Sports In Brief: Tagliabue taking over appeals hearings

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Blue Jays manager John Farrell might be moving back to Beantown. (CP)

NEW YORK -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appointed predecessor Paul Tagliabue to hear the appeals of four players suspended in the Saints bounty scandal.

Goodell said Friday he notified Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Scott Fujita and Anthony Hargrove, as well as the players' union, that Tagliabue would be the hearing officer to "decide the appeals and bring the matter to a prompt and fair conclusion."

The union and the four players had asked Goodell to recuse himself, contending he could not fairly rule. Their second set of appeals will be heard Oct. 30.

Vilma was suspended for the 2012 season and Smith was banned four games for his role in the bounties program. Fujita, now with the Browns, was barred three games, since reduced to one. Hargrove is a free agent whose suspension was reduced from eight games to seven.

"I have held two hearings to date and have modified the discipline in several respects based on my recent meetings with the players," Goodell said.

"I will have no role in the upcoming hearings or in Mr. Tagliabue's decisions."

Red Sox want Farrell

BOSTON -- A baseball official familiar with the discussions says the Red Sox have asked the Toronto Blue Jays for permission to talk with manager John Farrell about the opening in Boston.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the talks are ongoing, confirmed the request to The Associated Press on Friday night.

The official also said the teams are discussing compensation if Farrell is eventually hired.

ESPN first reported the talks.

Farrell was the Red Sox pitching coach for four years before he left for Toronto after 2010. Boston expressed interest in having Farrell take over for Terry Francona after the team's September collapse in 2011. But the Blue Jays would not allow him to leave then.

The Red Sox have also interviewed Brad Ausmus, Tony Pena, Tim Wallach and DeMarlo Hale to replace Bobby Valentine, who was fired after one dismal season.

O.J. case reopened

LAS VEGAS -- A Nevada judge agreed Friday to reopen the armed robbery and kidnapping case against O.J. Simpson to determine if the former football star was so badly represented by his lawyers that he should be freed from prison and get another trial.

Simpson wasn't in a Las Vegas courtroom while Clark County District Court Judge Linda Marie Bell agreed to hear evidence and consider 18 of 22 questions cited in a May appeal by Simpson appeals lawyer Patricia Palm.

The judge dismissed four other grounds on which the 65-year-old Simpson seeks release from state prison, where he is serving nine to 33 years.

The development could put Simpson on the witness stand for the first time. He stood trial in 2008 after authorities said he led five men, including two with guns, in a September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers and a middleman in a cramped room at a Las Vegas casino-hotel.

The judge also granted a waiver of lawyer-client privilege on questions in dispute between Simpson and his trial lawyer, Yale Galanter.

A key question will be whether Galanter had personal financial and business interests that posed a conflict that should have precluded him from handling Simpson's case.

Juninho escapes penalty

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Former Brazil midfielder Juninho has escaped punishment for failing to follow doping test rules after a Brazilian league match.

Brazil's sports tribunal on Friday only warned Juninho for going to the locker-room before undergoing the test after Vasco da Gama's match against Ponte Preta on Sept. 23.

There is a suspension of up to two years for breaking the rule.

The 37-year-old playmaker said he was "relieved" but said he felt he had already been "morally punished" because his name was linked to doping.

He said the case made headlines across Europe, especially in France, where he thrived with Lyon for several years.

Juninho played for Brazil at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where the team was eliminated by France in the quarter-finals.

Soccer goalie assaulted

SHEFFIELD, England -- Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was assaulted by a fan who ran onto the field during a match against Leeds on Friday.

After Kirkland allowed a goal in the 77th minute in the 1-1 draw in the Yorkshire derby, the man ran onto the field from the Leeds' section of the crowd and struck the former England goalkeeper in the face, sending him to the ground. Kirkland received treatment and remained in the game.

The fan returned to the stands.

Police said they were working with both clubs "to identify and quickly bring to justice the persons responsible."

-- from the news services

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 20, 2012 C5