Texans’ Clowney bitten by teammate’s pit bull
HOUSTON — Houston Texans defensive lineman Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NFL draft who was injured for most of his rookie season, has been bitten by a pit bull belonging to a teammate, a media report said on Tuesday.
Clowney sustained a bite last week to his right arm from the dog owned by D.J. Swearinger, according to a report from Pearland police obtained by Houston SportsRadio 610.
Neither Clowney nor police in the suburb of Pearland were immediately available for comment.
The report said Clowney suffered a minor bite and that emergency personnel alerted police of the incident during the early morning hours of last Wednesday.
Boxing outrates hockey in primetime on NBC
NBC averaged 2.53 percent of homes in major markets for the debut of its “Premier Boxing Champions” series Saturday night, roughly 2 1/2 times what the Rangers-Flyers game averaged the previous Saturday night.
It was the first prime time boxing card on NBC in 30 years.
New York ranked 17th among the 55 markets Nielsen measured, at 2.86 percent of homes.
Norfolk had the highest rating of any market at 5.5.
In the main event, Keith Thurman won a unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero, with Adrien Broner beating John Molina Jr. by unanimous decision in the co-main event.
Titans’ Locker to retire from NFL
Quarterback Jake Locker, the eighth overall pick by the Tennessee Titans in the 2011 NFL Draft, announced he will retire after just four NFL seasons.
Locker’s history of injuries that began during his three seasons at the University of Washington continued into the NFL, and he started just 23 games over four seasons. He signed a four-year, $12 million contract as a rookie, and was set to become an unrestricted free agent Tuesday.
There is some speculation that Locker might be interested in trying his hand at baseball.
As a senior at Ferndale (Washington) High School in 2006, he was selected in the 40th round by the Los Angeles Angels but already had decided to play football at the University of Washington. Although Locker didn’t play in college, the Angels drafted him again three years later — this time in the 10th round as a outfielder — and retain his rights until this summer.
Matsui named special advisor to Yankees GM
Former New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui has been hired as a special advisor to team general manager Brian Cashman, the American League club announced on Tuesday.
The Japanese slugger, a fan favorite at Yankee Stadium, was named Most Valuable Player of the 2009 World Series victory by the Yankees after batting .615 with three home runs and eight runs batted in against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Matsui, 40, will spend most of the 2015 season traveling throughout the Yankees’ minor league system, focusing on aspects of hitting with managers, batting coaches and players, the club said.
Matsui played seven seasons with the Yankees (2003-2009), posting a .292 batting average with 140 home runs, 597 RBIs and a .370 on-base percentage and competed in two World Series.
Fight leads to suspensions, delay of SWAC women’s tourney
The Southwestern Athletic Conference on Tuesday suspended 15 players involved in Saturday night’s all-out brawl between the Texas Southern and Southern (La.) women’s teams.
Southern was leading 51-49 when the fight erupted at 12:37 of the second half. A Southern player was called for a charge and a shoving match followed.
“I’ve been involved with basketball for 30-plus years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Southern coach Sandy Pugh said told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s an embarrassment.”
In addition, Texas Southern has withdrawn from the SWAC Tournament.
That decision has thrown the tournament in limbo. Conference officials postponed the start of the tournament while they figure how to re-work the bracket.
The opening game was to have been played Tuesday night.
Eight Southern players will not be available for the tournament.
Jays’ Stroman tears ACL, out for the season
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman suffered a torn ACL that will sideline him for the 2015 season.
Stroman was injured during a drill at spring training when he was fielding a bunt and heard a pop in his left knee.
The 23-year-old was coming off an impressive debut season in the major leagues. Stroman posted an 11-6 record with one save and a 3.67 ERA in 26 games and 20 starts covering 130 2/3 innings in 2014. His walks-to-strikeouts ratio was an impressive 28/111.
With Stroman out of the rotation, the Blue Jays are expected to turn to Marco Estrada, Daniel Norris and Aaron Sanchez to compete for the opening.