Lynx sign free agent shooting guard Erin Thorn (AP)
Lynx sign free agent shooting guard Erin Thorn (AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—The Minnesota Lynx have signed free agent shooting guard Erin Thorn, formerly of the Chicago Sky. The deal was announced Monday. The 5-foot-9 Thorn shot nearly 40 percent from 3-point range last season as a reserve for the Sky. She appeared in all 34 games and averaged 5.4 points, 2.4 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 16.8 minutes. Thorn was drafted by the New York Liberty in the second round in 2003. This will be her 10th year in the WNBA. The defending champion Lynx open the 2012 season at home against the Phoenix Mercury on May 20.
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Bolt to run at Rome’s Golden Gala in May (AP)
Bolt to run at Rome’s Golden Gala in May (AP)
ROME (AP)—Usain Bolt will run the 100 meters at the Golden Gala in Rome again this year as he prepares to defend three sprint titles at the London Olympics two months later. Organizers of the May 31 meet announced the Jamaican’s participation on Thursday. “I’m training hard, the offseason has been good. Everything is going according to plan. The aim is to defend my Olympic titles in London,” Bolt said in a statement provided by Rome organizers. “Rome’s race will be a good early season test and tell me what I need to do on the way to the Olympic Games.” Bolt made his season debut in Rome last year, winning the 100 in 9.91 seconds to narrowly beat former world record-holder Asafa Powell. Tyson Gay (left) ended Usain Bolt’s two-year unbeaten streak last August.(Getty Images) Bolt has also confirmed he will run the 100 at another Diamond League meet in Oslo on June 7. Rome is the first European meet of the Diamond League season, which opens in Doha, Qatar on May 11. Another meet is scheduled in Shanghai on May 19, then Rome is the third stop. Heats for the 100 at the London Games begin Aug. 4. At the 2008 Beijing Games, Bolt swept the 100 and 200 sprints and helped Jamaica to gold in the 4×100 relay—all in world-record times. He then improved his 100 (9.58 seconds) and 200 (19.19) records at the 2009 world championships in Berlin. At last year’s worlds in Daegu, South Korea, Bolt was eliminated from the 100 final for a false start but he then won the 200 in 19.40 and helped Jamaica to another world record (37.04) in the relay. Bolt has said he also wants to run the 4×400 in London and become the first male athlete since Carl Lewis at the 1984 Los Angeles Games to win four gold medals in track and field at the Olympics. Finland’s Paavo Nurmi won five at the 1924 Paris Games.
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Pacers hand Celtics fourth straight loss (AP)
Pacers hand Celtics fourth straight loss (AP)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Danny Granger scored 21 points to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 97-83 victory over Boston on Saturday night, the Celtics’ fourth straight loss. Paul George and Darren Collison each scored 17 points and Roy Hibbert added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers (9-3), who won their third straight. The Pacers improved to 5-0 at home, with four wins by double digits. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett both scored 21 points for the Celtics, but Brandon Bass was the only other Celtic in double figures with 10 points. Boston (4-7) fell to 1-4 on the road. It was Indiana’s second win in two tries against the Celtics this season. Indiana won at Boston 87-74 on Jan. 6. The Pacers held the Celtics to 39 percent shooting. Indiana led 56-48 at halftime, then took control after the break. Hibbert blocked a shot by Garnett, then Collison drained a 3-pointer at the other end to give the Pacers a 67-54 lead and force Boston to call timeout. Pierce hit a 3-pointer right out of the timeout, but Indiana quickly reasserted itself. A 6-0 run, including a jumper and a fast-break layup by Collison, helped Indiana take a 75-60 lead. Collison’s baskets were part of a 9-0 run by the Pacers during which they held the Celtics scoreless for five minutes. Collison scored 11 points in the third quarter to help Indiana take an 82-67 lead. The Pacers held the Celtics to 7-for-22 shooting in the period. Indiana never looked back. A dunk by George gave the Pacers a 91-73 lead with just over four minutes remaining. Notes: Pierce passed Kevin McHale and moved into third place in Celtics history in games played (972). He still trails John Havlicek (1,270) and Robert Parish (1,106). … Purdue coach Matt Painter attended the game to watch two of his former players, Boston forward JaJuan Johnson and Boston guard E’Twaun Moore. Moore and Johnson both entered the game in the second quarter. Moore hit a 3-pointer late in the third quarter and finished with seven points. Johnson had a dunk in the final minute and finished with four points. … Ray Allen, who entered the game leading the league in 3-point percentage, made 1 of 3 and finished with seven points. … Boston failed to score more than 100 points for the ninth straight game.
