NFL-SCHEDULE
Stafford leads Motown throw-down…Cardinals rally past Chargers
UNDATED (AP) β The Detroit Lions hadn’t opened the season with a Monday night home game since 1971 when the team played in old Tiger Stadium. To say the Lions were ready is quite the understatement.
Matthew Stafford improvised brilliantly on two early touchdown passes to Calvin Johnson, and Detroit beat the New York Giants 35-14 in Jim Caldwell’s first game as Lions coach. Detroit collapsed down the stretch last year and missed the postseason, and Jim Schwartz was fired and replaced by Caldwell.
Stafford also ran for a TD for Detroit. Stafford went 22 of 32 for 346 yards. Johnson had seven catches for 164 yards.
The Lions intercepted Eli Manning twice. Manning was 18 of 33 for 163 yards and a touchdown for the Giants, who continued their September woes. The Giants started 0-6 last season and didn’t win until October.
In the second game of Monday night football, the Arizona Cardinals pulled off a late rally to edge the San Diego Chargers 18-17. Carson Palmer threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to John Brown with 2:25 to play for the winning TD.
Brown, a rookie from little Pittsburg State, caught a short pass and then eluded tacklers into the end zone, capping an 11-play, 91-yard drive.
NFL-RICE
Ravens release Rice…NFL suspends him
BALTIMORE (AP) β Ray Rice has had his contract terminated by the Baltimore Ravens and has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL. The moves came hours after a new video was released that appears to show the running back striking his then-fiancee last February. The grainy video released by TMZ Sports apparently shows Rice and Janay Palmer in an elevator at an Atlantic City casino. Each hits the other before Rice knocks Palmer off her feet and into a railing. An earlier TMZ video showed Rice dragging Palmer, now his wife, from the elevator.
In a higher-quality video shown to The Associated Press by a law enforcement official Monday night, Rice and Palmer can be heard shouting obscenities at each other, and she appears to spit at Rice right before he throws the knockout punch.
Based on the first video the league suspended Rice for the first two games of the season. Along with having his Ravens’ contract terminated; he has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
NFL-RICE/UNION
Union chief disturbed by Rice video
RENTON, Wash. (AP) β NFLPA executive director DeMaurice (deh-MOHR’-ihs) Smith says the video showing Ray Rice striking his then-fiancee in February was “disturbing to watch.”
Smith says the union has an “unshakable position against any violence, certainly domestic violence included.”
NFL-OBAMA
President calls domestic violence “contemptible”
WASHINGTON (AP) β President Barack Obama is speaking out against domestic violence in the wake of Ray Rice’s termination by the Baltimore Ravens.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says he spoke Monday evening with Obama about Rice. The running back was let go by his team and suspended indefinitely by the NFL after a video emerged showing him knocking his then-fiancee unconscious.
Earnest says that Obama, as an American and the father of two daughters, believes domestic violence is “contemptible and unacceptable.” He says real men don’t hit women, regardless of whether it’s in public or private.
The White House this week is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act.
NFL-INJURIES
Houston loses top pick to injury…Newton to start Sunday for Panthers
UNDATED (AP) β Sunday’s Titans win over Kansas City was costly for both teams.
Chiefs Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and starting defensive tackle Mike DeVito will miss the remainder of the season after MRI exams confirmed that both players ruptured their right Achilles tendons. Johnson went down without getting touched near the end of the first half. Early in the second half, DeVito went down at nearly the same spot on the field.
Titans linebacker Zach Brown suffered a torn pectoral muscle in the game and coach Ken Whisenhunt says it’s a potentially season-ending injury.
Elsewhere around the league:
β The Texans have lost No. 1 NFL overall pick Jadeveon (juh-DAY’-vee-ihn) Clowney for 4-6 weeks after he had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. The defensive lineman was injured late in the second quarter in Sunday’s win over the Washington Redskins.
β Defending NFL sacks champion Robert Mathis is expected to miss the Colts’ entire season after tearing an Achilles tendon during a private workout last week in Atlanta, a person with knowledge of the injury told The Associated Press.
β Running back LaMichael James has been released by the San Francisco 49ers. Coach Jim Harbaugh announced the move, a day after his team’s 28-17 win at Dallas. James had just two carries for no yards against the Cowboys on Sunday.
β Panthers coach Ron Rivera says Cam Newton will start the team’s home opener Sunday against the Detroit Lions. The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback was held out of Carolina’s win on Sunday at Tampa Bay with fractured ribs. Backup Derek Anderson stepped in and threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-14 victory.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Weaver wins 16th…Kershaw wins 18th
UNDATED (AP) β Jered Weaver has become the American League’s first 16-game winner in the Angels 12-3 win over Cleveland. Weaver improved to 16-8, allowing three runs on six hits in six innings. The AL West leading Angels hit four home runs in the game. Kole Calhoun and David Freese connected in the six-run fifth inning and Albert Pujols (POO’-holz) hit a three-run homer in the ninth. The Angels have won three in a row.
In other baseball:
β The Angels now have a whopping eight-game lead in the AL West. That’s because the Chicago White Sox beat the reeling Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Tyler Flowers’ walkoff home run in the 12th inning. Flowers had tied the game with a homer in the ninth.
