HOCKEY
Suter dead at 57
Bob Suter, a member of the "Miracle On Ice" team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1980 and the father of Minnesota Wild star Ryan Suter, died Tuesday at age 57. The Wild announced Suter's death and called him "a great hockey ambassador, he was a terrific person off the ice who will be greatly missed." The team did not disclose other details. Suter is the first player from the 1980 American men's hockey team to die. The Madison, Wis., native was a standout defenseman in college for the Badgers and was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1977. He never played in the NHL, although he paved the way for brother Gary Suter and son Ryan to become stars in the league.
FOOTBALL
SMU QB Burcham out
SMU quarterback Neal Burcham (Greenbrier) will miss the rest of the season with a right elbow injury, the school announced Tuesday. The sophomore threw for 158 yards with 2 interceptions in 2 games. Backup Matt Davis also has been limited by an undisclosed injury. Redshirt freshman Kolney Cassel took the majority of snaps after Burcham was injured in last Saturday's 43-6 loss to North Texas. The Mustangs have a bye this weekend, then play Texas A&M on Sept. 20 at Ford Stadium.
BASEBALL
Home plate rule clarified
Major League Baseball has sent a memo to teams clarifying this year’s experimental rule intended to limit collisions at home plate, saying runners should not be called safe if the ball clearly beats them. The rule, announced in February, says a catcher can’t block the plate if he doesn’t have the ball. There have been several disputed calls, including twodecisions in the past five weeks that led to runners being called safe after video review.
The guidelines sent to teams Tuesday say the catcher’s positioning shouldn’t change the call when the throw clearly is ahead of the runner. They also say if the catcher is entirely in fair territory, he should not be considered to have blocked the plate.
The Tampa Bay Rays are ending Drew Smyly’s season after 153 innings. With the Rays out of contention, they told the 25-year-old left-hander of their decision before Tuesday night’s game at the New York Yankees. Smyly (Little Rock Central, Arkansas Razorbacks) was 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA, including 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA since he was acquired from Detroit on July 31 as part of a three-team trade that sent ace David Price from the Rays to the Tigers. Smyly’s previous high was 126 innings for Class A Lakeland and Class AA Erie in 2011. His 2012 season was interrupted by injuries and he pitched out of the bullpen last year. Rays manager Joe Maddon said a player likely would be brought up from the minors to take Smyly’s turn in the rotation Friday at Toronto.
BASKETBALL
U.S. team advances
Klay Thompson scored 20 points and James Harden had 12 of his 14 in the third quarter after a scoreless first half, helping the United States turn a close game into a 119-76 rout of Slovenia on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup at Barcelona, Spain. Kenneth Faried also had 14 for the Americans, who will play Lithuania on Thursday in Barcelona for a spot in Sunday's gold-medal game in Madrid. Lithuania beat Turkey 73-61 earlier Tuesday. Derrick Rose finished with 12 points after coming into the game shooting 8 for 37 in the World Cup. Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns lead Slovenia with 13 points. The Americans led by five points early in the third quarter before tearing off on a 27-10 run. Harden and Stephen Curry finally got going after the All-Stars combined to miss all 12 shots in the first half.
• Atlanta Hawks General Manager Danny Ferry has been disciplined by CEO Steve Koonin for making racially charged comments about Luol Deng when the team pursued the free agent this year. The team did not provide any details of the discipline. Atlanta's WSB-TV reported it obtained a letter from Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. which cites Ferry telling the ownership group that Deng "has a little African in him" and was "a two-faced liar and cheat." Hawks spokesman Garin Narain said the team's investigation of Ferry's comments uncovered the racially inflammatory email written by co-owner Bruce Levenson. That discovery led to Levenson's announcement Sunday that he will sell his controlling share of the team. Ferry apologized Tuesday for "repeating comments that were gathered from numerous sources" about Deng.
• The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed free-agent forward Shawn Marion, adding more postseason experience to a team targeting an NBA title. Marion agreed to a one-year contract with the Cavs last month and the sides made the agreement official Tuesday. A 15-year veteran, Marion won a championship with Dallas in 2011. Last season, the 6-7 Marion averaged 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds in 76 starts for the Mavericks. The Cavs believe Marion will help them at both ends of the floor. More importantly, he's played in 103 career playoff games -- all starts -- and averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds. Marion will likely come off the bench for Cleveland, which was overhauled during the summer with LeBron James re-signing and the blockbuster trade that brought in All-Star forward Kevin Love. A four-time All-Star, Marion has also played for Phoenix, Miami and Toronto.
