College Basketball
Askia Booker doesn’t book postseason trip with Buffs
BOULDER – Colorado senior guard Askia Booker informed coach Tad Boyle he won’t play in the College Basketball Invitational.
The Buffaloes will be without their leader in scoring, assists and steals when they host Gardner-Webb on Wednesday.
Boyle told the school’s website that he respects Booker’s decision and “we’ll move on.” Colorado finished 15-17 this season, ending a streak of three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Booker’s choice not to suit up has led to some criticism on social media. Boyle warned Booker that could be the case, telling him, “you’ll take some heat with this decision.”
Boyle also said on the website that Booker’s welcome anytime because he’s “part of our basketball family and always will be.”
NCAA decision conflicts with previous rulings
SAN FRANCISCO – An attorney for the NCAA said a ruling that opened the door for college football and basketball players to be paid goes against previous court rulings, including a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The NCAA is appealing a decision last year that the organization violated antitrust laws by limiting student-athlete compensation.
Seth Waxman told a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday that courts never have said the rules meant to protect student-athletes’ amateur status violated antitrust law. He cited a 1984 Supreme Court ruling that said athletes must not be paid in order to preserve the character and quality of college athletics.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Hausfeld told the appeals court the Supreme Court’s comment about paying athletes was made in passing and was not integral to the outcome of that case.
Cycling
World head advises against planned French charity ride
LONDON – The head of world cycling said it would be “disrespectful” to current riders if Lance Armstrong rode the Tour de France route a day before the professional peloton as a charity fundraiser.
Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour titles for doping on every one of his wins from 1999-2005.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which imposed a life ban from cycling on Armstrong, had no objection to his charity ride plans, which follows an invite from former England soccer player Geoff Thomas.
Mixed track events will be tested behind closed doors
LONDON – Cycling’s governing body will try out mixed-gender track races in response to calls from Olympic leaders to increase female participation.
Encouraging more mixed events is part of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach’s “Olympic Agenda 2020” reform package.
Although cycling has no tradition of such events, UCI President Brian Cookson says “we have got to think of creative ways of making that work in the special circumstances of our particular sport.”
Sports Gambling
New Jersey head back to court to fight to legalize
PHILADELPHIA – Attorneys representing New Jersey, the four professional sports leagues and the NCAA headed to a federal appeals court Tuesday in their yearslong battle over legalized sports gambling.
Seeking to tap into a multibillion-dollar sports gambling market, New Jersey is pinning its hopes on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, whose previous ruling handed it a defeat but also provided an opening to pursue further action.
Associated Press
