Broadcaster Patrick will leave ESPN
Dan Patrick is leaving ESPN after 18 years, insisting there is no acrimony but saying he was beginning to take his job for granted.
The former SportsCenter anchor announced his decision on his radio show Monday and said his final show will be Aug. 17. Patrick said he hoped to continue working in radio but wasn’t sure about television.
“It’s been home, but I think I was starting to take it for granted, and I did not want to do that,” Patrick said on the air. “I did not think that was fair to these great people.”
Patrick recently served as host of the NBA studio program on ABC, NBA Countdown, and the network’s game broadcasts. He was a SportsCenter anchor from 1989-06.
Football
UM corner in court
Suspended University of Montana cornerback Jimmy Wilson pleaded not guilty to murder in a Los Angeles County courtroom.
Wilson, 20, is charged in the June 2 shooting death of Kevin I. Smoot, 29, in Lancaster, Calif., about 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
•San Diego Chargers rookie Anthony Waters was charged with hitting a man who threw a rock at his car on a highway in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The 22-year-old linebacker was arrested last week on a simple assault and battery charge and released on $1,000 bail.
•Receiver Bethel Johnson and linebacker Zac Woodfin signed one-year contracts with the Houston Texans on Monday.
•The Philadelphia Eagles signed Mexican defensive tackle Mauricio Lopez. A 27-year-old native of Mexico City, Lopez spent three seasons in NFL Europe.
•The St. Louis Rams have signed seventh-round draft pick Keith Jackson to a three-year contract. Terms were not disclosed.
•Kenneth A. MacAfee, who played pro football for the New York Giants in the 1950s, has died. He was 77.
MacAfee suffered a suspected heart attack July 4 while playing golf and was pronounced dead later at a Brockton, Mass., hospital.
Hockey
Canucks extend Bieksa
The Vancouver Canucks signed defenseman Kevin Bieksa to a $11.25-million, three-year contract extension.
•Forward Mike York signed a one-year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes.
•The Dallas Stars signed free agent winger Todd Fedoruk to a one-year, $875,000 contract.
•The Detroit Red Wings agreed to terms on a one-year contract with veteran forward Dallas Drake.
Miscellany
Wimbledon ratings up
Roger Federer’s second Wimbledon final against Rafael Nadal drew a TV audience about 10 percent larger than last year’s matchup did.
The coverage of the men’s championship Sunday, won by Federer in five sets, drew a 3.2 overnight rating on NBC. That’s up from 2.9 in 2006.
•Missouri senior forward Kalen Grimes, the Tigers’ leading rebounder last season, was suspended indefinitely for violating team policy.
The action comes after Grimes, of St. Louis, was involved in a weekend incident in Florissant, Mo.
•Former Fresno State volleyball coach Lindy Vivas was awarded $5.85 million by a jury that ruled the school discriminated against her for speaking up on behalf of female athletes. Vivas was fired in 2004.
•A former NASCAR publicist, Richard Norman “Chip” Williams, pleaded guilty to several charges in Greensborough, N.C., including statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a child, for his relationship with a young girl.