NFL
Browns trade Richardson to Colts for a 1st-round pick
BEREA, Ohio – The Cleveland Browns traded running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday, a stunning move just two games into this season and only one year after drafting him in the first round.
Richardson was dealt for a first-round selection in next year’s draft, when the Browns will have two opening-round picks. Cleveland is rebuilding, and the team hopes to use that pick to help turn around a floundering franchise mired in losing for more than a decade.
Such a turnaround was exactly what the Browns had in mind when they took Richardson with the No. 3 overall pick out of Alabama in the 2011 draft.
Richardson apparently didn’t fit into the plans of Cleveland’s front office or new coach Rob Chudzinski’s offensive system. Richardson, who rushed for 950 yards as a rookie despite playing most of last season with broken ribs, had gained just 105 yards on 31 carries this season and didn’t have the breakaway speed the Browns’ new regime was looking for.
NBA
As it turns out, ‘Birdman’ case a nest of lies
ENGLEWOOD – Miami Heat forward Chris Andersen was the victim of a wide-ranging Internet hoax that resulted in a raid of his Denver-area home last year, his lawyer said Wednesday, and prosecutors confirmed Andersen was cleared of wrongdoing in the “extremely complex” case.
Lisa Pinto, spokeswoman for the 18th Judicial District, told The Associated Press the office is reviewing a 4,000-page report before decisions are made on charges.
“Based on the information that we have been able to obtain and analyze, we are not pursuing charges against Chris Andersen,” Pinto said.
Boxing
Norton, 42-7-1 and 33 KOs, dies in Las Vegas at 70
LAS VEGAS – Former heavyweight champion Ken Norton, who beat Muhammad Ali and later lost a controversial decision to him in Yankee Stadium, died Wednesday at a local care facility, his son said. He was 70.
Ken Norton Jr., a coach with the Seattle Seahawks, confirmed the death.
Norton had been in poor health for the last several years after suffering a series of strokes, a friend of the fighter said.
Norton finished with a record of 42-7-1 and 33 knockouts. He later would embark on an acting career, appearing in several movies, and was a fight commentator.
After Pacquiao, Mayweather, boxing judge steps down
LAS VEGAS – A veteran Nevada boxing judge who drew widespread criticism after scoring a weekend title fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez a draw is giving up her ringside job, at least temporarily.
Cynthia C.J. Ross, 64, scored the world 152-pound title fight a 114-114 draw Saturday night, but Mayweather won a majority decision after two other judges scored Mayweather the clear winner. Those scorecards had the fight 116-112 and 117-111 for Mayweather, who remained an undefeated 45-0.
Ross also drew attention as one of two judges who scored Timothy Bradley the winner in a controversial split-decision welterweight title bout over Manny Pacquiao in June 2012 in Las Vegas.
Auto Racing
NASCAR’s second-tier series will get a new sponsor
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Nationwide will end its seven-year run as entitlement sponsor of NASCAR’s second-largest series at the end of the 2014 season and refocus its motorsports spending to other areas of the industry.
NASCAR announced a new deal Wednesday to extend Nationwide’s contract as its official auto, home, life and business insurance partner through 2017.
NASCAR will search for just the third sponsor since its No. 2 series debuted in 1982. Anheuser-Busch sponsored the development series through 2007, then was replaced by Nationwide in 2008 in a deal worth at least $8 million a year to NASCAR.
Associated Press
