College Football
East Carolina and UNLV are out of the Big 12’s expansion derby.
Officials at both schools said Wednesday that they were notified by the Big 12 that they are no longer being considered for membership.
East Carolina is beginning its third season in the American Athletic Conference after winning two Conference USA championships in football in the 2000s.
UNLV President Len Jessup and athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy issued a statement later in the day to acknowledge the Rebels were no longer being considered. UNLV has been a member of the Mountain West Conference since 1990.
It’s not yet clear if any other schools have received similar notification from the league, which announced July 19 that its presidents had authorized Bowlsby to begin evaluating schools for possible expansion of the 10-team conference by two or four members.
Cycling
PENA CABARGA, Spain – Chris Froome won a thrilling uphill duel against climbing rival Nairo Quintana by a bike length to win the 11th stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Wednesday.
Quintana defended his race lead and is now 54 seconds ahead of Froome, who overtook Alejandro Valverde to move second overall.
Valverde finished six seconds behind, dropping to third overall and 1:05 behind Quintana.
Froome, who clinched his third Tour de France title in July, got his first stage win at a major race on this same Pena Cabarga peak in 2011 – the year the British rider finished as the Vuelta runner-up.
Froome and Quintana, who have had some memorable climbing contests on the Tour, tested one another on the category-one ascent, trading attacks before Froome edged the Colombian at the line.
NFL
NEW YORK – The NFL has cleared Pittsburgh’s James Harrison, Green Bay’s Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers in an investigation of whether they were provided with or used performance enhancers.
Each player met with league investigators last week. The league was looking into allegations made in a documentary by Al-Jazeera America in January. The source of those allegations, which also targeted Peyton Manning, later retracted them.
The NFL said Wednesday it found “no credible evidence” that the players were guilty of any of the claims. Manning was cleared by the league earlier this summer.
PHILADELPHIA – A last-minute appeal in the NFL concussion case, filed by the son of an all-star and civil rights activist, has sent the proposed settlement to the U.S. Supreme Court and delays payouts for at least several months.
The family of the late Buffalo Bills fullback Carlton “Cookie” Gilchrist asked the high court Tuesday to review whether the judge should have approved the potential $1 billion settlement without a full challenge to the scientific evidence presented jointly by both sides.
The appeal, for instance, questions why more money is awarded for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, than for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which some researchers link more closely with football concussions. At least two sets of other plaintiffs were granted extensions of the Tuesday deadline and can appeal through next month.
Players’ lawyers who support the 2013 settlement negotiated with the league on behalf of 21,000 retirees insist their clients need financial and medical help now.
Associated Press
