NBA
Feds arrest Washington
Kermit Washington, a former NBA player who notoriously gave a bone-breaking face punch to the Houston Rockets' Rudy Tomjanovich during a 1977 Lakers game, has been arrested by federal agents. Washington was arrested on a warrant Tuesday in Los Angeles. It's unknown if he has a lawyer. Officials won't discuss the arrest, but they have set a news conference for today in Kansas City, Mo. That's where football Hall of Famer Ron Mix pleaded guilty Monday to filing false tax returns. Authorities said Mix, a San Diego-area lawyer, paid someone to refer clients to him in return for donations to the charity Contact Project Africa. Prosecutors said Mix paid $155,000, but the money went into his associate's pocket. Washington founded the charity, which is no longer functioning.
BASEBALL
Vogelsong still in hospital
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Ryan Vogelsong remained hospitalized with swelling and multiple facial fractures on Tuesday, a day after the veteran took a 92-mph fastball to the head from Colorado pitcher Jordan Lyles. Pirates trainer Todd Tomczyk said Vogelsong was "in good spirits" but added that doctors would not be able to determine the extent of the damage around Vogelsong's left eye until the swelling subsides. Vogelsong was batting with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning Monday when a Lyles pitch caught Vogelsong flush. He remained on the ground for several minutes, though Tomczyk said Vogelsong did not lose consciousness and does not have symptoms of a concussion. Vogelsong, 38, experienced some vision loss in the immediate aftermath, but Tomczyk said Vogelsong's eye was "somewhat open" by Tuesday.
• Rather than activate Alex Rodriguez from the disabled list, the New York Yankees sent him to Class AA Trenton for an injury rehabilitation assignment. Sidelined since straining his right hamstring on May 3, Rodriguez was scheduled to play for the Thunder against New Hampshire on Tuesday night. The Yankees are leaning toward activating him for a trip that starts Friday at Tampa Bay but could change that if he feels good. "We were thinking a couple of days and see where he's at," Manager Joe Girardi said. "It's more for knocking off the rust. I think we feel pretty good about his hamstring, but in saying that, it will give us a good idea of where it's really at because it's hard to simulate game activities."
• Pitcher Ashur Tolliver (Sylvan Hills) was called up to the Baltimore Orioles from their Class AA affiliate in Bowie, Md., on Tuesday. Tolliver, 28, had a 1-1 record and 2 saves with a 2.42 ERA in 18 appearances for the Bowie Baysox and was available for the Orioles on Tuesday as they took on the Houston Astros. He will fill the vacancy left by the trade of left-handed pitcher Brian Matusz, who, along with a 2016 draft pick, was dealt to the Atlanta Braves on Monday for two minor league pitchers. Tolliver, who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2009 draft by the Orioles after transferring to the NAIA Oklahoma City Stars from UALR, was a nonroster invitee to the Orioles' spring training camp. "He threw well. He's done well in Double-A. He's earned his opportunity. He's worked hard for this opportunity," Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette told The Baltimore Sun. Tolliver had major labrum surgery in the spring of 2012 which threatened to end his career, but Tolliver told Steve Melewski of Mid-Atlantic Sports Network he always thought he'd be on the Orioles' big-league roster. "I don't think I ever lost hope, but there were times when it was so far away with the injuries," Tolliver said. "Coming back from labrum surgery, my stuff wasn't there. The velocity is not there. It seemed like such a long shot. People in this organization have been so good, sticking with me and encouraging me. The training staff and strength coaches, everyone just kept pushing me. And eventually I felt like it would happen."
• The Boston Red Sox said pitcher Carson Smith was set to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, effectively ending his season. The team announced that Smith, who arrived in Boston this offseason via a trade with Seattle, would undergo ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction Tuesday. The procedure was to be performed by Dr. David Altchek in New York. Smith was placed on the 15-day disabled list last week with right elbow soreness. It was his second time this season on the DL after beginning the season sidelined with a strained flexor muscle in his forearm. The 26-year-old made just three appearances since coming off the DL on May 3, allowing only one unearned run in 2 2/3 innings. He was expected to be a key component of the Red Sox bullpen after a 2015 campaign with the Mariners in which he had a 2.31 ERA, 13 saves and 92 strikeouts in 70 innings.
FOOTBALL
Report: Smith had CTE
Bubba Smith, the All-Pro defensive end in the NFL who went on to a second career as a movie actor, had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma, when he died in 2011. The findings were confirmed by researchers affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation, and released Tuesday with the permission of the executor of Smith's estate. Smith is the 90th former NFL player found to have had CTE by the researchers at the Boston University brain bank; they have examined 94 former pro players. On a scale of 1 to 4 used by the neuropathologist who examined Smith's brain, Smith had Stage 3 CTE, with symptoms that included cognitive impairment and problems with judgment and planning. Smith, whose name was Charles, died at age 66 of an overdose of phentermine, a weight-loss drug. Smith was chosen as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1967 draft by the Baltimore Colts. He was a member of the teams that lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets and beat the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V. After five seasons in Baltimore, Smith played two seasons with the Oakland Raiders and two seasons in Houston with the Oilers. After Smith retired following the 1976 season, he used his size and fame to build a second career in film and television.
FOOTBALL
Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles to get Super Bowls
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The NFL awarded Super Bowls to Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles, three cities that made significant financial investments in new stadiums or recently upgraded an existing one.
Atlanta will host the game in 2019, followed by Miami (2020) and Los Angeles (2021), it was announced Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings.
Atlanta will host its third Super Bowl, but the first at its new $1.4 billion stadium which opens in 2017. The previous two were at the Georgia Dome.
Miami will have its record-setting 11th Super Bowl following a $450 million stadium renovation.
Los Angeles, which gets the relocated Rams this season, has not hosted a Super Bowl in the area since 1993 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The game will be played at the new $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood, Calif., which opens in 2019.
The selection of Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles maintains the recent cycle of the league’s owners rewarding cities that have built new stadiums or renovated existing facilities with the lucrative financial reward of hosting a Super Bowl in return.
Last year’s Super Bowl was played in Santa Clara, Calif., after the 49ers built a stadium. Minneapolis will host a Super Bowl in 2018 with a new stadium that opens this season.
New York-New Jersey, Indianapolis, Dallas and Detroit all received Super Bowl bids in the past after spending millions on new stadiums.
Atlanta will host its first Super Bowl since 2000, when an untimely ice storm in the Southeast crippled festivities by forcing cancellation of some hospitality events and making travel treacherous. But Falcons owner Arthur Blank’s new stadium put Atlanta back in the picture.
The Miami area will move ahead of New Orleans, which has hosted 10 Super Bowls, when it stages its first title showdown since 2010. The area remains a popular venue because of its weather, ability to host big events and two major airports that help travel in and out of the city.
The NFL has been eager to have a team in Los Angeles for quite some time and the Rams moved from St. Louis with owner Stan Kroenke’s promise of a grandiose stadium — one that will be the most expensive in the league. The reward was the area’s eighth Super Bowl overall, but first Super Bowl since 1993, when the Cowboys defeated the Bills 52-17 at the Rose Bowl.
Sports on 05/25/2016