Sports 2
2B | LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD | SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2011
COMING MONDAY s +ANSAS WOMEN S BASKETBALL OPENS ITS SEASON VS 7ESTERN -ICHIGAN s +5 SOCCER TAKES ON 'EORGIA IN THE .#!! 4OURNAMENT
TWO-DAY SPORTS CALENDAR
KANSAS UNIVERSITY
Sanchez excited to be with Royals KANSAS CITY, MO. (AP) — Jonathan Sanchez walked through Kauffman Stadium on a blustery fall morning, bundled up in a black coat with a black stocking cap pulled onto his head. He’s certainly not in San Francisco anymore. Sanchez was traded from the Giants to Kansas City this week in a deal that gave the Royals the kind of front-line starter they lacked last season. They had to give up outfielder Melky Cabrera, but also got a minor league pitcher. The subject of trade speculation for years, Sanchez was the Giants’ best pitcher during the latter part of 2010, when they beat the Texas Rangers to win the World Series. He was 4-1 with a 1.03 ERA over his last seven outings, and finished the year with a 13-9 record and a 3.07 ERA. Now, he’s heading to a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1985. “It’s exciting, you know?� Sanchez said Thursday. “It’s exciting to make the playoffs, and that’s what we want, to be a young team that makes the playoffs.� Sanchez struggled most of last season, partly due to a case of biceps tendinitis, going 4-7 with a 4.26 ERA before missing the final month with a left ankle sprain.
Jeff Chiu/AP File Photo
FORMER SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS PITCHER JONATHAN SANCHEZ WORKS against the Cleveland Indians on June 24, 2011. The lefthander was traded to the Kansas City Royals last week. But he said his arm feels good and his ankle is “nearly 100 percent,� which is good news for a Royals club that struggled to get its starting pitchers deep into games last season. Kansas City’s starters logged the third-fewest innings of any staff in the American League. Sanchez certainly has electric stuff, with an overpowering fastball that racked up 205 strikeouts
in 1931⠄3 innings two years ago. But he’s also had trouble controlling it, walking a league-high 96 batters the same season. “That’s the way I pitch,� he said. “So long as they don’t score, I’m fine with that.� The Royals will be, too. General manager Dayton Moore thought highly enough of Sanchez to deal away Cabrera, who put together a career year in
center field, to land the 28-yearold left-hander. Moore said he hopes that Sanchez can develop into a dependable anchor for a young starting rotation. Luke Hochevar is just 28 years old, and rookie Danny Duffy is 22, with several other prospects expected to contend for spots on the major league roster in spring training. The Royals aren’t necessarily done adding to their pitching staff this offseason, though Moore said no announcements are imminent. Sanchez, Hochevar, Duffy and Felipe Paulino are considered locks for four of the starting jobs, leaving a cadre of players trying for the fifth spot. Relievers Luis Mendoza, Aaron Crow and Everett Teaford could move into the rotation, and left-handed prospect Mike Montgomery will get a long look in spring training after spending last season at Triple-A Omaha. The Royals also could sign Bruce Chen, who led them in wins the past two seasons and is currently a free agent. Both sides have expressed interest in a deal. For now, the Royals are happy to have Sanchez in the fold. And after spending the last few years hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors, Sanchez seems happy to be in Kansas City.
COMMENTARY
| SPORTS WRAP |
Penn State community starts recovery
MINUTE TO WIN IT
TODAY • Soccer vs. Georgia in NCAA Tournament, noon • Women’s basketball vs. Western Michigan, 2 p.m.
SPORTS ON TV TODAY NFL Kansas City v. Denver Chicago v. Detroit N.Y. Jets v. N. England
Time noon 3:15 p.m. 7:15 p.m.
Net CBS Fox NBC
College Basketball Vandy v. Cleveland St. UNC Asheville v. UNC Georgia v. B. Green Arizona v. Ball State Cal. v. G. Washington
Time 1 p.m. 3 p.m. 5 p.m. 5 p.m. 8:30 p.m.
Net ESPNU ESPNU ESPNU FCSP ESPNU
Cable 35, 235 35, 235 35, 235 146 35, 235
Women’s Basketball Time W. Michigan v. Kansas 2 p.m. Tenn. v. Pepperdine 3 p.m.
Net Knology FCSA
Cable 6 144
Auto Racing Time Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 6:30 a.m.
Net Speed
Cable 150, 227
College Soccer ACC championship Big East championship MVC championship Conference USA
Time 11 a.m. 11 a.m. 1 p.m. 1 p.m.
Net ESPNU CBSSN FSN CBSSN
Cable 35, 235 143, 243 36, 236 143, 243
College Hockey Time Bost. College v. Bost. U. 3 p.m.
