Philadelphia forward Jesse Boulerice was suspended 25 games by the NHL on Friday for cross-checking Vancouver's Ryan Kesler across the face, the second Flyer in three weeks to receive a ban of at least 20 games.Boulerice's vicious hit came late in Philadelphia's 8-2 win over Vancouver on Wednesday night. After some pushing and shoving, Boulerice caught an unsuspecting Kesler across the face with his stick, leaving the Canucks forward lying motionless on the ice.
Jeff Francis and the Colorado Rockies rolled right past the Arizona Diamondbacks - and their rowdy fans.Francis outpitched Brandon Webb and the Rockies won the NL championship series opener 5-1 Thursday night in a game interrupted when fans angered by an umpire's disputed interference call threw objects onto the field.Umpires pulled the teams off the field during the eight-minute delay in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Suspended Penn State running back Austin Scott has been charged with raping a woman at her on-campus apartment after meeting her at a bar.Scott, 22, was arraigned Friday on charges of rape, sexual assault and two counts of aggravated indecent assault, all felonies, in connection with the Oct. 5 encounter.Scott declined to comment as he left the courtroom Friday.
Etan Thomas was recovering from open heart surgery Friday, and the doctor who performed the operation did not rule out the possibility of the Washington Wizards center returning to play in the NBA this season."We think the function of his heart and lungs should return to normal," said Dr. Hartzell Schaff, a cardiovascular surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "And it's possible he could get back to playing professional-level basketball.
The New York Yankees put off their meetings on Joe Torre's future until next week.The meetings are likely to start Monday night or Tuesday, and they probably will be held at the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Fla.
