AP source: Colts picking Luck at No. 1 INDIANAPOLIS — The secret is out. Andrew Luck will be the Indianapolis Colts’ new quarterback. A person with direct knowledge of the situation said Thursday that the Colts have notified Luck that
AP source: Colts picking Luck at No. 1 INDIANAPOLIS — The secret is out. Andrew Luck will be the Indianapolis Colts’ new quarterback. A person with direct knowledge of the situation said Thursday that the Colts have notified Luck that they plan to take the Stanford quarterback with the No. 1 pick in next week’s NFL draft barring some unforeseen event between now and then. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not publicly disclosed its plan. It’s hardly a surprise that the Colts are turning to Luck as the cornerstone of their massive rebuilding project. Luck was projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft before returning to school for his fourth season. He gave up his final year of college eligibility to enter this year’s draft, which was dubbed the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes from the start.
Vikings threatened? NFL boss to Capitol ST. PAUL, Minn. — With a proposed Minnesota Vikings stadium deal foundering, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell headed to Minnesota on Friday in a bid to persuade state legislators of the peril of putting off the issue for one more year. Goodell and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney were scheduled to meet with legislative leaders and Gov. Mark Dayton on the $975 stadium plan, which would replace the Metrodome but suffered a potentially fatal defeat in committee this week. For Goodell, the personal touch follows phone conversations earlier this week with Dayton, a stadium booster, to underscore the urgency the league sees with the legislation. “A failure to bring this to the floor is going to be perceived by the ownership and other cities as if it came to the floor and it were voted no,” Eric Grubman, the league’s vice president for operations, said on Thursday.
Larry Brown named coach at SMU DALLAS — Larry Brown is returning to college to get back into coaching. The 71-year-old Hall of Fame coach was hired Thursday at SMU. It is his first college job in nearly a quarter century, and comes at a struggling program that is headed to the Big East after next season. “It’s a challenge like everything. The greater the challenge, the greater the opportunity,” Brown told The Associated Press by phone from his home in Philadelphia. Brown, the only coach to win an NBA championship and NCAA title, hasn’t coached since leaving the Charlotte Bobcats in December 2010 after the NBA’s team’s 9-19 start. SMU hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 1988, the year Brown led Kansas to the national championship in his last season as a college coach.
Penn State pays Paterno family HARRISBURG, Pa. — Penn State has agreed to provide millions in payments and benefits to Joe Paterno’s estate and family members under the late football coach’s employment contract, although a family lawyer says the Paternos did not sign away their right to sue. The school turned over four checks Thursday worth more than $3 million for bonuses that covered the season, bowl game and entire career, according to a university spokeswoman. A breakdown provided by Penn State included the use by Paterno’s family of a Beaver Stadium suite for 25 years and $900,000 from television and radio revenue from last season. Half the broadcast revenues were paid in February, and the rest will be paid later this year, the school said.
Grief-stricken Djokovic advances MONACO — Novak Djokovic dropped to a crouch, his hands on his knees. He then appeared to wipe away tears with his forearm before pointing with both hands to the sky. Alexandr Dolgopolov, his beaten opponent, stood at the net and applauded. Djokovic had just finished his third-round match at the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday, hours after learning of his grandfather’s death. He skipped the post-match news conference, with the ATP saying he “just felt totally exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally.” Djokovic defeated Dolgopolov 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, winning on his first match point. He reached the quarterfinals along with Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych and Gilles Simon. Nadal, the seven-time defending champion, followed Djokovic on court and routed Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-1. The Spaniard conceded only six points on his serve and broke the Kazakh qualifier five times. Nadal will next face Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, who defeated eighth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-3. Third-seeded Andy Murray advanced after Julien Benneteau of France injured his ankle and quit near the end of a tight first set with the score 6-5. MLS would use goal-line technology NEW YORK — Major League Soccer would implement goal-line technology quickly if it’s approved in July by the sport’s rules-making body. “We’re interested in being a test league and we hope that we could achieve that,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Thursday while speaking to the Associated Press Sports Editors. “I would be open to whatever it is that could be done to ensure that we have goal-line technology.” The International Football Association Board meets July 2 and could approve Sony Corp.’s Hawk-Eye or GoalRef, owned by a German-Danish company. Opening arguments set for Monday in Clemens trial WASHINGTON — The Roger Clemens perjury retrial could turn into an ad hoc forum on the general problem of drug use in baseball, depending on the outcome of the latest lawyers’ spat over the landmark congressional hearing that eventually landed the seven-time Cy Young Award winner in court. As jury selection inched forward Thursday — the panel was narrowed to 36, and opening arguments were set for Monday afternoon — the government responded to plans by Clemens’ lawyers to challenge whether the 2008 hearing in which Clemens testified was a “competent tribunal.” By wire sources
