By Larry Fine NEW YORK | Fri Nov 16, 2012 12:23am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, the first player to win the Triple Crown in 45 years, added the American League's Most Valuable Player award on Thursday for the 2012 Major League Baseball season. Cabrera became the first player since Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Re...

MELBOURNE | Thu Nov 15, 2012 11:32pm EST MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Triple Olympic champion Leisel Jones has retired from the pool at the age of 27, after swimming a record fourth Games for Australia at London. Jones, who won selection at the age of 14 for the 2000 Sydney Games, signed off at London with a silver in the 4x100 meter medley, her ninth Olympic m...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes EL SEGUNDO, California | Thu Nov 15, 2012 8:27pm EST EL SEGUNDO, California (Reuters) - Mike D'Antoni, controversially appointed over 11-time NBA championship winner and fan favourite Phil Jackson as the new Lakers head coach, has promised to try to return 'Showtime' basketball to Los Angeles. D'Antoni is renowned for the o...

By Larry Fine NEW YORK | Thu Nov 15, 2012 7:28pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, the first player to win the Triple Crown in 45 years, added the American League's Most Valuable Player award on Thursday for the 2012 Major League Baseball season. Cabrera became the first player since Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red...

By Ori Lewis JERUSALEM | Thu Nov 15, 2012 7:18pm EST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israel Football Association have called off two Premier League fixtures set for Saturday due to the offensive Israel launched on Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. The matches between Hapoel Beersheba and Hapoel Ramat Gan, and Ashdod SC and Hapoel Acre were postp...

By Steve Keating AUSTIN, Texas | Thu Nov 15, 2012 7:11pm EST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The $400 million Circuit of the Americas stepped into the spotlight on Thursday as Formula One's best surveyed the track that could crown a driver's champion and breathe life into a sport largely ignored in the United States. The eyes of the motor racing world ...

By Larry Fine NEW YORK | Thu Nov 15, 2012 6:49pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Buster Posey of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants won the National League's Most Valuable Player award on Thursday for the 2012 Major League Baseball season. The hard-hitting Posey posted the highest batting average in the major leagues at .336 and pounded 24 h...

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 15, 2012 6:16pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Time Warner Cable has reached a deal that will bring Los Angeles Lakers games to local customers of satellite provider DirecTV, one of the biggest pay television distributors in Southern California. As of Thursday, DirecTV will carry Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Spanish-language sister ...

Thu Nov 15, 2012 6:15pm EST (Reuters) - Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said on Thursday he was reviewing the controversial trade in which the Miami Marlins would move some $160 million worth of players to the Toronto Blue Jays for a batch of young prospects. "What I would say to you today is that I have this entire matter under thorough review," Sel...

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 15, 2012 3:46pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The New York Yankees story will move from the baseball diamond to the Broadway stage, the sports franchise and theater producer Kirmser Ponturo Group said on Thursday. The project, which has yet to be titled, will focus on the out-sized personalities of Yankees lore, their championship run...

Thu Nov 15, 2012 2:06pm EST (Reuters) - Former France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry is one of three players nominated for Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Player award, the league said on Thursday. New York Red Bulls forward Henry finished in the top three of a poll of current MLS players, coaches, club officials and the media.The 35-year-old Henry struck ...

By Corrie MacLaggan AUSTIN, Texas | Thu Nov 15, 2012 12:52pm EST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - As the Texas capital prepares to host the first Grand Prix in the United States in five years, some in laid-back Austin say this weekend's glamorous race clashes with the city's soul. In this environmentally-conscious college town of 800,000, where the bump...

CONCACAF SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (Nov. 14, 2012) - Costa Rica surrendered a goal in the first minute of second-half injury time and had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Bolivia in an international friendly on Wednesday. Carlos Saucedo tallied his fourth goal in a month for Bolivia to equalize after Joel Campbell had given the Ticos the lead in the 72nd minute. The 20-year-old Campbell, who is in hi...

