Fast Break
NBA
Blazer spends night in hospital
Portland Trail Blazers rookie Rudy Fernandez spent the night in the hospital with a bruised chest and injured right hip after a hard foul by the Los Angeles Lakers’ Trevor Ariza that led to a brief skirmish between the teams.
The swingman was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon. He was listed as doubtful for Portland’s game against Dallas tonight.
NBA officials reviewed the altercation after the foul and suspended Lakers forward Lamar Odom one game without pay for leaving the bench area. Ariza will not face further discipline beyond his third-quarter ejection.
Fernandez was fouled on a fast break during Portland’s 111-94 victory Monday night. The Spaniard was taken from the court on a stretcher with his neck in a brace.
Baseball
Mariners lost millions in ’08
The Mariners lost money last season for the first time since moving into Safeco Field, dropping $4.5 million.
The Mariners also lost 101 games – their most since 1983 – and drew 2.3 million fans. That was 340,000 fewer than the previous year, when the team reported a profit of $17.8 million.
Last year was Seattle’s lowest home attendance since moving to the $514 million retractable-roof ballpark. Coupled with a team-record $120 million player payroll, an increase of $7 million, it was a forgettable season for the Mariners.
•Individual M’s game tickets go on sale online and at team outlets at 10 a.m. Saturday.
NFL
No takers for Vick’s house
Anyone in the market for an eight-bedroom, 11-bath home owned by one of the most notorious quarterbacks in NFL history?
Well, it’s still available.
Michael Vick’s gated-community home in suburban Atlanta went up for auction with a minimum price of $3.2 million – a half-million dollars less than Vick paid before he moved into it in 2005. But no one showed with the qualifying payment of $160,000, which was required to start the bidding.
Vick is in the closing months of a nearly two-year sentence for his role in funding a dogfighting ring, a criminal case that left the once-celebrated Atlanta Falcons quarterback in financial shambles. He is scheduled to be released July 20.