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A clear sky. Low 72F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph..
A clear sky. Low 72F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
A clear sky. Low 72F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph..
A clear sky. Low 72F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
Bauer’s accuser files countersuit to defamation claim
LOS ANGELES — A San Diego woman who alleges Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer sexually abused her has filed a countersuit to his defamation claim, alleging the baseball star beat her and left her bruised, according to a court filing.
Bauer has denied abusing the woman he met through social media. He sued her for defamation in April, claiming she lied about details involving their sexual encounters in order to destroy his reputation and career while enriching herself.
Major League Baseball has suspended Bauer for two years, a ruling made after Bauer sued the woman. Bauer has said he engaged in consensual rough sex with the woman but did nothing to warrant a suspension.
The woman’s battery claim filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles alleges again that Bauer punched and choked her on two occasions during sex in 2021. The Associated Press generally does not name people who claim to be victims of sexual assault.
Bauer’s attorneys released a statement Thursday pointing to a judge’s decision last year denying the woman a restraining order. The judge said she had been “materially misleading” in part of her request.
“She ‘materially misled’ the court and could not meet the lowest burden of proof in our justice system — because her claims were false,” attorneys Shawn Holley and Jon Fetterolf said. “She is being sued for defamation to be held accountable for her lies and the damage it has caused. Her countersuit is a regurgitation of her judicially disproven claims and yet another attempt ... to defame Mr. Bauer and seek to profit from her lies.”
The woman’s lawsuit says her life has been “turned into a nightmare by a powerful man who mercilessly battered her and counted on facing no consequences whatsoever for his despicable conduct.” After one encounter, the woman ended up with two black eyes, according to the filing.
The lawsuit demands a jury trial and unspecified damages.
Gauff outlasts Sabalenka in wind to reach Toronto quarters
TORONTO — Tenth-seeded Coco Gauff outlasted sixth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4) in windy conditions Thursday to reach the National Bank Open quarterfinals.
Sabalenka tossed her racket in frustration after surrendering the deciding point in the match that took 3 hours, 11 minutes.
Both players struggled with the wind at Sobeys Stadium, with Sabalenka committing 18 double faults and Gauff 15. Sabalenka, from Belarus, had 42 unforced errors, 10 more than her American opponent.
Gauff will face Romania’s Simona Halep in the quarterfinals. Halep, the 2016 and 2018 tournament winner in Montreal, beat Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-2, 7-5.
Also, seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States topped Camila Giorgi of Italy 3-6, 6-0, 7-5, and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil beat Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
Bianca Andreescu, the Canadian who won the event in 2019 in Toronto, faced China’s Zheng Qinwen in the night session.
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, coming off a victory over Serena Williams on Wednesday, also had a night match. She faced Garbine Muguruza of Spain.
Tom Brady taking 11-day break from Bucs for personal reasons
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady was excused from training camp on Thursday, the first day of what Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said was a planned, 11-day absence from the team to address “personal things.”
Bowles said the 45-year-old quarterback’s break from practice was arranged before camp began, adding that Brady won’t return until after the Bucs’ preseason game at Tennessee on Aug. 20.
“Tom has been excused today. ... He’s going to deal with some personal things. This is something we talked about before training camp started. We allotted this time because he wanted to get in and get chemistry with the guys with two weeks of training camp, knowing he wasn’t going to play the first two (preseason) games,” Bowles said after the Bucs concluded two days of controlled scrimmages against the Miami Dolphins.
Tampa Bay opens the preseason Saturday night against the Dolphins. The Bucs will also travel to Nashville for two days of practice ahead of their game against the Titans.
Backup quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask and Ryan Griffin will share snaps during Brady’s absence.
“He didn’t want to take away reps from Blaine, Kyle, as well as Griff, as far as going into these next two games. That’s something he can handle,” Bowles said. “We trust him. We talked about it. It was scheduled way before training camp.”
Brady, who retired in February only to change his mind six weeks later, was also excused from practice for personal reasons last Friday — two days after getting a scheduled day off for his 45th birthday.
USA Basketball picks roster for August World Cup qualifiers
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Basketball has picked its 12-man roster for the opening second-round window of World Cup qualifying, as the Americans look to move closer to clinching a spot in the field for next year’s event.
Jim Boylen will return as coach, assisted again by Ty Ellis and Othella Harrington.
The roster will include six players — Michael Frazier II, Langston Galloway, David Stockton, DaQuan Jeffries, John Jenkins and Eric Mika — who were with the Americans for the last qualifying window in July.
The other six players for games on Aug. 25 in Las Vegas against Uruguay and at Colombia on Aug. 29 are Tyler Cavanaugh, Malik Ellison, Dewan Hernandez, Mac McClung, Robert Woodard II and McKinley Wright IV.
Mercury’s Diggins-Smith to miss final 2 games of the season
PHOENIX — Skylar Diggins-Smith will miss Phoenix’s final two regular-season games due to personal reasons, putting the Mercury’s playoff bid in jeopardy.
Diggins-Smith has missed the past two games and the team announced Thursday she would not play against Dallas and Chicago this week.
