Off the wire

HORSE RACING Trainer gets 8-year ban

A top Godolphin stables trainer has been charged in connection with one of the biggest doping scandals to hit British horse racing. On Thursday, the British Horseracing Authority banned Mahmood al-Zarooni for eight years after he admitted giving anabolic steroids to 15 of his horses at stables in Newmarket, England - including 1000 Guineas favorite Certify. The 15 horses also were banned from racing for six months dating to the testing April 9. Al Zarooni, a former stable groom who was one of two British-based trainers for Godolphin, has been in trouble in the past. He was fined $3,000 in August after urine samples taken from two of his horses were found to contain a banned substance. Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the face of Godolphin and ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has said he was “appalled and angered” to learn about the latest allegations.Godolphin has had enormous success, with its horses winning in 12 countries and earning more than $1 billion in prize money in the past five years. Al-Zarooni, who became a Godolphin trainer in 2010, trained the 2012 Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso. Godolphin also has faced other allegations. In 2009, Sheik Mohammed was banned by the federation from riding in endurance races for six months after his horse twice failed doping tests. Trainer Abdullah bin Huzaim acknowledged giving the horse drugs without the sheik’s knowledge before the 75-mile desert races at Bahrain and Dubai. Bin Huzaim was banned for 12 months and fined $3,750 plus $1,585 in costs. Sheik Mohammed is not alone among UAE riders accused by the equestrian federation for doping. According to its website, 31 riders in the UAE have been sanctioned since 2005 for either using banned substances or incorrectly using controlled medications during competitions. Some of those substances are permitted out of competition. Among those punished was a son of Sheik Mohammed, who was disqualified from a 2006 race after his horse was found to have been given a banned substance.

BASKETBALL Celtics’ Rivers fined

Boston Coach Doc Rivers was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Thursday for publicly criticizing game officials after the Celtics’ loss to New York on Tuesday night. When asked about two fouls on Kevin Garnett in the first 3:20 of the Celtics’ 87-71 loss in Game 2 of the playoff series, Rivers called them “horrendous.” The Knicks lead the series 2-0.

Houston point guard Jeremy Lin is listed as day to day with a bruised right chest muscle he suffered in a Game 2 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Lin was injured in the first half of the 105-102 loss Wednesday night and didn’t return in the second half. He was trying to chase down a loose ball with Oklahoma City’s Thabo Sefolosha. He underwent a magnetic resonance imaging Thursday that didn’t reveal any damage beyond the bruise right chest muscle. Lin said the main problem Wednesday night was that he was having spasms in the injured muscle. He was no longer experiencing those Thursday. The Rockets host Game 3 Saturday night down 2-0 in the Western Conference first-round series.

La Salle has rewarded Coach John Giannini with a contract extension after he led the Explorers to their best NCAA Tournament run since 1955. Terms of the deal were not released Thursday. Giannini led the Explorers (24-10) to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1992, and they went all the way to the round of 16. La Salle beat Boise State in the “First Four,” then defeated Kansas State and Mississippi. The Explorers also upset Associated Press Top 25 teams Butler and Virginia Commonwealth in the same week during the regular season. Giannini is 143-138 in nine seasons with La Salle and made a trip to the NIT in 2012.

FOOTBALL

Former Lions defender dies

Sam Williams, the former Detroit Lions defensive end and “Fearsome Foursome” member of the Los Angeles Rams, has died. He was 82. Williams’ son said his father died Thursday following an illness at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, a Detroit suburb. Williams played for Detroit from 1960-1965, after a year with the Rams. He spent his final two NFL seasons in Atlanta. He played on the Lions’ defensive line that included Alex Karras, Roger Brown and Darris McCord. Williams was a star player at Michigan State before heading to the NFL.

MOTOR SPORTS Hamlin awaiting clearance, pondering surgery

RICHMOND, Va. - Denny Hamlin wishes he didn’t need medical clearance to race.

The 32-year-old NASCAR star drove himself to Richmond International Raceway on Thursday, but was begrudgingly preparing for another weekend watching someone else drive his familiar No. 11 Toyota.

At his hometown track, that was doubly disappointing because the weekend kicked off with two races on Thursday night, including the Denny Hamlin ShortTrack Showdown to benefit Hamlin’s charitable foundation.

“I’d rather just do it,” Hamlin said about getting back in the race car. “Honestly, I know everyone is trying to protect me from myself, but I would have raced at Martinsville two weeks ago.”

Hamlin wasn’t cleared to return, however, after a visit Wednesday to Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates, and telephone consultations with others. Much of the phone call sounded like a foreign language, Hamlin said, though he did pick up enough to understand things are inexact with injuries such as his, and recovery times.

“Some kind of in-plate is not healing the way that they wanted it and that’s what they wanted in order to clear me,” said Hamlin, who grew up within 30 minutes of Richmond International Raceway. “Really, that was their determining factor and, obviously, my injury is very, very hard because there is no exact science to the risk.

“No one knows what the risk will be if I race this week or if I race two weeks from now.”

Hamlin already deals with chronic pain caused by bulging discs in his back, and says he’d have no trouble climbing in an out of a window to get in the car. He tentatively plans to do that next weekend at Talladega, where his goal is to start the race to begin collecting critical driver points, then climb out at the first opportunity and turn the car over to a relief driver.

That’s just a short-term fix, though, and Hamlin sees the point of no return not far in the distance.