Off the wire

Friday, June 13, 2014

FOOTBALL

No charges against NFL trio

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and two other NFL players will not face charges in an incident involving a woman at a downtown hotel, prosecutors announced Thursday. A memo released by the Miami-Dade County state attorney's office said there was insufficient evidence that any crime was committed in the hotel room April 1. Tests indicated the woman was not sexually assaulted and other evidence backed up the players' contention that nothing happened. In fact, the memo by Assistant State Attorney Laura Adams described the woman as incoherent when police and fire-rescue officers responded to 911 calls to the room at Viceroy Hotel. She had to be sedated in order to be taken to the hospital, where she was temporarily involuntarily committed for her own safety, the memo said. A hotel security officer told police that when he arrived at the room the woman began praying, "asking God to forgive her of her sins," and began screaming in words the security officer couldn't understand, according to the memo. She banged her head against the walls and started kicking uncontrollably. At the hospital, doctors noted she was "severely agitated" and appeared to be in an altered mental state, although no evidence of drugs beyond marijuana were detected in her system, Adams wrote. The woman had told police she and the three players had drinks and smoked marijuana earlier in the night. Kaepernick denied any wrongdoing. Earlier this month the 49ers gave the 26-year-old a $126 million, six-year contract extension that will keep him in San Francisco through 2020. He was drafted in 2011 in the second round out of Nevada. The other players in the room that night were 49ers wide receiver Quinton Patton and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette.

• The Atlanta Falcons will be featured on HBO Sports' documentary series Hard Knocks this summer. The five-part weekly series debuts Aug. 5 and concludes Sept. 2. The show gives fans an all-access, behind-the-scenes look at the daily lives and routines of players and coaches as they prepare for the coming NFL season. Falcons owner Arthur M. Blank said the team is "excited about the opportunity to give our fans a behind the scenes look at what it takes to prepare an NFL team for the rigors of a 16-game regular season and beyond." Hard Knocks is in its ninth season. Other teams previously featured on the award-winning reality series include the Ravens, Chiefs, Jets and Dolphins. The Cowboys and Bengals have been featured twice.

• The Seattle Seahawks have added another big body to their defensive line after agreeing to terms with free agent Kevin Williams (Fordyce). The Seahawks reached the agreement with Williams on Thursday as the team wrapped up its organized team activities. The Seahawks still have their mandatory three-day minicamp beginning Tuesday. Williams will be entering his 12th season in the NFL, having spent his entire career until now with the Minnesota Vikings. Williams started 15 games last season for the Vikings with 3 ½ sacks and an interception. Seattle found success last season with a deep rotation along the defensive line, an area that took a hit during free agency following the Seahawks’ Super Bowl title.

BASKETBALL

Cavs to talk to Blatt

The Cleveland Cavaliers' exhaustive head coaching search is expanding again. The team will interview former Maccabi Tel Aviv Coach David Blatt, a person familiar with the team's plans told The Associated Press on Thursday. Earlier in the day Blatt announced in Israel that he's leaving the European champion to pursue an unspecified job in the NBA. He'll meet with the Cavs next week, said the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team is not discussing any aspect of its search that is now a month old. Blatt, 55, has known Cavs General Manager David Griffin for years. Blatt, who led Maccabi to its first European title this year, said at his news conference that he's weighing offers from unnamed teams and has "a few good options." He's expected to make a decision soon. Blatt has drawn interest to be an assistant with New York, Golden State and Minnesota. The Cavs are interested in talking to him about being their head coach. They reached out to him last week but had not set up a face-to-face meeting. Blatt is the latest candidate to interview with the Cavs, who will have a second meeting with Clippers assistant coach Alvin Gentry today. The team has contacted as many as 12 candidates to fill the vacancy created when owner Dan Gilbert fired Mike Brown -- for the second time -- on May 12.

BASEBALL

Hall celebrates 75 years

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., celebrated its 75th anniversary with a birthday cake cut by former stars Cal Ripken and Phil Niekro. More than 300 people gathered in the museum's showpiece Plaque Gallery on Thursday for the occasion. Babe Ruth was the centerpiece of the first class to be inducted, and he attended the Hall of Fame's official opening June 12, 1939. The Hall opens a revamped Babe Ruth exhibit today. Ruth and Hank Aaron are the only players to have exhibits devoted solely to them in the Hall of Fame.

