Bird, Storm beat Mercury in 3 overtimes
WNBA: Sue Bird made a 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left in the third overtime to lift the visiting Seattle Storm to a 111-107 victory over the Phoenix Mercury.
Penny Taylor missed a potential tying 3-pointer on Phoenix’s ensuing possession.
Lauren Jackson added a late free throw in the closing seconds to give the Storm (17-2) their franchise-best eighth straight victory.
Diana Taurasi scored a season-high 44 points for the Mercury (7-12), finishing three points short of her career high. She missed a 3 with 27 seconds left and the score tied at 107.
Jackson led Seattle with 31 points and 18 rebounds, Tanisha Wright scored 20 points, Swin Cash had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Bird also scored 14 points.
Spain No. 1 in FIFA rankings, USA 13th
Soccer: Spain regained the top spot in the FIFA rankings after winning its first World Cup title, and the United States moved up one place to 13th.
Spain, which beat the Netherlands 1-0 in overtime on Sunday to add the world title to its European Championship, took over No. 1 from five-time champion Brazil, which had displaced the Spaniards in April. The Netherlands moved up two places to second in the rankings, while Brazil fell to third.
The U.S., which plays Brazil in an exhibition on Aug. 10 at East Rutherford, N.J., is in its highest position since the Americans were 11th in October 2009.
Earnhardt Jr.’s car at Hall of Fame
Auto Racing: The famed No. 3 car Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to victory in this month’s Nationwide race at Daytona was added as a temporary display at the new NASCAR Hall of Fame.
The Wrangler-sponsored yellow and blue Chevrolet, which honors his father, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., will stay at the downtown Charlotte facility through Sept. 19. The car carries extra significance because Earnhardt, who didn’t attend the unveiling, has said he doesn’t plan to drive a No. 3 car again.
Earnhardt entered the No. 3, a replica of the car his father drove in the 1980s, in the July 2 race to honor Dale Sr.’s induction into the Hall of Fame’s first class. Earnhardt then ended an 85-race winless drought in points races in an emotional night at the track where his father died in a last-lap crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.
• Dallara creates new chassis for IndyCar: The IndyCar Series has decided to go with a Dallara chassis for the 2012 season in a move it hopes will help small-budget teams and generate some fresh buzz for open-wheel racing.
The new chassis will cost $349,000 each, officials said , with a complete car costing $385,000. That’s a 45 percent price decrease from the current formula.
Cars will feature a rolling chassis with an enhanced safety cell, and manufacturers will be able to be dress the cars in multiple ways with aero kits. Each team can race two different aero kits from any manufacturer during the season, with a maximum price of $70,000 for each kit.
Griffin gets past 1st round of match play
Golf: Medalist John-Tyler Griffin played 18 holes and advanced through the first round of match play in the U.S. Amateur Public Links in Greensboro, NC.
Griffin, a Georgia Tech golfer from Wilson, N.C., defeated Andrew Perez of Oxnard, Calif., 1-up to move on at Bryan Park Golf and Conference Center. Griffin led by two holes with two holes to play and held on.
Griffin’s opponent in today’s round of 32 will be Florida State’s Wesley Graham. There will be two rounds to narrow the field to eight.
University of Washington’s Chris Williams, out of Moscow High School, tied for 13th in stroke play. He defeated Anthony Barrera of San Jose, Calif., 2 and 1 on Wednesday and faces Scott Langley of St. Louis today.
King creates title tripleheader
Boxing: Don King is putting on a title triple-header in St. Louis.
The Hall of Fame promoter will have IBF junior middleweight champion Cory Spinks defend his belt against Cornelius Bundrage on Aug. 7 at the Scottrade Center, on possibly the deepest card that King has staged in years.
The headliner is WBC and IBF junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander, who will fight former titleholder Andreas Kotelnik in the main event. IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud will face the former holder of that belt, Glen Johnson.
Two ex-champs left in Poker World Series
Miscellany: Two former World Series of Poker champs are still competing for millions in the main event as the top 6 percent of the field battle for spots at the final table.
Just 450 players remained in the no-limit Texas Hold ’em tournament after 2 hours of play, including 1998 champion Scotty Nguyen and two-time champion Johnny Chan.