Thursday's Sports In Brief
By The Associated Press
Oct 09, 2009 - 09:45:36 CDT
Here's a look at Thursday's sports in brief around the world.
GOLF — The United States took a 3 1/2-2 1/2 lead over the International team in the Presidents Cup, a good start that was tempered only in the final match when Justin Leonard missed a 3-foot putt that led to a tie.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)
Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker were dominant from the start, playing bogey-free in the difficult alternate-shot format for a 6-and-4 victory over Geoff Ogilvy and 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa. Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim came to life late, closing with four straight birdies for a 3-and-2 victory over Mike Weir and Tim Clark.
PRO FOOTBALL— The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to conduct a hearing next month on the case of two professional football players whose suspensions were blocked by a federal appeals court.
WASHINGTON (AP)
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is concerned that the legal issues raised in the case “could result in weaker performance-enhancing drugs policies for professional sports,” the committee said in a statement issued to The Associated Press.
The NFL had attempted to suspend Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams four games each for violating the league’s anti-doping policy. But the players sued the NFL in state court, asking a judge to block the suspensions, arguing the NFL’s testing violated Minnesota workplace laws.
NEW YORK (AP) — NFL ratings are at their highest in 20 years.
Through the first four weeks of the season, games are drawing their best average viewership since 1989 at 17.4 million, up 14 percent from the same point in 2008. The average was 18.1 million in 1989 through four weeks.
Sunday doubleheader games starting at 4:15 EDT this year on CBS and Fox have averaged 22.3 million viewers, which ranks as television’s most-watched show on a weekly basis.
Monday night’s Packers-Vikings matchup on ESPN was the most-watched show in cable TV history with 21.8 million viewers.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — J.P. Losman threw two touchdowns passes and Dede Dorsey scored twice to help the Las Vegas Locomotives win the first game in United Football League history, 30-17 over the California Redwoods.
A crowd of 14,209 fans attended the game at 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium.
Losman, who spent the last five seasons with the Buffalo Bills, completed 21 of 31 passes for 226 yards. He threw a 1-yard TD pass to Dorsey with 13 seconds left in the second quarter, and had an 11-yard scoring pass to tight end Adam Bergen that gave Las Vegas a 17-14 lead with 11:07 left in the third quarter.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL— All-America receiver Dez Bryant played in Oklahoma State’s first three games of the season while compliance officials were investigating an apparent meeting with former NFL players Deion Sanders and Omar Stoutmire that he later lied about to the NCAA.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)
Documents released by the university in response to an open records request from The Associated Press show OSU suggested to the NCAA that it should interview Sanders and Stoutmire because they were “purported to work out” with Bryant.
The documents also show questions were raised about Bryant’s account of events — before the start of the season. That calls into question whether his participation in the first three games could cause Oklahoma State to forfeit, if the NCAA rules he should have been ineligible from the start.
OLYMPICS— Marion Jones’ relay teammates will learn by Dec. 18 whether they can keep their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
COPENHAGEN (AP)
The International Olympic Committee had hoped the Court of Arbitration for Sport would rule this month. But the CAS postponed the decision for another two months.
Jones lost all five of her medals — including three gold — after admitting in 2007 that she was using performance-enhancing drugs at the time of the games. The Americans won gold in the 4x400-meter relay and bronze in the 4x100 relay. Jones also won the 100 and 200 and took bronze in the long jump.
COPENHAGEN (AP) — With the economic climate showing signs of recovery, the IOC is hopeful of signing up to three new major sponsors before the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Marketing commission chairman Gerhard Heiberg said the International Olympic Committee has renewed negotiations with potential new sponsors in the last few months because of “more confidence in the markets.”
Nine sponsors have already been signed for a total of $883 million, and adding a couple more would bring the IOC’s total contracts above the targeted $1-billion mark for the 2009-2013 cycle.
HOCKEY— The St. Louis Blues honored Al MacInnis with a statue depicting the Hall of Fame defenseman loading up for a booming slap shot before their home opener.
ST. LOUIS (AP)
Despite rain, hundreds of fans attended the ceremony for MacInnis, who played for the Blues from 1994-2004 and now is vice president of hockey operations. The statue is located outside the Scottrade Center, next to one of fellow Hall of Famer Bernie Federko.
MacInnis was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, a year after the franchise retired his No. 2. He is third among defenseman in points (1,274), assists (934) and goals (340) and helped the Blues make the playoffs all 10 seasons in St. Louis.
