Sports News
July 24, 2008Here are the sports results from Thursday:
TORONTO - The game may have been David Beckham's long-awaited debut in Toronto, but it was the city's own Dwayne De Rosario that wound up the hero of the 2008 Major League Soccer all-star game.
The Canadian's penalty kick in the 69th minute gave the MLS All-Stars a 3-2 victory over English Premiership squad West Ham United Thursday at BMO Field, in the annual soccer spectacle's first foray into Canada.
BALTIMORE - Following a victory well worth the wait, the Toronto Blue Jays used another strong outing by Roy Halladay to go over .500 and secure a rare series win on the road.
Halladay scattered seven hits over seven innings Thursday in a 7-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles after the Toronto bullpen nailed down a 5-1 victory in a game suspended one night earlier.
TORONTO - The sky opened up again Thursday at the Rogers Cup, and so did the field.
Another rainy day, another big name eliminated from the $2.6-million tournament. This time, it was American sixth seed Andy Roddick, who dropped a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 decision to Croatian Marin Cilic, a day after top seed Roger Federer was eliminated by France's Gilles Simon.
OAKVILLE, Ont. - When things start going right for Mike Weir in front of the home crowd, he feels as though nothing can go wrong.
The popular lefty got in a groove while shooting a bogey-free 65 on Thursday and grabbed a share of the lead at the RBC Canadian Open. Anthony Kim and Eric Axley matched him at 6-under par on a day where play was halted for more than five and a half hours by bad weather.
TROON, Scotland - Four days after nearly making history at the British Open, Greg Norman laboured to a 4-over-par 75 Thursday in the opening round of the Seniors British Open to finish the day seven shots behind co-leaders Bruce Vaughan and Eduardo Romero.
In sunny conditions at Troon, Norman bogeyed six of the first 10 holes and was 6 over before he finally birdied the par-4 13th. He birdied the final hole after a pitch to three feet.
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France - Lorena Ochoa shot a 7-under-par 65 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Evian Masters.
Ochoa, 26, started with a birdie on the first hole and added six more on the back nine in a bogey-free round. Ahn Sun-ju, Candie Kung and Angela Park trailed by one stroke.
EDMONTON - Danica Patrick didn't make excuses Thursday for her smash-hit web video dustup with fellow driver Milka Duno, but suggested she regrets the effect the profanity-laced five-star YouTube fare will have on youngsters.
"I need to watch it, be careful, you know, just not do anything that draws attention that's not always the most positive," Patrick told a news conference before the first practice session for Saturday's Rexall Edmonton Indy (5 p.m. ET).
LOS ANGELES - Gary Hall Jr. thinks the sport of swimming has its share of doping cheats just like baseball and track and field. In recent years, though, swimming has avoided the widespread scandals that have damaged other sports.
Some, like USA Swimming chief Chuck Wielgus, believe a culture of fair play and education is partly responsible.
MONTREAL - Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario will have to wait two years to resume her love affair with Montreal tennis fans.
A severe case of gastroenteritis has forced the two-time champion from Spain to miss her planned induction into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame. Organizers now hope to have her back for the honour in two years, when the annual tournament returns to Montreal.
OTTAWA - The brightest of Canada's young hockey stars won't attend the national junior team's development camp, but plenty of others will arrive in Ottawa on Friday.
They'll all be looking to shine as they try to leave a lasting impression on Hockey Canada's staff in the hope of earning an invitation back to the final selection camp in December.
BAGHDAD - Just two weeks before the start of the Olympics, Iraq was told Thursday it's not welcome in Beijing because of a political feud in Baghdad that angered the Games' guardians and exiled a country that arrived to a roaring ovation at the opening ceremony four years ago.
The International Olympic Committee told Iraqi sports officials in a letter that it would uphold its ban imposed in June after the government in Baghdad replaced its national Olympic panel with members not recognized by the IOC.
SAINT-ETIENNE, France - No "crazy" attacks, conserve energy, and hope for the best in the time trial: Tour de France leader Carlos Sastre is tipping his strategy as the race creeps toward its finish in Paris on Sunday.
The Spanish veteran didn't see the chance he was looking for to expand his lead against his top rivals in Thursday's 18th stage out of the Alps, which Germany's Marcus Burghardt won by heading a two-man breakaway.
SAINT-ETIENNE, France - French customs agents looking for doping products stopped, searched and released a car driven by the father of Tour de France riders Frank and Andy Schleck on Thursday, officials said.
The agents carried out the random search near the city of Grenoble along the route of the 18th stage and didn't find any doping products or other illegal products, a customs spokesman said.
LONDON - Motor racing boss Max Mosley won a closely watched privacy-invasion lawsuit Thursday over a British tabloid's claims he took part in a Nazi-themed orgy, and the judge ordered the newspaper to pay more than half a million dollars.
High Court judge David Eady ruled the News of the World must pay Mosley $120,000 in damages plus legal costs for the story claiming Mosley participated in a sadomasochistic sex romp with a Third Reich theme.
He's been nicknamed "the eternal diver" on the World Cup circuit and Dive Canada's technical director calls him "a genetic masterpiece."
Arturo Miranda will dive in the Olympic Games in Beijing next month at the unheard-of age of 37. The closest competitor in age is 34-year-old Russian Dmitri Sautin. Miranda will compete in the three-metre men's synchronized event with Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The International Olympic Committee said Thursday that Iraq will not compete at the Beijing Games because of government interference.
The IOC suspended Iraq's national Olympic committee in June after the Iraqi government dismissed and installed its own group chaired by the sports minister. The IOC told officials in Baghdad that it was upholding the suspension.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots signed first-round draft pick Jerod Mayo on Thursday, bringing their last unsigned selection into the fold as the defending AFC champions opened training camp and began their quest to put last season's imperfect season behind them.
Mayo's deal was wrapped up in the morning as his teammates embarked on their first practice, and he was expected to be in the field house for the evening workout. Coach Bill Belichick all but confirmed that Mayo, a linebacker who was the 10th overall selection, was signed at his midday news briefing with reporters.
