Team bus set for Maine-Albany final
ORONO — The University of Maine athletic department is offering a bus trip to the America East women’s basketball final between UMaine and Albany in Albany, New York.
The game tips off at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
The bus will depart from Memorial Gym on the UMaine campus on Thursday at 10 a.m. and return following the game on Friday. The cost of $100 per person includes a seat on the bus and a ticket to the game.
Hotel rooms are available at the team hotel for fans on the bus for a discount price of $109 and includes a free breakfast.
To reserve a spot on the bus and book a hotel room, contact John Diamond by email: john.diamond@maine.edu or by phone at 207-581-1086.
The signup deadline is 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Falcons coach apologizes for asking insensitive question at combine
Atlanta Falcons assistant coach Marquand Manuel accepted full responsibility and apologized on Monday for asking former Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple if he liked men during an interview at the NFL combine.
“I take full responsibility for the inappropriate question I asked at the Combine. It was wrong and I apologize to Eli Apple, Mr. Blank, the entire Falcons organization, my family, and our Falcon fans for my insensitivity,” Marquand said in a statement released by the Falcons.
The Falcons and head coach Dan Quinn had acknowledged last week that an assistant coach had asked Apple an insensitive question during the combine.
On Monday Quinn released a statement saying, “The inappropriate conversation occurred between one of our position coaches and the player; it was not during one of our formal 15-minute interviews. Following my discussions with the coaches, we have taken additional steps to ensure our entire staff is well educated on the appropriate questions and comments that should be made during these processes. … We will learn from this.”
Also on Monday, an NFL spokesman said the league was still looking into the incident, despite Manuel’s apology.
Last week, Apple told Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, “The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, ‘So do you like men?’ It was like the first thing he asked me. It was weird. I was just like, ‘No.’ He was like, ‘If you’re going to come to Atlanta, sometimes that’s how it is around here. You’re going to have to get used to it.’”
Yankees sign boy without hands, lower legs to one-day contract
The New York Yankees signed Landis Sims to a one-day contract.
Sims, a 10-year-old from Indiana was born without legs from the knee down and no hands on his arms. He took batting practice with Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira before the Yankees game with the Houston Astros.
He stepped into the batter’s box and smacked pitch after pitch back up the middle.
Manager Joe Girardi first met Sims two years ago and invited the boy to spring training to provide inspiration.
The boy was supposed to just watch batting practice. But Sims was in the Yankees’ pre-workout meeting and got to meet Derek Jeter before getting to step into the batter’s box.
Sims wears prosthetic legs and uses special equipment to swing a bat and catch and throw.
NBA fines Smart for obscene gesture
The NBA on Monday fined Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart $15,000 for making an obscene gesture.
The incident occurred with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics’ 105-104 win over the New York Knicks on March 4 at TD Garden.