Dempsey Is Selected U.S. Player of the Year
Midfielder Clint Dempsey was chosen as the Honda player of the year for the U.S. national soccer team. Dempsey, 23, had four goals in nine games for the Americans this year, including one in the World Cup.
His goal, which came in a 2-1 loss to Ghana, was the only one scored by a U.S. player in the World Cup. The only other score for the Americans, who failed to advance from group play, came on an own-goal against Italy.
“It gives me a lot of joy. I’m proud to be with the players who have won this,” said Dempsey, who also plays for the New England Revolution.
Dempsey received 237 points in the player-of-the-year balloting by 207 sports journalists. Kasey Keller, who won the award in 1999 and 2005, finished second with 184 points. Brian McBride was third with 127.
Dempsey, who made his debut with the national team at the end of 2004, has scored six goals in his 23 matches.
TENNIS
Henman Cruises to Victory in Japan
Tim Henman coasted to a 6-2, 6-1 win over unseeded Frank Dancevic and seventh-seeded Robby Ginepri was ousted in the second round of the Japan Open in Tokyo. Henman, seeded 10th, needed only 55 minutes to set up a third-round match against Juan Martin Del Potro, who upset Ginepri, 6-2, 6-2.
Elena Vesnina, seeded second, advanced with a 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory after qualifier Sun Shengnan double-faulted twice while serving for the match in the first round at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Sixth-seeded Dinara Safina fought off three match points and defeated Mara Santangelo, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (9), in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix at Stuttgart, Germany.
Second-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero and sixth-seeded Dominik Hrbaty were upset in the first round of the Open de Moselle at Metz, France. Ferrero lost to Julien Benneteau, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7). Hrbaty lost to Cyril Saulnier, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova says she will play for Russia’s Fed Cup team for the first time. Russia plays Spain in Moscow in April next year.
HOCKEY
Devils Put Mogilny on Injury Exception List
New Jersey leading scorer Brian Gionta and four other veterans signed with the Devils after the NHL gave the team $3.5 million in salary cap relief by putting veteran forward Alexander Mogilny on the long-term injury exception list. Defensemen Paul Martin and Dave Hale, backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen and center Erik Rasmussen signed one-year contracts as the Devils finalized their roster.
Ted Saskin, the head of the NHL Players’ Assn., says a lawsuit filed by a group of dissident players is baseless.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. federal court by Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios, Edmonton goaltender Dwayne Roloson and former player Trent Klatt. The lawsuit asks the court to remove Saskin as executive director.
The NHL suspended Toronto defenseman Pavel Kubina for one game, a day after he cross-checked Detroit’s Jiri Hudler in the exhibition finale
JURISPRUDENCE
Bonds’ Trainer Seeks to Withdraw Guilty Plea
Barry Bonds’ personal trainer wants to withdraw his guilty plea because prosecutors based their steroid distribution case on an illegal recording, his lawyer said in a court hearing at San Francisco.
Greg Anderson, who is jailed for refusing to testify before a grand jury probing whether Bonds committed perjury, already served a three-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to the steroid charge.
MISCELLANY
UCLA Hall of Fame Will Add Eight
Eight new members will be inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday night.
The 2006 inductees are Carol Bower, rowing; Herb Flam, tennis; Monte Nitzkowski, swimming and water polo; Jonathan Ogden, football and track and field; Annette Salmeen, swimming; Dennis Storer, soccer and rugby; John Vallely, basketball; and Elaine Youngs, volleyball.
Belmont Stakes winner Jazil won’t run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs next month, with the goal now the Dubai World Cup next year. Jazil recently returned to training after recovering from a bruised bone in his right hind leg.
Louisiana State acknowledged that it has begun an internal investigation into whether baseball players received improper housing benefits under former coaches Skip Bertman and Smoke Laval. Bertman is now the athletic director. Laval was fired after last season and replaced by Paul Mainieri, who came from Notre Dame.
Nine Iranian weightlifters were banned from the world championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, after testing positive for excessive levels of testosterone.
Fired New York coach Larry Brown completed a second day of hearings at the NBA offices in New York to determine if he is entitled to the remainder of his salary from the Knicks. A ruling is expected shortly from NBA Commissioner David Stern.
The Sacramento Kings signed veteran forward Maurice Taylor. Taylor spent the past 1 1/2 years with the New York Knicks.
The Hornets opened training camp in New Orleans, practicing mostly at the New Orleans Arena, where the team’s home opener will be on Nov. 5. The team will play only six regular-season games in New Orleans and 35 games, plus any playoff contests, in Oklahoma City.
