LSU the favorite to win SEC championship
LSU the favorite to win SEC championship
HOOVER, Ala. — LSU has been picked to win its second straight Southeastern Conference championship.
The Tigers got the nod in the Western Division over Alabama, the team that beat LSU in the BCS championship game in January. Arkansas was picked to finish third in the West, followed by Auburn, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Mississippi in a vote by the 222 media members attending the league’s media days.
Georgia was picked to win the Eastern Division, followed by South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore received the most votes on the first team, followed by LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu and Alabama center Barrett Jones.
LSU led the league with seven first-team selections, Alabama had five. The West had 20 of the 26 first-team selections.
Oklahoma tops preseason Big 12 poll
Oklahoma has been picked to win the Big 12, followed by West Virginia and Texas.
A preseason poll of media members who cover the league was released Thursday. Oklahoma received 32 of a possible 41 first-place votes. The Mountaineers, who beat Clemson in the Orange Bowl last season, had seven first-place votes headed into their first season in the Big 12.
The Longhorns were picked third, followed by defending league champion Oklahoma State. TCU is picked to finish its first year in the league in fifth place.
The Horned Frogs and Kansas State (sixth) each got one first-place vote. Baylor, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Kansas round out the poll.
Nadal pulls out of London Olympics
MADRID — Defending champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the London Olympics on Thursday with an undisclosed injury, leaving the tennis competition without one of its leading stars and robbing Spain’s team of its flag bearer for the opening ceremony.
Nadal won the French Open for a record seventh time this year but has struggled with left knee problems at times during the season. Shortly after winning his 11th Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, he lost to 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon.
Nadal has not played since.
The third-ranked Nadal said Thursday he wasn’t in condition to compete at the Olympic tennis tournament — which also will be held at Wimbledon.
Dempster says “nothing imminent” on trade
CHICAGO — Ryan Dempster is staying away from all those trade rumors. He is focused on his next start for the Chicago Cubs.
The right-hander will carry a 33-inning scoreless streak into Friday’s start at St. Louis, and he says that game against the Cardinals is the only thing on his mind.
Dempster can veto any trade and he says he doesn’t know of any imminent deals.
Dempster is one of the best pitchers on the market ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. He has won five consecutive starts and leads the majors with a 1.86 ERA.
The Cubs, mired in fifth in the NL Central, are expected to trade Dempster and right-hander Matt Garza before the deadline.
Cardinals P Carpenter has shoulder surgery
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is expected to be back for the 2013 season after surgery Thursday to repair a nerve injury in his right shoulder.
The neurogenic thoracic outlet surgery was performed by Dr. Greg Pearl in Dallas. The Cardinals say rehabilitation should take two to three months and Carpenter should be able to have a normal offseason.
The 37-year-old right-hander hasn’t pitched all season and hasn’t been on the mound since winning Game 7 of the 2011 World Series against Texas. The injury occurred during spring training.
Chargers release veteran DE Castillo
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Chargers have released defensive end Luis Castillo.
The seven-year veteran was a standout for the Chargers for much of his career, starting 79 of the 82 games he played, with 276 tackles, including 43 for a loss and 19 sacks.
But he broke his left leg in the 2011 season opener and didn’t play again.
A first-round draft pick in 2005, Castillo signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Chargers in April after visiting Kansas City and New England. Now he is an ex-Charger.
Fish withdraws during Atlanta second round
ATLANTA — After withdrawing from the Atlanta Open, Mardy Fish was just thankful he wasn’t hurt more seriously.
Fish stumbled to his left while trying to return a drop in the second set and his left ankle appeared to buckle as he got near the steel net post.
“I did everything I could just to bring my head back,” he said. “That brought my right leg out, sort of sliding and jarring it back and (turned) the inside of the right ankle. It was going to be either my knee, my ankle or my head. Thankfully it was my ankle.”
Fish, the No. 2 seed, was leading Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-4, 3-2 in the second round when he pulled out of the match. He said the injury had not yet been diagnosed and planned to have an MRI either Thursday night or Friday.
Top-seeded Tipsarevic wins at Swiss Open
GSTAAD, Switzerland — Top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia edged Austrian qualifier Martin Fischer 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 Thursday in the second round of the Swiss Open.
Two other seeds in action both lost, leaving Tipsarevic and No. 5 Feliciano Lopez as the only seeded players in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Defending champion Marcel Granollers, the No. 2 seed from Spain, lost 6-4, 6-2 against Lukasz Kubot of Poland.
Czech qualifier Jan Hernych, who played through three rounds to reach the main draw, beat seventh-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Almagro, Monaco reach quarters in Hamburg
HAMBURG, Germany — Top-seeded Nicolas Almagro beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3 to reach the German Tennis Championships quarterfinals on Thursday.
Third-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina defeated Daniel Munoz-De La Nava of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-3.
No. 6 Philipp Kohlschreiber swept past Fabio Fognini of Italy 7-5, 6-2, and Jeremy Chardy of France edged Julian Reister of Germany 7-5, 6-4.
In the quarterfinals, Almagro plays Kohlschreiber, Monaco meets Chardy, Marin Cilic faces Albert Ramos, and Florian Mayer goes against Tommy Haas.
Thunder’s Perkins has surgery on left wrist
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins had surgery for a ligament tear in his left wrist.
Perkins was injured in the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs and played through the injury as the Thunder lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. He is expected to be ready for next season.
From wire sources