Times wires
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Colleges
Florida basketball to play in Tampa
GAINESVILLE — Florida's men's basketball team will return to the St. Pete Times Forum next season to face Wright State on Nov. 21, the Raiders said Thursday.
The game, part of the Global Sports Shootout which will also include a UF game against Ohio State on Nov. 11, will mark the fourth consecutive season the Gators will play in Tampa. In 2009, they played in the SEC tournament. Florida played Syracuse in 2010 and in the NCAA Tournament this past season.
More basketball: Georgia coach Mark Fox received a one-year extension through 2016 and raise from $1.3 million to $1.7 million. Last season, his second, he led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament.
Football: The Division I Board of Directors approved a task force to look at the criteria and process for licensing bowls and won't approve new ones until standards are in place. Spawned by financial improprieties by the Fiesta Bowl, it will look at, among other issues, sponsorship, conflict-of-interest rules and financial management of bowl games. The group will include university presidents and managers of nonprofit organizations. All 35 bowls were certified last year through 2013 but are subject to annual reviews.
Figure skating
Canadian sets marks in winning world title
One day after setting a world record in the short program, Canada's Patrick Chan set one in the free skate to win his first world title in Moscow.
Chan earned 187.96 points in the free skate, 12.12 more than Japan's Daisuke Takahashi in 2008. And his 280.98 overall points surpassed Takahashi's record by 16.57.
Japan's Takahiko Kozuka won silver, 39.57 behind.
The United States can send only two to worlds next year after its top two failed to finish with a combined placement of 13th or better. Richard Dornbush was ninth, Ross Miner 11th and U.S. champion Ryan Bradley 13th.
Pairs: Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, second after the short program, set a world record in the free skate to win their third title. They earned 144.87 points, 3.06 more than China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo at the 2010 Olympics, to finish with a world-record 217.85, 4.49 more than Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia and 1.18 more than the world record Shen and Zhao set in Vancouver. U.S. champions Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin were sixth and Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, who train in Ellenton, ninth.
Et cetera
Politics: A federal judge upheld New Jersey's four-year residency rule, keeping track great Carl Lewis off the primary ballot for a state senate seat. He will appeal.
Soccer: MLS banned Colorado's Brian Mullan for 10 games for a tackle that broke the right leg of Seattle's Steve Zakuani. The ban is MLS's longest for a foul.
Swimming: American Jessica Hardy, a world breaststroke champion who missed the 2008 Olympics for a doping violation, was cleared for the 2012 Games.
Antonya English, Times staff writer; Times wires
