COLLEGE FOOTBALL
BELLEFONTE, Pa. – A Pennsylvania judge is considering whether to order a hearing where Jerry Sandusky’s lawyers can question witnesses about defense claims that the former Penn State assistant football coach was unfairly convicted of child molestation.
Judge John Cleland didn’t say when he would rule. On Monday, he pressed Sandusky attorney Al Lindsay about whether state rules even allow the sort of questioning Lindsay wants to conduct.
The hour-long hearing involved several issues. Among them: a prosecutor’s statement at the close of trial that one of the 10 victims was known only to God, and whether prosecutors leaked news of the grand jury investigation.
Lindsay wants permission to call witnesses, including Sandusky’s former defense lawyers, about the investigation and trial.
Sandusky appeared in court Monday but played no active role.
Golf
AVONDALE, La. – Brian Stuard beat Jamie Lovemark on the second hole of a playoff Monday to capture his first PGA Tour win at the water-logged Zurich Classic.
Stuard never bogeyed a hole throughout the tournament on the long (7,425-yard), par-72 TPC Louisiana course, which was drenched with more than 41/2 inches of rain during the tournament. Weather delays on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday not only forced a Monday finish but also led officials to shorten the tournament to 54 holes.
Lovemark, Stuard and Byeong-Hun An entered the playoff at 15 under par.
An unraveled on the first playoff hole and Lovemark on the second while Stuard remained steady, virtually clinching the win with a 160-yard approach to within 21/2 of the pin for an easy birdie putt.
Stuard is the seventh first-time winner at the New Orleans-area Tour stop in the past 11 years.
SOCCER
LONDON – Leicester forward Jamie Vardy has won England’s Footballer of the Year award on the day his team could clinch an unlikely Premier League title.
The Football Writers’ Association announced the award seen as the most prestigious individual prize in England.
The 29-year-old Vardy gets the honor just four years after playing in the fifth-tier division.
His 22 Premier League goals include a streak of scoring in 11 consecutive early-season matches, which launched Leicester’s historic title challenge.
Vardy also scored his first goals for England, against Germany and the Netherlands, in March.
Leicester will win the league with two rounds to spare if second-placed Tottenham fails to win at Chelsea later Monday.
Leicester swept the main individual awards, after 17-goal Riyad Mahrez won the players’ vote last week.
MADRID – Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo’s chances of facing Manchester City in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday were boosted as he returned to full training.
Ronaldo practiced with the rest of the squad on Monday, and looked fit again after missing three consecutive games because of a muscle injury to his right leg.
It was the first full practice session for the Portuguese forward this week. He had participated in some of Sunday’s session and had shown no signs of being bothered by the injury.
Ronaldo got injured late on in a Spanish league game against Villarreal on April 20.
In addition to sitting out the first leg against Manchester City in England, which finished 0-0, he also missed two Spanish league games for title-chasing Madrid.
WRESTLING
STILLWATER, Okla. – The National Wrestling Hall of Fame has voted to revoke all honors for Dennis Hastert after the former House speaker was accused of sexually abusing teenagers decades ago.
The Oklahoma-based organization said Monday that its Board of Governors approved the revocation after its ethics committee found that Hastert’s actions were “detrimental to the ideals and objectives” of the Wrestling Hall of Fame. Executive Director Lee Roy Smith says it’s the first time in the organization’s 40 years that it has revoked such a prestigious award.
Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to breaking federal banking rules in a scheme to cover up sexual abuse. Federal prosecutors accused Hastert of sexually abusing high school athletes when he was a wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois.
Associated Press
