Police reopen investigation into Raiders fight

The Napa, Calif., police department on Friday reopened its investigation into an attack that left Oakland Raiders assistant coach Randy Hanson with a broken bone in his face.

Hanson was hospitalized after the Aug. 5 attack, which he told police was initiated by a member of the Raiders coaching staff at the team’s training camp hotel in Napa. Internet reports said Coach Tom Cable attacked Hanson during a meeting with some of the team’s defensive coaches.

Cable would not comment when asked Friday about the news that the police had reopened the investigation. Earlier in the week, he said “nothing happened.”

A convicted murderer pleaded not guilty to selling the gun that was used to kill ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair.

Adrian Gilliam of La Vergne, Tenn., was charged last month with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, he admitted selling a loaded 9-millimeter Bryco/Jennings semiautomatic pistol for $100 to Sahel Kazemi. Nashville police said the woman used the weapon to kill McNair and herself on July 4.

Tennessee Titans receiver Chris Davis has been charged with drunk driving after being stopped by police early Friday for speeding in downtown Nashville.

Ben Roethlisberger’s lawyers say the woman accusing him of raping her at Lake Tahoe last summer is “disturbed and calculating” and fabricated the assault to extort a big payoff from the Steelers quarterback.

The allegations in court documents filed late Friday in Washoe District Court in Reno mark the two-time Super Bowl winner’s first formal legal response to the woman’s civil lawsuit seeking a minimum of $400,000 in damages.

They come a day after her lawyer, Cal Dunlap, asked a judge to sanction Roethlisberger’s lawyers because he said they are trying to “bully” her into dropping her suit.

TENNIS

Murray to face Federer in semifinal

Andy Murray lost the first set at the Cincinnati Masters in Mason, Ohio, and was down 0-2 in the second before winning a 53-shot rally to break Julien Benneteau. Murray, the defending champion, went on to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win to reach the semifinals.

The second-ranked Murray will face No. 1 Roger Federer in today’s semifinal. Federer, who won this tournament in 2005 and 2007, extended his winning streak against Lleyton Hewitt to 13 matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Third-ranked and second-seeded Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych, 6-4, 7-5, setting up a semifinal rematch with fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic.

Second-seeded Serena Williams breezed through to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto with a straight-sets victory over Lucie Safarova.

Williams, the 2001 tournament champion, was rarely challenged in a 6-3, 6-2 win over the 46th-ranked qualifier. Williams will next face No. 4 Elena Dementieva, who advanced with a tough three-set win over Samantha Stosur.

HORSE RACING

Hollywood Park to drop four fall races

Hollywood Park’s autumn meeting will be 13 days shorter than in 2008 and as a result, the track will drop four stakes races, including the Grade I Hollywood Turf Cup.

The track announced that 14 stakes worth $2.85 million in purses have been scheduled for the 27-day meeting that begins Nov. 14 and ends Dec. 20.

In an effort to maintain its overnight purse schedule, the track has suspended the Hollywood Turf Cup, Grade III Dahlia Handicap, Real Quiet Stakes and Sharp Cat Stakes.

Two online wagering businesses are offering to add $400,000 to the purse of the Beldame Stakes, hoping to entice Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta into running against each other at Belmont Park.

ETC.

Lefty Matzek signs with the Rockies

Tyler Matzek, the top-rated left-hander in baseball’s professional draft, says a gut feeling prompted him to forgo an education at Oregon and sign with the Colorado Rockies for a club-record $3.9 million. The 6-foot-3 lefty was 13-1 at Capistrano Valley High in Mission Viejo this year and was the 11th overall pick.

The Clippers waived forward Mark Madsen, nearly a month after the team acquired him, Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith in a trade that sent Quentin Richardson to Minnesota. The Clippers have 12 players on their roster.

-- Mark Medina

Lance Armstrong finished in the main group of riders in the opening stage of the three-day Tour of Ireland, his first race since his third-place showing in the Tour de France.