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Saturday, Jan. 03, 2009

Sports Briefs

Etc.

Winning with graze: N.Y. manis top couch potato again

He's the king of couch potatoes.

A Manhattan man has won his second couch potato contest. Stan Friedman, a 47-year-old research librarian, needed 18 hours, 48 minutes and 17 seconds of sports-watching time to outlast the competition at the second annual ESPN Zone Ultimate Couch Potato Competition.

The participants, sitting in recliners in front of dozens of televisions, weren't allowed to sleep or leave their recliners except for restroom breaks once every eight hours.

Friedman, like any good athlete, improved on his time. Last year, he needed 29 hours to win.

Baseball

Man hurt in fall at Yankee Stadium

A construction worker at the new Yankee Stadium was taken to a hospital after falling 4 feet off a mobile scaffold. The city Department of Buildings said the worker was jolted off the scaffold when one of its wheels hit a drain Friday afternoon. Firefighters earlier estimated the fall at 12 feet, but the buildings agency later said it was shorter.

Buildings spokesman Tony Sclafani said the worker initially declined medical attention but was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

The $1.3 billion ballpark is due to open April 16.

Marlins: Former Dodgers right-hander Scott Proctor has reached an agreement with Florida on a $750,000, one-year contract. Proctor underwent surgery in October for repair of a partially torn flexor tendon and is expected to be healthy for spring training.

Red Sox: Josh Bard signed a non-guaranteed one-year contract with Boston. The 30-year-old Bard batted .202 with a homer and 16 RBI in 178 at-bats for the Padres last season, spending time on the disabled list with a sprained left ankle and a strained right triceps.

Diamondbacks: Jeff Moorad resigned as chief executive officer to pursue ownership of the Padres. Arizona promoted team president Derrick Hall to chief executive officer, Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick said Friday.

Auto Racing

Danica ticketed for speeding

Danica Patrick paid a $196 fine to settle a speeding ticket after the star race car driver was caught going 54 mph in a 35 mph zone last month in Scottsdale, Ariz. The 26-year-old driver was pulled over by police Dec. 9 in her hometown while driving a 2007 Mercedes. A year ago, she was ticketed for driving 57 mph in a 40 mph zone in Scottsdale and was ordered to attend traffic school.

Trading race cars for bobsleds

NASCAR's Boris Said and Joey Logano are among the race car drivers taking part Saturday in this year's Bobsled Challenge, which raises funds for the U.S. men's and women's bobsled teams. Said, whose late father drove in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics for the U.S. bobsled team, has dominated the event at Lake Placid, N.Y., with five wins in six races since its inception. "This is just the most fun of any kind of charity that I've ever done," Said said.

Phil Kurze, director of motorsports for Whelen Engineering and president of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, had hoped one more NASCAR driver would participate.

e_SDLqCarl Edwards wanted to be here, but he's getting married tomorrow, so he decided that was more important," Kurze said. "We're hoping we can get Carl up here next year."

Tennis

Murray tops Federer in exhibition

Andy Murray dominated Roger Federer again, beating the 13-time Grand Slam title winner 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) Friday in the semifinals of the Capitala World Tennis Championship in the United Arab Emirates. The exhibition event, which is not part of the ATP Tour, features six of the top 10 players and offers a winner-take-all prize of $250,000. Murray will play top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who defeated Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-3.

Obituary

Record-winning swimmer dies

Roy Saari, a former world record-holding swimmer and gold medalist at the 1964 Olympics, has died. He was 63. Mr. Saari, who won nine NCAA individual titles at the University of Southern California, died Tuesday in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., USC announced Friday. No cause of death was given. Saari set four world records in his career.

The last word

Denver Nuggets Coach George Karl, after earning his 900th career victory on New Year's Eve:

"I'm not a champagne guy. I'm a beer guy and some red wine, but I think it's Coors Light tonight. Beer after a win tastes like champagne."