Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:03pm EDT (Reuters) - The National Hockey League (NHL) on Friday cancelled all regular-season games scheduled up to November 30 because of the ongoing labor dispute with players and the absence of a new collective bargaining agreement. The regular-season was originally set to start on October 11 and a week ago the league scrapped all games up un...

By Brian Homewood BERNE | Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:52pm EDT BERNE (Reuters) - Seven successive Tour de France races from 1999-2005 were officially declared without winners on Friday after the International Cycling Union (UCI) decided nobody would replace the disgraced Lance Armstrong as champion. The decision, supported by Tour organizers, was widely ...

By Manuele Lang SOELDEN, Austria | Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:20pm EDT SOELDEN, Austria (Reuters) - World Cup and Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn complained on Friday she was not being taken seriously in her attempt to take part in a men's downhill in Lake Louise. "It has definitely been frustrating," Vonn told Reuters. "This is not something I had in...

SHANGHAI | Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:02am EDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - World number one Rory McIlroy shut out noisy distractions to move to within two shots of leader Peter Hanson on day two of the BMW Masters golf on Friday. Despite constant sounds of nearby building construction, sirens and even fireworks, along with the distraction of on-course mobile phones, Mc...

Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:26am EDT (Reuters) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers upset the Minnesota Vikings with an impressive 36-17 win at Mall of America Field in Minneapolis on Thursday night, their first road win since September 2011. Having given up a big lead against the New Orleans Saints last week, the Buccaneers ensured there would be no repeat by keeping the foot on t...

Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:52pm EDT (Reuters) - New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia is expected to be fully fit for the start of next season after having arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow on Thursday. The 32-year-old pitcher went 15-6 with a 3.38 ERA in 28 starts this season but was twice placed on the disabled list, first with a groin injury an...

By Steve Ginsburg SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:58pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Detroit Tigers, taking on the San Francisco Giants in pursuit of their first World Series crown since 1984, may have to achieve their mission without help from struggling closer Jose Valverde. Valverde saved 35 games in the regular season but during the pl...

Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:53pm EDT (Reuters) - Top trainer and former amateur boxer Emanuel Steward, who worked with several world champions at his fabled Kronk Gym in Detroit and was also a respected television commentator, died in a Chicago hospital on Thursday aged 68. "He has passed - he's gone home," Steward's sister Diane Steward-Jones told the Detroit Free Press ...

Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:44pm EDT (Reuters) - Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings is scheduled to have surgery next week to repair a lingering groin injury but says he expects to be back in action this season. The twice Pro Bowl selection, who is Green Bay's number one receiver, has been limited to just three games this season because of a torn abdominal musc...

By Greg McCune CHICAGO | Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:42pm EDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - At least 70 percent of major college football and men's basketball athletes obtain a college degree, NCAA figures show for the first time, although traditional football powerhouse Oklahoma and basketball powers Connecticut and Indiana lag in academic performance. The rates, ...

Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:36pm EDT (Reuters) - National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner David Stern will stand down from his role in February 2014 after 30 years at the helm, the league said on Thursday. Glen Taylor, chairman of the NBA's board of governors, told a news conference the board had authorized negotiations with deputy commissioner Adam Silver to su...

By Suzanne Barlyn Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:10pm EDT (Reuters) - An U.S. appeals court has upheld a $1.45 million arbitration award in favor of retired NBA basketball player Horace Grant, who sought reimbursement for losses from risky bond funds that were marketed as safe. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, according to an unpublished decision, rej...

Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:53pm EDT (Reuters) - Sixth seed Nicolas Almagro stormed through the deciding set to defeat Sam Querrey 6-4 6-7 6-0 and seal a place in the Valencia Open quarter-finals on Thursday, boosting his chances of making next month's World Tour finals in London. Almagro, who ended the singles career of retiring friend and Spanish compatriot Juan Carlos ...

By Larry Fine SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:40pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval said he received 300 text messages after his triple home run night in the World Series opener and a presidential tweet from back home in Venezuela. Sandoval's power surge triggered the Giants' 8-3 win over the Detr...

