Times wires
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Colleges
Tressel to attend Tampa's seminar on compliance
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As part of his punishment for not revealing knowledge of his players' NCAA violations, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel will attend a compliance seminar June 6-10 at Tampa's Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina, the school said Saturday.
Tressel found out in April 2010 that five players, including star QB Terrelle Pryor, traded signed memorabilia to a tattoo parlor owner for cash and reduced-price tattoos. Nine months later, the NCAA violations were revealed, and they were suspended for five games.
The school suspended Tressel, 58, for two games (later extended to five), fined him $250,000 and required him to attend one of two compliance seminars. (The other is in Tucson, Ariz.) The NCAA is still investigating. A hearing is set for Aug. 12.
Also, Ohio State is reviewing at least 50 car sales to athletes and relatives to see if they met NCAA rules, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The Dispatch reported a salesman who received game passes from athletes handled many of the deals at two dealerships. Both dealerships display signed Ohio State memorabilia.
More football: Michigan WR Darryl Stonum was suspended indefinitely for undisclosed reasons. As a junior last season, he started 12 games.
Women's lacrosse: Florida fell 10-9 to Northwestern in the American Lacrosse Conference tournament final in Nashville. The Gators are in their second season of play and beat the Wildcats 13-11 at home on April 14. On Saturday, they took an 8-5 lead with 13:17 left. But the Wildcats, who won five straight national titles before losing in last season's final, scored five in a row.
Men's volleyball: Ohio State beat UC Santa Barbara 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9 to win the national title in State College, Pa.
Tennis
Madrid final to be battle of streaks
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic reached today's final of the Madrid Open. Nadal, No. 1 in the world, won his 37th straight on clay, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 over No. 3 Roger Federer. He improved to 11-2 against Federer on clay. Djokovic, No. 2 in the world, improved to 31-0 in 2011 by beating Thomaz Bellucci 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. The start trails only John McEnroe's 42-0 in 1984 and includes wins over Nadal in the final in Miami and Indian Wells.
Women: Victoria Azarenka beat Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Madrid Open final. The win ensured she will move to No. 4, the highest world ranking for a women's player from Belarus. She faces Petra Kvitova.
Et cetera
Hockey: The Thrashers' Mark Stuart scored the go-ahead goal as the United States beat France 3-2 in the world championships in Slovakia. The Americans face Switzerland in their final group game today and need only one point to reach the quarters. Canada clinched a berth by beating Norway 3-2.
Soccer: AC Milan ended city rival Inter Milan's run of five Italian league titles, clinching its first since 2004 with a 0-0 tie at Roma. It's AC Milan's 18th title, tied with Inter Milan and nine behind Juventus.
Greyhounds: Hi Noon Renegade, Kentucky Fire, M's Glaze Fancy and Tb's Tater won first-round qualifying races in the $20,00 Gold Trophy Juvenile at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg. Qualifying resumes Wednesday night.
Cycling: HTC-Highroad won Stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia, one of the three Grand Tours (Tour de France, Veulta de Espana), in Turin. It finished the team trial 10 seconds ahead of Radioshack, putting Italy's Marco Pinotti in the lead.
Don Jensen, Times correspondent; Times wires