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Flames win seventh straight at home (AP)
Flames win seventh straight at home (AP)
CALGARY, Alberta (AP)—Curtis Glencross had a goal and three assists, Jarome Iginla added a goal and two assists, and the Calgary Flames beat the New Jersey Devils 6-3 Tuesday night. Jay Bouwmeester had a goal and an assist for Calgary, while Cory Sarich, T.J. Brodie and Lee Stempniak also scored as Calgary won its seventh straight at home and improved to 9-0-1 in the last 10 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Miikka Kiprusoff made 35 saves, including 20 in the third period to preserve the Flames’ win, and Olli Jokinen and Mikael Backlund had two assists each. Adam Henrique and Ilya Kovalchuk each had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who snapped a two-game winning streak. Patrick Elias also scored and Zach Parise had two assists. Martin Brodeur started in goal for the Devils, but was pulled at the 7:32 mark of the opening frame after allowing two goals on five shots. Johan Hedberg made just five saves on nine shots in a relief appearance and ended up taking the loss. New Jersey outshot Calgary 38-14. Bouwmeester gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 5:54 of the first when his wrist shot through traffic found its way into the net behind Brodeur. It was Bouwmeester’s first goal in 39 games. Less than two minutes later, Sarich skated across the blue line and fired a slap shot over Brodeur’s blocker and into the top corner. It was Sarich’s first goal since March 23, and ended the veteran defenseman’s 33-game goal-scoring drought. Hedberg replaced Brodeur after that and didn’t fare much better as he let in the first shot he faced. Olli Jokinen fed a nice backhanded cross-crease pass over to Glencross, who snapped a quick shot off Hedberg’s skate and into the net. Brodie then rifled a point shot past Hedberg on a Calgary power play to give the Flames a 4-0 lead through one period. After Kovalchuk scored his team-leading 16th goal for the Devils with 5:12 to go in the second, Stempniak wired a shot from the slot through Hedberg’s legs to put the Flames back up by four. With the Devils short-handed late in the second, they pulled to 5-2 when Henrique finished off a 2-on-1 by converting a feed from Parise. The Devils continued to press in the third period and were rewarded when Elias one-timed a pass from Kovalchuk by Kiprusoff during a New Jersey power play. It took the Flames nearly nine minutes to get their first shot of the third period, but Iginla made the shot count as he fought for possession of the puck in the slot before snapping a shot past Hedberg. NOTES: Stempniak, acquired by Calgary in the offseason from Phoenix in exchange for Daymond Langkow, played in his 500th career NHL game. … Calgary F Rene Bourque served the third game of his five-game suspension for elbowing Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom to the head during a 3-1 road loss to the Capitals on Jan. 3. … Iginla fought Henrique in the first period. According to hockeyfights.com, it was the first fight of Henrique’s career and Iginla’s 52nd in the regular season.
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Dodoo to head Ghana Olympic Committee (AP)
Dodoo to head Ghana Olympic Committee (AP)
ACCRA, Ghana (AP)—Former African triple jump champion Francis Dodoo was named the new president of the troubled Ghana Olympic Committee on Sunday following an unruly election process marred by claims of fraud and watched over by armed guards. The 51-year-old Dodoo, who competed at the 1992 and ’96 Olympic Games, has pledged to bring stability to the GOC after Ghana was suspended from the International Olympic Committee earlier this year because of government interference. But soon after Dodoo won the election, Frank Appiah—who was voted out as first vice president—told The Associated Press he would be part of a group filing protest with the IOC, saying the vote was “not properly conducted” and held when some of the candidates had left the congress venue. Ghana was suspended by the IOC in January after then-president B.T. Baba was voted out in favor of Dodoo in an election allegedly influenced by Ghana’s government, which apparently favored Dodoo. Ghana made changes to its legislation to adhere to IOC rules—which do not allow governments to interfere in the elections of sports bodies—and the country was readmitted to the Olympic body in August on condition it hold a new vote. The latest vote, which started on Saturday and ran into the early hours of Sunday, was overseen by Joao Manuel da Costa Alegre Afonso of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, who was an observer for the IOC. Afonso was forced to suspend the session late on Saturday, with delegates shouting at each other over disagreements with nominations for various positions and armed security guards watching to keep order during the congress in an Accra hotel. The session resumed after 2 1/2 hours to elect Dodoo—the head of the Ghana Athletics Association—as GOC president. Dodoo won 38 votes against two for Kojo Adu-Asare and none for Emile Missodey in results announced on Sunday. Baba was stepping down as president and not on the ballot. Deborah Cubagee was elected first vice president with 39 votes to one for Appiah, but Appiah claimed afterward the voting process was unfair. “We shall make a protest to the IOC because the election was held after some of us who had nominated ourselves to stand for position had left the congress grounds,” he said.
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C-a-C: DeAndre Jordan struggles through short-term memory loss
C-a-C: DeAndre Jordan struggles through short-term memory loss
DeAndre Jordan(notes): “You are not a basketball. Why am I holding you aloft beneath the rim?” Child: “JE NE SAIS PAS JE SUIS JUSTE UN PETIT ENFANT” Jordan: “Wow, I forgot you are French. Wow, I forgot I know French.” Navigating the lockout is a constant struggle when are living with That Thing from “Memento.” Courage, DeAndre. Best caption wins instructional “Muzzy” tapes, like DeAndre doesn’t remember using. Good luck. In our last adventure: Marcus Banks(notes) is considering an offer to play in Lick-tenstein. (That will be 10 comedy dollars, please. I accept PayPal.) Winner, Grey Ghost: Marcus Banks enjoys making faces at his new Brian Cardinal(notes) action figure. Runner-up, Kb: Banks: “How can I afford this? Because I’ve been making the NBA average salary the last few seasons even without playing more than 25 games a year. Thank you, NBPA.” NOTE: I think you meant to write, “Thank you, Phoenix Suns and Robert Sarver,” since they’re the ones who ACTUALLY SIGNED Banks to a five-year, $21-million contract in 2006 to back up Steve Nash(notes). Like Clay Davis and most everybody else in the world, Marcus Banks will take any mother’s father’s money if he just GIVIN’ it away. Winner, Al: Things were cool with the “double dog dare,” but Marcus fell for the “triple dare you.” It was not a happy ending. Related: Marcus Banks, DeAndre Jordan, Brian Cardinal, Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns, Create-a-caption, NBA lockout
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