Sports News
June 6, 2008Here are the sports results from Thursday:
PARIS - By Rafael Nadal's standards, his semifinal match at the French Open was close: He lost 12 games and nearly conceded a set.
The king of clay rose to the challenge Friday at Roland Garros, beating No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. - Charlottetown's Lorie Kane is off to a good start at the LPGA Championship, and she thinks she can keep it going.
She shot a 6-under 66 on Thursday, to grab a share of the lead with Emily Bastel. "Am I surprised by a low round? I knew it was in me, and I know I have a lot more of those," Kane said. "I know it's a long way to Sunday, but I am encouraged by what's been happening the last few weeks."
DETROIT - For the third time this decade, Detroit sports fans headed downtown to celebrate a major sports championship.
Thousands of red-and-white-clad fans jammed Woodward Avenue for the chance to see a parade Friday in honour of the team that brought the Stanley Cup back to Hockeytown.
TORONTO - Talks are continuing Friday between CBC and the agency representing the composer of the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme song.
CBC sports director Scott Moore has said he hopes the public broadcaster can reach a reasonable deal with representatives for Dolores Claman.
SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds has arrived at the federal courthouse in San Francisco to face 15 felony charges that he lied to a U.S. federal grand jury about his performance-enhancing drug use.
Baseball's home run king pleaded not guilty to similar accusations in December, but a judge ordered prosecutors to rewrite the indictment. The new indictment includes no new allegations.
There will be no Olympics this year for sprinter Justin Gatlin.
His appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping charges was rejected Friday, three weeks before the United States holds its track trials.
MONTREAL - Felipe Massa had the quickest lap in his Ferrari on a wet track in the opening practice session Friday at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Massa's last lap of the 90-minute session at the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was timed in one minute 17.553 seconds.
PARIS - Daniel Nestor could add another Grand Slam doubles title to his collection this weekend - only this time the Toronto native would be celebrating with somebody new.
The Toronto left-hander will team with Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in Saturday's French Open men's doubles final, the Canadian's first Grand Slam championship match with his new partner.
BOSTON - Sprawled near the edge of the famed parquet floor, Paul Pierce grabbed his throbbing right knee and wondered if his first NBA finals - the ones he had always dreamed of playing in - were finished.
"A lot was going though my head," Pierce said. "'It can't be over like this."' The Boston Celtics' captain wouldn't quit. He came back out, carrying the franchise's title hopes with him. Pierce, who as a kid growing up in Los Angeles used to sneak into Lakers games, returned from a knee injury to inspire and lead Boston to an emotional and tense 98-88 victory on Thursday night in Game 1 of these tradition-soaked NBA finals.
NEW YORK - Casino Drive has a bruised hoof but there are no plans to scratch the horse from Saturday's Belmont Stakes.
The three-year-old colt skipped his morning workout Friday after his trainer noticed Casino Drive wasn't walking normally.
DETROIT - The result was familiar.
For the fourth time in 11 seasons, the Detroit Red Wings hoisted the Stanley Cup. The sights, sounds and context were much different than the other three titles. Players celebrated with their children, some of whom weren't born when Detroit won back-to-back titles a decade ago, in a champagne-soaked and screaming-filled dressing room.
NEW YORK - Yankees manager Joe Girardi sat in the dugout discussing whether to bring in a pinch-runner for Jason Giambi, confident that the sore-footed slugger could reach base with two outs in the ninth inning and New York trailing by one.
"I was prepared for his getting on base," Girardi said. "I wasn't prepared for him to hit it into the upper deck."
The MVP got benched and Junior got another standing ovation from notoriously tough fans.
Oh, by the way, Cole Hamels was outstanding. Hamels pitched a three-hitter for his second career shutout - in a span of three weeks - and the Philadelphia Phillies took advantage of two dropped balls to beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 Thursday.
Brett Lawrie models his game after Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russ Martin and is hoping to follow the Canadian all-star's path to big-league success.
The 18-year-old from Langley, B.C., took a big first step toward that goal Thursday when he became the highest Canadian position player ever selected in the baseball draft, taken 16th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers.
VIENNA, Austria - This month's European Championship field has nine teams that look capable of winning the title, including defending champion Greece, which is out to prove that its surprise triumph four years ago in Portugal was no fluke.
Three-time champion Germany is the favourite with the bookmakers, even though the team has not won a European final tournament match in 12 years. World Cup champion Italy, another title contender, has been hindered by the injury loss of dependable captain Fabio Cannavaro.
CALGARY - Adam Wong won the men's all around title on Thursday in front of a hometown crowd at the Canadian gymnastics championship.
Wong, who has battled back from a torn Achilles injury he suffered in March 2007, topped the field with a score of 90.55 points. David Kikuchi of Fall River, N.S., was second with 89.45 points and Casey Sandy of Burlington, Ont., was third at 88.85. Wong was consistent, finishing no lower than fifth on any of the six apparatus and winning both pommel horse and high bar.
PARIS - If official statistics were tallied for fist pumps and self-exhortations during Grand Slam matches, Ana Ivanovic might well have established a record while winning her French Open semifinal.
Perhaps Ivanovic did not raise a clenched hand and let out a yelp after each of the 96 points she earned. It sure did seem that way to the woman she beat 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Thursday, Jelena Jankovic, who mocked the gesture at least twice, drawing guffaws from fans.
