Vuvuzelas silenced for basketball worlds

August 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Vuvuzelas will be silenced at the world basketball championships.

Basketball’s governing body said Monday the horns that provided an earsplitting buzz at soccer’s World Cup soccer games will be banned from its tournament. The organizers say the vuvuzelas could harm fans’ hearing if used indoors.

FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann says the vuvuzela is “simply not appropriate in a confined space such as a basketball arena.” The instruments will be confiscated by security and the ban will be enforced at all of FIBA’s indoor tournaments.

The world championships begin Aug. 28 in four cities in Turkey.

Correction

NEW MIDDLETOWN

Springfield junior RB/LB Tommy Mastran was left off the list of returning lettermen in Sunday’s Coaches Corner.

American, Brit crews to face off in 1851 Cup

The America’s Cup is making a rare visit back to England, where the new American champion will face a British team in an exhibition regatta this week.

BMW Oracle Racing of San Francisco will meet TeamOrigin in the 1851 Cup off Cowes starting Tuesday.

The highlight will be a race Thursday around the Isle of Wight, retracing the 53-nautical-mile course used in 1851 when the schooner America beat a fleet of British ships to win the silver trophy that became known as the America’s Cup.

Ex: Sypher refused plea deal to get Pitino

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

An ex-husband of a woman accused of demanding millions from Rick Pitino to keep quiet about their one-night stand has told jurors that his former wife turned down a plea deal because she wanted revenge.

Randy Wise testified Monday that Karen Cunagin Sypher said in the summer of 2009, “I’m going down. I’m going to take Pitino with me.” Wise said Sypher made the comments about two months after she had been charged.

Sypher has pleaded not guilty to extortion, retaliating against a witness and lying to the FBI.

She is accused of demanding college tuition for her children, her house to be paid off and $10 million. She claims the Louisville basketball coach raped her in an Italian restaurant in July 2003.

Discreetly Mine wins Amsterdam Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.

Discreetly Mine took control from Essence Hit Man leaving the quarter pole and drew away to an 83/4-length victory in the $150,000 Amsterdam Stakes for 3-year-olds at Saratoga Race Course.

John Velazquez was aboard the heavy favorite, who flourished since returning to sprint distances after a dismal 13th-place effort in the Kentucky Derby. He ran 61/2 furlongs on Monday in 1:14.27, giving trainer Todd Pletcher consecutive victories in the Amsterdam.

White to compete in Portland Dew Tour

PORTLAND, Ore.

Olympic snowboarder Shaun White is hopping back on his skateboard for the Portland stop of the Dew Tour.

White has returned to competitive skateboarding after taking time off to train for the Olympics. He won the gold medal in the halfpipe in Vancouver.

White recently competed in the X Games in Los Angeles, where he won the silver in the Skateboard Vert behind 30-year-old Pierre-Luc Gagnon of Quebec.

Organizers say White will compete in the Skateboard Vert next week in Portland.

Trail Blazers sign Armon Johnson

PORTLAND, Ore.

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed second-round pick Armon Johnson.

Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed Monday.

Portland selected the 6-foot-3 guard out of Nevada with the 34th overall pick in the June draft.

Following the draft, Johnson averaged 11.6 points and 4.2 assists while starting all five games for Portland’s Las Vegas Summer League squad.

Vindicator staff/wire reports