By Jason Hovet PRAGUE | Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:22am EST PRAGUE (Reuters) - World number five David Ferrer will start Spain's bid for a fourth Davis Cup title in five years on Friday against the Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek. The Czech team's top player, sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych, will then take on Nicolas Almagro in the second of the opening day'...

NEW YORK | Wed Nov 14, 2012 7:43pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets became the first knuckleball pitcher ever to win a Cy Young Award, while Tampa Bay Rays' left-hander David Price won the American League's top pitching award after the closest vote in 43 years. Dickey, who turned 38 last month, confounded hitters by being able to...

By Corrie MacLaggan AUSTIN, Texas | Wed Nov 14, 2012 7:33pm EST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The Lance Armstrong Foundation has formally dropped the name of the disgraced cyclist from its title, the organization said on Wednesday, marking the latest move by the cancer charity to distance itself following the biggest doping scandal in the sport's his...

By Steve Keating AUSTIN, Texas | Wed Nov 14, 2012 7:03pm EST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Americans have had a long-standing love affair with the car but the romance of Formula One, that sets hearts of motor sports fans around the world a flutter, has never managed to get pulses racing in the United States. After a five-year hiatus, F1 returns to th...

By Julian Linden NEW YORK | Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:08pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Spending vasts amount of money is no guarantee for instant success, as the Miami Marlins discovered. Now, the team's owners are under fire for a proposal to trade their most expensive players to Toronto. Major League Baseball executives on Wednesday were still poring ove...

Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:03pm EST (Reuters) - Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is out of the Pittsburgh Steeler's divisional clash with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday and could be out even longer with a worrying rib injury. Veteran back-up Byron Leftwich will make his first start for the Steelers, replacing the two-time Super Bowl winner Roethlisberger.Roethlisberger spr...

KRASNODAR, Russia | Wed Nov 14, 2012 1:39pm EST KRASNODAR, Russia (Reuters) - Mix Diskerud scored deep into stoppage time as the United States twice fought back to hold Russia to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday in the first match between the two former Cold War adversaries since 2000. Debutant Fyodor Smolov put the home team 1-0 up in the ninth minute of the fri...

By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO | Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:07am EST SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilians like to say theirs is the country of soccer and it has certainly given the world strong candidates for the greatest player, the greatest team and even the greatest stadium. In the nation that will host the next World Cup, however, fewer people go to see prof...

FANLING, Hong Kong | Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:27am EST FANLING, Hong Kong (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy could be forgiven for taking his foot off the gas at this week's Hong Kong Open after securing the money list titles on both sides of the Atlantic with a third-place finish in Singapore on Sunday. However, the British world number one insists the adrenaline that ...

By Peter Rutherford SINGAPORE | Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:07am EST SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China lies at the heart of global expansion plans for many of the world's biggest sports organizations. But whether it's the search for a new superstar or selling caps to 1.3 billion people, most find cracking the Chinese market a whole new ball game. Among the heav...

By Steve Keating AUSTIN, Texas | Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:04am EST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The eyes of the motor racing world will be riveted on Texas this weekend as Formula One makes its return to the United States but it is unclear if Americans will be watching, even with a driver's championship on the line. The stage has been set for a Sunday of ...

Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:52am EST (Reuters) - A blockbuster baseball trade sending high-salaried players Jose Reyes and pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle from the Miami Marlins to the Toronto Blue Jays was close to completion, numerous local media outlets reported on Tuesday. Final details of the trade were not yet available as neither team was offering official c...

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE | Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:46am EST MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Ian Poulter converted his sparkling Ryder Cup form into his second World Golf Championship victory in Shenzhen earlier this month and will hope to maintain his strong finish to the year by defending his Australian Masters title. Poulter will battle former major winner Gra...

By Jahmal Cornerbis LOS ANGELES | Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:39am EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - San Antonio's Danny Green drained a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining and the Spurs' defense then denied Kobe Bryant the ball as the Western Conference-leading Spurs produced a dramatic 84-82 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Bryant, who ro...

