Newsmakers
Recovering Southern California coach Pete Carroll said tailback Stafon Johnson is healing remarkably well just 10 days after a weightlifting accident crushed his throat and larynx. Johnson had several tests that left his doctors delighted with the speed of his recovery, Carroll says. Johnson isn’t expected to play again for the Trojans, but doctors believe the senior will recover fully.
Comeback Twenty-seven-year-old Justine Henin hopes to make her comeback at the Brisbane International in Australia in January, where fellow Belgian star Kim Clijsters will start her 2010 tennis season. Her coach Carlos Rodriguez told Belgian media on Wednesday that Henin was negotiating with organizers in Brisbane and Auckland to play the tuneup events before the Australian Open on Jan. 18.
Died Two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Leon Clarke, who played in the NFL and for Southern California in the 1955 Rose Bowl, has died at 76. He died of pancreatitis on Monday in suburban Los Alamitos, USC said. Clarke was a three-year letterman at USC.
Setback Swimmer Dara Torres overcame staggering odds to make the U.S. Olympic team in her 40s. Now, an even bigger challenge awaits. Torres’ arthritic left knee is damaged worse than she thought, requiring a radical, reconstructive procedure that will leave her with a recovery of 12 to 18 months. But she told the Associated Press she’s not giving up on the London Games in 2012.
Arrested A grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France was arrested on drug charges in Daytona Beach, Fla., according to a police report in Miami. J.C. France faces charges of possession of narcotics and driving under the influence. France posted $4,500 bond and was released from Volusia County jail Thursday afternoon.
Denied A federal appeals court in Manhattan, ruled that former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier cannot sue the Oneida Indian Nation over the use of his picture to promote a fight at a casino because of the tribe’s sovereign status. Frazier sued the tribe in 2002, saying it used his picture without permission to promote a June 2001 boxing match between his daughter, Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, and the daughter of Muhammad Ali, Laila Ali. Laila Ali won the bout.