Curtis Granderson is out of the lineup with a sore left calf, leaving the slumping New York Mets without their cleanup hitter. Granderson has been one of the few productive bats in the lineup lately, reaching base safely in 23 consecutive games. He was replaced in the outfield Thursday night by Andrew Brown against the Milwaukee Brewers. Granderson said his calf began to bother him a little bit Wednesday, although he went 2 for 3 with a double and played the entire game. He said he doesn't think it's anything serious and hopes to start tonight. The three-time All-Star took batting practice Thursday.

TENNIS

Stepanek beats Murray

Andy Murray was denied his 20th successive victory on grass Thursday when he was beaten 7-6 (10), 6-2 by Radek Stepanek in the third round at Queen's Club in London. Murray, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, claimed his first ATP title at Queen's in 2005 and went on to win the Wimbledon warm-up tournament three times. But he failed to take advantage of eight set points after leading the first-set tiebreaker 6-2, and Stepanek survived to convert with his second set point. A break to lead 1-0 in the second set put Stepanek firmly on the road to victory, and another break to lead 5-2 left him serving for only his second victory over Murray in seven meetings. Second-seeded Tomas Berdych overcame solid resistance from Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, winning 7-6 (2), 6-4. Berdych will next face Feliciano Lopez after the Spanish left-hander defeated Frenchman Kenny De Schepper 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3) in a match with no breaks of serve. There were victories, too, for fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 7-6 (3), 6-4, and seventh-seeded South African Kevin Anderson who edged Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4).

Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the second round of the grass-court Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, on Thursday, losing 6-4, 6-1 to German wild-card Dustin Brown. The world No. 85 broke Nadal's serve at the fifth attempt to win the first set, and he pulled off two audacious lobs in succession to break the Spaniard again early in the second. Brown will next face compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals. Roger Federer began his grass-court preparations for Wimbledon by coming from behind to beat Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2 earlier. He will next play Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun, who defeated Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).

HORSE RACING

Intense Holiday euthanized

Intense Holiday was euthanized on Thursday after suffering from laminitis, according to his connections, Starlight Racing. The horse was a Grade 2 stakes winner who finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby this year. Intense Holiday received a condylar fracture to his right foreleg on May 25 as he was working out at Belmont Park preparing for last week’s Belmont Stakes. The horse, trained by Todd Pletcher, was taken to a veterinary clinic in New Jersey where he underwent surgery. His prospects for recovery looked good, but he later developed laminitis in both forelimbs. He was euthanized at the clinic. Intense Holiday won 2 of 9 starts and earned $551,900. He won the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in February.

FOOTBALL

Former Kentucky coach Phillips resigns

Former Kentucky head football coach Joker Phillips resigned from his position as Florida’s wide receivers coach after the NCAA received a photo of the coach sitting in a restaurant with a high school recruit during a mandated dead period in recruiting, Yahoo sports reported Thursday.

Three sources told Yahoo Sports the photo was turned over to the NCAA by an individual with ties to the Miami Hurricanes athletics program. Should the NCAA determine Phillips improperly recruited during a mandated dead period, it could be considered a major NCAA violation.

Phillips stepped down from his position Wednesday, despite reportedly working at Florida’s football camp that morning. Considered an ace recruiter, Phillips’ departure was announced through a release from the school Wednesday afternoon, citing “personal reasons” for the decision. Phillips had served one season recruiting and coaching the Gators’ wideouts after serving as the head coach of Kentucky from 2010-2012.

Sources told Yahoo Sports that Phillips’ encounter was described to the NCAA as a violation of the “bump rule” — a scenario in which a coach unexpectedly comes across a recruit and has an impermissible dialogue. Such an instance is considered a secondary violation by the NCAA. The violation becomes more serious if the contact between a coach and recruit is premeditated or arranged such as a dinner or social gathering in which the coach would be deemed to be purposefully violating the recruiting dead period.

Sports on 06/13/2014