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World Report: Reliever Williamson agrees to minor league deal with Giants
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CommentFrom The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants agreed to terms on a minor league deal with reliever Scott Williamson on Sunday and invited him to spring training.
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants agreed to terms on a minor league deal with reliever Scott Williamson on Sunday and invited him to spring training.
Williamson, the 1999 NL Rookie of the Year who turns 32 next Sunday, is scheduled to report to the team’s spring training complex in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Wednesday with pitchers and catchers.
The right-hander could bolster an already deep bullpen. Williamson spent his first four-plus seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and has also pitched for Boston, the Chicago Cubs, San Diego and then Baltimore last season.
The right-hander could bolster an already deep bullpen. Williamson spent his first four-plus seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and has also pitched for Boston, the Chicago Cubs, San Diego and then Baltimore last season.
He went 1-0 with a 4.40 ERA in 16 outings in 2007, missing time early in the season while on the disabled list with tightness in his throwing arm.
• McNamee lawyer predicts criminal probe of Clemens
• McNamee lawyer predicts criminal probe of Clemens
NEW YORK — One of Brian McNamee’s lawyers said Sunday he believed the Justice Department will open a criminal investigation into Roger Clemens’ denials of doping.
Meanwhile, the chairman of a congressional committee said comments attributed to one of the pitcher’s lawyers could be interpreted as trying to intimidate a federal law enforcement official.
Clemens gave a five-hour deposition last week to staff lawyers of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform prior to Wednesday’s public hearing. McNamee, former personal trainer to the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, gave a seven-hour deposition.
“I think there will be a criminal prosecution after Wednesday, and that means there will be grand jury proceedings and subsequent proceedings,” said Richard Emery, one of McNamee’s attorneys. “I don’t see there’s any possibility that Brian has any jeopardy. I only see the possibility of Clemens getting investigated by Justice, whether or not Congress refers it.”
A message left Sunday night requesting Justice Department comment was not immediately returned.
Told of Emery’s comments, Rusty Hardin, Clemens’ lead lawyer, said: “They have consistently acted and indicated that they have a pipeline to agents of the Department of Justice. Whether they do or not, it certainly raises a lot of questions of whether what’s going on here is proper. So I’m not going to express any predictions of what will or will not happen.”
McNamee says he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001, accusations Clemens has repeatedly denied. Both are set to testify Wednesday on Capitol Hill in what figures to be a day of high drama.
NFL
• First-time NFL head coach Zorn takes Redskins’ reins
ASHBURN, Va. — New Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn got the team colors wrong, paid tribute to an assistant the team recently fired and lacked the polish of his predecessor, Joe Gibbs, who sat watching from the second row during the news conference Sunday in the Redskins Park auditorium.
The 54-year-old Zorn said it was nothing short of “miraculous” that he was standing where he was, making the jump from quarterbacks coach to head coach because none of the candidates on owner Dan Snyder’s initial list worked out.
Zorn signed a five-year contract Saturday, ending a monthlong coaching search. The Redskins hired him as an offensive coordinator two weeks ago, luring him away from the Seattle Seahawks, then decided late last week to interview him for the head coaching job after New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo withdrew from consideration.
Snyder also interviewed Jim Mora, Jim Fassel, Steve Mariucci, Ron Meeks, Pete Carroll, Jim Schwartz, Redskins assistant Gregg Williams and others.
Zorn referred to the Redskins’ colors as “maroon and black” instead of burgundy and gold. He raised a touchy subject when he said the decision to start 10 men on defense in the game following safety Sean Taylor’s death was “pretty awesome.” That decision was made without Gibbs’ knowledge by Williams, who has since been dismissed.
Tennis
• Russia, Germany, Sweden fill out Davis Cup quarters bracket
LONDON — Russia took advantage of an ailing Novak Djokovic to reach the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup on Sunday, when Germany and Sweden also advanced. The United States, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Spain and France all reached the quarterfinals on Saturday.
The Russians, who lost to the U.S. in last year’s final, earned their decisive point in the 3-2 win over Serbia when Djokovic withdrew from the first reverse singles match despite leading Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3, 4-6.
Sweden rallied to beat Israel 3-2, winning both reverse singles matches Sunday, and Philipp Kohlschreiber gave Germany the winning point in a 3-2 win over South Korea in the best-of-five series by beating Lee Hyung-taik 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1).
The United States, which won its record 32nd Davis Cup title last year, took a 4-1 victory on clay at Austria. The U.S. will face France in the next round.
• Radwanska rallies past Craybas in Pattaya final
PATTAYA, Thailand — Polish teen Agnieszka Radwanska claimed her second career title after saving a match point that led to a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over U.S. veteran Jill Craybas in the Pattaya Women’s Open final.
