Jenkins and Thorpe lead 3M Championship

Blaine, MN (Sports Network) - Tom Jenkins and Jim Thorpe both fired rounds of eight-under-par 64 on Friday to share the first-round lead of the 3M Championship.
Champions Tour leading money winner Jay Haas, Craig Stadler, Bobby Wadkins, John Jacobs, D.A. Weibring, John Harris, Gil Morgan, Q School winner Boonchu Ruangkit and the all-time wins leader on the elder circuit, Hale Irwin share third place at minus-seven.
This event went off as scheduled when organizers decided to press forward after Wednesday's tragic bridge accident. The TPC of Twin Cities is about 15 miles from the site of the tragedy.
"In the wake of the recent tragedy in our community, we will additionally raise money for the Minnesota Red Cross through on-site efforts this weekend with support from the tournament, the players and the Champions Tour," 3M Championship Director Hollis Cavner said on Thursday...Full Story

Ochoa clinging to lead at St. Andrews

St. Andrews, Scotland (Sports Network) - Lorena Ochoa will carry a lead into the weekend of a major championship for the second time this season, still looking for that last bit of validation for her No. 1 world ranking.
The Mexican star managed just an even-par 73 in the second round of the Women's British Open on Friday, but it was good enough to keep her head above a pool of challengers that included Annika Sorenstam, who has was three shots back at St. Andrews using a yardage book given to her by Tiger Woods.
Relying solely on her own measurements, Ochoa was at six-under 140 following a steady, if not unremarkable, round that included two birdies and two bogeys.
Her last bogey came at the par-four 18th, narrowing her lead over Wendy Ward and Catriona Matthew to just a shot...Full Story

Getting to 53: Philadelphia Eagles Roster Prediction

(Sports Network) -Below we take our stab at predicting how the 53-man roster of the 2007 Philadelphia Eagles will take shape.

Below we take our stab at predicting how the 53-man roster of the 2007 Philadelphia Eagles will take shape: QB (3): Donovan McNabb, A.J. Feeley, Kevin Kolb RB (4): Brian Westbrook, Tony Hunt, Correll Buckhalter, Thomas Tapeh (FB) WR (6): Reggie Brown, Kevin Curtis, Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis, Jason Avant, Jeremy Bloom (RS) TE (3): L.J. Smith, Matt Schobel, Brent Celek OL (9): William Thomas (LT), Todd Herremans (LG), Jamaal Jackson (C), Shawn Andrews (RG), Jon Runyan (RT), Scott Young (G), Nick Cole (C), Max Jean-Gilles (G), Winston Justice (T) DL (9): Jevon Kearse (DE), Darren Howard (DE), Trent Cole (DE), Victor Abiamiri (DE), Juqua Thomas (DE), Mike Patterson (DT), Brodrick Bunkley (DT), Ian Scott (DT), Montae Reagor (DT) LB (7): Jeremiah Trotter (MLB), Takeo Spikes (WLB), Chris Gocong (SLB), Stewart Bradley (SLB), Omar Gaither (LB), Matt McCoy (LB), Tank Daniels (LB) DB (9): Lito Sheppard (CB), Sheldon Brown (CB), William James (CB), Brian Dawkins (FS), Sean Considine (SS), Joselio Hanson (CB), Quintin Mikell (S), C.J. Gaddis (DB) SP (3): David Akers (K), Dirk Johnson (P), Jon Dorenbos (LS) Outside Looking In: Kelly Holcomb (QB), Nate Ilaoa (FB), Ryan Moats (RB), Jerome McDougle (DE), LaJuan Ramsey (DT), Dedrick Roper (LB), Rashad Barksdale (DB)

Royals' manager Bell will resign at end of season

Minneapolis, MI (Sports Network) - Kansas City Royals manager Buddy Bell announced Wednesday that he will step down at the end of the season.
The announcement comes at a surprising time, considering the Royals markedly improved play of late. The club had winning records in both June and July, the first time the Royals have had consecutive winning months since 2003.
The 55-year-old Bell is in his second full season as manager. He took over on May 31, 2005 after Tony Pena resigned. Health concerns may have played a major role in Bell's decision, however. The former manager of the Tigers and Rockies was diagnosed as having a cancerous growth behind his left tonsil, and missed the final 10 games of last season to have surgery.
Bell, a five-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove winner in 18 years in the majors as a third baseman with the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, and Houston Astros, is the son of former big-league outfielder Gus Bell. His career managerial record entering play Wednesday stood at 497-690. His record with the Royals is 152-228.

