Golf
North will assist Watson on Team USA for Ryder Cup
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson selected television analyst and two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North as a vice captain for next year’s matches.
North won the 1978 and 1985 U.S. Opens and played on the U.S. Ryder Cup team that lost to Europe in 1985.
The Ryder Cup will be held September 2014 in Gleneagles, Scotland.
NBA
Celtics keep getting younger by hiring Butler’s Stevens
BOSTON – The Boston Celtics keep getting younger – on the coaching staff as well as the court.
Less than a week after agreeing to trade Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets – and 10 days after shipping coach Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers – the Celtics hired Butler’s Brad Stevens as their next head coach.
Stevens, 36, twice led the Bulldogs to the NCAA title game in six years, but he has no NBA experience as a player or coach. He has a career winning percentage of .772 and never won fewer than 22 games in a season.
NFL
Police discover evidence at Hernandez’s secret house
WRENTHAM, Mass. – Court documents indicate the search of a secret “flop house” leased by former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has turned up what police say could be key evidence in the murder case against him.
Search warrants records indicate that police searching the Franklin, Mass., apartment found a sweatshirt and baseball cap similar to what Hernandez wore the night Odin Lloyd was killed.
A state trooper wrote that the clothing could help place Hernandez at the crime scene and establish his location before the killing.
The records also indicate police found boxes of ammunition in the apartment.
Hernandez is accused of orchestrating Lloyd’s execution-style shooting June 17, after Lloyd angered Hernandez by speaking to certain people at a nightclub.
NHL
Ovechkin so good he made the All-Star team twice
NEW YORK – Alex Ovechkin is an NHL first-team All-Star for the sixth time, but his first as a right wing.
The Washington Capitals star is the second player to make the team at multiple positions, joining Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier, a four-time selection – twice at left wing and twice at center.
Ovechkin, a five-time choice at left wing, had 32 goals in 48 games – including 23 in the final 23 – and earned his third Hart Trophy as MVP.
Despite playing only four of 48 games this season at left wing, Ovechkin earned enough votes at the position to qualify for second-team honors. Messier didn’t qualify at multiple positions in the same season.
Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, a second-time selection to the first team, is the only other player in this year’s class to have made the All-Star team before.
The first-timers include Pittsburgh left wing Chris Kunitz, defensemen P.K. Subban of Montreal and Ryan Suter of Minnesota, and Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, the Vezina Trophy winner.
Voting was performed by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association at the end of the regular season.
Coyotes finally gain stability with Glendale lease vote
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Phoenix Coyotes took a big step toward stability Tuesday night when the Glendale City Council ratified an arena lease agreement with a prospective owner of the franchise.
After making a few alterations, the council voted 4-3 in favor on a 15-year, $225-million lease agreement with Renaissance Sports & Entertainment during a special session.
The vote clears the way for RSE to purchase the Coyotes from the NHL, which has been running the team the last four years.
Associated Press
