Sports News
September 4, 2008Here are the sports results from Thursday:
TORONTO - Mats Sundin is a man that looks like he's enjoying his time off.
The big Swede returned to his longtime hockey home looking fit and tanned on Thursday, and admitted he was no closer to deciding if he'll play in the NHL again.
OTTAWA - Pat Quinn is looking forward to coaching at Scotiabank Place and not being public enemy No. 1 for a change.
The former Toronto Maple Leafs bench boss was often the villain in Ottawa for his role in the Battle of Ontario against the Senators, but he'll be on the side of the good guys when Canada opens its world junior championship on Boxing Day against the Czech Republic.
NEW YORK - As the break points and the set points slipped away, as his shouts of self-admonishment grew louder, it was hard to imagine Roger Federer was having this tough a time in his U.S. Open quarter-final against a man ranked 130th.
A man who arrived at Flushing Meadows with a 3-4 tour record this year.
BEIJING - Donovan Tildesley's final Paralympic Games got off to an emotional start.
The blind swimmer from Vancouver looked like someone who had just swallowed a large gulp of water when his name was announced as the Canadian flag-bearer at a pep rally on Thursday.
ST. LOUIS - When the fans came out to watch Tiger Woods, there was no tournament. Arnold Palmer once played in a tournament, but fans couldn't get to the golf course.
St. Louis added yet another chapter to its dreary decade of golf history when the first round of the BMW Championship was washed out by storms that dumped three inches of rain on Bellerive Country Club.
BERLIN - Vitali Klitschko and the manager of Samuel Peter traded verbal jabs Thursday ahead of the two fighters' WBC heavyweight title bout next month.
The two boxers will fight at the O2 World arena on Oct. 11 for the WBC belt that Klitschko lost in 2005 after withdrawing from a title bout because of a torn right knee ligament.
MIAMI - Daunte Culpepper, who starred for the Minnesota Vikings before a major knee injury in 2005 curtailed his career, retired from the NFL on Thursday.
Culpepper completed 64 per cent of his passes in a nine-year career, with 142 touchdowns. He tried to resuscitate his career with the Miami Dolphins in 2006 and the Oakland Raiders last season, struggling in both of those stops, and wasn't in training camp with any teams this year.
HELSINGOER, Denmark - Annika Sorenstam makes her last appearance as a professional golfer in Europe this weekend at the Nykredit Masters.
The second-ranked Swede, who will retire at the end of the season to start a family and pursue business interests, headlines the Ladies European Tour event at Simon's Golf Club.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Usain Bolt already has three of the biggest trophies this year because of his triple Olympic gold and world record feat in Beijing.
Before he returns to Jamaica for a vacation, Bolt will be looking to beat his 100 mark for the third time this season when he races in a field that includes Asafa Powell at the Van Damme Memorial.
GENEVA - The silver and bronze medallists in the men's hammer throw at the Beijing Olympics are being investigated for doping offences by International Olympic Committee.
Belarusian athletes Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan tested positive for traces of testosterone after the hammer final on Aug. 17, the Russian news agency Allsport said Thursday.
NEW YORK - So little to separate them over their careers, so little to separate them on this night.
Serena Williams barely got the better of older sister Venus Williams in a U.S. Open quarter-final that was fit for a final, coming back in each set to win 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7) Wednesday night and break a tie in their head-to-head series.
TORONTO - The Toronto Blue Jays, playing for third in the American League East and better things in 2009, watched a big part of their future help make life miserable for the post-season chasing Minnesota Twins.
Top prospect Travis Snider was in the middle of each of his team's rallies Wednesday night, collecting three hits and scoring once in a 5-4, 11-inning victory over the road-weary and mistake-prone visitors.
Alex Rodriguez made major league history, and it was only partially for the swing of his bat.
The New York Yankees third baseman, a lightning rod for headlines on and off the field throughout his career, saw his ninth-inning home run Wednesday night the same way as third base umpire Brian Runge. So did baseball's instant replay system.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - NHL camps open in two weeks but Mats Sundin is still pondering his hockey future.
The former Toronto Maple Leafs captain, who became an unrestricted free agent in July, does not expect to make a decision anytime soon. "I will not make up my mind before the season starts," Sundin told a news conference Wednesday. "That's how I feel right now. Others have started playing in the middle of the season. If I would feel like retiring I would say it."
ATLANTA - The nine stitches Jason (The Athlete) MacDonald needed after his submission loss to Demian Maia last month don't mean much to the Canadian middleweight in the overall scheme of things. MacDonald saw in the Millennium new year with a ski accident that needed 400 stitches.
"I hit my head on a rock," the mixed martial arts fighter explains.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Thunder can be heard from miles away, an early warning that a storm is about to arrive. So, perhaps it's only fitting that the name of Oklahoma City's NBA team didn't sneak up on anyone.
Six weeks after the name first surfaced, team officials officially announced Wednesday that the team formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics would be known as the Oklahoma City Thunder.
MONTREAL - Paul Stalteri is the captain of Canada's men's soccer team and a key player in the team's bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
But his star is fading on his club side in the English Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur.
