Pro Sports
Email
Print
Sports Briefs: Newspaper: Pitino paid for abortion
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: August 12, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A newspaper is reporting that Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino told police he had sex and paid for an abortion for the woman accused of trying to extort him for $10 million.
The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported on its Web site last night that Pitino told police he had been been drinking in a Louisville restaurant and had consensual sex with Karen Sypher in August 2003.
The police report says he denies allegations by Sypher that he raped her after the restaurant closed and at another time somewhere else.
Police reports say he told investigators he gave Sypher $3,000 to have an abortion.
Last month, a Kentucky prosecutor said that a complaint filed with a police sex-offense unit by Sypher wouldn't be prosecuted because of a lack of supporting evidence.
Sypher has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of trying to extort money from Pitino and lying to the FBI.
More basketball
■ High-scoring guard Jamar Briscoe is transferring to UNC Charlotte from N.C. Central.
Coach Bobby Lutz announced yesterday that Briscoe, 5-10, will be a walk-on with the 49ers. He'll sit out this season under the NCAA's transfer rules before having three years of eligibility remaining.
Briscoe averaged 17.8 points as a freshman last season and had five games of 30 or more points. He had the second-highest scoring average in the nation for a freshman behind Liberty's Seth Curry, who recently transferred to Duke.
■ The Minnesota Timberwolves introduced Kurt Rambis yesterday as the ninth head coach in franchise history.
Rambis left his job as the top assistant and heir apparent to Phil Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers. He said he wasn't sure how much longer Jackson would coach the Lakers and couldn't pass up the opportunity to take over in Minnesota.
Owner Glen Taylor said that Rambis' interest in the job helped push him ahead of the other two finalists -- television analyst Mark Jackson and Houston assistant Elston Turner.
■ The Washington Wizards say they have signed forward-center Fabricio Oberto, giving the team added frontcourt depth.
Oberto, 6-10 and 245 pounds, averaged 3.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in four seasons with San Antonio. The Spurs traded Oberto to Detroit this summer as part of a five-player deal; the Pistons then waived Oberto.
Washington traded reserve forwards Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov to Minnesota in June.
■ Marvin Williams of the Atlanta Hawks says he is "100 percent" recovered from back and wrist injuries that limited him in the NBA playoffs and that he's already looking forward to training camp.
Williams, who was a restricted free agent, signed a five-year, $37.5 million deal with the Hawks last week and discussed the deal yesterday in a teleconference.
Williams, who played one season at North Carolina in 2004-05 before entering the NBA Draft, averaged 13.9 points in the regular season but, slowed by the sprained right wrist, averaged only 5 points in the playoffs.
Auto racing
■ Richard Petty Motorsports has swapped the crew chiefs for AJ Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson.
Allmendinger will begin working with Mike Shiplett this weekend at Michigan International Raceway. Sorenson will be teamed with Sammy Johns.
Allmendinger is 24th in the Sprint Cup Series standings, while Sorenson is 29th.
Team co-owner Richard Petty had indicated a swap was coming somewhere in the organization, which has only star Kasey Kahne in contention for a berth in the Chase for the championship.
The change comes after Allmendinger and Shiplett worked together during a tire test last week at Dover.
■ Jeff Gordon, a four-time NASCAR champion, has a stiff back a day after a spectacular accident at Watkins Glen.
Gordon has been bothered by an aching back for more than a year, and the hard impact from Monday's accident increased his discomfort.
But he said he'll be ready to race this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
Jeff Burton said that the accident left him sore all over yesterday, while the crew chief for Sam Hornish Jr. said that his driver is surprised at how well he feels.
The three got the worst of the six-car accident that began when Hornish was run off course into a tire barrier. His car shot back onto the track and into the path of Gordon, who went head-on into a steel barrier.
■ Roush Fenway Racing has asked a federal court to dismiss a wrongful termination charge made by a former crew member for Carl Edwards.
The motion filed in U.S. District Court doesn't address Jason Myers' claim that Roush officials violated the Family Medical Leave Act. Roush officials say that Myers should be seeking a breach-of-contract claim -- not wrongful termination.
Myers said he was actively seeking medical leave when he was fired in February after a third failed suicide attempt.
His attorney said the alleged FMLA violation is Myers' "flagship claim" and Monday's filing doesn't ask for that to be dismissed.
Myers said he has received treatment for a "major depressive disorder," but hasn't found work since his firing.
■ Michael Schumacher called off his much-anticipated Formula One comeback because of lingering neck injuries from a motorcycle crash six months ago. Schumacher, a seven-time F1 champion, was to fill in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.
Ferrari announced yesterday that Luca Badoer will race in Massa's place.
■ Frank Montagny has been hired to drive a fifth car for Andretti Green Racing later this month.
Montagny will be in the cockpit of the No. 25 car at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
He made seven starts for Michael Andretti's team in the American Le Mans Series last year and now will join Andretti's IndyCar regulars -- Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, a former series points winner, and Hideki Mutoh.
Olympics
■ American Jenn Stuczynski, a silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics, has withdrawn from the pole-vault competition at the world track-and-field championships with an Achilles' injury. The championships will start Friday in Berlin.
■ The Colorado Springs city council approved a deal yesterday that will keep the U.S. Olympic Committee in town for the next 30 years.
The council voted 8-1 to pay for $16 million in improvements to the Olympic Training Center.
Email
Print
