Press Box: Injury forces I'll Have Another out of Triple Crown contention
HORSE RACING
There will be no Triple Crown winner in horse racing this year.
I'll Have Another, the favorite to win the Belmont Stakes with a shot to claim the elusive Triple Crown, has been declared out of Saturday's race with tendonitis, his trainer said Friday.
Doug O'Neill said the Kentucky Derby and The Preakness winner also has been retired because of the swollen tendon. He was unsure how the 4-5 Belmont favorite suffered the injury.
"It was the decision of my brother (assistant trainer Dennis O'Neill) and everyone at the barn to retire him," Doug O'Neill said during a press conference. "It's not tragic, but it's disappointing."
I'll Have Another was attempting to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. Eleven horses have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown since then and have failed to complete the feat at the Belmont Stakes.
It was the first time a Derby/Preakness winner was scratched the day before the race.
"I'd been hoping and praying he'd stay injury-free," he said, "but it didn't happen.
"(The injury) popped up (Thursday), and it didn't get better."
O'Neill said the swelling had gone down overnight, but returned soon after a 5:30 a.m. workout.
"He trained great," O'Neill said, "but afterward I saw (filling) in the tendon."
According to New York Newsday, Dr. Larry Bramlage compared the injury to "spraining an ankle."
The Belmont field has now shrunk to 11 horses. Dullahan becomes the favorite at 9-5 odds.
"I thought this was going to be one of the great races in history," said Dale Romans, Dullahan's trainer.
"It wasn't as if he had an injury and Doug took him out on the track," said J. Paul Reddam, who owns the horse, told Newsday. "The leg had a little heat (Thursday) and then it went away.
"The horse is not lame, and he could have run (in the Belmont). But Doug, with extreme caution about the horse, had the leg scanned. That's when the decision (not to race) was made."
Before the injury, I'll Have Another was expected to bring a huge windfall to the horse racing industry, which continues to suffer from waning interest.
Record TV ratings were expected for NBC, all of the reserved seats at Belmont were sold out and the track crowd was expected to come close to the record 120,139 in 2004.
NHL
The Phoenix Coyotes appear to be staying in Glendale, Ariz., after a Maricopa County judge denied a restraining order Friday on a vote for a proposed lease with the team.
The Goldwater Institute, an Arizona watchdog group, had tried to stop a vote on the lease at Jobing.com Arena, which is owned by the city of Glendale. The group argued Glendale had yet to release key lease documents to the public.
However, Superior Court Judge Katherine denied the request, saying the documents had been available beginning Monday.
The decision paves the way for a group led by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison to buy the team from the NHL. A lease vote was expected by Glendale later Friday.
Previous attempts to purchase the team have been blocked by the Goldwater group. Each time, it threatened legal action to prevent a lease which it claimed would be disastrous for the City of Glendale.
The Coyotes are coming off their best season in 15 years in Arizona, making the Western Conference finals.
The NHL took ownership of the team in 2009 and reportedly considered potential moves to Seattle or a larger Canadian market. But Jamison's investment group assured Bettman the team would not relocate.
Per reports, the league wanted to keep the sale price at $170 million. The Coyotes were sold out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for $140 million in 2009, when the NHL began shepherding the franchise.
The deal with Jamison is likely to include rebates and a fund to help cover the team's financial losses of $20 million to $25 million annually.
--The New Jersey Devils, who are in the Stanley Cup Finals, reportedly have gained a minor investor.
The identity of the investor has yet to be announced, according to the Sports Business Daily, but majority owner Jeff Vanderbeek will remain in charge of the team.
The Devils, who trail the Los Angeles Kings in the best-of-seven series 3-1, are in the Finals for the fifth time since 1995. They moved to the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., in 2007.
The team is reportedly $80 million in debt and is expected to go through a bankruptcy process for investments by current minority owners.
--The American Hockey League announced Friday that an unexpected overtime goal that bounced off the boards Thursday night during Game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals should not have counted.
However, that doesn't changed the outcome of the game, which the Norfolk Admirals won 1-0 in overtime over the Toronto Marlies.
AHL president David Andrews, whose organization is the top minor-league for the NHL, said in a statement that the overtime goal should have been waved off because it was on a delayed offside call.
"On the play, a dump-in from center ice by a Norfolk player caromed off a stanchion and into the Toronto net," Andrews said. "The correct application of AHL Rule 83.4 would have negated the Norfolk goal due to a delayed offside call.
"As AHL By-Laws do not allow for any change to the final result of a game based on an incorrect rule interpretation, the result of the game stands."
Norfolk leads the best-of-seven series 3-0 with Game 4 at 3 p.m. ET Saturday at Toronto.
CBK
Kansas University small forward Merv Lindsay reportedly has announced he will transfer to New Mexico.
The freshman will be ineligible until to the 2013-14 season, the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World reported Thursday. He will still have three years of eligibility.
Lindsay, a 6-7, 195-pound from Moreno Valley, Calif., scored 11 points last season, averaging 2.2 minutes in 12 games this past season. He was expected to be pressed for playing time next season, competing against Travis Releford and incoming freshman Andrew White.
"I felt really good there, very comfortable," Lindsay said of the Albuquerque, N.M. school. "I liked everything about the place -- the coaches, players. I didn't have any complaints, none at all. It's a family atmosphere."
"I'm going to use the year off to work on everything that is wrong with my game, get in the weight room and improve so I'll be ready to contribute to the team the following season."
CFB
Judge John Cleland ruled that former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky will face all 52 charges of child sex abuse, dismissed the defense team argument that many of the charges were without merit and based on hearsay and hollow evidence.
Sandusky's trial is scheduled to begin Monday with opening statements. Defense attorney Joe Amendola made multiple requests to have various charges dismissed.
Cleland denied the request for dismissal and refused a hearing to determine whether all charges should be admissible.
The 16-member jury was chosen this week, including nine who detailed formal or informal ties to Penn State.
--Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly underwent back surgery Thursday.
The operation was scheduled to relieve ongoing pain found to be caused by a herniated disc in his lower back.
Kelly isn't expected to miss practice time during fall camp and could return to his office soon.
TENNIS
A familiar foe stands between Novak Djokovic and four straight Grand Slam tournament titles. Djokovic dispatched Roger Federer in straight sets, giving Parisians the French Open main event they'd hoped for against Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic would be the first men's tennis player to win four straight Grand Slam events but Nadal has won the event a record-tying six times. Djokovic avenged his only loss in his last 27 Slam tournament matches, which came to Federer at the 2011 French Open.
They top two players in the event have met in the past four Grand Slam events. Djokovic said his current winning streak against Nadal doesn't mean anything in Paris.
"It's the ultimate challenge," said Djokovic. "But I believe today was my best match of 2012 Roland Garros for me. I raised my game when I needed to. That's something that gives me confidence before the final."