Diggins-Smith leads the Mercury with 19.7 points and 5.5 assists per game as they try to secure one of the final two WNBA playoff spots.
Phoenix lost former league MVP Diana Taurasi for the rest of the season to a quad strain last week and has played all year without center Brittney Griner, who has been detained on drug charges in Russia since February.
Michigan State gives Tom Izzo new deal worth $6.2M per year
Michigan State has signed coach Tom Izzo to a new deal valued at $6.2 million per season, giving him about $2 million more each year.
The school announced the deal Thursday, saying that the five-year rollover contract will need to be approved by its board next month.
“Michigan State has been a home to me and my family for 40 years and I’m ecstatic to sign this contract,” said Izzo, who was hired at the school by the late Jud Heathcote as a part-time assistant in 1983.
Izzo, 67, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016, won a national championship in 2000 and leads all active coaches with eight Final Four appearances. He led Michigan State to a Big Ten-record 24th straight NCAA Tournament last season. He has won the Big Ten title 10 times in the regular season and six conference tournament championships.
AP source: Watson willing to accept 8-game suspension, fine
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson would accept an eight-game suspension and $5 million fine to avoid missing the entire season, a person familiar with his defense told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Watson, who is facing a potential year-long ban for sexual misconduct, would agree to a lesser penalty in a settlement, said the person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
The biggest question is whether the NFL would make this compromise.
A settlement has always been possible, but it’s not clear if the sides are in active discussions.
The league is seeking a minimum suspension of 17 games, a significant fine over $5 million and wants Watson to be required to undergo evaluation and treatment as determined by medical experts before he could be reinstated.
An independent arbitrator suspended Watson, accused of lewd sexual behavior during massage appointments with two dozen women while he played for the Houston Texans, six games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy on Aug. 1.
The league felt the punishment wasn’t enough and appealed retired federal judge Sue L. Robinson’s ruling two days later.
Asked Tuesday at the owner’s meetings why the appeal was filed, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said: “Because we’ve seen the evidence.”
Vegas goalie Robin Lehner to miss upcoming season
LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner will require hip surgery and is expected to miss the upcoming season, the team said Thursday.
The 31-year-old Lehner, who will likely spend the entire 2022-23 season on long-term injured reserve, has three years remaining on a contract that carries a $5 million annual cap hit. The team said no timeline for his recovery has been determined yet.
He also also underwent shoulder surgery during the offseason.
Lehner started 44 games for the Golden Knights last season and finished 23-17-2. He has a 152–141–49 record and .917 save percentage over his NHL career. He won the William M. Jennings Trophy twice — in 2019 with the New York Islanders and in 2021 with the Golden Knights.
During the Golden Knights’ late-season run that left them out of the playoff picture for the first time since entering the league in 2017, Lehner disputed reports of both upper- and lower-body injuries during postgame media sessions.
In what turned out to be his final appearance last season on April 20, Lehner was pulled in favor of rookie Logan Thompson between the first and second periods of a 4-3 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals. It was a move then-coach Peter DeBoer said was made to spark the team and create a different vibe.
But with Vegas’ playoff hopes hanging in the balance, reports surfaced April 22 that Lehner agreed to season-ending surgery due to an undisclosed lower-body injury suffered March 8 in Philadelphia.
After missing three consecutive practices leading up to a must-win game against the San Jose Sharks on April 24, Lehner served as a backup to Thompson in the game.
Police: Marshawn Lynch was asleep, car damaged before arrest
LAS VEGAS — Former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch was asleep and smelled of alcohol when Las Vegas police found him in his damaged sports car and arrested him on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to an arrest report made public Thursday.
Lynch’s attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, responded in a statement that Lynch’s car “was safely parked and not in operation” when police arrived early Tuesday and a driving while intoxicated charge won’t stick.
“Marshawn was not pulled over for a DUI,” the statement said. “We are confident that when all evidence is presented, this will not be a DUI under Nevada law.”
The arresting officer, Kevin Barker, reported that Lynch’s black 2020 Shelby GT500 was “undriveable,” with one missing front wheel and the rear driver’s side and front passenger wheels badly damaged.
The arrest report said investigators found markings suggesting the vehicle “hit sidewalk areas” before stopping in an industrial section of downtown Las Vegas not far from Main Street.
“The driver was asleep behind the wheel with the driver’s door open leaning back in the seat,” the report said, “with bloodshot, watery eyes and had one shoe on and one shoe off.”
The 7:30 a.m. Tuesday arrest came the morning after the Seattle Seahawks — the team for which Lynch played most of his 12 NFL seasons — announced that Lynch had been hired as a broadcast special correspondent.
Mitch Trubisky to start at QB in Steelers’ preseason opener
LATROBE, Pa. — Mitch Trubisky will have the first in-game opportunity to state his case at becoming the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback.
Coach Mike Tomlin announced Trubisky as the starter Thursday for the preseason opener Saturday at home against Seattle.
Trubisky, the No. 2 overall pick in 2017, is in a battle with veteran holdover Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett, the Steelers’ first-round selection in 2022. The group is tasked with replacing retired two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger.
