Off the wire
Posted on Friday, July 4, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/230462/
MOTOR SPORTS Moss buys into truck team New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss announced Thursday that he is buying 50 percent of Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, which has fielded entries in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series. He’s renamed the team Randy Moss Motorsports, and changed the truck number from 46 to 81 to reflect his jersey number. The revamped team will make its debut July 19 at Kentucky Speedway with Willie Allen behind the wheel. Moss and longtime team owner David Dollar made the announcement. Asked why he is taking the plunge, Moss, a native of West Virginia and a self-described “country boy,” said, “I’ve been a fan of NASCAR. I just met Dale [Earnhardt ] Jr. and I felt like a kid.” Dollar said the short-term goal of the team is to win the truck championship. The long-term goal is to take the team to Sprint Cup. The team has no sponsor. It costs at least $ 6 million a season to run a successful truck program, and if Moss can’t find funding, he’ll have to reach into his own pocket to pay the bills. Moss, who wouldn’t reveal the purchase price of his latest venture, said he has the funds to foot the bill and the desire to build a winning program. “Yeah, I am prepared. I’ll leave it at that,” he said. “I have been in the league 11 years, so I think I’m good. I am not really saying that I am 100 percent certain that it’s going to work, but at the same time, you’ve got to think positive. I think if you go out there and think in the negative light, bad things will happen.” SWIMMING
Hansen toppled Brendan Hansen, the world recordholder less than a month ago, failed to make the Olympic team in the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday night at the U. S. Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Neb. He still has a spot on the Olympic team in the 100 breaststroke. Hansen led over the first 150 meters, only to fade badly on the final lap and finished fourth behind winner Scott Spann, Eric Shanteau and Scott Usher. Hansen finished in 2 minutes, 11. 37 seconds — nearly three seconds slower than his American record, which also stood as the world’s fastest time until Japanese rival Kosuke Kitajima broke it June 7 in 2: 07. 51. Spann won in 2: 09. 97. Shanteau was timed in 2: 10. 36 and Usher in 2: 11. 00. Garrett Weber-Gale overtook two-time Olympian Jason Lezak and won the 100-meter freestyle in 47. 92 seconds — nearly a half-second off the world record held by France’s Alain Bernard. Lezak was second in 48. 05. Elaine Breeden won the 200-meter butterfly in 2 minutes, 6. 75 seconds.
TRACK & FIELD Ex-Olympian pleads guilty Tim Montgomery, 33, an Olympic gold medalist and former 100-meter world-record holder, pleaded guilty Thursday to distributing heroin, averting a trial set for next week. He appeared briefly in U. S. District Court in Norfolk, Va., answering “Yes, sir,” as District Judge Jerome B. Friedman asked if he understood his plea to federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of more than 100 grams of heroin. Montgomery was arrested in April and has been held without bond after a judge declared him a flight risk and a danger to the community. The jury trial he requested had been scheduled to start July 9. He faces a minimum of five years in prison on the heroin charges at his sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 10. He also faces up to a $ 2 million fine and at least four years of supervised release. Montgomery was sentenced in May to nearly four years in prison for his role in a New York-based check-kiting conspiracy. All of Montgomery’s performances were wiped from the books and he was banned from track for two years for doping linked to the investigation of BALCO, the lab at the center of a steroid scandal in sports. He never tested positive for drugs, but he retired in December 2005 after the ban was imposed.
FOOTBALL Georgia player suspended Georgia defensive end Michael Lemon, a sophomore, was suspended by Coach Mark Richt on Thursday after he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery and felony aggravated battery. Lemon’s arrest followed an alleged fight with another University of Georgia student Saturday. Lemon allegedly punched DeMarius Jackson, who suffered a fractured left eye socket. Georgia issued a statement which referred to athletic association policy that a student-athlete charged with a felony offense is given an indefinite suspension pending an investigation. Lemon was booked at the Athens-Clarke County (Ga. ) jail Thursday morning and released on $ 2, 500 bond.
BASKETBALL Arenas makes big deal All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas has agreed to re-sign with the Washington Wizards for $ 111 million over six years, essentially taking millions less so that his team could have more financial flexibility, two newspapers reported Thursday. Arenas told the Washington Times and Washington Post that he was offered a maximum deal in the neighborhood of $ 127 million Tuesday, the first day of the free agency period. He became a free agent after opting out of the final year of his six-year, $ 65 million contract. He initially said he was opting out to receive a max contract, but he later indicated he would be flexible in negotiations. Arenas has proven to be one of the most dynamic players in the league when healthy, but two knee operations caused him to miss most of the last season. He has averaged 22. 8 points, 5. 5 assists and 4. 2 rebounds in his seven-season NBA career. All-Star point guard Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets reached a contract agreement that could keep him with the team for at least the next four seasons. Lance Young, Paul’s agent, said Paul agreed to a three-year extension with a player’s option for a fourth year. The total value of the deal is $ 68 million. Last season, Paul led the NBA with averages of 11. 6 assists and 2. 7 steals. He was the Hornets’ secondleading scorer, averaging 21. 1 points. Paul, a three-year veteran who has been selected to play for the United States in the Olympics, has one season left on his current contract.
The Orlando Magic signed firstround draft pick Courtney Lee, a 6-5 guard from Western Kentucky, on Thursday. Lee, the No. 22 pick overall, will receive about $ 1 million in each of his first two seasons. NBA rookie salaries are preset by a league scale based on when they were chosen. Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman has received German citizenship and will team with Dirk Nowitzki for Germany at an Olympic qualifying tournament later this month. The 7-foot Kaman, whose great-grandparents were German, averaged 15. 7 points and 12. 7 rebounds last season.
Southeast Missouri will not appeal NCAA sanctions calling for the forfeiture of 44 women’s basketball victories as well as placing both the women’s and men’s programs on two years of probation. The violations in the women’s program primarily involved impermissible housing, transportation and meals for prospective student-athletes who moved near the university in the summer before enrolling for the first time. The men’s program was penalized for allowing ineligible transfers to travel and practice. GYMNASTICS
Hamm warned Morgan Hamm, who was selected for his third Olympic team last month, received a warning Thursday for getting a prescribed anti-inflammatory shot without the proper clearance from anti-doping authorities. The U. S. Anti-Doping Agency said Hamm tested positive May 24 at the U. S. gymnastics championships for a glucocorticosteroid, a cortisone-like drug that is only allowed during competitions with an exemption. Hamm said he received the shot May 2 for pain and inflammation in his left ankle, which he initially injured last August. Hamm accepted the warning for his first doping violation, and his results from the May 24 competition at nationals were thrown out. Results from that day, as well as the first day of nationals and two days of Olympic trials, were used to help determine the U. S. team for Beijing. HORSE RACING
Racetrack closing Horsemen counting on summer racing at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., will have to make other plans now that the 86-year-old track is planning to close just before today’s opening amid a bitter dispute over account wagering. Owner Ron Geary said he doubted he could finish out the coming meet schedule without the $ 15 million he had been depending on from account wagering. Geary failed to win a court order Wednesday to let him offer Ellis races to national account wagering outlets that take bets by phone and online. The account wagering was blocked by the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protection Association, which is seeking a larger share of those revenues.