Big Tuna says talk of Taylor feud fishy
MIAMI -- For weeks, Bill Parcells has been hearing plenty about his feud with Jason Taylor.Parcells says it doesn't exist.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol goes in for the dunk against the Celtics in the second quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Boston Thursday night. The game was still in progress at press time. Game 2 is slated for Sunday night in Beantown.
Finally ending his silence about the much-ballyhooed topic, the Miami Dolphins' football operations czar not only said Thursday that he wants the six-time Pro Bowl defensive end on his team this fall, but also tried to eliminate the perception that he deliberately snubbed Taylor during a chance encounter at the team's headquarters earlier this spring.
"Why wouldn't you want one of the very best players?" Parcells said in an interview with The Associated Press. "This thing has kind of taken on a life of its own and a large measure of this 'rift' is fabrication. I don't really know what the genesis was, other than there was some talk about a trade and people naturally thinking that when I come in it's going to be confrontational. And that's not necessarily true."
This was clear: Barring a change of plans, Parcells wants No. 99 on the field for Miami in 2008.
"Of course I want him here," Parcells said.
Safina, Ivanovic advance into French Open final
Bill Parcells wants No. 99 on the field.
PARIS -- Dinara Safina needs only one more win to join her older brother as a Grand Slam champion, and she'll try for it Saturday against Ana Ivanovic in the French Open final.
Dispensing with the come-from-behind drama of her previous two matches, Safina advanced Thursday by beating fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2.
Ivanovic then won her semifinal against fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Ivanovic swept the final three games for a victory that ensures she'll be ranked No. 1 for the first time next week, replacing Maria Sharapova.
In men's doubles play, Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia advanced to Saturday's final with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn of Russia. Nestor won the doubles title last year with former partner Mark Knowles. Nestor and Zimonjic will play Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Luis Horna of Peru.
-- The Associated Press
Affectionate lesbians told to cool it at Safeco Field
SEATTLE -- Most of the time, a kiss is just a kiss in the stands at Seattle Mariners games. The crowd hardly even pays attention when fans smooch.
But then last week, a lesbian complained that an usher at Safeco Field asked her to stop kissing her date because it was making another fan uncomfortable.
The incident has exploded on local TV, on talk radio and in the blogosphere and has touched off a debate over public displays of affection in generally gay-friendly Seattle.
"Certain individuals have not yet caught up. Those people see a gay or lesbian couple and they stare or say something," said Josh Friedes of Equal Rights Washington. "This is one of the challenges of being gay. Everyday things can become sources of trauma."
As the Mariners played the Boston Red Sox on May 26, Sirbrina Guerrero and her date were approached in the third inning by an usher who told them their kissing was inappropriate, Guerrero said.
The usher, Guerrero said, told them he had received a complaint from a woman nearby who said that there were kids in the crowd of nearly 36,000 and that parents would have to explain why two women were kissing.
"I was really just shocked," Guerrero said. "Seattle is so gay-friendly. There was a couple like seven rows ahead making out."
On Thursday, after an internal investigation, the Mariners said in a news release that their seating staff had acted appropriately, and the couple was approached because of their behaviour -- which included "making out" and "groping" in the stands -- and not their sexual orientation.
"We have a strict nondiscrimination policy at the Seattle Mariners and at Safeco Field, and when we do enforce the code of conduct it is based on behaviour," Mariners spokeswoman Rebecca Hale said earlier this week.
-- The Associated Press
Brewers make Lawrie highest Canadian pick
Brett Lawrie became the highest Canadian position player ever selected in the baseball draft when the Milwaukee Brewers took him at No. 16 on Thursday.
The hard-hitting catcher from Langley, B.C., has soared up the charts this season by demolishing professional pitching all spring with wood bats.
During the national junior team's recent tour of the Dominican Republic, he went an eye-popping 17-for-34 with eight home runs and 24 RBI in the eight games.
His power display included five home runs in a doubleheader, one to each part of the field.
"He's going to make a lot of teams who passed on him regret it," said one baseball executive who has seen Lawrie play extensively.
Kevin Nicholson, taken 27th by San Diego in 1997, was previously the highest Canadian position player drafted. Atlanta used the 30th pick in 2000 to select infielder Scott Thorman.
Lawrie is also the sixth Canadian first-rounder, along with Adam Loewen (fourth by Baltimore in 2002), Jeff Francis (ninth by Colorado in 2002) and Phillipe Aumont (11th by Seattle in 2007).
Lawrie nearly fell to the Toronto Blue Jays, who instead chose University of California-Berkley first baseman David Cooper with the 17th pick.
Cooper, 21, was described as "a professional hitter" by Blue Jays scouting director Jon Lalonde with the ability to use the entire field and pull for power.
The 6-foot, 210-pound left-handed hitter hit .359 with 19 home runs and 55 RBI in 56 games this season.
-- The Canadian Press
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