BASKETBALL
Oakley files lawsuit
Charles Oakley filed a civil lawsuit against James Dolan, Madison Square Garden and MSG Networks on Tuesday, seeking unspecified damages related to the former Knicks player's scuffle with Garden security during a game last February. The lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn federal court, accuses Dolan and the Garden of defamatory, libelous and slanderous comments directed at Oakley following the incident that led police to arrest Oakley. The lawsuit also accuses Garden security of assault, battery and false imprisonment as a result of guards forcibly removing Oakley from his seat a few rows behind Dolan, the Knicks owner, during the Feb. 8 game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Oakley, 53, was charged with misdemeanor assault as a result of the melee. He appeared in Manhattan criminal court last month and accepted a plea deal that allows for the charges to be dropped if he remains out of trouble for six months. He also was banned from the Garden for a year. Douglas Wigdor, Oakley's attorney, said Oakley filed the lawsuit "out of principle and his desire to hold Mr. Dolan accountable for his actions, which I can assure you that our firm is committed to doing on his behalf." The voicemail for Oakley's personal cellphone was full Tuesday morning. He did not respond to a text message seeking comment. Madison Square Garden released a statement that said, "This is a frivolous lawsuit and nothing more than another attempt by Mr. Oakley to garner attention. We will deal with this accordingly."
SOCCER
Dispute halts rematch
Denmark's football federation said a friendly rematch of the Women's European Championship final has been canceled after wage talks collapsed. The Danish federation DBU said Tuesday that "ultimate demands" led to the cancellation. The friendly on Friday between Denmark and the European champion Netherlands was sold out in Horsens, western Denmark. DBU said it offered a 46 percent wage increase to the team that includes professional and amateur players. But it said the Danish Football Players' Association wanted a 342 percent raise and demanded all players be hired by the DBU. Denmark captain Pernille Harder said she is "disappointed," and urged the DBU to return to the negotiation table. The Netherlands beat Denmark 4-2 last month to win its first European women's title.
GOLF
China event canceled
The LPGA Tour has canceled its event next month in China because of permitting problems. The Alisports LPGA was set for Oct. 5-8 in Shanghai. "Unfortunately, we have just received word that the tournament was unsuccessful in obtaining approval from the local district government," LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan said Tuesday. "The hardest part about this news is that we have a title sponsor, a tournament operator, a TV production group and a host venue all set to go." In-Kyung Kim won the event last year. In 2015, the Reignwood Pine Valley LPGA Classic in Beijing was called off 10 weeks before it was scheduled to be played.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ole Miss hearing over
Mississippi's hearing with the NCAA's infractions committee has ended after two days of meetings at Covington, Ky. Ole Miss Athletics Director Ross Bjork confirmed the hearing was finished on Tuesday, but had no further comment. The NCAA had set aside up to three days to discuss the case. The Rebels are facing 21 allegations, including 15 classified as Level I, which the NCAA deems the most serious. The charges in the wide-ranging case involve academic, recruiting and booster misconduct. The school has already self-imposed several penalties, including a postseason ban for this season, three years of probation, scholarship losses and recruiting restrictions. The NCAA can accept the Rebels' self-imposed penalties or add to them when it reaches a decision, which could take several weeks to months.
Test shortens games
The Pac-12's test program to shorten games appears to be doing just that. All non-conference games airing on the Pac-12 Network this season have reduced quarter breaks, while a few have fewer commercial breaks, too. Some games feature 15-minute halftimes. In the 12 games so far that have been part of the pilot program, game time is down to 3:16, according to the league. Washington's 63-7 victory over Montana last weekend lasted just 2:54. Last season, the Pac-12 averaged 3:26 per game. Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said that on the league's opening week, the test allowed fans watching at home to see all the game between Southern Utah and Oregon and the first play of Western Michigan at USC in a tight broadcasting window. "My programming folks explained to us that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't implemented some of the initiatives. We would have missed the first series," Scott said.
OLYMPICS
Revenue sharing set
The U.S. Olympic Committee and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic organizers have agreed to a revenue-sharing deal in which the USOC will receive a fixed amount over eight years instead of the 20 percent cut of gross revenues that had been agreed upon in the 2024 contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The joint marketing agreement had to be reworked when Los Angeles agreed to host the 2028 Games, with Paris staging the 2024 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will officially name the host cities today. The AP learned specifics of the agreement from a person familiar with the negotiations who did not want to be identified because the details have not been made public. The IOC has not officially approved the new deal, but in its report on the 2028 bid it said it had "no major concerns" with the agreement.
FOOTBALL, BASEBALL
Despite Irma, many games get go-ahead
Amid the misery in Florida caused by Hurricane Irma, the state still has places to play football and baseball.
The Jacksonville Jaguars were the latest to announce they will play at home this weekend. The team spent three nights in Houston because of the hurricane.
Team President Mark Lamping said EverBank Field in Jacksonville passed its final NFL inspection Tuesday to gain clearance to host a game. Stadiums in Tampa Bay and Miami also were declared safe after structural engineers found no damage related to Irma.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Chicago Bears as scheduled Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. It will serve as the Bucs’ season opener.
The Bucs’ game last Sunday at Miami was postponed until Nov. 19 because of the storm.
In college football, No. 22 South Florida will play host to Illinois on Friday, also at Raymond James. USF Athletic Director Mark Harlan said the Bulls determined their game could be safely played as scheduled without hurting recovery efforts.
No. 23 Tennessee and 24th-ranked Florida will play as scheduled Saturday in Gainesville. Florida Field sustained only minor storm damage to signage.
Florida (0-1) canceled its home opener last week against Northern Colorado because of the hurricane.
Florida Atlantic plans to return today to its campus in Boca Raton and hopes to play its scheduled home game Saturday against Bethune-Cookman.
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens was determined to be safe for the Hurricanes, who are scheduled to play the next game there Sept. 23 against Toledo, and for the Dolphins.
In baseball, Marlins Park, the home of the Miami Marlins, suffered some minor damage, with a portion of the rubber and plastic membrane on the stadium’s retractable roof ripping off. The ballpark did not have any flood or water damage.
Since most of the county was without power, the Marlins could not say whether their series with the Milwaukee Brewers would be played in Miami as scheduled this weekend.
The Tampa Bay Rays are scheduled to fly home today from New York and host a three-game series against the Red Sox beginning Friday night.
Tropicana Field did not sustain any major damage, according to reports, but there are widespread power outages throughout the county.
Sports on 09/13/2017