Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Rowdy crowd greets NFL execs in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS
A loud and often rowdy crowd greeted NFL executives Tuesday as St. Louis Rams fans at a public hearing made their case for keeping the team in Missouri amid talk of a relocation.
About 1,500 people, many wearing Rams jerseys, stood and chanted “St. Louis Rams!” as NFL executives walked onto the Peabody Opera House stage. The crowd cheered when Dave Peacock, co-leader of the effort to build a new riverfront stadium in St. Louis, was briefly introduced. Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff received scattered boos.
The league is hosting three meetings as part of the process to decide which team or teams get to relocate to the Los Angeles area, the nation’s second-largest market, which has been without a franchise since the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995.
With the Rams at the bottom of the league in home attendance and without a winning record since 2003, owner Stan Kroenke wants to move to a new $1.8 billion stadium in suburban L.A. The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders also want to move to Los Angeles. Similar hearings are today in San Diego and Thursday in Oakland.
Harvick dismisses Talladega critics
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
Reigning NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick shrugged off his critics Tuesday and insisted he did not intentionally cause a wreck at Talladega Superspeedway to preserve his spot in the playoffs and keep his bid for a repeat alive.
Harvick was accused by at least four other drivers of triggering an 11-car accident at the end of Sunday’s race to avoid being eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field. NASCAR said Tuesday a review of the incident failed to show Harvick did anything intentional, and he also dismissed the claims.
“They can look at it 100 different ways, but you can’t quit. You can’t roll over and be done with it and say, ‘We tried our best,”’ Harvick said. “I don’t need to defend myself.”
Harvick had an ailing engine and knew his Chevrolet would struggle to accelerate on a restart at the end of the race. Harvick maintained his position in line, and when Trevor Bayne darted around his slow car, Harvick ended up hooking the back of Bayne’s car, triggering the crash.
Among those who accused Harvick of intentionally starting the wreck were Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, who were both eliminated from the playoffs.
Rousey’s mom critical of champion’s coach
GLENDALE, Calif.
UFC champion Ronda Rousey isn’t sharing her opinion of her mother’s sharp criticism of her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan.
Tarverdyan also declined to trade verbal shots with AnnMaria De Mars on Tuesday during a promotional appearance for Rousey’s next title defense.
De Mars called Tarverdyan “a terrible coach” and “a bad person” in a video interview with LatiNation earlier this month. De Mars claims Tarverdyan “hit the lottery” when Rousey decided to study mixed martial arts with him.
“Any reaction or response I have to my mother, she’s going to hear it from me, and not a media outlet,” Rousey said, declining to indicate whether she had confronted her mother about it.
Rousey’s mother is a former judo world champion who introduced her daughter to the sport and raised her to be an Olympic medalist. Rousey took up MMA after the Beijing Olympics and swiftly became the UFC’s first women’s bantamweight champion in late 2012.
JMU’s Lee to miss rest of season with injury
HARRISONBURG, Va.
James Madison quarterback Vad Lee will miss the rest of the season after surgery on his left foot.
Dukes coach Everett Withers made the announcement Tuesday on twitter.
The posting came three days after the Dukes (7-1, 4-1 CAA) lost 59-49 to Richmond.
Lee tied JMU’s all-time passing touchdown record with 51 and leads the nation in total offense per game (375.5) while also ranking third in passing yards (2,190), fourth in passing TDs (21) and rush yards per carry (75), fifth in completion percentage (683) and eighth in rushing yards (814).
Associated Press