Newsmakers
Signed First-round NFL draft pick Luke Joeckel has signed a five-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Joeckel’s signing leaves the team with three unsigned picks. Under the rookie salary cap, the No. 2 pick in April’s draft gets a signing bonus near $13.8 million and has a cap number around $3.85 million in his first season.
Banned The NCAA will ban coaches from scouting future opponents at most live games in all sports. The legislation, originally passed in January, fell short of being overridden this week by the full membership. Though a majority of eligible Division I schools that cast votes – 154 of 279 – elected to eliminate the ban on live scouting, it represented only 55.2 percent. It takes 62.5 percent to override the measure.
Sparred At her pre-Wimbledon tennis news conference Saturday, Maria Sharapova was asked about a recent Rolling Stone article where the author surmised that critical comments directed at an unnamed player by Serena Williams were referring to Sharapova. “If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and is getting a divorce and has kids,” Sharapova said. “Talk about other things, but not draw attention to other things. She has so much in her life, many positives, and I think that’s what it should be about.”
Drained Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade had his left knee drained one day before Game 7 of the NBA Finals, then got about eight hours of game-day therapy just so he could play in the title-clinching win. Wade played nearly 40 minutes in the season’s final game, scoring 23 points.
Admitted The 1997 Tour de France winner, Jan Ullrich, has admitted for the first time that he received blood-doping treatment from Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes during his cycling career, according to a German magazine.
Insisted Soccer star Lionel Messi ’s lawyers insist Spanish tax fraud allegations are baseless but say he will settle any outstanding obligations if needed. Messi and his father, Jorge, have been ordered to appear before court to answer allegations they owe 4 million euros ($5.3 million) in back taxes.