As Teppo Numminen prepares for open-heart surgery to repair a faulty valve next week, the Buffalo defenseman is determined to return to the ice. “It’s been quite an emotional week,” Numminen said Friday, a day after the Sabres announced he will have surgery. “And my plan was to play for the Sabres this year, and that hasn’t changed.
The Finnish Flash is still not sure if he is finished. “Part of me wants to play, but right now, a part of me is not ready to do what it takes,” Anaheim Ducks star Teemu Selanne said. “I’m just going to wait a little longer and see how I’m going to feel when the season starts,” he said Friday. “Watching the game and being a little closer, I’ll know for sure.” Selanne, who has been absent from Ducks…
Minnesota Vikings running back Chester Taylor was listed Friday as questionable for Sunday’s game at Detroit, due to a bruised hip that limited his participation in practice all week. Taylor was hurt in the first quarter of the season opener against Atlanta, and rookie Adrian Peterson took over. Coach Brad Childress said the decision on Taylor’s status would not be made until shortly before kickoff…
Bad news for NFL linebackers, good news for soap opera fans: Ricky Williams is planning another comeback. The suspended running back is eligible to seek reinstatement by the NFL after Oct. 1 and will do so, his attorney said Friday. In recent years, Williams has made more headlines than first downs, playing in only 12 NFL games since the start of the 2004 season.
Finally, Rags to Riches returns to the races for the first time since her sensational Belmont Stakes victory. After a series of summer setbacks, the popular 3-year-old filly will be the heavy favorite against four rivals in Saturday’s $250,000 Gazelle Stakes at Belmont Park, where she gets back to running against her own sex.
IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti appears headed for NASCAR. Jacques Villeneuve, who won titles in two open-wheel series and the Indianapolis 500, is already making the transition and will run his first Truck Series race next week.
The Golden State Warriors are close to reaching a deal to rework coach Don Nelson’s contract and bring him back for another season with the team. “I am hopeful that we can finalize something by the close of the business week,” team president Robert Rowell said Friday. Nelson, who had two years left on the contract he signed last year, would get a raise from $3.1 million to $5.1 million a year under…
Phillies reliever Antonio Alfonseca was suspended for four games Friday, a day after he was ejected for hitting Colorado’s Todd Helton with a pitch. Alfonseca appealed the suspension and was available for the opener of Philadelphia’s crucial weekend series against the NL East-leading New York Mets. “I think four days is kind of harsh,” manager Charlie Manuel said.
More than two months after abruptly stepping down as manager of the Seattle Mariners, Mike Hargrove has decided to take over the semi-pro summer team in southwest Kansas he played for more than 30 years ago. Hargrove, 57, will manage the Liberal BeeJays, one of the nation’s most successful summer teams for college-age players in Liberal, Kan., about 50 miles from where he grew up in Perryton,…
Brian Willsie put Los Angeles in front with 5:06 left, Kyle Calder scored twice and the Kings beat the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks 5-4 Thursday night in the NHL’s preseason opener. The Ducks played at Honda Center for the first time since June 6, when they beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 in Game 5 of the finals and became the first team from California to win an NHL title.
