ASHBURN, Va. — It doesn’t sound good for Robert Griffin III.
ACL in question as Redskins’
RG3 has more tests
ASHBURN, Va. — It doesn’t sound good for Robert Griffin III.
An injury that sidelines RG3 well into next season is a very real possibility — or at least it seemed that way Monday after coach Mike Shanahan described the results of tests on the rookie’s right knee.
Shanahan said the results are prompting the team to send Griffin to Florida on Tuesday to see renowned orthopedist James Andrews for more examinations, essentially a second opinion that will decide the team’s fate for the 2013 season.
“There is a concern,” Shanahan said. “That’s why he’s going to see him.”
Griffin tore his ACL while playing for Baylor in 2009, and Shanahan said that old injury caused Griffin’s latest MRI to prove inconclusive and produce “differences of opinion” in those who have looked at it.
A torn ACL typically requires a rehabilitation period of nine to 12 months, although some players don’t return to full health until their second season after the injury. On the other hand, one of this season’s most remarkable stories was Adrian Peterson, who returned about eight months after tearing an ACL and nearly broke the NFL’s single-season rushing record.
It’s official: Bills hire
Marrone as new coach
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It’s official: Doug Marrone is the Buffalo Bills’ new coach.
The franchise released the announcement via text message on Monday, and a news conference at the team’s facility followed.
Hired after going 25-25 in four seasons at Syracuse, Marrone agreed to the contract on Sunday. The 48-year-old from the Bronx takes over a week after Chan Gailey was fired following three consecutive losing seasons.
Marrone becomes the Bills’ fifth coach in 12 years, and inherits a franchise that newly promoted team president Russ Brandon described as having a “tarnished” reputation.
Trio of bid cities give
2020 Olympic files to IOC
LONDON — Exactly eight months before the vote, the race for the 2020 Summer Games moved into a crucial phase Monday when the three candidate cities submitted their bid plans to the International Olympic Committee.
Leaders from Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo handed over their documents at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, setting the stage for the final months of an international campaign by three cities bidding again after previous defeats.
Amid global economic uncertainty, Madrid is bidding for a third consecutive time, Tokyo a second time in a row and Istanbul a fifth time overall.
The so-called “bid books” run to several hundred pages and represent the cities’ master plans of venues, budgets, financial guarantees, security, accommodations, transportation and other key aspects of the multi-billion-dollar projects.
Radwanska wins 6th
in row to advance in Sydney
SYDNEY — Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland extended her unbeaten start to the season to six matches with a 6-4, 6-3 win over 42-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm on Tuesday at the Sydney International.
Radwanska, who won last week’s WTA event in Auckland, New Zealand, coped with searing temperatures that topped 100 degrees at Olympic Park and secured an early break over the veteran Japanese player.
Third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy also advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-1.
In first-round men’s play Tuesday, sixth-seeded Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-3, while Spain’s Feliciano Lopez beat seventh-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-3.
Hsieh, Schiavone
out in 1st round in Hobart
HOBART, Australia — Top-seeded Hsieh Su-wei lost to former doubles partner Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) in the first round of the Hobart International on Monday.
Peng led 6-2 and 5-2 before her Taiwanese rival rallied to take the match into a third set. Peng took a 4-1 lead and wasted three match points before eventually overcoming the No. 25-ranked Hsieh.
Also, 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, seeded sixth, lost to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Second-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Nina Bratchikova of Russia 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and No. 4 Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan had a 6-4, 6-1 win over Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain.
Li Na advances
at Sydney International
SYDNEY — Former champion Li Na advanced to the second round of the Sydney International with a 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Christina McHale on Monday, and Sam Stosur extended her miserable start to 2013 with another first-round loss.
Na will next meet Japanese qualifier Ayumi Morita, who ousted Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The ninth-ranked Stosur lost 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-4 to Zheng Jie of China, her fifth loss in as many matches on Australian soil dating to last season.
In another upset result, American teenager Madison Keys defeated 17th-ranked Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-1.
By wire sources