Clemens’ suit against trainer dismissed

The remainder of Roger Clemens’ defamation suit against Brian McNamee in Texas has been dismissed in Houston, leaving the pair to fight their legal battle in New York.

U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison, who threw out most of Clemens’ case in February, dismissed the remainder of the suit on Aug. 28. Clemens initially had sued his former personal trainer in Texas state court in January 2008, a month after McNamee’s accusations against the seven-time Cy Young Award winner were published in the Mitchell Report. The suit was moved a month later from Harris County District Court to federal court in Houston.

The sides will carry on now in federal court in Brooklyn, where McNamee sued Clemens for defamation on July 31.

McNamee claimed in the Mitchell Report that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Clemens responded that the statements to Mitchell’s staff, which McNamee also repeated to Sports Illustrated, were “untrue and defamatory.”

McNamee’s lawyers had moved that Clemens’ lawsuit be dismissed because their client was compelled to cooperate with Mitchell by federal investigators.

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SAILING

Teen’s mother is against solo trip

The mother of a 13-year-old girl whose hopes of becoming the youngest sailor to circle the globe solo were put on hold by a Dutch court says she opposes the voyage.

Babs Muller was quoted in the Volkskrant daily as saying her daughter, Laura Dekker, has the technical capability to make the trip, but the girl is not yet mature enough to deal with the psychological challenges of two years of being on her own.

“If it were up to me, Laura wouldn’t go,” Muller told the paper. “She can sail like the devil, that’s not the problem,” she said. But Laura “is not yet grown up.”

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ETC.

U.S. women rout Finland in hockey

Meghan Duggan scored three goals and Jessie Vetter made 19 saves to lead the United States into the championship game of the Hockey Canada Cup with a 4-0 victory over Finland in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Americans, who lost 3-2 to the Finns in the opening game of the four-team pre-Olympic tournament, will play the winner of the other semifinal between Canada and Sweden in the title game today.

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won a rainy individual time trial to retake the overall lead at the Spanish Vuelta. The Saxo Bank rider won the 18.6-mile seventh stage through the streets of Valencia in 36 minutes 41 seconds -- 32 seconds faster than British rider David Millar.

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PASSINGS

Former Titan dies in car accident

Former Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jesse Mahelona has died after being involved in a car accident. He was 26.

Agent Chad Speck said Mahelona died Friday night after being involved in an accident about a mile from his home in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Speck said Saturday he didn’t know any more circumstances of the accident.