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Huddle set July 27

WARREN — The Warren Sports Hall of Fame Coaches Huddle will be July 27 at DiLucia’s in Warren, beginning at 6 p.m.

The guest speaker will be Mount Union football coach Larry Kehres.

Reservations can be made by e-mailing: www.wshofheadcoach@gmail.com.

High school football coaches from the following are scheduled to appear: Brookfield, Champion, Girard, Howland, Hubbard, LaBrae, Lakeview, Liberty, Mineral Ridge, Newton Falls, Niles, Warren Harding and Warren JFK.

nation

Russell writing book

NEW YORK — Basketball great Bill Russell is working on a memoir about his friendship with the late Red Auerbach, the Boston Celtics coach for whom Russell starred on a long run of championship teams.

“Red and Me” will be published by HarperCollins in Spring 2009.

“Arnold Jacob Auerbach passed on Oct. 28, 2006 — almost 50 years from when I joined his Boston Celtics,” Russell said Monday in a statement.

“I felt a tremendous sense of loss, a huge void in my life. There was an empty space in my psyche where a special person had been. I thought about that at Red’s funeral. And the fact that there was no logical reason why we ever should’ve become friends, because we came from such diverse places.”

IBO featherweight title up for grabs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Fernando Beltran Jr. of Mexico will fight Takalani Ndlovu of South Africa on Aug. 22 in Nashville for the vacant IBO featherweight world title in a 12-round fight.

Beltran (30-3-1) and Ndlovu (28-4) each have 18 knockouts. The 26-year-old Beltran lost the WBO featherweight world title to Joan Guzman in a 12-round decision in April 2005, and he lost a decision to IBF junior featherweight world champ Steve Molitor in April. He did beat former WBC bantamweight champ Victor Rabanales in a non-title bout.

Jaguars sign rookie

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Rookie linebacker Thomas Williams signed a four-year contract worth nearly $2 million with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday.

Williams, a fifth-round draft pick from Southern California, got a $174,500 signing bonus to go along with the $1.7 million contract. His base salary in 2008 will be $295,000, followed by $385,000, $470,000 and $555,000.

Chivas USA bows, 2-1

CARSON, Calif. — Gabriel Caballero scored late in the first half and Pachuca CF held on to beat Chivas USA 2-1 in SuperLiga 2008 Group B action.

Chivas USA opened the scoring in the 16th minute on a goal from Ante Razov. Bruno Marioni tied the game seven minutes later, and Pachuca took the lead in the 42nd minute.

Rookie Lance Parker got the start at goalie for Chivas. He started for Brad Guzan, whose transfer to English club Aston Villa is being held up while he awaits approval for a British work permit.

Warning Zone wins

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Warning Zone beat Cedar Mountain by one length to win the $156,000 Sunset Handicap race at Hollywood Park.

Ridden by Mike Smith, the 4-year-old horse covered 1 mile on the turf course in 2:26.95 and paid $10.80, $4 and $3.20.

Cedar Mountain returned $2.80 and $2.40, and Porfido paid $3.60 for show.

KHRC approves limit

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission voted to limit the length of toe grabs on horses’ front hooves Monday, a move experts say could save countless horses from injury.

The toe grabs, which have been used on tracks for decades to help horses gain traction on the dirt, have come under fire recently after experts found the equipment put too much pressure on the bones in a horse’s front legs while running.

The new limit would not allow horses to race on toe grabs measuring more than 2 millimeters in length. The approval is subject to legislative review.

Winter Dew Tour

NEW YORK — The AST Winter Dew Tour will hit the slopes in Colorado, Vermont and California in its inaugural season.

The three-event winter version of the AST Dew Tour will feature free-skiing and snowboard events for men and women starting Dec. 18-21 at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Breckenridge, Colo.

The second event will be Jan. 8-11, 2009, at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vt., then it’s off to Northstar at Tahoe in Lake Tahoe, Calif., for the finale Feb. 19-22.

The AST Summer Dew Tour, which features skateboarding, BMX and freestyle motocross, started its third season last month.

Vindicator staff/wire reports