Times staff, wires
Thursday, June 2, 2011
WNBA
Seattle favored to repeat as league champ
Seattle had such a dominant run to the league championship last year, it is the overwhelming favorite to win again as the WNBA opens its 15th season tonight.
The Storm rolled through the regular season with a 28-6 record — the only team in the Western Conference with a winning record — and went 7-0 in the playoffs to win its second championship.
"You have to start with Seattle, because not only did they win the championship, but the way they won the championship and their run through the West a year ago," San Antonio coach Dan Hughes said. "Plus they've added Katie Smith. And that is a pretty significant quality to add to an already championship-caliber team."
The Storm acquired Smith, a 12-year veteran who won two titles with Detroit, from Washington in a three-team trade in April. She joins a team led by three-time MVP Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird and Swin Cash.
The season tips off tonight when Candace Parker and Los Angeles host Maya Moore and Minnesota. Seattle opens Saturday, hosting Phoenix.
Seattle will try to become the first team to win consecutive titles since Los Angeles in 2001-02.
NFL
Talib attorney to request quick trial
The attorney for indicted Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib hopes to meet with Dallas County prosecutors today, and Frank Perez said he plans to ask for a quick trial date. Last week a grand jury indicted Talib, 25, and his mother, Okolo, 58, on felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a March 21 shooting in Garland, Texas.
More labor: The Jets, Eagles and Bills joined several other teams in saying they were unaware of and don't support a brief filed by the NFL Coaches Association that sided with the players against the owners.
Ex-QB has brain tumor: Former quarterback Ryan Leaf said he could face radiation treatments if the part of a brain tumor doctors couldn't remove gets bigger. Leaf, 35, said the California doctor who performed the surgery May 25 couldn't get all the tumor because parts were wrapped around brain stem nerves that affect swallowing and shoulder movement. Doctors said the tumor was benign. Leaf was diagnosed last month.
Medicine
Phone app joins concussion aids
A doctor at the University of North Carolina teamed with other head-trauma researchers to develop an application for mobile phone devices that helps determine whether someone may have sustained a concussion.
Jason Mihalik of UNC's brain injury research center said it's the first observer-based concussion app. After the user answers a series of questions based on material from the Centers for Disease Control, the app determines the likelihood of a concussion and can e-mail information to a doctor.
Rick Stroud, Times staff writer; Times wires