Off the Wire

FOOTBALL

Beckham limited in practice

Odell Beckham Jr. has been cleared to practice although the star New York Giants' receiver did little work in team periods at the opening of the first mandatory minicamp under Coach Pat Shurmur. Beckham, who missed several voluntary practices in the final phase of organized team activities in the past month, looked good running pass routes Tuesday. He appeared to cut well testing the left ankle that was broken on Oct. 8 against the Chargers, sidelining him for the final 11 games. It was a good day overall for Shurmur and the Giants in terms of attendance. All players were there, including defensive tackle Damon Harrison who missed many of the organized team activities.

Jury: Rams owe Bush

A jury in St. Louis on Tuesday ordered the NFL's Rams to pay former running back Reggie Bush $12.5 million for a severe knee injury he suffered in 2015, the team's final season in St. Louis before moving to Los Angeles. The jury found the Rams 100 percent liable for Bush's injury and ordered the team to pay $4.95 million in compensatory damages and $7.5 million in punitive damages, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Attorneys for the Rams said they plan to file a motion for a new trial. Bush was playing for the San Francisco 49ers when he was pushed out of bounds during a game on Nov. 1, 2015, at what was then the Edward Jones Dome, now known as the Dome at America's Center. He slipped on a surface that the lawsuit dubbed the "concrete ring of death," about 35 feet behind the 49ers' bench.Bush suffered a season-ending left knee injury. The lawsuit contended the injury undermined his earnings as a player for the rest of his career. He signed with Buffalo in 2016 and retired in 2017. Now 33, he works as an analyst for the NFL Network. Bush also sued public agencies that own and operate the dome, but a judge dismissed them from the suit last week after ruling that the team had control of game-day operations. Just a week before Bush's injury, then-Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown slid across the same concrete stretch and injured his shoulder. The concrete surface in the dome was covered with rubber padding two weeks after Bush was injured.

Luck throwing again

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck attempted his first passes in front of reporters Tuesday as the team opened its three-day minicamp. Luck only threw a handful of balls before he finished with a lob of about 20 yards. He then jogged from the outdoor practice field to the Colts' indoor facility. While the ball Luck used appeared to be slightly smaller than a regulation NFL ball, it was a major step forward. Coach Frank Reich said last week that Luck was "real close" to throwing. But Luck wasn't expected to begin that phase of his recovery until after minicamp ended. Luck continues to recover from surgery on his right shoulder that took place in January 2017.

Martin rejoins Cowboys

Zack Martin is practicing with the Dallas Cowboys again as the two-time All-Pro closes in on a contract that's expected to make him the highest-paid guard in the NFL. Martin skipped all nine voluntary offseason workouts while negotiations that started about a year ago kept dragging. But he was on the field after the club and his representatives got close on a deal over the weekend. The former Notre Dame standout said he wasn't sure if he would have attended the start of mandatory minicamp Tuesday without the progress in negotiations. The 27-year-old Martin was set to make $9.3 million in the final year of his rookie deal. Martin's new contract is expected to surpass the $13.3 million annual average in the $66.5 million, five-year contract that Jacksonville's Andrew Norwell signed in March. Martin was the 16th overall pick in 2014 and was an All-Pro as a rookie when DeMarco Murray led the NFL in rushing for the NFC East champions. He repeated the feat two years later when rookie Ezekiel Elliott was the rushing leader for another division champion.

GOLF

Tournament changes name

The PGA Tour has approved a name change for The Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia. The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs said in a statement the tournament will now be known as A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. The 8-year-old tournament has typically been held around the Independence Day holiday. This year's event is set for July 5-8 on the Old White TPC Course. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who owns the resort, said current and past veterans will be admitted to the tournament for free and have access to a private seating area. Justice said "we want the world to know that the military comes first, and our focus is on those men and women above everything else."

Houston Open moves to fall

The Houston Open is moving to the fall on the PGA Tour under the guidance of Houston Astros owner Jim Crane. The PGA Tour announced Tuesday the Astros Foundation will be the host organization that runs the tournament when the Houston Open returns to the schedule in the fall of 2019. The Houston Golf Association had run the tournament since 1946. The purse will be $7.5 million. That means the Houston Open will not be on the schedule for next season, which starts in October. The last time it wasn't part of the PGA Tour schedule was in 1969, Houston hosted the U.S. Open. The move to the fall paves the way for Minnesota to take Houston's spot in the main portion of the schedule next summer.

SOCCER

Heath scores in return

Tobin Heath scored the go-ahead goal in the 75th minute in her return from injury and the U.S. national team beat China 2-1 on Tuesday night in Cleveland to sweep the two-game exhibition series. Three minutes after China tied it at 1-1 on Li Ying's fast-break goal, Heath chipped the goalkeeper on a miss hit. It was Heath's first game with the national team since appearing as a substitute in a friendly against New Zealand in September. She had surgery to remove bone growth on her right ankle in early January. Megan Rapinoe put the U.S. ahead in the 35th minute by heading home Christen Press' cross at the far post. Press became the 37th player to appear in 100 matches for the U.S. U.S. goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris made her first start of 2018. She denied a well-placed free kick from just outside the penalty box in the 74th. The United States beat China 1-0 on Thursday in Sandy, Utah.

TENNIS

Kohlschreiber upset

Denis Istomin upset two-time finalist Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Stuttgart Open on Tuesday. Kohlschreiber failed to create any break points and was forced to fend off six from the 100th-ranked Istomin. The Uzbek won in 1 hour, 41 minutes and next faces another German, Florian Mayer. Also at the grass-court tournament, Marton Fucsovics defeated American qualifier Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 and Gilles Simon had little difficulty getting past Italy's Matteo Viola. Eighth-seeded Feliciano Lopez was 6-1 up against Viktor Troicki before their match was suspended due to rain.

TRACK AND FIELD

Hayward razing starts

Workers have started dismantling the 93-year-old east grandstand at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. Workers began removing the grandstand's original seat boards on Monday, The Register-Guard reported. The Douglas fir bleacher seats are among numerous items that may be reused in the modern stadium that will be built on the same site as Hayward Field. The stadium's privately funded rebuild will be completed in time for the 2021 World Track and Field Championships. The university has not specified when the east and west grandstands and the Bowerman Family Building will be razed, but the work is expected to begin next month.

Sports on 06/13/2018

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