Ben Roethlisberger liked almost nothing about his one half of play. The 247 yards passing, the three consecutive scoring drives, the big shift in momentum didn’t impress him at all. Roethlisberger, effective for only one drive previously in this preseason, had a big half statistically even though he was disappointed by it and the Pittsburgh Steelers shook off numerous mistakes to defeat the…
David Wells played a lot of golf and surfed after the San Diego Padres cut him earlier this month. He thought his big league career was over. It turns Boomer may not be done after all. Wells pitched five effective innings in his Dodgers debut and Los Angeles beat the New York Mets 6-2 on Sunday night to salvage the finale of the three-game series.
Mike Nolan keeps a slip of paper in his pocket on game days so the San Francisco 49ers coach can make notes whenever something goes wrong. After 35 plays in the first quarter of the 49ers’ exhibition loss to the Chicago Bears on Saturday night, Nolan already had made 23 derogatory notes. “That’s a really bad first quarter,” Nolan said Sunday after the 49ers made their first cuts and began their…
Former first-round draft pick Chris Claiborne signed with Jacksonville on Sunday, giving the Jaguars some much-needed depth at linebacker after backup Tony Gilbert was lost for the season. The Jags also signed linebacker Kevis Coley and defensive tackle Joe Anoai. The team placed Gilbert on injured reserve, three days after he tore his biceps against Green Bay.
After Market defeated Runaway Dancer by three-quarters of a length to win Sunday’s $250,000 Del Mar Handicap. Ridden by Alex Solis, After Market covered 1 3-8 miles on the turf in 2:13.01 and paid $2.80, $2.20 and $2.20 as the 2-5 favorite. Solis won the race for the third time in five years. Runaway Dancer returned $5.40 and $3.80, while Spring House was another nose back in third and paid $4.60 to…
Australia’s richest and most important horse race will likely be without its Japan-based defending champion and runner-up due to the equine influenza outbreaks in both countries. The news that last year’s winner, Delta Blues, and runner-up, Pop Rock, will probably not travel to Australia for the Nov.
Sammy Sosa hasn’t forgotten his trademark hop or how to hit the ball deep, even though he’s getting fewer chances to do it. Sosa, who has become a part-time player while Texas evaluates younger players, bounded out of the batter’s box after hitting a 430-foot, two-run home run in the first inning that put the Rangers ahead to stay in a 5-3 victory over AL wild-card leader Seattle.
Adam Wainwright has dominated most of his foes since the All-Star break. He’s been especially tough on the team from his home state. Wainwright, who is from St. Simon, Ga., beat Atlanta for the second straight start with seven sharp innings, Juan Encarnacion homered and the St. Louis Cardinals handed the Braves their fifth loss in six games, 4-1 on Sunday.
This is one of those landmark days, a dividing line that will forever define the history of the Atlanta Falcons. Never mind that it’s only the preseason. On Monday morning, Michael Vick will walk into a federal courtroom in Richmond, Va., to plead guilty to gruesome dogfighting charges, which will almost certainly end his Falcons career and could prevent him from playing again in the NFL.
Russell Baze, the winningest jockey in thoroughbred racing history, was suspended for 15 days and fined on Sunday for using his whip on an injured horse who later died. Baze, who has 9,826 career victories, was headed to an easy win aboard Imperial Eyes in the first race Thursday at Bay Meadows when the horse took a bad step and broke down in the deep stretch.