Net CBSSN
Cable 143, 243
MONDAY NFL
Net
Cable
Green Bay v. Minnesota 7:30 p.m.
Time
ESPN
33, 233
College Basketball
Net
Time
Cable
Syracuse v. Manhattan 6 p.m. Kansas St. v. Loyola (Chi.) 7 p.m. Notre Dame v. Detroit 8 p.m. UNLV v. Nevada 9 p.m. USC v. Nebraska 9:30 p.m. Washington v. Portland 9 p.m. Stanford v. Fresno St. 10 p.m. Gonzaga v. Wash. St. 11 p.m.
ESPNU FSN ESPNU CBSSN FCSA FCSP ESPNU ESPN
NHL
Time
Net
Cable
Montreal v. Buffalo
6 p.m.
VS
38, 238
35, 235 36, 236 35, 235 143, 243 144 146 35, 235 33, 233
LATEST LINE
By Bob Ford The Philadelphia Inquirer
STATE COLLEGE, PA. — They appeared in the tunnel at the appointed moment and entered the stadium in neat rows, file after file of football players walking unhurriedly with their arms linked together. On a normal football Saturday at Penn State, the home team enters in a rushing torrent of emotion, but this was not a normal football Saturday. It was like no game in the 125-year history of Penn State football. This was the game played after a week of horrible revelations close to the football program that had left their world unhinged. In a week during which the ground shook and opened up around this insular campus tucked among the central Pennsylvania hills, the list of what took place is still mind-boggling: A grand jury indicted a legendary former assistant coach for an unspeakable pattern of sexual abuse against children, and two high-ranking university officials were charged with lying about what they knew about it; head coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier were fired from their positions; a current assistant coach was vilified for failing to do more to stop a 2002 sexual assault he witnessed and had to be removed from the staff for his own safety, according to the university; and the football program became a national symbol of what could happen when collegiate athletics is allowed to exert too much power over the school it represents. That was quite a burden to carry into Beaver Stadium on Saturday, and it’s no wonder the players linked arms to hold themselves together as they walked onto this familiar stage on a golden autumn afternoon. For Penn State’s football community, this day was meant to show both sorrow and resolve, and it was a success in every regard except the final score — 17-14, Nebraska. The sins of the few affected the good intentions of the many and, on Saturday, the whole football community — and it’s a big one — took the opportunity to come together and say just that. “What happened here, that wasn’t us,� was their message. It was heard. The fans and the players and the remaining coaches and administrators did and said the right things before the intense scrutiny of the world. The real test of integrity, of course, is doing the right things when no one is watching, and some of their leaders let them down badly in that regard. “This was a horrific thing and we all feel that way, but time heals all wounds,� assistant coach Jay Paterno said. How long a process, and how much time, is the unknown. Even on a perfect autumn afternoon, in this pretty how town in the country, before all these good people, it still felt as if there are many miles to stumble before the walking is ever normal again.
Cable 5, 13, 205 4, 204 8, 14, 214
Jason Redmond/AP Photo
JUNIOR DOS SANTOS, TOP RIGHT, OF BRAZIL, TAKES DOWN Cain Velasquez as an official moves in to stop the fight in the UFC heavyweight title bout Saturday in Anaheim, Calif. Dos Santos won by knockout just 1:04 into the fight.
Nats’ Ramos speaks about two-day abduction VALENCIA, VENEZUELA — His eyes tearing up with emotion, Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos embraced his rescuers Saturday and said he had wondered whether he would survive a two-day kidnapping ordeal that ended when commandos swept into his captors’ mountain hideout. Ramos said that he was thankful to be alive a day after his rescue and that his final moments as a prisoner were hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy gunfire in the remote area where he was being held. He said his kidnappers had carefully planned the abduction and told him they were going to demand a large ransom. “I didn’t know if I was going to get out of it alive,� Ramos told reporters at a police station in his hometown of Valencia, flanked by police investigators, National Guard commanders and Justice Minister Ramos Tareck El Aissami. “It was very hard for me. It was very hard for my family.� El Aissami said authorities arrested four of the captors, all of them Venezuelan men in their 20s. A 60-year-old woman and a 74-year-old man were also arrested as accomplices for supplying the kidnappers with food from their home in the area, he said. The six suspects were led past journalists at the police station with black hoods over their heads. The authorities were still searching for at least four Colombian men who escaped during the rescue, El Aissami said. He didn’t say whether anyone was wounded in the gunbattle. Ramos, 24, was seized at gunpoint outside his family’s home Wednesday night and whisked away in an SUV. It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, and the abduction set off an outpouring of candlelight vigils and public prayers at stadiums as well as outside Ramos’ house.
