Sat, Jul 05, 2008

Sports

Sports shorts

Former associate says Mayo received thousands of dollars from promoter

Wire and staff reports
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.12.2008
LOS ANGELES — A former associate of USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo says the basketball star received thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts from an event promoter over the past four years that would violate NCAA rules, ESPN reported Sunday.
Louis Johnson told ESPN's "Outside the Lines," that Rodney Guillory, a Los Angeles-based event promoter, gave Mayo about $30,000 and other benefits while he attended high school and during his sole season at USC. Mayo has decided to forgo his sophomore year and enter the NBA draft.
Guillory received monthly payments from Northern California sports agency Bill Duffy Associates, the network reported. Mayo signed with the same agency last month shortly after declaring that he would enter the June 26 draft, where he is expected to be a lottery pick.
"I will not allow these allegations to become a distraction to me and my family," Mayo said in a statement to ESPN. "I have not engaged in any wrongdoing."
Auto racing
Indy loses another day to rain
INDIANAPOLIS — Next weekend's busy schedule just got tougher for some Indianapolis 500 teams.
The second day of qualifying at the 2.5-mile oval was rained out Sunday, marking the third time in the opening week that drivers lost a full day of track activity. And it might not get any better.
More rain is expected for Wednesday's practice and the long-range forecast is for a chance of more rain late next week. But track officials are still hoping to fill the remaining 22 spots in the 33-car field Saturday.
● In Istanbul, Turkey, Felipe Massa held off Lewis Hamilton to win his third straight Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday and earn Ferrari's fourth consecutive Formula One victory.
Hockey
U.S. loses, brawls with Finland
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Mikko Koivu scored with less than four minutes remaining to give Finland a 3-2 come-from-behind win Sunday over the United States at the world hockey championships that was marred by a postgame brawl.
After Koivu scored with 3:50 left, the United States' Adam Burish was ejected for butt-ending a Finland player. As the final horn sounded, U.S. forward Dustin Brown drilled a Finnish defenseman into the boards with a hit to the head, touching off a melee.
miscellaneous
Cat finishes 6th in heptathlon
UA junior Shevell Quinley finished sixth in the heptathlon at the Pac-10 championships Saturday. She had an NCAA provisional score of 5,161 points.
UA freshman Chris McGovern was eighth in the decathlon with 6,588 points.
● In Berlin, Dina Safina pulled off her third upset of a top-10 player in a week at the German Open, winning the title Sunday by defeating ninth-ranked Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
● In Rome, Novak Djokovic won the 10th title of his tennis career, rallying Sunday to defeat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Rome Masters. Djokovic improved to 8-1 on clay this season and 25-5 overall.
● David Beckham was named to England's soccer squad for a friendly game against the United States. The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder was named to the squad Sunday to face the Americans at Wembley on May 28.
Includes information from a news release