Cycling
UCI, WADA mutually agree on a doping commission
JOHANNESBURG – Cycling’s governing body and the World Anti-Doping Agency agreed an independent commission will look into the sport’s drug-stained past, and Lance Armstrong will be invited to testify, UCI President Brian Cookson told The Associated Press.
Cookson said the International Cycling Union and WADA have an agreement in principle to work together in the investigation and hope to announce the move later Wednesday.
Cookson spoke to the AP soon after a private meeting with WADA President John Fahey at the World Conference on Doping in Sport in South Africa, where the agreement was reached.
Cookson also has met with United States Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart and chairman Ed Moses in Johannesburg and the U.S. anti-doping authority will be an “important partner” in the cycling inquiry, Cookson said.
NFL
Former Raiders tight end, Christensen, dies at 57
SALT LAKE CITY – With his penchant for poetry, Todd Christensen never fit the Raiders’ renegade mold. But that didn’t keep him from becoming one of the team’s best all-time tight ends.
A five-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time Super Bowl winner, Christensen died from complications during liver transplant surgery Wednesday. He was 57.
Christensen’s son, Toby Christensen, said his father died at Intermountain Medical Center near his home in Alpine, Utah. He had been waiting for 10 months for a donor liver.
Christensen is survived by his wife, Kathy, and four sons.
Bowe is back and will start Sunday against Denver
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dwayne Bowe deftly avoided the locker room full of prying TV cameras, finally emerging onto the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice field Wednesday as if nothing was amiss.
The former Pro Bowl wide receiver spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for Sunday night’s AFC West showdown against the Broncos, a game in which he’ll start despite a weekend arrest for speeding and possession of marijuana.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said that he intends to let the legal situation run its course, but he made it clear that Bowe will be in the starting lineup for the unbeaten Chiefs.
After his mini-stroke, Kubiak is back with the Texans
HOUSTON – Texans coach Gary Kubiak is back after recovering from a mini-stroke, and he can’t wait to coach his team Sunday against Oakland.
Kubiak, who returned to work Monday, spoke to reporters Wednesday for the first time since collapsing on the field at halftime in Houston’s loss to Indianapolis on Nov. 3. He said doctors have limited his work this week but that he will lead the team when the Texans try to break a franchise-record seven-game losing streak when they play the Raiders.
NHL
Sabres fire head coach, GM, then hire Nolan, LaFontaine
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Buffalo Sabres fired coach Ron Rolston and hired former coach Ted Nolan to replace him.
Sabres owner Terry Pegula also announced Wednesday that he fired general manager Darcy Regier and hired Pat LaFontaine as president of hockey operations.
The Sabres are off to a 4-15-1 start, the worst in franchise history. Buffalo edged Los Angeles 3-2 in a shootout Tuesday night to avoid tying the worst home start in NHL history.
Rolston was 19-26-6 in his brief tenure as Buffalo coach. Regier had been the Sabres general manager since 1997.
LaFontaine starred for the Sabres from 1991-97 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.
Associated Press
