Off the wire

FOOTBALL

Ex-Mankato coach returns

The football coach fired from Minnesota State-Mankato said Tuesday he will return to his old job after an arbitrator ruled he was wrongfully terminated, saying the decision wasn’t easy but that it would help him and his family heal. Todd Hoffner was fired last May for reasons undisclosed at the time. But the dismissal came after he was cleared of child pornography charges stemming from images of his children on a work-issued cellphone, accusations he called the “most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard in my life.” Hoffner was hired in January as head coach at Minot State, and he said he would be “forever grateful” to the North Dakota school.But he said he decided to go back to Mankato for simple reasons. “My family lives there, we have roots there, I helped grow the program to a national power,” he said. He plans to resume his duties at Mankato today. The university released a statement saying that it welcomed Hoffner back as head coach. “This has been a difficult journey for all involved,” the statement said. “We extend our apologies to Mr. Hoffner and deeply regret the difficulties he and his family have experienced. … It is our sincere hope that all concerned can now find ways to move forward.” Hoffner, 47, was arrested and charged with child pornography in 2012 after university staff found images of his naked children on a work-issued cellphone. But a judge dismissed the charges three months later, saying the videos depicted only innocent images of children acting playful after a bath. Although the charges were dismissed, the school suspended Hoffner for 20 days and then reassigned him to an administrative role before firing him last May.

HOCKEY Panthers get first pick

The Florida Panthers bucked the odds by jumping up a spot to win the NHL draft lottery and earn the right to the top pick in June. The Panthers, who finished 29th in the league, vaulted ahead of the last place Buffalo Sabres, who had the best odds of winning the lottery held in Toronto on Tuesday night. The Panthers had an 18.8 percent chance of winning the lottery, behind only Buffalo, which had a 25 percent shot. Florida will have the first pick for the fourth time in franchise history.The top two projected prospects are left wing Samuel Bennett of OHL Kingston, who finished first in the final rankings released by NHL Central Scouting last week, and OHL Barrie defenseman Aaron Ekblad. The draft will be held June 27-28 in Philadelphia.

Another group of former NHL players has filed a federal class action lawsuit alleging that the league has downplayed the risk of head injuries, while at the same time promoting fighting and violence in the game. The lawsuit was filed in Minneapolis on Tuesday. Retired players Dave Christian, Reed Larson and William Bennett are the named plaintiffs leading the suit. It alleges that the NHL put its players “at a substantially higher risk” for developing memory loss, depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

TENNIS Djokovic advances

Novak Djokovic began the defense of his Monte Carlo Masters by taking only 45 minutes to beat Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-0. The second-ranked Serb won 11 consecutive games and improved to 6-0 against Montanes. In the next round, he faces Frenchman Gael Monfils, who beat 14th-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4, 7-6 (4), or Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. French Open runner-up David Ferrer of Spain needed a bit longer to reach the third round, taking a little more than one hour to beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-0 after dropping his opening service game. Ferrer, who lost the final to Nadal in 2011, next plays 12th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria or Albert Ramos of Spain. Fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France also advanced to the third round.

BASKETBALL Deng wins award

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Luol Deng won the J. Walter Kennedy Award, given annually to an NBA player for community service. Deng has had a long commitment to philanthropic work in his native South Sudan. His recent public service announcement for EnoughProject.org urges peace in his homeland. Deng also established a charitable foundation in Britain, which granted his family political asylum.

TRACK AND FIELD ‘Deplorable’ mistakes led to sprinter’s ban

LONDON - Jamaican sprinter and former Arkansas Razorbacks All-American Veronica Campbell-Brown was cleared of doping because of blatant flaws in the test collection procedures and possible “ environmental contamination” of her urine sample, sport’s highest appeals body said Tuesday.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport released its full report explaining the decision to uphold the three-time Olympic gold medalist’s appeal against a two-year doping ban. The runner was cleared by CAS in late February,but the reasons had not been released until now.

In a 58-page ruling, the three man arbitration panel outlined “deplorable” mistakes by Jamaican athletics and anti-doping officials in the collection of the athlete’s first partial sample. CAS said the errors could have led to the sample being contaminated by water or sweat containing a banned substance.

Campbell-Brown tested positive for the diuretic HCT after competing in a national meet in Kingston, Jamaica, on May 4, 2013. Both the “A” and “B” samples came back positive.

Campbell-Brown, who denied intentionally taking a banned substance, was initially suspended provisionally by the IAAF and unable to defend her 200-meter title at the world championships in Moscow. In September, a Jamaican disciplinary panel ruled that she had not committed a doping violation and gave her only a reprimand.

The International Association of Athletics Federations contested the finding and ordered the Jamaican federation to impose a two-year suspension in February. Campbell-Brown appealed to CAS and a hearing was held in London on Feb. 21.

The case centered on the handling of her sample after she failed to produce the required amount of urine in her first attempt.

The court said the Jamaican Athletics Administrative Association “has persistently failed to comply” with international standards for partial sample testing. “That systematic and knowing failure … is deplorable and gives rise to the most serious concerns about the overall integrity of the JAAA’s anti-doping processes,” the ruling said.

Campbell-Brown has won seven Olympic medals in all, including gold in the 200 meters in 2004 and 2008 and the 400 relay in 2004. She also won the 100-meter world title in 2007 and 200 gold at the 2011 worlds.

Sports, Pages 22 on 04/16/2014

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