By Jahmal Cornerbis LOS ANGELES | Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:39am EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - San Antonio's Danny Green drained a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining and the Spurs' defense then denied Kobe Bryant the ball as the Western Conference-leading Spurs produced a dramatic 84-82 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Bryant, who ro...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:48pm EST (Reuters) - The controversial decision by the Los Angeles Lakers to appoint Mike D'Antoni as new head coach over 11-time NBA championship winner and fan favorite Phil Jackson ultimately hinged on playing style, the team said on Tuesday. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters that no agreement was reached with Jackson about...

By Larry Fine NEW YORK | Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:03pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics and Davey Johnson of the Washington Nationals were named managers of the year on Tuesday in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Melvin, who led Oakland to an unlikely American League West title, and Johnson, who steere...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:37pm EST (Reuters) - Stunned though he was that Phil Jackson has not returned as Los Angeles Lakers head coach, All-Star guard Kobe Bryant said on Tuesday he was excited about the prospect of playing under new appointee Mike D'Antoni. The Lakers shocked the basketball world on Monday when they named former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks coach...

PARIS | Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:53am EST PARIS (Reuters) - Cycling's governing body is considering opening a hotline for riders wishing to discuss doping-related issues, International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid has said. The UCI stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles last month after the United States Anti-Doping Agency (U...

By Keith Weir LONDON | Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:04am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Sponsorship deals and record revenues from the sale of almost 11 million tickets helped London organizers to hit their target of raising 2.4 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) to stage the Olympics and Paralympics. The income covered the core costs of putting on the world's largest ...

By Martyn Herman LONDON | Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:13pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - The world's top three players all scaled dizzy heights in 2012 but Novak Djokovic ended the year staring down at his rivals after grinding down Roger Federer to win the ATP World Tour Finals title in brutal fashion at London's O2 Arena on Monday. The 25-year-old shed sweat a...

Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:49pm EST (Reuters) - Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout and Washington Nationals Bryce Harper were crowned Major League Baseball's rookies of the year on Monday. Trout was the unanimous winner of the American League award, sweeping all 28 first place votes, while Harper won a close race for the National League award.The 21-year-old Tr...

Mon Nov 12, 2012 6:45pm EST (Reuters) - Multiple Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix and double world record holder Ashton Eaton have won Jesse Owens Awards as U.S. athletes of the year, USA Track & Field (USATF) announced on Monday. Felix, the three-time world 200 meters champion, won Olympic gold at the 2012 London Games in the 200m, the 4x400m relay and th...

Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:37am EST (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong has stepped down as a board member of Livestrong, the cancer-support charity he founded in 1997, the organization said Monday. "Lance Armstrong has chosen to voluntarily resign from the Board of Directors of the Livestrong Foundation to spare the organization any negative effects as a result of controversy ...

A new law that prohibits hunting for sport could have a small affect on tourism in the area, according to Norma Rodriguez Garro, in charge of protected areas for MINAET in Nicoya. The proposed Reforms and Additions to the Wildlife Conservation Law was declared constitutional after review by the Sala IV on Wednesday, November 7th, opening the way for it to be put to the second and final vote by ...

Mon Nov 12, 2012 6:55am EST (Reuters) - Michael Schumacher could keep on competing in the annual Race of Champions, to be held in Bangkok in December, for at least a year after he retires from Formula One this month. The seven-times world champion has won the Nations Cup event in partnership with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, currently chasing his third successive...

By Simon Evans MIAMI | Sun Nov 11, 2012 6:41pm EST MIAMI (Reuters) - A week after owner Bud Adams gave a strongly worded warning to the Tennessee Titans, Mike Munchak's team responded in perfect fashion with an impressive 37-3 win at the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. The defeat puts a severe dent in Miami's hopes of making the playoffs as they slip t...