NFL: Union, league closer to HGH testing
The NFL Players Association has “tentatively agreed” to human growth hormone testing and accompanying punishment for the 2013 regular season, according to a union memo obtained Tuesday by NFL.com’s Albert Breer.
The memo says that a first offense for any player who tests positive for HGH will bring a four-game suspension. The NFLPA will allow the league to obtain 40 blood samples for HGH tests each week during the testing, according to the tentative agreement.
The NFL denies that an agreement has been finalized.
“We do not have yet a comprehensive agreement for HGH testing and decline to comment on the union’s memo,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
Bengals’ James Harrison said Monday he took issue with the team being captured in HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” and the people filming the team don’t “deserve to be” at camp.
The team agreed to be on the show, according to ESPN, because owner Mike Brown hoped it could alter his franchise’s image.
Redskins safety Phillip Thomas will miss his rookie season with a foot injury. Coach Mike Shanahan said the fourth-round pick will have surgery on a torn ligament in the left foot.
MLB: Victorino lifts Red Sox over Jays
In Toronto, Shane Victorino hit a two-run single in the 11th inning and the Red Sox topped the Blue Jays, 4-2.
In Kansas City, Mo., Christian Yelich singled home the go-ahead run with one out in the 10th inning and the Marlins beat the Royals, 1-0, after a tidy matchup of contrasting starters, as hard-throwing prodigy Jose Fernandez and wily Royals veteran Bruce Chen each lasted seven innings.
In St. Petersburg, Fla., leadoff hitter Brad Miller homered twice to help the Mariners send the Rays to their sixth straight loss with a 5-4 victory.
The White Sox placed first baseman Paul Konerko on waivers, according to USA Today. Because he’s been in the majors for more than 10 years and with his current team for at least five, Konerko can veto any trade he’s involved in.
Manny Ramirez is a free agent again after the Rangers released him from his minor league contract. Texas released Ramirez, just more than five weeks after he started playing for Triple-A Round Rock.
A police report says that witnesses didn’t see anyone else standing near a Braves fan when he fell to his death at the team’s stadium.
The report reflects the account of four eyewitnesses who saw Ronald Lee Homer Jr. fall about 65 feet on Monday night from a fourth-level smoking area into a parking lot for Braves players. According to USA Today, Homer’s family is considering talking to a lawyer about the incident.
“He was 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7, and those railings where he was are not tall enough; they are not tall enough for being that high up and that dangerous,” Ronald Homer Sr. said.
ETC.: Clowney on field after threat of missing opener
South Carolina All-American Jadeveon Clowney returned to practice after missing the previous two sessions with a bruised shoulder. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier may have sped up Clowney’s return to the field, saying if the defensive end’s shoulder didn’t show improvement soon, the Gamecocks might have to go without him in the opener against North Carolina on Aug. 29.
LeBron James will not run for president of the National Basketball Players’ Association, according to ESPN.
Maria Sharapova’s return to WTA tournament play after more than a month away was short-lived following an upset loss to 17th-ranked American Sloane Stephens, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, in the second round of the Western & Southern Open.