FOOTBALL
Raji out for season
Nose tackle B.J. Raji tore his biceps in the Green Bay Packers' exhibition victory over the Oakland Raiders and will miss the entire season, a league source said Saturday. The Packers have not said anything publicly about Raji's future but the source indicated the tear appears significant. Raji left the Packers' 31-21 victory in the first quarter and did not return and the sixth-year veteran had a massive ice bag wrapped around his right biceps afterward. It would be a big loss for the Packers, who re-signed Raji in the offseason on a one-year, $4 million deal. Replacements on the roster include second-year nose tackle Josh Boyd, free-agent signing Letroy Guion and promising undrafted rookie Mike Pennel. The Packers signed Guion in the off-season for this exact predicament, yet haven't had a chance to see Guion play in pads yet. He's been out all of training camp with a hamstring injury. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers has said he's eager to see the former Minnesota Viking on the field. Guion figured to be a candidate for the physically unable to perform list to start the regular season. Boyd took Raji's place Saturday. Sources say Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly, who both remain available, are not in the Packers' plans.
BASKETBALL
USA team named
Derrick Rose, the starting point guard when USA Basketball captured gold at the 2010 World Championships in Turkey, was named one of 12 finalists for the FIBA World Cup that begins Aug. 30 in Spain. USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo and Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced the roster overnight Friday. It contains Rose, Kyrie Irving, DeMarcus Cousins, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, Kenneth Faried, Rudy Gay, James Harden, Mason Plumlee and Klay Thompson. After sitting out Wednesday's exhibition in New York because of fatigue and soreness, Rose came off the bench to spell Irving in Friday's exhibition victory over Puerto Rico at Madison Square Garden. Team USA left for Spain on Saturday afternoon and opens preliminary play against Finland in Bilbao on Aug. 30. Rose's inclusion in the final roster followed a bumpy week in which Rose missed two practices and one game, which seemed to set off alarm bells for a player who has suffered two season-ending knee surgeries. But Rose all along privately expressed confidence, as did Bulls coach and Team USA assistant coach Tom Thibodeau.The final cuts were former Bull Kyle Korver, Damian Lillard, Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward.
BASEBALL
Torre's No. 6 retired
Joe Torre lingered on the field at Yankee Stadium, hugging each one of the guests on hand Saturday to honor New York's four-time World Series winning manager. If Torre's time with the Yankees always felt like a family affair, why should the day his No. 6 was retired be any different? "It's a long, long journey from the field to Monument Park," Torre said. "However, I was blessed to make that journey on the shoulders of some very special players." The recently inducted Hall of Famer unveiled his number alongside those of 16 other retired numbers in Monument Park at the start of the ceremony. With No. 6 forever out of circulation, that leaves Derek Jeter's 2 as the only single digit number still being worn on Yankees pinstripes. The Yankees captain, who is retiring after this season, escorted Soot Zimmer, wife of the late Don Zimmer, onto the field to present Torre with a proclamation from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio naming Saturday Joe Torre Day. Torre rode in a golf cart with Yogi Berra to the area in front of the mound, where the Yankees presented him with the 29th plaque to be placed in the area beyond the center field wall at the stadium. The team also gave Torre a flashy commemorative ring. Torre is now an executive vice president for Major League Baseball.
TENNIS
Rosol captures Open
Lukas Rosol got a few big breaks on his way to the Winston-Salem Open final, and a few more in winning his first ATP Tour title of the year. The Czech rallied from a set down Saturday to beat Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in the championship match at the Wake Forest Tennis Center. Janowicz had a chance to win the match in the 10th game of the third set. Ahead 5-4, he pulled ahead 40-15, but Rosol twice saved match points on his serve, then battled through three game points of his own before winning to even the match at 5-all. That game swung the match's momentum Rosol's way, and he capitalized on the shift. Rosol quickly broke Janowicz's serve to take a 6-5 advantage, and pulled ahead 40-15 in the final game before closing it out with his 12th ace of the match for his second career ATP Tour title.
• Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova beat Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-2 Saturday to win her second Connecticut Open title in the past three years. The No. 4 player in the world also won here in 2012 before losing in last year's final to Simona Halep. She did not drop a set in New Haven this week. Kvitova broke Rybarikova's serve in the sixth game of each set, running her opponent from one side of the court to the other. She broke her again in the final game of the match, sending a backhand across court on the final point that Rybarikova did not attempt to chase down. Rybarikova grabbed the back of her right leg and seemed hobbled several times while sprinting after balls, but never called for a trainer. The Slovakian, ranked 68th in the world, has won four times on the WTA Tour, but was in her first premier-level final.
BASKETBALL
It’s official: Love newest Cavalier
CLEVELAND — Kevin Love is finally teaming up with LeBron James.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers completed a delayed blockbuster trade Saturday that has been talked about for months and on hold for 30 days. Love, 25, one of the game’s best power forwards, is headed from Minnesota to Cleveland, where he will join James and instantly make the Cavs an NBA title favorite.
The Timberwolves are getting No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins and former top pick Anthony Bennett from Cleveland and veteran forward Thaddeus Young from Philadelphia.
The 76ers get a 2015 first-round draft choice from Cleveland, and guard Alexey Shved and forward Luc Mbah a Moute from Minnesota.
A rarely used NBA rule forced the teams to wait to complete the trade until 30 days after Wiggins signed his rookie contract. It’s official now, and Cleveland, which hasn’t had a major pro sports championship since 1964, is poised to make a run at ending the drought.
“Kevin joining the Cavaliers represents a very special and unique opportunity for our team,” Cavs General Manager David Griffin said in a news release.
The Cavs and Timberwolves have been discussing a trade involving for Love for months, long before James decided to leave Miami and come back home to Ohio. The deal dragged on through the summer, first because of Cleveland’s unwillingness to include Wiggins in any package and then due to the 30-day provision.
That bit of fine print in the collective bargaining agreement triggered an agonizing wait in both cities, more so in championship-starved Cleveland where generations of fans have longed for the Cavs, Indians or Browns to win it all.
Now the league’s best player has another superstar as a running mate. Add in All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving and James again finds himself the ringleader of a star-studded trio after leaving Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade behind with the Heat.
Sports on 08/24/2014