GOLF
Tiger pulls within two of lead SYDNEY — Tiger Woods is right in the middle of an Aussie-flavored championship Down Under. Looking more like he did the opening two rounds, Woods ran off three birdies on his front nine and to pull within two shots of Greg Chalmers heading to the back nine. Chalmers was at 11-under par through six holes, one shot ahead of Nick O’Hern. Woods was tied with Jason Day, who hit his opening tee shot into the water, and 54-hole leader John Senden. Most of the birdie chances come on the back nine of The Lakes, and Woods’ goal was to play a solid front nine to at least give himself a chance at winning for the first time in two years.
TENNIS
Federer reaches Paris finals PARIS — Roger Federer cruised past Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3 Saturday to reach the Paris Masters final for the first time. The Swiss star will play either No. 6 JoWilfried Tsonga of France or unseeded American John Isner in the final.
AUTO RACING
Hornish Jr. wins Phoenix race AVONDALE, ARIZ. — Sam Hornish Jr. raced to his first NASCAR victory and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took a big step toward the Nationwide Series season title when Elliott Sadler was taken out late at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday. Hornish, a former IndyCar star, passed Stenhouse on a restart midway through the 200-mile race and stayed up front on several restarts to claim his first win in 141 career starts between the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.
NFL Favorite .......................Points (O/U) .................... Underdog Week 10 Pittsburgh .....................................4 (41) ...................................CINCINNATI KANSAS CITY ....................3 (41) .............................. Denver Jacksonville .................................3 (37) ..............................INDIANAPOLIS DALLAS ........................................51⠄2 (48).........................................Buffalo Houston.......................................31⠄2 (45).................................TAMPA BAY CAROLINA ...................................31⠄2 (46)..................................Tennessee MIAMI.............................................. 4 (37) ..................................Washington New Orleans ..........................Pick’em (50) ................................ ATLANTA CHICAGO......................................21⠄2 (44)..........................................Detroit CLEVELAND ................................ 21⠄2 (37) .......................................St. Louis PHILADELPHIA .......................... 131⠄2 (46) .......................................Arizona Baltimore.....................................61⠄2 (41) .......................................SEATTLE SAN FRANCISCO........................31⠄2 (42)....................................NY Giants NY JETS ..........................................2 (47) ................................New England Monday GREEN BAY ................................... 13 (51).....................................Minnesota COLLEGE BASKETBALL Favorite ............................Points ......................... Underdog DUQUESNE .........................................11 ...............................Wisc Green Bay VANDERBILT..................................... 15 .....................................Cleveland St LOYOLA MARYMOUNT..................31⠄2 ..............................Middle Tenn St UTEP ....................................................9.................................... Cal Riverside GEORGIA .............................................11 ................................ Bowling Green ARIZONA ............................................ 15 .................................................Ball St MARYLAND ....................................... 15 ................................NC Wilmington CALIFORNIA .....................................111⠄2 ....................George Washington Added Games PITTSBURGH...................................211⠄2.................................................Rider JAMES MADISON ..........................101⠄2...........................................Canisius OHIO.................................................... 16 ..........................Tennessee Martin MARSHALL ........................................20 .............................. Jacksonville St INDIANA ............................................. 15 ........................ Tenn Chattanooga NORTH CAROLINA ST .................... 10....................................Morehead St Extra Game North Carolina ..............................151⠄2............................... NC ASHEVILLE NHL Favorite ............................ Goals .......................... Underdog Philadelphia............................... Even-1⠄2 .......................................FLORIDA CHICAGO...........................................1⠄2-1 .......................................Edmonton ANAHEIM ..................................... Even-1⠄2 ...................................Minnesota VANCOUVER ................................ 1⠄2-1 NY......................................Islanders Home Team in CAPS (c) 2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
E-MAIL US Tom Keegan, Sports Editor tkeegan@ljworld.com
Andrew Hartsock, Associate Sports Editor ahartsock@ljworld.com
Gary Bedore, KU men’s basketball gbedore@ljworld.com
Matt Tait, KU football mtait@ljworld.com
THE QUOTE h) DON T KNOW IF THERE S AN )MODIUM ! $ FOR 4WITTER BUT SOME PLAYERS HAVE 4WITTER RRHEA v — Fox analyst Howie Long, on NFL players and social media
TODAY IN SPORTS 1999 — Lennox Lewis becomes the undisputed heavyweight champion, winning a unanimous decision over Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas. 2005 — In the longest play in NFL history, Chicago defensive back Nathan Vasher returns a missed field goal 108 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half in a 17-9 win against the 49ers.
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