DA admits improper handling of Duke case
The district attorney prosecuting three Duke lacrosse players charged with rape acknowledged Friday that he erred by openly discussing some aspects of the investigation, but he urged voters not to judge him by one case alone.
“My handling of the media coverage of this case has occasioned substantial criticism, some of which is undoubtedly justified,” District Attorney Mike Nifong said during a half-hour news conference.
“I both underestimated the level of media attention this case would draw and misjudged the effect that my words would have.”
Nifong beat two challengers in May’s Democratic primary, and he has no GOP challenger. But a petition drive that drew well over the required 6,303 signatures put another Democrat’s name on the November ballot, lawyer Lewis Cheek of Durham, N.C.
•Professors from the Auburn University department where dozens of students were allowed to take independent study courses say the practice grew from a need for more faculty and was not an attempt to help athletes get better grades.
Professor Greg Kowalski said the issue has been a perennial problem in the Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work, Criminology and Criminal Justice Department, where the number of majors tripled but the number of faculty declined over the last 15 years.
Auburn began an internal review of the matter, which gained wide attention after the New York Times reported football players and other athletes who took the courses made far better grades in those classes than in their other schoolwork.
•Tic Price has been fired after five years as McNeese State’s men’s basketball coach.
Tennis
Agassi out at L.A.
Andre Agassi bid his tennis goodbye to Los Angeles, and Andy Roddick withdrew from the tournament because of a lower back strain.
Agassi, who won the event four times, lost to Fernando Gonzalez in the Countrywide Classic quarterfinals.
•Tatiana Golovin upset fourth-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-4, 7-6 (5) to reach the semifinals in the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif. Patty Schnyder and Nicole Vaidisova also advanced.
Miscellany
UW to play Nebraska
The University of Washington and Nebraska have agreed to a two-game home-and-home football series in 2010 in Seattle and 2011 in Lincoln.
•Asafa Powell extended his unbeaten streak to 18 races, winning the 100 meters in 9.91 seconds at the London Grand Prix meet at Crystal Palace.
•The Buffalo Sabres and Tim Connolly agreed on a three-year, $8.9 million contract.
•Sam Fingold, a Hartford, Conn.-based commercial real estate broker and longtime hockey fan, signed a letter of intent to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins from Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux’s group, a deal expected to total around $175 million.
•The New York Knicks made a five-year, $30 million-plus offer to Washington Wizards restricted free agent Jared Jeffries. Washington has seven days to match the offer.