AMA Pro road racer Skip Salenius will be re-entering the race scene this coming weekend after taking the 2012 race season off. ‘Furia de Motores’ Costa Rica is scheduled for the 27th and 28th of October, 2012 at the Autódromo La Guácima and will feature car shows, drifting rallies, car tuning and of course motorcycle racing. Salenius was approached by local rider Roger Diaz to come down and ...

Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:03pm EDT (Reuters) - Dallas Mavericks guard Delonte West has been suspended indefinitely for a second time in two weeks because of an unspecified conduct issue, the National Basketball Association team said on Thursday. West, an eight-year league veteran, was hit with his previous suspension nine days ago after the Mavericks beat the Houston Ro...

PARIS | Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:30pm EDT PARIS (Reuters) - Three-times Tour de France winner Greg LeMond has called on International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid to quit in the wake of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. American LeMond, who won the Tour in 1986, 1989 and 1990, wrote an open letter on his Facebook page on Thursday criticizing McQ...

Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:27pm EDT (Reuters) - The National Basketball Association (NBA) board of governors has unanimously approved the sale of the Memphis Grizzlies to an investor group led by Robert Pera, the league said on Thursday. Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley in June reached an agreement to sell the franchise to Californian businessman Pera and his group."We ar...

PARIS | Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:08pm EDT PARIS (Reuters) - World tennis number four Rafa Nadal has pulled out of the Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour finals in London as he is still recovering from his left knee injury, the ATP said on Thursday. The 11-times grand-slam singles champion has not played since he suffered a shock second-round loss to Czech L...

NEW YORK | Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:06pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - London Olympic gold medalist Tianna Madison and former hurdling world champion Lolo Jones have been selected in the United States bobsleigh team, raising the prospect the pair could compete at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. The two sprinters were among a group of six women selected on Thursday as...

By Steve Ginsburg Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:54am EDT (Reuters) - LeBron chasing the ghost of Michael, Superman taking his talents westward, and a soft-spoken teenager ready to revitalize Big Easy basketball are just three of the provocative plotlines ready to play out in the upcoming NBA season. Throw in a new team in Brooklyn, Steve Nash wearing purple and gol...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes LOS ANGELES | Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:44am EDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With 16 NBA Championship banners hanging proudly from the rafters at their Staples Center home, Los Angeles Lakers players and their fans have become well accustomed to glittering success and lofty expectations. Going into their 2012-13 campaign, however, th...

By Simon Evans MIAMI | Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:42am EDT MIAMI (Reuters) - When LeBron James was first introduced to Miami Heat fans, after his 2010 free agency move from Cleveland, he made a promise that was latched upon as being typical of the brash, bragging coming from South Florida. Talking about winning multiple championships, James famously sai...

By Larry Fine SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:30am EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Pablo Sandoval blasted a record-tying three home runs to power the San Francisco Giants to a surprising 8-3 win over the Detroit Tigers and ace Justin Verlander in the opening game of the World Series on Wednesday. Sandoval became just the fourth player to hit thr...

By Larry Fine SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:14am EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Pablo Sandoval had just three at-bats when San Francisco won the World Series two years ago, and Barry Zito was left off the roster altogether, but those forgotten Giants stood tall in the 2012 Fall Classic opener against Detroit on Wednesday. Sandoval bashed thre...

By Steve Ginsburg SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:34am EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Justin Verlander conceded he was "out of sync" in the opening game of the World Series but the Detroit Tigers ace was unable to pinpoint the exact cause of his rare off night. Whatever the reason, the right-hander widely considered to be the game's best pitche...

SAN FRANCISCO | Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:43pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The San Francisco Giants, powered by three home runs from Pablo Sandoval, got the better of ace right-hander Justin Verlander to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-3 in the opening game of the World Series on Wednesday. Sandoval became just the fourth player to hit three homers in a World Seri...

