Cycling
Arndt wins stage by a wheel; Froome leads Dauphine
LE TEIL, France – Niklas Arndt edged Kris Boeckmans in a sprint finish to win the third stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in searing temperatures Tuesday.
Chris Froome, who won the opening two stages, finished safely in the peloton to maintain his overall lead of 12 seconds over two-time Tour de France winner and main rival Alberto Contador.
Boeckmans nearly caught Arndt at the line, but the photo finish showed the German had won by the width of a bike tire. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg was third at the end of the 120.55-mile leg from Ambert to Le Teil.
MLB
A’s former Cy Young winner Bob Welch dies at 57
OAKLAND, Calif. – Bob Welch, the 1990 AL Cy Young Award winner of the Oakland Athletics and the last major leaguer to win at least 25 games in a season, has died. He was 57.
Welch died Monday night at his home in Seal Beach, California, the team said Tuesday. Police said officers responded to a call for medical aid and found Welch dead in the bathroom area.
No cause of death was released. The coroner was awaiting toxicology test results, which can take eight to 12 weeks.
Welch was an admitted alcoholic early in his career and spent time in rehabilitation. He co-authored a book in 1981 with George Vecsey about his addiction titled, Five O’Clock Comes Early: A Ballplayer’s Battle With Alcoholism.
The right-hander played on five teams that reached the World Series (1978, 1981, 1988, 1989 and 1990) and won two titles, one in 1989 with the Athletics and one in 1981 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Welch finished 211-146 with a 3.47 earned-run average in 17 seasons with the Dodgers (1978-87) and Athletics (1988-94). He also was the pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won the 2001 World Series and served as a special instructor for the A’s in recent years.
NBA
Knicks officially hire Fisher as their new head coach
NEW YORK – Derek Fisher never was the best player, certainly not the quickest or the tallest. But whether on the court with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, or across the bargaining table from Adam Silver and David Stern, he never feared taking the shot, speaking his mind, or doing whatever else was expected of a leader.
So he has every attribute the New York Knicks need – except experience as a head coach, the job they hired him to do.
Just days after finishing his 18th season, the 39-year-old Fisher was tabbed to replace Mike Woodson, whom Phil Jackson fired in his first major move as team president.
Fisher won five championships playing for Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers and was known for his knack for hitting clutch postseason shots while playing an NBA-record 259 playoff games. But some of his most important work came in the locker room, just as it will now.
NFL
Jury convicts the mastermind behind Sean Taylor’s death
MIAMI – A Florida jury convicted a man prosecutors called the ringleader of a botched 2007 Miami-area burglary that ended with the fatal shooting of Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor.
The 12-person jury deliberated nearly four hours Tuesday before finding 25-year-old Jason Mitchell guilty of armed burglary and first-degree felony murder. Trial testimony indicated Mitchell hatched the plot for five Fort Myers-area men to burglarize Taylor’s home near Miami after previously seeing large amounts of cash there.
The judge immediately imposed the mandatory life sentence for murder, plus 40 more years for the burglary conviction.
The man who authorities said fired the fatal shot, Eric Rivera Jr., was convicted last fall of second-degree murder and sentenced to 57 years behind bars.
Two other men await trial. A third has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and burglary.
Associated Press
