Associated Press
LOS ANGELES ó Owner Frank McCourt vowed on Wednesday that no one will take the Los Angeles Dodgers away from him, while the man appointed by Major League Baseball to oversee the team’s daily operations arrived in town.
“Sending someone to seize the Dodgers is absolutely wrong,” McCourt said.
Tom Schieffer introduced himself publicly for the first time and said his role is to monitor the Dodgers on behalf of Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, whom he made clear is in charge of the team.
Schieffer, however, said Selig doesn’t want to take the Dodgers away from McCourt.
McCourt, meanwhile, was in New York to meet with MLB officials, although Selig was not present. He said his requests to meet with Selig have been rejected and he accused the commissioner of not returning his phone calls.
“No one handed me the Dodgers and no one is going to take it away from me,” McCourt said.
McCourt has been embroiled in a nasty and costly divorce battle with his former wife and ex-Dodgers’ CEO Jamie McCourt.
NASCAR
RICHMOND, Va. ó NASCAR Nationwide series driver Eric McClure says he and his family are safe after a tornado brought ěprobably the scariest few seconds of our lives.î
McClure says he and his family had just returned from church at 10 p.m. Wednesday when storms in Abingdon prompted him to take cover in the basement with his wife and three daughters.
Moments later, he says a tornado hit the home. The 10- to 12-second assault shook the home, sent branches and bricks flying and flooded three of the four floors.
The family huddled under a basement staircase and stayed there about four hours, unsure whether another storm was coming. They eventually took shelter in the home of McClureís father down the street.
CHARLOTTE ó Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne has been hospitalized for symptoms that could be related to an insect bite this month.
Roush Fenway Racing officials say Bayne will not race this weekend at Richmond International Raceway.
NBA
OAKLAND, Calif. ó This was one shot Keith Smart couldn’t make.
Maybe nobody could.
The Golden State Warriors parted ways with their head coach Wednesday, the first major fallout this offseason from a new ownership group that has promised sweeping changes to the perennial underachieving franchise.
WALTHAM, Mass. ó The Boston Celtics hope to have Shaquille O’Neal back at practice today. Celtics coach Doc Rivers said O’Neal would “hopefully” join the team on Friday for its final workout before Sunday’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat.
O’Neal has played a total of 5 minutes, 29 seconds since Feb. 1 because of problems with his right calf and Achilles tendon.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
COLUMBUS, Ohio ó Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany believes he might have acted differently toward five Ohio State players who were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl despite NCAA violations had he known the information that has since been uncovered.
The players were permitted to wait until this fall to begin serving a five-game suspension for accepting money and tattoos from the owner of a Columbus tattoo parlor. It wasn’t until more than a week after the Buckeyes’ 31-26 victory over Arkansas that school officials realized coach Jim Tressel had known about the violations for more than nine months.
“Based on what we knew, we just spoke on behalf of the kids and the NCAA made the decision it made,” Delany said. “But I don’t think anybody had the knowledge that we have now.”
The NCAA is investigating Tressel for knowing about potential major rules violations but not telling Ohio State officials about it. The ruling body of college athletics sent a 13-page “notice of allegations” to Ohio State last Friday that said Tressel “failed to deport himself … (with) honesty and integrity,” and accused him of lying when he filled out a compliance form in September that said he had no knowledge of NCAA violations by any of his players.
COLLEGE HOOPS
ATLANTA ó Georgia coach Mark Fox received a $400,000 raise and a one-year contract extension on Thursday as a reward for taking the Bulldogs back to the NCAA tournament.
Fox, in only his second season, took the Bulldogs to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2008. Georgia finished 21-12.
GOLF
AVONDALE, La. ó Matt Jones chipped in from 57 feet on his final hole for a 6-under 66 and a share of the first-round lead with Bubba Watson on Thursday in the Zurich Classic.
MOBILE, Ala. ó Grace Park and Song-Hee Kim shot 5-under 67s on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Avnet LPGA Classic, the tour’s only event in a six-week stretch.