Sports Briefs: Davies 'hurt' about not making team

PARIS -- Charlie Davies is blaming Sochaux for his failure to make the United States' preliminary squad for the World Cup, saying he feels "let down" by his French club.

Davies claims that Sochaux's president, Alexandre Lacombe, wrote to the U.S. coaching staff without his knowledge, saying that Davies was not fit enough to play at the World Cup and that the club would not medically clear him.

Davies, who was nearly killed in a car accident last October in Virginia, told French radio station RMC late Wednesday that he was capable of playing in the tournament in South Africa and felt "very hurt, very sad" and "very angry."

"It's frustrating because for the past months, I've been training with the (Sochaux) team," Davies said. "I've progressed a lot, I continue to progress, I still have to progress, but I'm definitely ready to play."

Davies, who was omitted from the 30-man roster, said he was stunned when he learned about the letter after speaking with U.S. coach Bob Bradley.

"It's a very strange situation, I feel hurt because I feel like I've been let down by my club," said Davies, adding that he will stay at Sochaux next season because of his good relationship with his teammates.

U.S. players will gather next week for training camp in Princeton, N.J. The team will leave for South Africa on May 30 and will open the World Cup against England on June 12.

Basketball

l Alana Beroth of Reagan and Cheyenne Parker of Southwest Guilford were among 10 girls basketball players named last night to the West roster for July's East-West all-star game in Greensboro. Beroth averaged 14.7 points and 11.4 rebounds last season and was the first Reagan player named to the Journal's All-Northwest girls team. She has signed with East Carolina.

The girls and boys all-star basketball games will be July 19 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

l Jeff Bzdelik, the new men's basketball coach at Wake Forest, yesterday added Dan Ficke to his staff as assistant coordinator of operations, a job that has responsibilities with team travel, meals, recruiting databases and recruiting mail-outs. Ficke played four seasons at Loyola of Maryland and recently finished work on a master's degree there. He replaces Mike Lepore, who will be the team videographer next season.

l Bill Parsons, the captain on Duke's men's basketball team in 1939-40, died recently in his hometown of Altoona, Pa., at the age of 92. Parsons played in the first game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, scoring four points in a win over Princeton on Jan. 6, 1940. He also was a two-time captain of Duke's tennis team.

Football

l Lance Taylor, a wide-receivers coach at Appalachian State last season, has accepted a position as an offensive assistant with the New York Jets. Taylor played at Alabama and was a graduate assistant there for one season before taking the job at ASU last year. Coach Jerry Moore has started a search for Taylor's replacement.

Also, Tony Robertson will serve as a student assistant for the Mountaineers next season. Robertson would have been a fifth-year senior defensive end but ended his playing career because of a shoulder injury. He made 11 sacks in 44 games.

-- Tommy Bowman

l Linebacker Brian Cushing of the Houston Texans said yesterday that he never used banned substances even though he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and was suspended for four games without pay.

Cushing confirmed he tested positive for HCG, a fertility drug, but said that "the question of how it got into my body is still unclear." Cushing said that after failing the test, he was told HCG can get into a body by injecting it or because of tumors. He said this information led him to believe he had tumors but he did not say what kind.

Dr. Gary Wadler, who leads the committee that determines the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned-substances list, said that there have been cases of malignant testicular tumors producing HCG but that if Cushing "had a tumor that produced HCG, he wouldn't be playing football. He would be under treatment for a malignant tumor."

l The NFL is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision that allowed defensive linemen Kevin Williams and Pat Williams of the Minnesota Vikings to challenge their four-game suspensions for violating the league's anti-drug policy. The NFL cited the National Labor Relations Act in its filing yesterday, saying its collective-bargaining agreement with the players' union protects its drug policy from lawsuits in state courts.

The Williamses tested positive in 2008 for a banned diuretic that was not listed as an ingredient on the label for the weight-loss supplement StarCaps. The diuretic is not a steroid, but the league said it can be used as a masking agent. The players sued to block their suspensions, saying the NFL broke Minnesota labor law in applying its drug policy. The NFL wants the Supreme Court to overturn a federal judge's decision last year that sent the case to state court.

Miscellaneous

l Michael Phelps will be back in Charlotte this weekend for his first long-course meet of the year, the Charlotte UltraSwim.

The UltraSwim will be a low-key start to Phelps' long-course season, and this will be a crucial year that will go a long way to determining what he does at his final Olympics in 2012. "It's a little over two years away," Phelps said. "This summer is a big, key, important part of the lead-up to London."

Phelps is scheduled to swim five events in Charlotte -- the 200-meter freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 individual medley and 50 free. All except the 50 free are legitimate possibilities for his Olympics program.

l Serena and Venus Williams will be together at the top of the women's tennis rankings for the first time in seven years, with the WTA Tour saying that Williams is assured of moving up to No. 2 on Monday, one spot behind younger sister Serena. It will mark the 46th week overall that the sisters have been 1-2 -- spots they last occupied together in May 2003.

l Nine candidates vying for to stage soccer's World Cup in 2018 or 2022 will present bid books to FIFA today, with the United States presenting itself as a largely stress-free option because its stadiums are in place.

The other bidders are: England, Russia and joint bidders Netherlands-Belgium, Spain-Portugal from Europe, which is expected to land the 2018 tournament, and South Korea, Australia, Japan and Qatar.

FIFA will inspect each candidate between July and September and will choose the two hosts Dec. 2 in Zurich

l The Duke men's tennis team won three ITA Carolina Regional awards yesterday, with Ramsey Smith named coach of the year, Josh Goffi named assistant coach of the year and Henrique Cunha named rookie of the year.