Craybas saved two match points as she rallied from a big deficit in the third set, and then set up a match point, but netted a forehand to squander her chance.
The top-seeded Radwanska took control in the tiebreaker, winning the match on a favorable netcord.
The victory will put Radwanska, currently ranked 21st in the world, into the top 20 for the first time on Monday. The 18-year-old, who won her maiden tournament in Stockholm last year, won $25,650.
Craybas was seeking just the second title of her long career.
Track and Field
• Kallur breaks world record in indoor 60-meter hurdles
KARLSRUHE, Germany — Susanna Kallur broke the 18-year-old world record in the women’s 60-meter indoor hurdles, finishing in 7.68 seconds to lower the mark by 0.01 seconds at the Karlsruhe International.
The 26-year old Swede broke the record set Feb. 4, 1990, by Russia’s Ludmila Narozhilenko — who later changed her name to Ludmila Engquist. Kallur, the European outdoors champion just missed the mark with a 7.72 effort a week ago in Stuttgart.
Kallur established herself as the favorite for the indoor world championship, set for March 7-9 in Valencia, Spain. Dayron Robles of Cuba won the men’s 60 hurdles in 7.40.
Four-time world champion Allen Johnson of the United States was second, edging Germany’s Thomas Blaschek with both recording 7.54.
American Mike Rodgers took the 60 in 6.60, beating Kim Collins of Saint Kitts, who had the same time.
College Football
• Report: Portland State wants tapes of Nevada player
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Nevada high school football lineman who lied about signing a letter of intent with California reportedly has drawn the interest of Portland State University.
FOX-TV Channel 12 in Portland is reporting that PSU football coaches have called Kevin Hart’s Fernley High School near Reno requesting film footage.
Hart told a Feb. 1 school assembly that he would sign a letter of intent with Cal. But Cal never recruited him, nor did anyone else.
Hart had originally claimed that he had been duped into believing that both Cal and University of Oregon were recruiting him but later admitted it was a lie.
His grandfather, George Hart, said Kevin Hart is a good kid who made a bad mistake.
World Cup Skiing
• American Vonn finishes 16th to drop into tie for overall lead
SESTRIERE, Italy — Austria’s Andrea Fischbacher and Switzerland’s Fabienne Suter shared a victory in a super-G that was shaped by varying wind and several crashes.
It was the first World Cup victory for the racers, who both finished in 1 minute, 21.06 seconds on the Kandahar Banchetta course.
American Lindsey Vonn, Saturday’s downhill winner, finished 16th and dropped into a tie for the overall World Cup lead with Austrian Nicole Hosp, who placed 14th.
Squaw Valley’s Julia Mancuso was the top U.S. finisher in eighth place. She was faster than the winners through the first interval but lost time on the bottom as the course shifted over to the other face of the Banchetta mountain and into the wind.
Meanwhile, the chairman of a congressional committee said comments attributed to one of the pitcher’s lawyers could be interpreted as trying to intimidate a federal law enforcement official.
Clemens gave a five-hour deposition last week to staff lawyers of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform prior to Wednesday’s public hearing. McNamee, former personal trainer to the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, gave a seven-hour deposition.
“I think there will be a criminal prosecution after Wednesday, and that means there will be grand jury proceedings and subsequent proceedings,” said Richard Emery, one of McNamee’s attorneys. “I don’t see there’s any possibility that Brian has any jeopardy. I only see the possibility of Clemens getting investigated by Justice, whether or not Congress refers it.”
A message left Sunday night requesting Justice Department comment was not immediately returned.
Told of Emery’s comments, Rusty Hardin, Clemens’ lead lawyer, said: “They have consistently acted and indicated that they have a pipeline to agents of the Department of Justice. Whether they do or not, it certainly raises a lot of questions of whether what’s going on here is proper. So I’m not going to express any predictions of what will or will not happen.”
McNamee says he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone at least 16 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001, accusations Clemens has repeatedly denied. Both are set to testify Wednesday on Capitol Hill in what figures to be a day of high drama.
NFL
• First-time NFL head coach Zorn takes Redskins’ reins
ASHBURN, Va. — New Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn got the team colors wrong, paid tribute to an assistant the team recently fired and lacked the polish of his predecessor, Joe Gibbs, who sat watching from the second row during the news conference Sunday in the Redskins Park auditorium.
The 54-year-old Zorn said it was nothing short of “miraculous” that he was standing where he was, making the jump from quarterbacks coach to head coach because none of the candidates on owner Dan Snyder’s initial list worked out.
