FOOTBALL
Zimmer speaks on Peterson
Adrian Peterson spent the past five months sending vague and sometimes ambiguous messages about his desire or lack thereof to remain with the Minnesota Vikings. Peterson and Vikings Coach Mike Zimmer finally cut to the chase Wednesday. “He’s really got two choices. He can either play for us or he cannot play,” Zimmer said on the second day of optional practices that Peterson skipped. “He’s not going to play for anybody else and that’s just the way it’s going to be.” Hours after Zimmer laid down that edict, Peterson tweeted a statement of his own that he gave to ESPN. “The reason I’m not attending OTAs has nothing to do with wanting to be traded,” he said. “It’s about securing my future with the Vikings. It’s business, not personal and I understand that firsthand. Go Vikings.” Peterson, 30, missed all but one game and ultimately pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor for striking his young son with a wooden switch. Peterson was reinstated last month and has three years and $46 million left on his contract. But none of that money is guaranteed. If he is on the roster for Week 1 this season, his $12.75 million salary will become guaranteed.
NFL lineman Ray McDonald has been arrested for the second time this week. The Santa Clara Police Department said the former San Francisco 49ers defensive end was arrested Wednesday for violating a restraining order by being at a residence in Santa Clara. The restraining order was issued after a domestic violence incident Monday in Santa Clara in which the 6-3, 290-pound McDonald allegedly broke down a bedroom door to get to his former fiancee and their infant. McDonald was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and child endangerment, but was free on bail. The Chicago Bears released the lineman hours after that arrest. He was booked Wednesday into Santa Clara County Jail on $5,000 bail. McDonald’s attorney, Steve DeFilippis, told the San Jose Mercury News that neither he nor his client had been notified about the restraining order.
New Orleans is among nine cities and regions bidding to host College Football Playoff championship games. Atlanta, Houston, San Antonio, Detroit, Minneapolis, South Florida, Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Bay Area in California also are vying to host the 2018, 2019 and 2020 title games. All those sites had been previously reported as intending to bid, though the deadline to submit a bid was Wednesday. College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock made the bids official at the SEC spring meetings. New Orleans was the last to jump in to the mix. Organizers were waiting on a commitment of financial support from the state to make help cover a portion of the bid that will cost about $15 million. The Sugar Bowl covers about 70 percent of the bid. This season’s championship game will be held in Glendale, Arizona, at University of Phoenix Stadium. The championship game after the 2016 season will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The first championship game was played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Like North Texas (Cotton Bowl) and Arizona (Fiesta Bowl), Atlanta (Peach Bowl), South Florida (Orange Bowl) and New Orleans (Sugar Bowl) host bowls that are part of the College Football Playoff semifinal rotation. Hancock said that doesn’t necessarily give those sites an advantage in the bidding process. The three championship sites will be announced in the fall, Hancock said.
ATHLETICS
First NCAA director dies
Walter Byers, the first executive director of the NCAA who spent 36 years leading and shaping the organization, has died. He was 93. Byers died Tuesday at his home in Emmett, Kan., when a urinary tract infection spread into his bloodstream, son Fritz said Wednesday. A main part of Byers’ job when he started as NCAA executive director in 1951 was to help the schools maintain strict control of all revenues the athletes generated. He helped invent the now widely used term “student-athlete,” which he said was intended to disguise the fact that players had become de facto professionals. He led the way in dealing with television as a main source of income and was a big proponent of having the NCAA oversee women’s athletics as well. Byers was 29 years old when he was hired by the NCAA. The offices opened in Kansas City, Mo., with five employees. When he retired in 1987, the NCAA had about 150 full-time employees and its membership had grown from 381 schools to 1,003.
BASEBALL
Dodgers, Braves make deal
The Los Angeles Dodgers dealt third baseman Juan Uribe to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday in a six-player trade that was initially blocked. The Dodgers also sent right-handed pitcher Chris Withrow to the Braves for infielder Alberto Callaspo, left-handers Eric Stults and Ian Thomas, and minor league right-hander Juan Jaime. Uribe, 36, was batting .247 with 1 home run and 6 RBI in 29 games. He became expendable after losing his starting job to veteran Justin Turner and rookie Alex Guerrero. Callaspo, 32, originally nixed the trade under a provision that prevents any player who became a major league free agent from being traded without his approval until after June 15.
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams will be out three to fourth months with a strained right quadriceps, an injury that could require surgery. The injury is the latest blow for the Cardinals, who led the National League with a 30-16 record a month after losing ace Adam Wainwright to a torn left Achilles last month. Adams, 26, was injured running on a double in the fifth inning Tuesday night against Arizona and Mozeliak said the player felt a “pop.” Catcher Ed Easley was recalled from Class AAA Memphis before Wednesday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Adams is batting.243 with 4 home runs and 20 RBI. He grabbed his right hip area rounding first base after his hit off reliever Vidal Nuno and was replaced by pinch runner Mark Reynolds.
TENNIS
Monfils, Tsonga delight French crowd
PARIS — Gael Monfils delivered one final ace, his 21st, and closed out his latest raucous, five-set victory on Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday.
An entertainer at heart, Monfils pounded his chest with his right fist repeatedly and, after hugging opponent Diego Schwartzman at the net, used his right shoe to etch a sketch of a smiley face on the French Open main stadium’s red clay.
Needless to say, his adoring public loved that, too.
Since 1983, when Yannick Noah became the most recent man from France to win the championship at Roland Garros, the locals have not had a whole lot to cheer about at their Grand Slam tennis tournament. So mark Wednesday as a rare bright light along the way: All five of the host country’s men in action advanced to the third round, including three who were seeded — No. 12 Gilles Simon, No. 13 Monfils and No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — and two who defeated seeded players — Nicolas Mahut and Benoit Paire.
“Everybody,” Tsonga said, “remembers Yannick’s victory.”
Monfils trailed Argentina’s Schwartzman two sets to one, before coming back and improving to 14-10 in five-setters with a 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win filled with loud cheers between points and plenty of supportive cries of “Allez!”
“Actually, today I won because I had the crowd behind me,” Monfils said. “They give me, let’s say, some wings.”
Tsonga, the Australian Open runner-up in 2008, had little trouble Wednesday while defeating Israel’s Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Simon also was a straight-set winner, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 over Slovakia’s Martin Klizan.