MOTOR SPORTS
Schumacher at home
Former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher has left a Swiss hospital and will continue his recovery at home in Switzerland, his manager said Tuesday. The seven-time F1 champion suffered a serious head injury while skiing in France at the end of December. Schumacher was transferred to a hospital in Lausanne in June after six months at a hospital in France. The spokesman said Schumacher was now at his home in Gland, near Geneva, without specifying when the move happened or giving details about his current condition. Schumacher's accident happened on a family vacation as he was skiing with his 14-year-old son at the Meribel ski resort in the French Alps. The avid skier hit the right side of his head on a rock, cracking his helmet. Doctors operated to remove blood clots from his brain, but some were left because they were too deeply embedded. Schumacher's condition stabilized after he was placed in a drug-induced coma, from which he has since emerged.
• Hendrick Motorsports said Tuesday defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is feeling "much better" after suffering from dehydration at Richmond. A spokesman also said crew chief Chad Knaus found nothing wrong in the car that would have caused Johnson's dehydration. The six-time NASCAR champion was assisted to the infield medical center following his eighth-place finish Saturday night. Johnson was lying down next to his car after the race and was helped by his crew to a golf cart. He spent nearly 90 minutes in the care center and needed 5 liters of intravenous fluids, and said after he wasn't sure what caused the dehydration. Johnson said nothing about his health over his radio in the closing laps. Johnson did not participate in a sprint triathlon Sunday for his foundation but attended as a spectator for about one hour. Johnson plans to fulfill all his obligations this week associated with NASCAR's promotion of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Johnson has a full slate of media activities planned for today in New York, then again Thursday in Chicago. The 10-race Chase begins Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, and Johnson will be seeking a record-tying seventh championship. His six titles are second only to Hall of Famers Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt.
• Stewart-Haas Racing is swapping pit crews in hopes of boosting Kevin Harvick's chances in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Harvick, who has been critical of his team's slow pit stops in recent weeks, will race his No. 4 Chevrolet with the crew of teammate and team co-owner Tony Stewart beginning this week at Chicagoland Speedway. Stewart will get Harvick's pit crew for the final 10 races of the season. SHR is taking a chance that the move will pay dividends for Harvick in the 16-car Chase field. It also could cost Stewart, who is trying to avoid his first winless Cup season. SHR executive Greg Zipadelli said the goal is to win races and championships and the swap "provides championship experience to the No. 4 team."
FOOTBALL
NFL’s TV blackouts may be coming to end
WASHINGTON — After almost 40 years, regulators plan to decide if it’s finally time to kill sports-blackout rules that keep NFL games off television when teams fail to sell out their stadiums.
The Federal Communications Commission will vote Sept. 30 on doing away with the rules, which FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said on Tuesday “have to go.” The FCC is “blowing the whistle on this anti-fan practice,” he said in a newspaper op-ed in USA Today.
The NFL wants to keep the blackout option, having said it’s needed to encourage stadium ticket sales. Ending a rule supported by the NFL would continue a difficult patch for the most popular U.S. sports league, which faces criticism it should have been tougher in disciplining Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for a domestic violence incident in February.
After initially banning Rice for two games, the NFL enhanced policies against domestic violence, then indefinitely suspended him when a video emerged this week showing him punching his then-fiancee in the face.
League contracts can prevent local TV stations from showing games lacking sellouts, and the U.S. rules keep cable providers and satellite broadcasters from showing those games in the local markets.
Games blacked out in a home market can be viewed in the visiting team’s market.
Ending the rules, crafted almost 40 years ago to promote live attendance when ticket sales were the main source of revenue, needs support from a majority of the FCC’s five commissioners.
The votes appear to be present. Wheeler leads a three-member Democratic majority, including a commissioner who earlier proposed ending the rules, and the commission has two Republicans including Ajit Pai, who on Aug. 12 spoke in favor of eliminating the rule.
Broadcasters told the FCC the rules keep cable and satellite providers from using “loopholes” to circumvent league contracts with broadcasters. Without rules to keep control, leagues might move games to pay-TV, the National Association of Broadcasters said in a filing. Members of the Washington-based trade group include Comcast’s NBC, News Corp.’s Fox, Walt Disney’s ABC and CBS Corp.’s CBS.
Sports on 09/10/2014