Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, whose leaping tackle at the 1-yard line last week helped beat the Atlanta Falcons, practiced Friday for the first time this week. Haynesworth, bothered this week by an ankle injury, leapfrogged a Falcons offensive lineman to grab quarterback Byron Leftwich and force an 8-yard loss in the final minutes of a 20-13 victory.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, a staunch opponent of instant replay, is willing to let major league general managers examine whether it should be used. “I don’t like instant replay because I don’t like all the delays. I think it sometimes creates as many problems or more than it solves,” Selig said Friday night during Game of the NL championship series.
Baseball investigator George Mitchell likely will issue his long-awaited report on steroids use in baseball by the end of the year, and there is a strong possibility he will identify individual players. A lawyer for the firm representing Major League Baseball in the investigation updated representatives for the 30 teams during a conference call Friday and told them Mitchell’s report likely would…
Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, whose leaping tackle at the 1-yard line last week helped beat the Atlanta Falcons, practiced Friday for the first time this week. Haynesworth, bothered this week by an ankle injury, leapfrogged a Falcons offensive lineman to grab quarterback Byron Leftwich and force an 8-yard loss in the final minutes of a 20-13 victory.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Steve McNair missed his second consecutive day of practice Friday with a stiff back, and the team will make a decision at game time Sunday whether he will play against the St. Louis Rams. Backup quarterback Kyle Boller took all the snaps again Friday with the first-team offense.
P.J. Carlesimo earned his first win as SuperSonics’ coach, 96-90 over the Cleveland Cavaliers in an exhibition game Friday night. Cavs All-Star forward LeBron James was forced out of action in the third quarter because of a right shoulder contusion. The injury doesn’t appear to be serious. He had 14 points for the Cavs.
Etan Thomas was recovering from open heart surgery Friday, and the doctor who performed the operation didn’t rule out the possibility of the Washington Wizards’ center returning to play in the NBA this season. “We think the function of his heart and lungs should return to normal,” said Dr. Hartzell Schaff, a cardiovascular surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
The Indiana Pacers have picked up the team options on Danny Granger, Ike Diogu and Shawne Williams. Granger, in his third year, is expected to be a key player in new coach Jim O’Brien’s offense. The small forward averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds last season. Diogu, a power forward, was one of the players the Pacers picked up in last season’s trade with Golden State.
Out of Control beat 10-1 long shot Zann by a nose to win Sunday’s $250,000 Oak Tree Mile at Santa Anita on Sunday, earning a berth in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile. Meanwhile, Idiot Proof claimed a spot in the Breeder’s Cup Sprint and Tough Tiz’s Sis in the Distaff. Out of Control had Michael Baze aboard and finished the mile, Grade II turf course in 1:34.16, paying $9.80, $5 and $4.20.
Todd Pletcher knows he has a Breeders’ Cup qualifier in Panty Raid, but he isn’t sure which race — if any — she’ll enter at Monmouth Park later this month. The 3-year-old filly earned an automatic bid to the BC Distaff Sunday by winning the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes, Keeneland’s fifth “win and you’re in” Cup qualifying race of the weekend.
