Celtics’ Rondo withdraws from U.S. team
Basketball: The U.S. national basketball team finalized its roster Tuesday for the world championships and there’s no Rajon Rondo.
The Celtics star asked to withdraw from consideration, a release from the team said.
Rondo had started the Americans first two exhibition games in Athens, Greece, then surprisingly didn’t play at all Sunday when the U.S. edged Spain.
The final 12-man roster set Tuesday includes: Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Rudy Gay, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups, Danny Granger, Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, Stephen Curry, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler and Andre Iguodala.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s squad has one more tuneup, against Greece today, before the world championships start Saturday in Turkey. They run through Sept. 12.
Washington team stays alive in LLWS
Baseball: Reliever Isaiah Hatch got Auburn, Wash., out of a fifth-inning jam, then homered in the sixth to help the Northwest champs to a 9-5 win over Fairfield, Conn., at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.
Hatch was Washington’s 5-foot-6 triple threat, involved in three double plays at shortstop before moving to the mound with his team ahead one with one out in the bottom of the fifth and runners on second and third. He got a strikeout and groundout to end the threat.
In other games, Columbus, Ga., remained unbeaten with a 6-0 win over Hamilton, Ohio. Toms River, N.J., blanked Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 10-0. Chitre, Panama, eliminated Vancouver, B.C., 4-2, and Tokyo defeated Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, 3-2.
Blasberg’s death ruled suicide
Golf: The Clark County coroner’s office in Las Vegas ruled that 25-year-old LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg’s death was a suicide.
Blasberg died May 9 at her home in Henderson, about 15 miles southeast of the Las Vegas Strip. She was found with a plastic bag secured over her head.
Henderson police said that while no foul play is suspected they have issued a misdemeanor arrest warrant for Dr. Thomas Hess on obstruction charges. Police said Hess, who discovered Blasberg’s body, removed items from the scene, including a suicide note.
The contents of the note haven’t been disclosed.
• Wilson medalist at U.S. Amateur: Jeff Wilson shot a 3-over 74 to win the stroke-play portion of the 110th U.S. Amateur at University Place, Wash., by one shot over two players.
The 47-year-old auto dealer from Fairfield, Calif., lost most of a seven-stroke lead but hung on to finish ahead of 18-year-olds Patrick Cantlay from Los Alamitos, Calif., and Patrick Rodgers from Avon, Ind.
Cantlay who plans to attend UCLA, shot the best round of the day, a 5-under-par 67 at the Home Course for a 36-hole 137 score. Rodgers shot a 68.
Starting today five days of match play begin to determine the champion.
Wozniacki earns top seed for U.S. Open
Tennis: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark was seeded No. 1 at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, getting the top spot at the U.S. Open in New York because Serena Williams pulled out with a foot injury.
Defending champion Kim Clijsters was seeded No. 2 by the U.S. Tennis Association, which stuck strictly to the rankings in determining the seedings. Venus Williams, the 2000-01 U.S. Open champion, is No. 3, followed by 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic and French Open runner-up Sam Stosur.
• Venus Williams ‘ready’: Venus Williams acknowledges that a sprained left kneecap that’s sidelined her during the summer hard-court circuit means her U.S. Open preparation “wasn’t ideal.”
Williams also declares herself “ready for the Open,” which she won in 2000 and 2001.
Williams will head to the U.S. Open next week without having played on tour since her quarterfinal loss at Wimbledon on June 29.
Prep football players out of hospital
Miscellany: The last member of an Oregon high school football team to remain hospitalized with a rare and painful upper-arm ailment was released, according to Willamette Valley Medical Center.
The unidentified boy was one of 24 McMinnville High School players sent to the hospital last week after a preseason workout under new coach Jeff Kearin. Health officials have yet to determine what triggered the medical problem known as compartment syndrome, a soft-tissue condition that caused soreness and swelling in the triceps.
Dr. Craig Winkler, who treated some of the athletes, said it was likely a combination of heat, dehydration and the intensity of the workout.
The hospital also tested the players to see if the muscle-enhancing supplement creatine might have played a role.
• Lambert returns to New Mexico team: New Mexico women’s soccer player Elizabeth Lambert is back. She’s being kept out of view, but she’s back.
After serving a two-game suspension for her role in a widely publicized hair-pulling fracas during a game last fall against BYU, Lambert has been reinstated and is eligible to play as a senior this season.
Lambert’s actions created an Internet sensation – the video was viewed by millions of people worldwide. The most striking image was Lambert grabbing BYU’s Kassidy Shumway by her ponytail and jerking her to the ground.