Memphis. The Tigers won 71-66.

“If Warren Buffett wants to donate the (billion) to our university, we will take it and use it in good company,” Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. “We’ll find a way.”

___

This year’s NCAA tournament set a record with five overtime games.

When Stephen F. Austin made an improbable rally to force OT against VCU in San Diego, it was the fifth overtime game of what is now called the second round.

SFA went on to beat VCU 77-75.

On Thursday night, four round-of-64 games went into overtime to set a record for one NCAA tournament day.

The final game of the First Four also went to overtime Wednesday, when Tennessee beat Iowa.

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Buzz Williams is headed to Virginia Tech after six mostly successful seasons coaching at Marquette.

Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock announced Williams’ hiring in a statement. Williams will be formally introduced at a news conference Monday in Blacksburg.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said that the tumor doctors removed from his son’s thyroid earlier this week was malignant.

McCaffery’s son Patrick, 14, had surgery in Iowa City on Wednesday, just hours before the Hawkeyes lost to Tennessee in the First Four of the NCAA tournament in Dayton, Ohio.

McCaffery said he and his family will meet with doctors soon to determine further treatment for Patrick, who was released from the hospital on Thursday.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - CBS announcer Andrew Catalon apologized to a Polish-born Gonzaga player for using a derogatory term while describing the defense Oklahoma State was using against Przemek Karnowski.

In an effort to make a comeback in the second half, Oklahoma State started deliberately fouling Karnowski, who is a poor free throw shooter. Catalon, the play-by-play announcer for the game, called the strategy “Hack-a-Polack.”

Catalon apologized on the air for using the term, and then found Karnowski after the game to apologize to him personally.

___

PRO BASKETBALL

TORONTO (AP) - Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook left the game against the Raptors in the third quarter after appearing to injure his right knee.

Westbrook, who sat out Thursday’s win at Cleveland to rest the knee that was surgically repaired earlier this season, was injured when Toronto’s Kyle Lowry collided with him on a pump-fake near the sideline with 7:37 left in the third quarter.

___

GOLF

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Adam Scott matched the lowest 36-hole score at the Arnold Palmer Invitational to take a record seven-shot lead into the weekend.

On a tougher and more blustery afternoon at Bay Hill, the Masters champion ran off five birdies in an eight-hole stretch late in the second round. Even with a three-putt bogey on his last hole, Scott had a 4-under 68.

He was at 14-under 130, tying the 36-hole record at Bay Hill shared by Tom Watson and Andy Bean in 1981. His seven-shot lead over J.B. Holmes, Chesson Hadley and Francesco Molinari shattered the mark for the largest lead at this event. Tiger Woods (2002) and Paul Azinger (1988) both led by four shots, and both went on to win.

PHOENIX (AP) - Mirim Lee remained atop the JTBC Founders Cup leaderboard in her third LPGA Tour start.

The 23-year-old South Korean player shot a 5-under 67 to take a two-stroke advantage over 16-year-old Lydia Ko into the weekend at Desert Ridge’s Wildfire Golf Club.

___

BASEBALL

SYDNEY (AP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Josh Beckett and outfielder Matt Kemp on the 15-day disabled list Friday in paring their active roster to 25 players for the season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Australia.

Chad Billingsley, still recovering from right elbow surgery, also was put on the DL. Beckett has a bruised thumb and Kemp is rehabbing from ankle surgery.

SYDNEY (AP) - Some Arizona Diamondbacks players had to walk the last half mile to Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday when one of the team buses had a flat tire ahead of their season opener with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A Diamondbacks spokesman said “a handful” of players and some staff decided to walk the rest of the way to the stadium instead of waiting for a replacement bus to arrive.

He said most of the players had already arrived on another bus about five hours ahead of the scheduled start of the game.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) - The Detroit Tigers quickly moved to help replace injured shortstop Jose Iglesias, acquiring Andrew Romine from the Los Angeles Angels for left-hander Jose Alvarez.

The AL Central champions dealt for Romine a day after they learned Iglesias could miss the season because of stress fractures in both legs.

___

TENNIS

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) - Roger Federer made a victorious return to the Sony Open after skipping last year’s tournament, beating big-serving Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 (4). Federer lost just three service points against his 6-foot-11 opponent, and in a match with few rallies, he committed only three unforced errors.

Three-time champion Novak Djokovic followed Federer onto the stadium court and into the third round, beating Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-3. Defending champion Andy Murray, playing for the first time since he parted with coach Ivan Lendl, rallied from a break down in the third set to beat Matthew Ebden 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Another three-time champ, Venus Williams, defeated Anna Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-3. Williams, the oldest player in the women’s draw at 33, is competing at Key Biscayne for the 15th time.

___

AUTO RACING

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) - Matt Kenseth won the pole for the NASCAR race at Fontana, edging Brad Keselowski in a knockout qualifying session dominated by now-familiar faces.

Kenseth won his first pole of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing by turning a lap at 187.315 mph, beating Keselowski’s 187.105.

Five-time Fontana champion Jimmie Johnson was third at 38.516, followed by Kevin Harvick. Clint Bowyer came in fifth.

___

SWIMMING

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Olympian Missy Franklin set a record in winning her first NCAA title for California and Georgia stretched its lead in the team standings on the second day of the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships.

Franklin shattered the 200-yard freestyle mark, finishing in 1 minute, 40.31 seconds to beat Georgia Olympian Shannon Vreeland (1:42.26). Megan Romano of Georgia set the previous mark of 1:41.21 at the 2012 championships.

Bulldogs senior Laura Ryan provided the Bulldogs with their first two NCAA diving titles in program history and 40 points, adding the 3-meter title to the 1-meter crown she won Thursday.

___

WRESTLING

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Three-time defending champion Penn State holds a slim lead heading into the final day of the NCAA national wrestling championships.

The Nittany Lions had 91 points after Friday’s action, followed by Minnesota with 90.5 and Oklahoma State with 87.5.

Penn State and Minnesota have two finalists and seven total wrestlers remaining. Oklahoma State has four finalists, but just one other wrestler remaining,

Penn State’s David Taylor advanced to the finals for the fourth time. He defeated North Dakota State’s Steven Monk 12-5 in the 165-pound semifinals.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide