Mike McQueary files whistleblower suit against Penn State

A former Penn State graduate assistant who complained he saw former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky showering with a young boy on campus and testified at Sandusky’s sex abuse trial sued the university Tuesday for what he calls defamation and misrepresentation.

Mike McQueary’s whistle-blower lawsuit claims his treatment by the university since Sandusky was arrested in November has caused him distress, anxiety, humiliation and embarrassment.

The complaint, filed in county court near State College, where the university is based, seeks millions of dollars in damages.

Penn State spokesman Dave La Torre declined to comment.

The lawsuit discloses that shortly after Sandusky was charged, the university’s then-president, Graham Spanier, met with athletic department staff inside the university’s football stadium and expressed his support for athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, who had been charged with perjury and failure to properly report suspected child abuse in the Sandusky case. Spanier also issued a public statement with the same message.

Curley, now on leave, and Schultz, who has retired, have denied the charges against them and await trial.

McQueary said Spanier’s support of the two administrators was designed to preserve the university’s reputation and make McQueary a scapegoat.

ETC.

NHL, players’ union remain at impasse

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the lockout imposed by the league on Sept. 15 has cost nearly $100 million but he offered no hope for an imminent resolution Tuesday after a brief negotiating session with the union broke up.

The league’s next step will be to cancel regular-season games, which are scheduled to begin Oct. 11.

The $100-million loss “is not going to be recouped, and that’s going to cost both sides,” Daly told reporters in New York. “That’s unfortunate but it’s a reality of where we are.”

Daly also said he had no progress to report and that no additional negotiations were planned.

Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHL Players’ Assn., said his group has shown more willingness to compromise than the league has.

In the meantime, more players signed to play in Europe for the duration of the lockout. Boston captain Zdeno Chara agreed with HC Lev Praha of the Kontinental Hockey League, teammate Patrice Bergeron signed with HC Lugano in Switzerland, and Colorado’s Matt Duchene signed with Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League.

—Helene Elliott

Seimone Augustus scored 21 points, Maya Moore had 20 and the Minnesota Lynx held off the Seattle Storm, 73-72, Tuesday night to advance to the Western Conference finals.

Minnesota will play host to the Sparks in the opener of the West finals Thursday night.

Katie Douglas scored 24 points and Erlana Larkins had 16 points and 20 rebounds to help the Indiana Fever beat the Atlanta Dream, 75-65, to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Not even the elite men’s swimmers could catch Britta Steffen. In the sport’s first top-level event featuring both sexes, Steffen held off two male swimmers to anchor Germany to victory in a 200-meter mixed relay at the World Cup meet in Dubai.

Germany finished in 1 minute 43.21 seconds — 2.10 seconds faster than Hungary. Ukraine was a further 0.58 seconds back.

Ray Moore, longtime partner in the group that has operated the Indian Wells tennis tournament over the last 25 years, has been name chief executive of the event. Moore replaces Charlie Pasarell, who stepped down recently to devote more time to a family real estate project in Puerto Rico. Moore, a former ATP tour player, president of the ATP and an ATP board member, will be in charge of an event, now known as the BNP Paribas Open, that has become, both in stature and attendance, the fifth-largest tennis event in the world. Last year’s attendance was 370,000. Steve Simon, also a longtime member of the Indian Wells management group, will remain as tournament director and chief operating office.

— Bill Dwyre