Zorn signed a five-year contract Saturday, ending a monthlong coaching search. The Redskins hired him as an offensive coordinator two weeks ago, luring him away from the Seattle Seahawks, then decided late last week to interview him for the head coaching job after New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo withdrew from consideration.
Snyder also interviewed Jim Mora, Jim Fassel, Steve Mariucci, Ron Meeks, Pete Carroll, Jim Schwartz, Redskins assistant Gregg Williams and others.
Zorn referred to the Redskins’ colors as “maroon and black” instead of burgundy and gold. He raised a touchy subject when he said the decision to start 10 men on defense in the game following safety Sean Taylor’s death was “pretty awesome.” That decision was made without Gibbs’ knowledge by Williams, who has since been dismissed.
Tennis
• Russia, Germany, Sweden fill out Davis Cup quarters bracket
LONDON — Russia took advantage of an ailing Novak Djokovic to reach the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup on Sunday, when Germany and Sweden also advanced. The United States, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Spain and France all reached the quarterfinals on Saturday.
The Russians, who lost to the U.S. in last year’s final, earned their decisive point in the 3-2 win over Serbia when Djokovic withdrew from the first reverse singles match despite leading Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3, 4-6.
Sweden rallied to beat Israel 3-2, winning both reverse singles matches Sunday, and Philipp Kohlschreiber gave Germany the winning point in a 3-2 win over South Korea in the best-of-five series by beating Lee Hyung-taik 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1).
The United States, which won its record 32nd Davis Cup title last year, took a 4-1 victory on clay at Austria. The U.S. will face France in the next round.
• Radwanska rallies past Craybas in Pattaya final
PATTAYA, Thailand — Polish teen Agnieszka Radwanska claimed her second career title after saving a match point that led to a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over U.S. veteran Jill Craybas in the Pattaya Women’s Open final.
Craybas saved two match points as she rallied from a big deficit in the third set, and then set up a match point, but netted a forehand to squander her chance.
The top-seeded Radwanska took control in the tiebreaker, winning the match on a favorable netcord.
The victory will put Radwanska, currently ranked 21st in the world, into the top 20 for the first time on Monday. The 18-year-old, who won her maiden tournament in Stockholm last year, won $25,650.
Craybas was seeking just the second title of her long career.
Track and Field
• Kallur breaks world record in indoor 60-meter hurdles
KARLSRUHE, Germany — Susanna Kallur broke the 18-year-old world record in the women’s 60-meter indoor hurdles, finishing in 7.68 seconds to lower the mark by 0.01 seconds at the Karlsruhe International.
The 26-year old Swede broke the record set Feb. 4, 1990, by Russia’s Ludmila Narozhilenko — who later changed her name to Ludmila Engquist. Kallur, the European outdoors champion just missed the mark with a 7.72 effort a week ago in Stuttgart.
Kallur established herself as the favorite for the indoor world championship, set for March 7-9 in Valencia, Spain. Dayron Robles of Cuba won the men’s 60 hurdles in 7.40.
Four-time world champion Allen Johnson of the United States was second, edging Germany’s Thomas Blaschek with both recording 7.54.
American Mike Rodgers took the 60 in 6.60, beating Kim Collins of Saint Kitts, who had the same time.
College Football
• Report: Portland State wants tapes of Nevada player
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Nevada high school football lineman who lied about signing a letter of intent with California reportedly has drawn the interest of Portland State University.
FOX-TV Channel 12 in Portland is reporting that PSU football coaches have called Kevin Hart’s Fernley High School near Reno requesting film footage.
Hart told a Feb. 1 school assembly that he would sign a letter of intent with Cal. But Cal never recruited him, nor did anyone else.
Hart had originally claimed that he had been duped into believing that both Cal and University of Oregon were recruiting him but later admitted it was a lie.
His grandfather, George Hart, said Kevin Hart is a good kid who made a bad mistake.
World Cup Skiing
• American Vonn finishes 16th to drop into tie for overall lead
SESTRIERE, Italy — Austria’s Andrea Fischbacher and Switzerland’s Fabienne Suter shared a victory in a super-G that was shaped by varying wind and several crashes.
It was the first World Cup victory for the racers, who both finished in 1 minute, 21.06 seconds on the Kandahar Banchetta course.
American Lindsey Vonn, Saturday’s downhill winner, finished 16th and dropped into a tie for the overall World Cup lead with Austrian Nicole Hosp, who placed 14th.
Squaw Valley’s Julia Mancuso was the top U.S. finisher in eighth place. She was faster than the winners through the first interval but lost time on the bottom as the course shifted over to the other face of the Banchetta mountain and into the wind.
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