In brief: Do-or-die for Kiwis in America’s Cup
It’s win or go home for the Kiwis.
America’s Cup defender Alinghi pounced on a sudden wind shift Saturday in Valencia, Spain, to secure a come-from-behind victory and take a 4-2 lead in the best-of-9 series for the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sport.
“Obviously, it’s tough,” Kiwi skipper Dean Barker said after a third straight loss to the Swiss yacht. “You can’t lie and say we don’t have our backs to the wall here.”
Alinghi’s 28-second win means that Emirates Team New Zealand must take three straight races, beginning today, in what has already proved to be one of the closest contests in the 156-year history of the cup.
“I certainly prefer to be in my position than Team New Zealand’s,” said Alinghi founder and crewman Ernesto Bertarelli. “But every single race this week has been fought to the last jibe and I wouldn’t take anything for granted.”
Hockey
Wings have high hopes
On the eve of NHL free agency, Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland was cautiously optimistic he would be able to agree to contract terms with star goaltender Dominik Hasek.
“I don’t think there’s a significant divide, but there’s no deal so we continue to go back and forth,” Holland said.
Hasek informed the Red Wings a couple of weeks ago that he wanted to play for Detroit again.
Hasek signed a one-year contract worth $750,000 last season and earned $900,000 in bonuses for helping the Red Wings advance past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2002.
“The St. Louis Blues signed center Keith Tkachuk to a two-year contract for a reported $8 million.
“The Minnesota Wild re-signed center Mikko Koivu and defenseman Martin Skoula to multiyear contracts. Terms of the deals weren’t announced.
“Veteran forward Adam Mair re-signed for three years with the Buffalo Sabres.
Mair earned a slight raise above the $675,000 he made last season.
“Nashville center Scott Nichol and defenseman Alex Henry have agreed to contract terms with the Predators.
Nichol signed a two-year deal that will pay him $750,000 each season. Henry signed a one-year contract that will pay him $100,000 at the minor-league level and $475,000 at the NHL level.
Miscellany
Price wins top award
Former Vanderbilt pitcher David Price won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s best amateur baseball player.
Taken first in the draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Price was a finalist in 2006 for the award, given out annually by USA Baseball.
Price, the first Golden Spikes Award winner from Vanderbilt, broke the school’s career strikeout record with 441 in just three seasons and 313 innings.
“American Jonathan Horton won the all-around title at a key men’s gymnastics meet between the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine.
“Felix Sturm retained his WBA middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Noe Tulio Gonzalez Alcoba in Stuttgart, Germany.
“The former New York Knicks executive who is suing coach Isiah Thomas for sexual harassment alleged in court papers that Thomas urged a cheerleader to flirt with referees.
Anucha Browne Sanders, a former senior vice president of marketing and business operations, filed documents to answer the Knicks’ attempt to have her lawsuit dismissed.
In the papers, which were unsealed Friday, Browne Sanders alleges cheerleader Petra Pope told her Thomas encouraged Pope to flirt with officials before a game against the New Jersey Nets in 2004, the Daily News reported.
“At El Paso, Texas, Evander Holyfield outworked and outclassed Lou Savarese, winning a 10-round unanimous decision to remain undefeated in his latest comeback.