SPORTS digest


YSU men’s basketball wine tasting set

Men’s Basketball’s Third Annual Wine Taste Set for Sept. 20

The Youngstown State men’s basketball program will host its Third Annual Wine Taste at L’uva Bella Winery and Bistro in Lowellville, Tuesday, Sept. 20, from 6-8 p.m. Tickets to the event are $35 per person and includes five wine tastes of your choice with cheese and crackers and a silent auction.

Guests will be provided a small food menu and a percentage of all bottle sales will benefit the men’s basketball program. Head Coach Jerry Slocum and the men’s basketball coaching staff will be in attendance. Please RSVP by Sept. 16, 2016.

For more information, please contact Kevin Bruinsma in the men’s basketball office at (330) 941-3712 or by email at kwbruinsma@ysu.edu.

Jones, Tagliabue among HOF finalists

CANTON

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue have been selected as finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Jones and Tagliabue were chosen Tuesday by the hall’s contributor committee.

The Cowboys won three Super Bowls in a span of four seasons from 1992 to 1995 after Jones bought the team in 1989 and fired Tom Landry, the only coach the franchise had known.

The 73-year-old billionaire who made his fortune in the oil business was also a pioneer in sponsorships, sparking a lawsuit from the NFL when he struck deals outside the league’s revenue-sharing model.

Tagliabue was commissioner from 1989 through 2006, a period during which the NFL expanded from 28 to 32 teams and built 20 new stadiums. He helped negotiate a $25 billion TV deal in 2006, and the NFL Network was launched during his tenure.

The 2017 class will be selected during Super Bowl weekend in February.

Arians hospitalized with stomach pains

san diego

Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has been hospitalized after complaining of stomach pain.

Cardinals spokesman Mark Dalton said that, after arriving for the team’s joint practice with the Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium on Tuesday night, Arians told his medical staff he was not feeling well and had stomach pain.

The 63-year-old Arians, a two-time NFL coach of the year, is in his fourth season in Arizona.

Stewart to foot bill in lawsuit from death

utica, n.y.

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart will have to foot the bill for his own defense in a lawsuit brought by the family of a driver who died after being struck by Stewart’s car during a race, after a federal judge ruled his insurance company does not have to defend or indemnify him.

Ward’s family is suing Stewart, claiming he acted recklessly when he struck and killed the young driver in an open-wheel race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in August 2014.

Ward had exited his vehicle after a car-on-car bump with Stewart had sent Ward spinning into the wall lining the dirt track in upstate New York. Ward appeared to be yelling in the direction of Stewart’s car when he was struck and killed.

NFL suspends Dareus four games for pot

pittsford, n.y.

The NFL has suspended Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus for the first four games of the season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

The Bills announced the suspension in an email sent after practice Tuesday.

Dareus is five-year starter since being selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2011 draft. Last year, the Bills signed him to the most expensive contract in team history, a seven-year deal that is potentially worth $104 million.

The suspension is the latest blow to Rex Ryan’s revamped defense, which is already depleted by injuries. And it is the latest in a series of on and off-field troubles for Dareus. He was suspended by the NFL for Buffalo’s season opener last year for also violating the substance abuse policy.

Staff/Wire reports