Spurs' Parker sprains ankle, will miss Paris event

San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker sprained his left ankle during a practice with the French National Team, and announced Wednesday that he will pull out of the Basketball without Borders event in Paris as a result.
Parker has returned to San Antonio to be examined by Spurs team doctors and will begin rehabilitating the ankle immediately. He will be returning to the French team once he is granted medical clearance.

Devils re-sign Parise

East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - The New Jersey Devils announced Wednesday that forward Zach Parise was re-signed to a multi-year contract.
Parise, 23, led the club last season with a career-high 31 goals, and notched career marks in assists (31) and points (62) while appearing in all 82 games of his second season in the National Hockey League. Parise recorded career highs in goals (7), assists (3), and points (10) during 11 playoff appearances, as well.
Originally selected as a first-round pick by New Jersey (17th overall) in the 2003 Entry Draft, Parise posted 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in his rookie season of 2005-06.

Furyk could miss Firestone event

Akron, OH (Sports Network) - Jim Furyk could miss this week's World Golf Championships event at Firestone Country Club because of a back injury.
Coming off a victory last week at the Canadian Open, Furyk aggravated a back problem while practicing on Tuesday. He will likely make a decision on his status Wednesday night or before the start of the tournament on Thursday.
With the PGA Championship set for next week at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Furyk might just sit out this event to rest for the final major of the year.
Furyk, who has ascended to No. 2 in the world rankings, has had a brilliant 2007 season with one victory and seven other PGA Tour top-10 finishes. He's also been solid in the majors with a tie for 13th at the Masters, a tie for second at the U.S. Open and a tie for 12th at the British Open.

Nesta walks away from international game

Milan, Italy (Sports Network) - Italy defender Alessandro Nesta retired from international soccer on Wednesday.
"I will never join the national team again," said Nesta. "My time with the Azzurri ends here."
The 31-year-old decided to walk away from international play so he could spend more time with his club, AC Milan. Nesta is under contract at the San Siro until 2011.
Nesta, who captured 78 caps, has not suited up for Italy since suffering an injury in the third game of Italy's World Cup squad in 2006.
After recovering from the setback, Nesta was part of the Milan team which won the Champions League, but because he was getting married, he failed to take part in Italy's European Championship qualifiers.
Not even two weeks ago, Roma legend Francesco Totti also announced his retirement from the Italian team. Totti made 58 appearances for Italy during his international career and tallied nine goals. He was also a member of Italy's World Cup champion squad in 2006,
As for Italy, the team will continue its UEFA EURO qualifying round with two matches in September. First they will play France and then will battle Ukraine as the Italians sit in the second place of Group B.

Signorino headed to La Liga

Getafe, Spain (Sports Network) - Getafe signed midfielder Franck Signorino from French outfit Nantes on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old joined Nantes two years ago, and made 65 Ligue 1 appearances during his tenure there. Signorino had two years left on his contract, but was allowed to seek a change after Nantes was relegated to the French second division at the end of last season.
Signorino, who has a new four-year deal, joins a club that finished .500 in La Liga last season. He will not be the only new face though when Getafe opens up its league schedule on August 26, at Sevilla, as he is the ninth signing of the summer for the club.

