College Basketball
Griffifth, Hill and O’Neal highlight Class of 2014
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Darrell Griffith, Grant Hill and Shaquille O’Neal headline the 2014 College Basketball Hall of Fame class.
Griffith helped Louisville win the title his senior season. Hill led Duke to two national championships. O’Neal averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds during his three-year college career at LSU and was a first-team All-American his final two seasons.
They will be joined at the induction ceremony in November by NAIA star Zelmo Beaty from Prairie View A&M; Final Four coaches Dale Brown of LSU and Gary Williams of Maryland; longtime coach and author Glenn Wilkes Sr.; and Howard Garfinkle, the founder of the Five-Star Basketball Camp.
Cycling
Mezgec wins two in a row at the Volta a Catalunya
GIRONA, Spain – Slovenian cyclist Luka Mezgec followed up an opening-day victory by winning the second leg of the Volta a Catalunya on Tuesday to keep the overall lead.
The Giant-Shimano cyclist beat Italian pair Roberto Ferrari and Daniele Ratto in a sprint finish to win in a time of 3 hours, 57 minutes, 49 seconds. Mezgec leads Ferrari by 14 seconds overall with a time of 8:06:42 as cyclists endured cold weather and rain during a 104-mile run.
NBA
Nuggets’ Hickson has surgery to fix his torn knee ligament
DENVER – The Denver Nuggets said forward J.J. Hickson had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right knee Tuesday.
Hickson tore his anterior cruciate ligament early in the fourth quarter of Denver’s loss at Dallas last Friday.
The 25-year-old Hickson averaged 11.8 points and 9.2 rebounds this season. He also had a team-high 26 double-doubles.
NFL
Bills owner Ralph Wilson dies at 95 at his home
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Ralph Wilson, the Buffalo Bills’ owner who helped found the American Football League in 1960 and played a key role in the merger with the NFL, died Tuesday. He was 95.
Wilson died at his home in Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.
Wilson was the founder and sole owner of the Bills after establishing the team with the upstart AFL. He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
NFL office will help referees with instant replay rulings
ORLANDO, Fla. – The NFL officiating department will help referees rule on instant replay reviews starting next season.
League owners passed a rule Tuesday allowing referees to consult with director of officiating Dean Blandino and his staff to help determine whether a call should be overturned or upheld. NFL officials said the change should speed up the process.
Blandino and other staff will be monitoring the games from league offices in New York, and they will immediately begin reviewing challenges before the referee even gets to his monitor. They can make recommendations on what replays to look at, but the referee still will make the final decision.
The owners also banned roll-up blocks to the side of a player. In the past, the rule only barred such blocks from behind.
Soccer
Bayern repeats Bundesliga, this one in record time
BERLIN – Two months before the season ends, Bayern Munich can claim one of the best seasons in German soccer history.
Bayern earned the Bundesliga championship with seven games to spare, earlier than any team in the 51-year history of the league, after defeating Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Tuesday.
Bayern has won 19 in a row in the Bundesliga and 25 of 27 overall to stretch its record unbeaten streak to 52.
Bayern also won the Champions League and the German Cup, an unprecedented feat that it will try to repeat this season.
Associated Press