“I wasn’t going to be blowing in the wind regarding the quarterback rotation,” Tomlin said. “We’ve been thoughtful about giving guys an opportunity to work in different groups, but our intentions are to play them this first time out very much the way we started this process.”
Trubisky has primarily worked with the starters during training camp practices, while Rudolph and Pickett have mainly followed with the second and third units, respectively. Tomlin said on Thursday that he expects the starters to play about a quarter on Saturday, while the second group follows into the second and third quarters, though playing time could change throughout the game.
Report: Whitecaps’ response to allegations ‘appropriate’
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — An investigation concluded the Vancouver Whitecaps’ response to allegations of misconduct by former women’s coaches Bob Birarda and Hubert Busby Jr. was serious and “appropriate.”
The report, prepared for Major League Soccer by lawyers Janice Rubin and Melody Jahanzadeh of Rubin Thomlinson LLP, says while the club acted “expeditiously” in hiring an experienced workplace investigator, there were issues with the investigation itself.
MLS hired the law firm in November to review how the Whitecaps dealt with sexual misconduct allegations against Birarda in 2008 and Busby in 2011.
The report says the investigations were “superficial and lacking in depth.” And it concludes some of the investigator’s findings “seemed overly generous” to Birarda and Busby, despite the evidence about their misconduct toward players.
Birarda also served as coach for the Canadian women’s under-20 team and a separate review released in July concluded Canada Soccer “mishandled” sexual harassment allegations him in 2008.
Casper Ruud advances to National Bank Open quarterfinals
MONTREAL — Fourth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway advanced to the National Bank Open quarterfinals Thursday, beating No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Ruud is the highest seed left in the singles draw after No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas dropped out Wednesday.
Rudd held off Agut after a mid-afternoon thunderstorm delayed play for just over an hour.
“It was a tough battle. The first two sets were 2 hours and 20 minutes,” Rudd said. “Good intensity and I was feeling it a bit in the legs. Luckily, there was some rain, which gave me some time to breath out and regain some energy. I can thank the weather gods today, giving me some extra time and energy.”
Ruud will face sixth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, the Montreal player who beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4.
In the night session, seventh-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy opposed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.
Panthers propose to pay $82M over failed practice facility
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper’s real estate company has proposed to pay more than $82 million to creditors over an abandoned practice facility project in Rock Hill under a new plan proposed Thursday.
The plan would require approval from courts and creditors. The development of the Panthers’ state-of-the-art $800 million practice facility — which would have served as the team’s new headquarters — fell apart after highly-publicized disputes between Tepper and the City of Rock Hill and York County.
GT Real Estate Holdings, a Delaware limited liability company, announced it has filed a comprehensive plan of reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Under the terms of the plan, GTRE would resolve claims by paying $60.5 million in cash funded into a settlement trust for the benefit of contractors, subcontractors and general unsecured creditors, $21.1 million to York County and $20 million or more to the City of Rock Hill.
DT Sports Holding, LLC, a Tepper entity, previously funded $20 million in debtor-in-possession financing.
Calipari calls Kentucky a ‘basketball school,’ riling Stoops
John Calipari’s push for upgraded practice facilities for his Kentucky basketball team drew a sharp jab from Wildcats football coach Mark Stoops on Twitter after the Hall of Fame coach referred to the university as a “basketball school” in an interview.
Before the Wildcats’ second of four exhibition games in the Bahamas, Calipari noted recently approved upgrades for other programs at the school, The Athletic reported. In stating his desire for similar improvements for his highly successful program, he said, “This is a basketball school. It’s always been that. Alabama is a football school. So is Georgia. I mean, they are. No disrespect to our football team. I hope they win 10 games and go to bowls ... But this is a basketball school. And so we need to keep moving in that direction and keep doing what we’re doing.”
Stoops responded to the remarks on Twitter and said, “Basketball school? I thought we competed in the SEC?” He ended the post with the hashtag “#4straightpostseasonwins,” referencing the Wildcats’ recent success.
Calipari guided Kentucky to its eighth NCAA championship in 2012, but hasn’t reached the Final Four since 2015. The Wildcats were bounced by No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in its NCAA Tournament opener last spring. Kentucky football is coming off its second 10-win season in four years under Stoops and has earned the four wins among six consecutive postseason appearances.
Ferguson shoots 61 at Galgorm Castle, Doherty leads women
BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland — Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson set the course record at Galgorm Castle Golf Club with a 9-under 61 to open a four-shot lead after the first round of the ISPS Handa World Invitational on Thursday.
Ferguson chipped in for eagle on the 10th and 18th and added five birdies in his flawless opening day at Galgorm Castle, one of two courses used for the event that features men’s and women’s tournaments taking place simultaneously.
Richard Bland of England, Felix Palson of Sweden and Spain’s Borja Virto were all five under par.
Bland at No. 77 is the only player from the top 100 in the world ranking in the field. He has been playing LIV Golf events since the start in June.
Ferguson broke the previous course record by one shot, describing it as a “pretty nice” feat.
The tournament is tri-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. The men and women play from different tees and compete separately, with two equal prize funds of $1.5 million each.
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