Radwanska, Loit land in Stockholm QFs

Stockholm, Sweden (Sports Network) - Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and third-seeded Emilie Loit highlighted Wednesday's second-round winners at the $145,000 Nordic Light Open.
The Polish Radwanska took care of her qualifier countrywoman Marta Domachowska 6-0, 6-3, while the French Loit outlasted Spanish veteran Virginia Ruano Pascual 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (9-7) on the hardcourts at Stockholm Olympic Stadium.
Another seeded victor was No. 8 Russian Vera Dushevina, who handled Finnish wild card Emma Laine 6-3, 6-3 on Day 3.
In other second-round action, German qualifier Julia Goerges overcame Czech Klara Zakopalova 0-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) and Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova doused German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-4, 6-4. Goerges will meet Loit in the quarterfinals on Friday.
On Thursday, top-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues will play her second- rounder against Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.

Chakvetadze charges up the charts

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Believe it or not, Russian Anna Chakvetadze is all the way up to a career-high No. 6 in the women's tennis rankings, currently ahead of the likes of former world No. 1 stars Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams.
The 20-year-old Chakvetadze (pronounced chuk-veh-TAHD-zeh) is perhaps the quietest Top-10 performer of any sport in the world. She opened the year ranked 13th on the planet and has steadily been climbing the tennis ladder over the past few campaigns.
The solid all-around star has her career WTA titles up to six, including an eye-catching four already this season. Her first two titles came last year, back-to-back, including a special one at the Tier I Kremlin Cup in her native Moscow. Only world No. 1 Justine Henin (5) has won more titles than Chakvetadze in 2007. The Russian also currently leads the US Open Series standings, thanks to her hardcourt title in Stanford last week. The championship at the Bank of the West Classic marked her second title in eight days, as she also ran the table at a hardcourt event in Cincinnati a week earlier...Full Story

Mayer eases into Sopot quarters

Sopot, Poland (Sports Network) - Reigning two-time runner-up Florian Mayer was among Wednesday's second-round winners at the clay-court Orange Prokom Open.
The seventh-seeded Mayer improved to 10-2 in his last 12 matches in Sopot by leveling French qualifier Olivier Patience 6-1, 6-1. The German Mayer was on the losing end in the last two finals here, including a setback last season at the hands of this week's top seed Nikolay Davydenko.
In other Day-3 action, Argentine slugger Jose Acasuso erased his countryman Sergio Roitman 6-4, 6-4, Frenchman Gilles Simon held off Serbian qualifier Boris Pashanski 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and Russian Igor Andreev topped Polish wild card Michal Przysiezny 7-5, 6-4 at SKT Sopot. The 2002 titlist and 2004 runner-up Acasuso will play in his first quarterfinal in more than three months when he faces Mayer here on Friday. Simon will battle Andreev in the round of eight...Full Story

Mayweather/Hatton bout set for Dec. 8

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton are set to clash in a welterweight bout this December in a matchup of two undefeated stars of the sport.
The fight, announced on Wednesday, is slated for December 8, at a location to be determined. The trash talking began immediately.
"I am the best fighter in boxing today and I'm prepared for any challenge my team puts in front of me," said Mayweather. "And with Ricky Hatton it's already personal. He has talked and disrespected me so much in the past months that I can't wait to get him in the ring and show him he is not even on my level. He's definitely getting knocked out."
At a combined 81-0, this is the biggest matchup of two undefeated welterweights since Oscar De La Hoya took on Felix Trinidad in 1999.
The 30-year-old Mayweather will come out of his brief retirement to take on Hatton, the 28-year-old Englishman who has established himself as one of the best fighters in the world. Mayweather's last fight was his highly publicized, and slightly controversial, 12-round unanimous decision over Oscar De La Hoya on May 5 that ran his record to 38-0, with 24 knockouts.
Hatton is coming off a fourth-round knockout of Jose Luis Castillo on June 23, a dominating performance that ran his record to 43-0, with 31 knockouts. About 10,000 of his British countrymen traveled to Las Vegas on June to support Hatton, and an even bigger crowd should be expected for the biggest fight of his career.
"It is a dream of every boxer to fight the best boxers in the world," said Hatton. "I respect Floyd Mayweather immensely for his boxing ability and it will be an honor to share the same ring with him. He is rightly regarded as the best pound for pound boxer in the world. However, I am confident and determined that I will be the first boxer to beat him in the ring and I am looking forward to this fight."