mlb
Man dies after falling from upper deck at Turner Field
ATLANTA – Police say a man who fell more than 60 feet from an upper-level platform at Atlanta’s Turner Field onto a parking lot during a baseball game died.
Atlanta police spokesman John Chafee confirmed the death of the unidentified man late Monday.
He said the man fell before 9 p.m. EDT during Monday night’s game between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.
Chafee said witnesses described the fall as accidental. He was not sure whether wet conditions contributed to the fall.
Details on exactly how the man fell – and what part of the stadium the incident occurred in – weren’t immediately available.
Heavy rains had led to a nearly two-hour delay of the game.
Monday’s accident wasn’t the first of its kind to happen at Turner Field and marked at least the third time a sports fan has fallen from the stands in Atlanta in about a year.
Isaac Grubb, 20, of Lenoir City, Tenn. died after falling over a railing at the Georgia Dome during a football game between Tennessee and North Carolina State on Aug. 31, 2012. Authorities said he landed on another man seated in the lower level, and that alcohol was a factor.
A man fell about 25 feet over a staircase railing at a Georgia Tech-Miami football game on Sept. 22, 2012 and was not seriously injured.
In May 2008, a 25-year-old Cumming, Ga. man suffered head injuries when he fell down a stairwell at Turner Field during a game against the New York Mets and later died. Police found that alcohol had factored into that accident, which the Braves said was the first non-medical fatality to happen at the ballpark.
NBA
76ers long search for a head coach ends with Brown
PHILADELPHIA – Four months later, the Philadelphia 76ers have a new coach.
A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Monday the Sixers have hired San Antonio assistant Brett Brown to replace Doug Collins, who resigned in April.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move has not been officially announced.
New general manager Sam Hinkie took quite a while looking for a replacement before choosing Brown, who was part of three NBA title teams with San Antonio. The 52-year-old Brown was an assistant under Gregg Popovich since 2002. He also coached the Australian men’s national team from 2009-12, and played a key role in helping Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker develop into All-Stars with the Spurs.
Brown is the franchise’s 24th coach and eighth since Larry Brown resigned in 2003.
high school football
Player storms into home and attacks former coach
PITTSBURGH – A western Pennsylvania man who played high school football decades ago charged into his former coach’s house and attacked him, biting him on his ears and face and choking him, authorities said.
Joseph Koscinski, 38, beat on the door of the coach’s home and then forced his way in about 4 p.m. EDT Sunday, when he began biting him “in the ear, face and head area, and choking him,” said Sharon police Chief Mike Menster.
The coach, Jim Wildman, said he didn’t recognize Koscinski when he showed up “in a fit of rage.” Only after police told Wildman the suspect’s name did he recognize him as a former player, the coach said, adding he has no idea why he was attacked.
Neighbors, including an off-duty city police detective who lives across the street, intervened to stop the attack, Menster said.
A plastic surgeon used 60 stitches to repair bite marks to Wildman’s ear, the coach said in in an interview. He was released from the hospital early Monday.
Police were still attempting to determine a motive for the attack and said the only connection between the men was that Wildman coached Koscinski about 20 years ago at Sharon High School in the town, about 60 miles northwest of Pittsburgh near the Ohio border.
Associated Press