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GOLF — The United States took a 3 1/2-2 1/2 lead over the International team in the Presidents Cup, a good start that was tempered only in the final match when Justin Leonard missed a 3-foot putt that led to a tie.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)
Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker were dominant from the start, playing bogey-free in the difficult alternate-shot format for a 6-and-4 victory over Geoff Ogilvy and 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa. Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim came to life late, closing with four straight birdies for a 3-and-2 victory over Mike Weir and Tim Clark.
PRO FOOTBALL— The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to conduct a hearing next month on the case of two professional football players whose suspensions were blocked by a federal appeals court.
WASHINGTON (AP)
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is concerned that the legal issues raised in the case “could result in weaker performance-enhancing drugs policies for professional sports,” the committee said in a statement issued to The Associated Press.
The NFL had attempted to suspend Minnesota Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams four games each for violating the league’s anti-doping policy. But the players sued the NFL in state court, asking a judge to block the suspensions, arguing the NFL’s testing violated Minnesota workplace laws.
NEW YORK (AP) — NFL ratings are at their highest in 20 years.
Through the first four weeks of the season, games are drawing their best average viewership since 1989 at 17.4 million, up 14 percent from the same point in 2008. The average was 18.1 million in 1989 through four weeks.
Sunday doubleheader games starting at 4:15 EDT this year on CBS and Fox have averaged 22.3 million viewers, which ranks as television’s most-watched show on a weekly basis.
Monday night’s Packers-Vikings matchup on ESPN was the most-watched show in cable TV history with 21.8 million viewers.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — J.P. Losman threw two touchdowns passes and Dede Dorsey scored twice to help the Las Vegas Locomotives win the first game in United Football League history, 30-17 over the California Redwoods.
A crowd of 14,209 fans attended the game at 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium.
Losman, who spent the last five seasons with the Buffalo Bills, completed 21 of 31 passes for 226 yards. He threw a 1-yard TD pass to Dorsey with 13 seconds left in the second quarter, and had an 11-yard scoring pass to tight end Adam Bergen that gave Las Vegas a 17-14 lead with 11:07 left in the third quarter.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL— All-America receiver Dez Bryant played in Oklahoma State’s first three games of the season while compliance officials were investigating an apparent meeting with former NFL players Deion Sanders and Omar Stoutmire that he later lied about to the NCAA.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)
Documents released by the university in response to an open records request from The Associated Press show OSU suggested to the NCAA that it should interview Sanders and Stoutmire because they were “purported to work out” with Bryant.
The documents also show questions were raised about Bryant’s account of events — before the start of the season. That calls into question whether his participation in the first three games could cause Oklahoma State to forfeit, if the NCAA rules he should have been ineligible from the start.
OLYMPICS— Marion Jones’ relay teammates will learn by Dec. 18 whether they can keep their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
COPENHAGEN (AP)
The International Olympic Committee had hoped the Court of Arbitration for Sport would rule this month. But the CAS postponed the decision for another two months.
Jones lost all five of her medals — including three gold — after admitting in 2007 that she was using performance-enhancing drugs at the time of the games. The Americans won gold in the 4x400-meter relay and bronze in the 4x100 relay. Jones also won the 100 and 200 and took bronze in the long jump.
COPENHAGEN (AP) — With the economic climate showing signs of recovery, the IOC is hopeful of signing up to three new major sponsors before the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Marketing commission chairman Gerhard Heiberg said the International Olympic Committee has renewed negotiations with potential new sponsors in the last few months because of “more confidence in the markets.”
Nine sponsors have already been signed for a total of $883 million, and adding a couple more would bring the IOC’s total contracts above the targeted $1-billion mark for the 2009-2013 cycle.
HOCKEY— The St. Louis Blues honored Al MacInnis with a statue depicting the Hall of Fame defenseman loading up for a booming slap shot before their home opener.
ST. LOUIS (AP)
Despite rain, hundreds of fans attended the ceremony for MacInnis, who played for the Blues from 1994-2004 and now is vice president of hockey operations. The statue is located outside the Scottrade Center, next to one of fellow Hall of Famer Bernie Federko.
MacInnis was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007, a year after the franchise retired his No. 2. He is third among defenseman in points (1,274), assists (934) and goals (340) and helped the Blues make the playoffs all 10 seasons in St. Louis.