Islanders prospect Cherepanov laid to rest in Moscow

Family, friends, teammates and thousands of fans paid their last respects Wednesday in Moscow to Alexei Cherepanov, the 19-year-old rising hockey star who died after suffering heart problems during a game.

The cause of his death was still under investigation, federal investigators said. A first-round draft pick for the New York Rangers, Cherepanov collapsed on the bench during a game Monday outside Moscow.

State television showed mourners in his Siberian hometown lining up on a red carpet placed on the ice in the hockey stadium of Cherepanov’s team, Avangard Omsk, to lay flowers at his coffin.

NFL

Colts add running backs

With running back Joseph Addai unlikely to play Sunday against Green Bay, and Mike Hart out for the rest of the season, the Colts added three running backs to the roster.

Addai left in the first quarter against Baltimore with a hamstring injury. Hart hurt his right knee in the second quarter. Coach Tony Dungy said that Hart had been placed on injured reserve with an injured anterior cruciate ligament.

Chad Simpson, an undrafted rookie running back from Morgan State, was promoted from the practice squad.

The Colts signed rookie Lance Ball to the practice squad and re-signed Clifton Dawson, who was cut at the end of training camp.

•Owners meeting ends: NFL owners discussed playing spring preseason games as part of a possible expansion of the regular-season schedule.

No action was taken by the owners as they wrapped up their meetings in St. Petersburg, Fla. No change in the regular-season schedule is expected for 2009.

•Jones gets break: Twice-suspended cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones won’t have his probation revoked in Georgia after an alcohol-related scuffle with his bodyguard in Dallas.

Golf

Furyk wins playoff

Jim Furyk won the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Tucker’s Town, Bermuda, birdieing the final hole to force a playoff with Padraig Harrington and winning with an 8-foot eagle putt on the first extra hole.

“I’m obviously very happy with the outcome,” said Furyk, who played in place of the injured Tiger Woods in the four-man event for major champions.

Furyk, winless on the PGA Tour since the 2007 Canadian Open, shot his second straight 2-under-par 68 to match Harrington at 4-under 136 on the Mid Ocean Club course. Harrington, the British Open and PGA champion, also shot consecutive 68s.

Retief Goosen shot a 71 to finish at 1 over, and Masters champion Trevor Immelman had a 69 to end up last at 5 over.

Auto racing

F1 race canceled

The 2009 French Grand Prix was canceled when the cash-strapped French Motorsport Federation withdrew its backing of the Formula One race in Paris.

FFSA’s board of directors said it didn’t want to risk a financial loss by holding the race next year, but will try to resurrect the world’s oldest grand prix in 2010.

•Cost-cutting needed: A slimmed-down Formula One championship using standardized engines is being proposed to ensure the sport survives the global economic crisis.

Drastic cost reductions will be discussed at a meeting next week in Geneva, Switzerland, hosted by FIA president Max Mosley with the 10 team chiefs. Ahead of the summit, Mosley has warned current costs are “unsustainable.”

Cycling

Penalty strengthened

Cyclists will face four-year bans next season if found guilty of serious doping offenses.

International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid plans to double the current penalty of two years in “aggravating circumstances.”

The longer bans would be given in cases like those of Bernhard Kohl, Riccardo Ricco and Stefan Schumacher. They tested positive for the banned endurance booster CERA during the Tour de France.

•Event scrapped: A January cycling race in Stuttgart, Germany, was canceled because of the doping problems surround the sport.

The Six-Day Race in Stuttgart was to be held from Jan. 15-20. Organizers said they called off the event in consultation with their main sponsor and city authorities.

Miscellany

White sidelined

Oklahoma City Thunder rookie D.J. White will be sidelined four to six months while his jaw heals from surgery. The NBA team said that doctors removed a benign growth this week.

•Seven cities bid: A group that includes two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash submitted a bid for a Major League Soccer franchise in Vancouver, British Colombia.

Seven cities bid for two expansion teams, which the MLS said will be selected by the end of March. Also applying were Atlanta, Miami, Ottawa, Portland, Montreal and St. Louis.

•Keeneland will handle sale: Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., will handle the sale of a minority share of Curlin, the richest American racehorse.

The deadline is Nov. 5 for potential buyers to submit a sealed bid for the 20 percent stake in the 2007 Horse of the Year and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner.

•Ex-Gov. leads group: Thoroughbred racing got a set of ground rules, a series of sweeping safety and integrity reforms that will be monitored by former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

The initiatives call for a ban on steroids, uniform medication rules for each racing state, guidelines for injury reporting and prevention, improved safety rules and research and care for retired racehorses.

•United States upset: Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke each scored a goal to lead Trinidad and Tobago to a 2-1 upset win over the U.S. in a World Cup qualifying match in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The Americans, who have already clinched a spot in next year’s North and Central American and Caribbean region tournament played just three starters.

•Olympian in hot water: Olympic table tennis champion Wang Hao of Beijing has been ordered to meet with his teammates and tell them about a confrontation he had with a parking attendant who reportedly caught him urinating outside a karaoke hall.