β Clayton Kershaw is baseball’s first 18-game winner. The L.A Dodgers left-hander allowed three hits and one earned run in their 9-4 win over San Diego. Kershaw reduced his major league-best ERA to 1.67, striking out eight in eight innings.
β Torii Hunter had two of his three hits in a six-run third inning and the Detroit Tigers beat Kansas City 9-5 to move within a game of the American League Central-leading Royals.
β AL East-leading Baltimore blanked Boston 4-0. Nelson Cruz had a pair of hits and Miguel Gonzalez took a shutout into the seventh inning to improve to 9-7. The Orioles’ lead is now 10 games with 20 to play.
β Brad Miller drove in three of Seattle’s runs in the Mariners’ 4-1 win over Houston. Miller’s two-run triple in the eighth inning broke a tie for the Mariners.
β Washington increased its lead over Atlanta to eight games in the NL East by nipping the Braves 2-1. Doug Fister and four relievers combined on a four-hitter. The Nats’ magic number for clinching the division is 12. New Nats closer Drew Storen struck out the side in the ninth for his second save in two days.
β The St. Louis Cardinals blanked Cincinnati 5-0. Shelby Miller and two relievers combined on a three-hit shutout. Matt Carpenter broke a scoreless tie with his two-run single in the seventh inning. Matt Adams added a three-run homer.
β Giancarlo Stanton hit his NL-leading 37th home run of the season, tying the Marlins record for career homers, and Miami beat the reeling Milwaukee Brewers 6-4. Stanton also leads the league with 105 RBIs. Milwaukee has lost 12 of 13 to fall six back of St. Louis and a game and a-half out of the final NL wild card spot.
β Curtis Granderson hit a tying triple off former-Met LaTroy Hawkins and scored two pitches later on Wilmer Flores’ sacrifice fly, giving New York a 3-2 win over Colorado. That ends the Rockies’ four-game winning streak.
β Starling Marte (MAHR’-tay) hit a two-run homer and fell a triple short of the cycle to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4.
β In interleague play, Toronto blanked the Chicago Cubs 8-0 on a Marcus Stroman three-hitter. Jose Bautista cracked his 32nd home run.
US OPEN
Croat wins men’s final
NEW YORK (AP) β Unable to play in the U.S. Open a year ago because of a doping suspension, Marin Cilic (CHIHL’-ihch) is now the tournament’s champion.
Croatia’s Cilic won his first Grand Slam title by beating Japan’s Kei (KAY) Nishikori 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. He used 17 aces β including four in one game β and the same powerful groundstrokes that helped him eliminate Roger Federer in the semifinals.
The 14th-seeded Cilic prevented the 10th-seeded Nishikori from becoming the first man from Asia to win a major singles championship.
T25 FOOTBALL
Pac-12 punishes USC athletic director
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) β The Pac-12 Conference has fined Southern California athletic director Pat Haden $25,000 for coming down to the field at Stanford Stadium on Saturday and confronting game officials. Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement that Haden’s conduct was inappropriate.
Haden, who is also a member of the new College Football Playoff committee, jogged onto the field after getting a text message from a member of USC’s staff during the Trojans’ 13-10 win over Stanford. He held an animated discussion with officials on the sideline between the third and fourth quarters.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-PENN STATE
Penn State reinstated by NCAA
UNDATED (AP) β The NCAA has lifted the rest of the sanctions placed on Penn State for the Jerry Sandusky scandal, including immediately eliminating the postseason ban. The Big Ten school was halfway through a four-year postseason ban handed down during the summer of 2012. The NCAA last year rescinded some of the scholarship sanctions against Penn State.
In a news release, the NCAA says that in addition to the postseason ban being lifted, Penn State will be allowed to have the full complement of football scholarships in 2015.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-SMU-JONES
Jones leaves Mustangs
DALLAS (AP) β June Jones has resigned as SMU’s coach after the Mustangs scored only one touchdown in losing their first two games.
Leigh Steinberg, the coach’s agent, said in a tweet that Jones had felt for some time that he had accomplished his mission to turn around the SMU program and needed a break.
Jones was in his seventh season with the Mustangs, with a record of 36-43.
OBIT-MARVIN “BAD NEWS” Barnes
Former PC, NBA, ABA star Barnes dead at 62
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) β Marvin “Bad News” Barnes, who led Providence College to the Final Four in 1973 and starred in the old American Basketball Association, has died at 62.
Kevin Stacom, a college teammate and one of Barnes’ closest friends, told the Providence Journal on Monday that Barnes died at a home in Providence. The cause of death was not known, but Barnes had battled drug addiction for years.
In a statement released by Providence College, the school’s athletic director, Bob Driscoll, said “Marvin will always be remembered as one of the greatest Friars of all-time,” adding that “he will forever be linked with coach (Dave) Gavitt’s amazing team that reached the 1973 Final Four.”
The 6-foot-9 Barnes was the second pick in the 1974 NBA draft but opted for the rival ABA and won rookie of the year in 1975 after averaging 24 points and 15.6 rebounds.
Barnes went to the Detroit Pistons in 1976 before bouncing between the Buffalo Braves, Boston Celtics and San Diego Clippers. His last season in the NBA was in 1980.
