NFL's Moss buys into NASCAR truck team
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- All-Pro receiver Randy Moss is now a NASCAR team owner, announcing Thursday he's purchased 50 per cent of a Truck Series team.Randy Moss Motorsports will make its debut on July 19 at Kentucky Speedway with Willie Allen driving the No. 81 Chevrolet. The number was changed from 46 to reflect Moss' NFL jersey number.
Moss has been eyeing entering NASCAR for some time, but said he decided to buy half of Morgan-Dollar Motorsports rather than build a team from the ground up. Moss wants the team to eventually move up to the premier Sprint Cup Series.
Beijing Games organizers receive Olympic medals
BEIJING -- The gold, silver and bronze medals that will hang around the necks of athletes at next month's Olympics were formally handed over Thursday to the organizers of the Beijing Games.
The 3,000 medals made for the Olympics, and a similar number for the Paralympics, were delivered by BHP Billiton, an Olympic sponsor and the world's largest mining company, during an hour-long ceremony near Tiananmen Square.
"We're fully prepared for the Beijing Games. All the preparations are now in place," said Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice-president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee.
The medals were made in China with almost 13 kilograms of gold, 1,340 kilograms of silver and 6,930 kilograms of copper. The gold medals are actually made of silver, with a gold plating. Some 51,000 commemorative medals were made from copper, explaining the large amount of copper required.
-- The Associated Press
Marino enjoys view from the top at AT&T National
BETHESDA, Md. -- Steve Marino used to consider it a treat the few times he played Congressional as a teenager. It was a thrill on Thursday to play bogey-free in the first round of the AT&T National and shoot 5-under 65 for a one-shot lead.
Marino, who grew up a half-hour away in Fairfax, Va., birdied three of his opening four holes, never had a par putt longer than five feet and finished off his round with an eight-foot birdie to be in the lead after any round for only the second time in his career.
"I played a bunch of junior golf growing up here, all over the D.C. area, so it feels great to get off to this good start," Marino said. "And I'm looking forward to the rest of the week."
It's already been a big week for Jeff Overton, one of four golfers in second place at 4-under 66, along with Frank Lickliter, Rod Pampling and Bob Estes
Overton had missed six of his last seven cuts, working harder than ever with nothing to show for it, until the 36-hole qualifier Monday outside Detroit for the British Open. He was the medallist, earning his first trip to a major. "It just carried over from there," he said.
Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont., shot 2-over 72 and was tied for 69th.
Defending champion K.J. Choi was three shots off the lead after a 68.
-- The Associated Press
The singer and the slugger
A-Rod's 'hot new friendship' with Material Girl causing ruckus in Big Apple
NEW YORK -- A-Rod and the Material Girl? That's a lot of hits.
Reports that Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez and Madonna have become close just as their marriages are disintegrating have both the celebrity gossip industry and the sporting world -- each a chatty bunch -- buzzing with questions about the two "friends."
A third boldface name was added to the saga when Rodriguez's wife fled from New York to the Paris home of rocker Lenny Kravitz, who denied anything improper had happened with the slugger's wife.
The story began last week amid tabloid stories that Madonna, who is married to the British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, had consulted a high-profile London divorce lawyer.
On Tuesday her publicist issued a statement saying Madonna's marriage was not in jeopardy. Then US Weekly magazine reported that Rodriguez, 32, has been making late-night visits to the Manhattan apartment of Madonna, 49. Janice Min, editor-in-chief of US Weekly, said the magazine was "100 per cent" confident in its story, which she said was based on multiple sources.
Min said US Weekly has been careful not to overstate what's known of the relationship, which the latest issue labels a "hot new friendship."
"The facts are that he comes to her apartment late at night, that they have a friendship, that she had never been photographed at a Yankees game until she was photographed in A-Rod's seats," said Min. "I think from those facts we put forth, a lot of people would infer that something more is going on."
Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, acknowledged the two know each other after meeting at a charity event but denied any romance. Rodriguez has refused to even address the topic when questioned by reporters, leading some to wonder if he could indeed be involved in the biggest Yankee romance since Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.
On Thursday, the New York Daily News reported that Rodriguez and his wife, Cynthia, have separated, citing an anonymous source. The couple married in 2002 and have two children, Natasha Alexander and Ella Alexander. Then came news that Cynthia visited Kravitz in Paris.
"Cynthia is a friend... she came here to escape from everything happening in New York City," Kravitz said in a statement. "I opened my home to her as a friend and I find it extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer."
Speaking Thursday at the Yankees complex in Tampa Bay, Fla., Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said the reports on Rodriguez would not faze the team.
"It's no distraction to the team," said Steinbrenner. "Whether it is to Alex I don't know, but from what I'm hearing, no, it's not."
Coverage of the private lives of Yankees is not new, particularly in an era in which professional athletes are increasingly scrutinized off the field.
Earlier this year, it was reported that former Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens had an affair with country music singer Mindy McCready. Derek Jeter's string of girlfriends have also received considerable press.
Rodriguez, however, has found himself in the tabloids more than any other Yankee since arriving in New York in 2004. Last year, he was labelled "Stray-Rod" on the front page of the New York Post, after being photographed out at night with a former Vegas stripper. On Thursday, sports talk radio in New York was dominated by larger concerns: mainly the dim playoff prospects of both the Yankees and Mets.
The sports blog Deadspin wondered Thursday how Rodriguez would be greeted by fans at Yankee Stadium in the team's upcoming series against the Boston Red Sox: "Will there be any cone bras in the stands? Sean Penn masks? The theme from Evita being sung by a heavenly choir of visiting Red Sox fans?"
-- The Associated Press
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