By Steve Keating Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:11pm EDT (Reuters) - Baseball fans will get just one look at San Francisco Giants ace Matt Cain in the World Series but that will be more than enough for the Detroit Tigers, who would prefer to see as little as possible of the big right-hander. Cain has not been as overpowering this postseason as he was while tossing a ...

Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:36pm EDT (Reuters) - The Dallas Cowboys' defense was dealt a severe blow on Wednesday as leading tackler Sean Lee was ruled out for the rest of the National Football League (NFL) season because of a toe injury. The 26-year-old linebacker, the team's defensive leader, was placed on injured reserve and will need surgery to repair torn ligaments i...

NEW DELHI | Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:21pm EDT NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Ferrari will race with the flag of the Italian navy on their cars at this weekend's Indian Formula One Grand Prix in a gesture of support for two Italian sailors charged with killing Indian fishermen. The Italian team said on their website (www.ferrari.com) on Wednesday they would be paying tr...

By Simon Evans Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:13pm EDT (Reuters) - After their Super Bowl aspirations with quarterback Brett Favre ended in disappointment, the National Football League's (NFL) Minnesota Vikings looked like a team on the decline and destined for a spell of quiet rebuilding. But heading into the midway point of their 2012 campaign, the Vikings are 5-2 ...

By Edith Honan NEW YORK | Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:10pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The National Hockey League's (NHL) New York Islanders are moving to Brooklyn in 2015, it was announced on Wednesday. The Islanders will leave their traditional home base at Nassau County on Long Island when their current lease expires after the 2014-15 season.They will sha...

By Edith Honan NEW YORK | Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:48pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A full 82-game National Hockey League (NHL) season in 2012-13 was becoming increasingly unlikely because of the lack of progress between the league and union representing its locked-out players, Commissioner Gary Bettman said on Wednesday. The NHL, which locked out its pla...

Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:37pm EDT (Reuters) - Triple major winner Padraig Harrington held off a last-day charge by U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson to win the end-of-season PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda by one shot on Wednesday. Irishman Harrington, a late addition to the elite four-man field, fired a four-under-par 67 at Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton for a ...

PARIS | Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:17am EDT PARIS (Reuters) - Spaniard Alberto Contador expressed support on Wednesday for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong saying the American was being "humiliated and lynched" by doping accusations which have led to the stripping of his seven Tour de France titles. "It seems to me that at certain times and in certain places L...

SHANGHAI | Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:39am EDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Justin Rose knows he needs to win one of two events over the next fortnight in China to have a chance of denying world number one Rory McIlroy his first Race to Dubai title. Rose arrived in Shanghai for this week's BMW Masters trailing McIlroy by 437,334 euros ($567,000) and with six official ev...

SANDY, Utah (Oct. 24, 2012) - Herediano withstood a barrage from Real Salt Lake, outlasting the hosts in a cold, rainy Rio Tinto Stadium for a 0-0 draw Tuesday that advanced it to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. The Costa Rican side finished atop Group 2 with 10 points, reaching the knockout stage for the first time in three CONCACAF Champions League appearances. After Houston drew...

ALAJUELA, Costa Rica (Oct. 24, 2012) - With plenty of optimism and hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals of the 2012-13 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, Alajuelense departed Monday for Mexico, ahead of a Wednesday night showdown with Tigres in Monterrey. It's all come down to this final match in Group 6, with the Costa Ricans sitting atop the table on seven points, and the Mexican ...

By Julien Pretot PARIS | Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:01am EDT PARIS (Reuters) - While the sports world struggles to come to terms with the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, Tour de France organizers unveiled on Wednesday a mountainous route for the 100th edition of the world's greatest cycling race. The 2013 Tour, which starts from Corsica, will take l'Alpe...

LONDON | Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:55am EDT LONDON (Reuters) - The American Glazer family are long-term investors in Manchester United and have no plans to sell the English Premier League soccer club following flotation, Executive Vice Chairman Ed Woodward said on Tuesday. United floated on the stock market in New York in August under a dual-share structure tha...