BASEBALL
Steinbrenner apologizes
New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner apologized for his team's failure to make the playoffs for a second consecutive year and said New York is talking with general manager Brian Cashman about a new contract. Steinbrenner spoke Wednesday on The Michael Kay Show, which is simulcast by the YES Network and ESPN New York radio. Asked what he would tell fans, Steinbrenner said: "I apologize. We did not do the job this year." He added: "We know what you expect of us, and we expect the same thing of ourselves." Cashman, 47, has been GM since replacing Bob Watson in February 1998. Steinbrenner said "Brian, I believe, is a good one."
• Arizona says infielder Chris Owings will have shoulder surgery. The Diamondbacks said in a news release Wednesday that the decision was made after Owings received a second opinion and surgery on the posterior labrum will be performed by Dr. James Andrews today. Arizona said Owings will be ready for spring training in February.
• Derek Jeter was one of the world's most covered athletes in media during his 20-season career with the New York Yankees. Now, he's joining media with a new website devoted to delivering athletes' "unfiltered" views to the fans. The Players Tribune is being billed as a digital company that will offer unique access to top athletes in every sport -- from videos to photos to podcasts and more -- without having to deal with reporters to do it. In a statement on the site that was posted Wednesday, Jeter said he wants it to "transform how athletes and newsmakers share information, and bring fans closer than ever to the games they love." Jeter -- who admits to being guarded with reporters -- attributed his success in what he called "the toughest media market" to being careful about what he said. But he said fans deserve to hear more from their favorite athletes than "no comments" and his site will allow a direct connection to the athlete.
FOOTBALL
Autonomy plan underway
The five wealthiest college football conferences have notified the NCAA of their proposals to provide more benefits to athletes under the new governance model that allows the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference to pass legislation without the support of the other Division I leagues. The autonomy structure went into effect on Wednesday, which was also the first day for the power conferences to offer suggestions about what rules they want to implement. The NCAA board of directors in August passed a proposal to give autonomy to the five major conferences. The transition to the autonomy structure will happen in January. Those conferences endorsed changes that would increase benefits to student-athletes, all of which have been touted by conference leaders for several years, including funding athletic scholarships that would cover the full cost of tuition; guaranteeing multiyear scholarships for athletes; lifetime scholarship guarantees that would allow former athletes to return to school at any time and complete their degrees; and providing long-term health care and insurance to former athletes. The conferences have also said they will review the time demands for athletes. Any rule changes that occur would not start until the 2015-2016 academic year.
TENNIS
Kvitova, Venus to meet
Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams will meet in the third round of the China Open in a reprise of their dramatic, three-set encounter at Wimbledon. The third-seeded Czech defeated Peng Shuai of China 6-4, 6-2 beneath the roof on center court on a cold, rainy Wednesday in Beijing. Williams advanced on Tuesday with a win over France's Caroline Garcia. In June, Kvitova was two points from defeat in a third-round match with Williams, but came back to prevail 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-5 and ride that momentum all the way to her second Wimbledon title. The rain wiped out play on the outer courts, leaving only a handful of matches scheduled for center court. Former U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur upset No. 6-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 7-6 (9). Wozniacki, who is having a resurgent season and had won 25 of her last 31 matches, wasted five set points and double-faulted three times in the second-set tiebreaker, including on match point.
• In his first match at home since playing in the U.S. Open final, Kei Nishikori gave the sell-out crowd in Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo their money's worth with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ivan Dodig of Croatia on Wednesday at the Japan Open. In his first-round match in Tokyo, Nishikori faced only one break point, and progressed to a match against Donald Young of the United States. Gilles Simon of France scraped into the quarterfinals when he came from 6-4, 4-2 down to beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3. Simon, who saved six match points in the first round, lined up Steve Johnson of the United States. The American had his own struggles in beating Marcel Granollers of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Another American, Jack Sock, saved two match points in edging Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, and local wild card Tatsuma Ito, who took out Stan Wawrinka, fell to Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-3, 6-3.
SOCCER
Suit filed over turf
A group of elite players has filed a lawsuit in Canada challenging plans to play the 2015 Women's World Cup on artificial turf. The players, led by U.S. women's national team forward Abby Wambach, filed Wednesday in the human rights tribunal of Ontario, attorney Hampton Dellinger told The Associated Press. The women claim that playing the sport's premier tournament on fake grass amounts to gender discrimination under Canadian law. Their male counterparts have always played the World Cup on natural grass surfaces, and will for the foreseeable future. The players say they believe there is a greater risk of injury on turf and that an artificial surface impacts both how the game is played and how the ball behaves. Among the players joining Wambach are U.S. teammate Alex Morgan, Germany's Nadine Angerer, Brazil's Fabiana Da Silva Simoes and Spain's Veronica Boquete.
• The U.S. women's soccer team will play four games in a tournament in Brazil in December. The Americans will face China on Dec. 10, Brazil four days later and Argentina on Dec. 17 as part of the International Tournament of Brasilia, which will be held at the National Stadium Mane Garrincha, one of the sites of this year's men's World Cup. The championship and third-place game will be Dec. 21. The games were announced Wednesday. The top-ranked U.S. team will be playing in Brazil for the first time since 1997. Brazil is ranked sixth, China 14th and Argentina 37th. The tournament follows the North and Central American and Caribbean Women's Championship, which will be played in the United States from Oct. 15-26 and serves as qualifying for next year's Women's World Cup.
GOLF
Caddy to retire
New Zealand caddie Steve Williams says he plans to retire but will consider offers of part-time work next year and would team up with former boss Tiger Woods, if asked. Two weeks ago, Williams ended a 3-1/2 year association with Adam Scott during which Scott rose to become the world's top-ranked golfer and the first Australian to win the Masters. The 50-year-old Williams told Fairfax Media today he wants to reduce his caddying to spend more time with family in New Zealand. He said he is "90 per cent certain it's going to be a permanent break from caddying" but he will consider working part-time in 2015. Asked if he would be prepared to work with Woods again, Williams said "he's definitely someone I'd consider." The 11-year professional and personal relationship between Williams and Woods ended in 2011 with some acrimony. Williams said they had met occasionally on tour since, though Woods' recent injuries meant they had not seen each other often.
Sports on 10/02/2014