FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino veered off a two-lane highway and crashed his motorcycle over the weekend, sending him to a hospital and leaving him in what his family described only as “stable condition.” He is expected to
Arkansas coach Bobby
Petrino crashes motorcycle
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino veered off a two-lane highway and crashed his motorcycle over the weekend, sending him to a hospital and leaving him in what his family described only as “stable condition.” He is expected to make a full recovery.
Petrino crashed Sunday night near a small town 20 miles southeast of Fayetteville. State police spokesman Bill Sadler said the Razorbacks coach was taken to a hospital for treatment, but he declined to say which hospital or whether Petrino was still there Monday.
The university confirmed the crash and issued a statement from Petrino’s family that disclosed no details about any potential injuries.
“Coach Petrino was involved in a motorcycle accident on Sunday evening that involved no other individuals,” the statement said. “He is in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery. Our family appreciates respect for our privacy during the recovery and we are grateful for the thoughts of Razorback fans at this time.”
Neither Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville or Northwest Medical Center in Springdale would confirm Petrino was a patient. The school said athletic director Jeff Long would consult with the Petrino family before providing any additional information.
The crash occurred near the town of Crosses on Arkansas Highway 16, a winding road popular with motorcyclists in the rolling hills of Madison County. Sadler said Petrino’s motorcycle left the highway and crashed.
Ray introduced as
Mississippi State’s coach
STARKVILLE, Miss. — New Mississippi State basketball coach Rick Ray doesn’t sound like a man ready for a long rebuilding process.
“We will be successful,” Ray said. “I don’t know how to lose. All if have known is winning my whole life.”
Ray was introduced as Mississippi State’s head basketball coach on Monday at Humphrey Coliseum after a nearly three-week coaching search. He promised to bring a hard-nosed approach to a program that has struggled with discipline.
The 40-year-old spent the last two years as the top assistant at Clemson. He’s also spent time as an assistant coach at Purdue, Northern Illinois and Indiana State.
Ray touted his experience at hard-nosed programs — especially Purdue and Indiana State — as an indicator of how the Bulldogs’ program would be run. He took the podium clad in a maroon hat and grabbed a cowbell, ringing it for several seconds to applause from the hundreds of fans who came to listen to the new coach.
“The system we will run is based on integrity,” Ray said. “I believe you win by doing things the right way. I want to make sure we put a team on this court that you guys are proud of.”
Ray replaces Rick Stansbury, who retired in March after 14 seasons leading the program. He’ll inherit a roster in flux — juniors Renardo Sidney and Arnett Moultrie have already announced their intention to pursue professional careers while freshman DeVille Smith has also left the program.
There should still be a decent nucleus remaining. Rodney Hood scored 10.3 points and grabbed 4.8 rebounds per game as a freshman last season while forward Wendell Lewis and 3-point specialist Jalen Steele also are expected to return after being major parts of the playing rotation.
Ray talked at length about individual development and how he would mold players into becoming the type of competitor that other teams hate to face.
“They’re the guys setting all those screens, moving, popping, and cutting,” Ray said. “That’s what we are going to do. We are going to teach our guys how to play better basketball.”
Ex-NFL QB Leaf arrested
for 2nd time in Montana
HELENA, Mont. — Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested again Monday, just days after he posted bail on similar charges that he burglarized a home and stole prescription drugs, authorities said.
Leaf was first arrested on Friday after police found oxycodone pills in his golf bag that an acquaintance later said Leaf stole from his home. Then early Monday, three days after posting a $76,000 bond, he was arrested again on accusations that he broke into another home outside Great Falls, Central Montana Drug Task Force Commander Chris Hickman said.
The owners walked into the home Sunday afternoon to find a “tall man with an athletic build” inside, Hickman said. The man told the owners he had the wrong address and left.
The owners later discovered three bottles of prescription medication missing and phoned police. After describing his truck, his clothes and his “shiny black loafers,” they picked Leaf out of a photo lineup.
A search of Leaf’s home turned up 89 hydrocodone pills loose in the pocket of a bathrobe, police said. Authorities do not believe those were the same pills that were taken from the burglarized home, Hickman said.
France’s Monfils to miss Davis Cup contest vs. US
PARIS —Gael Monfils will miss France’s Davis Cup quarterfinal against the United States because of an abdominal injury.
The French tennis federation said Monday that coach Guy Forget will soon name his replacement for the 14th-ranked Monfils. The matches at Monte Carlo Country Club start Friday.
Monfils started experiencing pain during practice Sunday and an MRI test showed a lesion on his left oblique muscle. He will need to rest for 15 days.
The French team includes Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra. The U.S. or France will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Spain and Austria.
Marathoner Balciunaite
loses doping appeal, title
VILNIUS, Lithuania — Marathoner Zivile Balciunaite of Lithuania lost her appeal of a two-year doping ban Monday, ruling her out of the London Olympics and stripping her of her 2010 European championships title.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the appeal. The ban had been imposed by Lithuania’s track and field federation in 2010 after Balciunaite failed a doping test because of excessive levels of testosterone and epitestosterone.
Balciunaite finished first at the 2010 European championships in Barcelona, Spain. Now, second-place Nailya Yulamanova of Russia is set to be upgraded to the gold medal, with Italy’s Anna Incerti getting the silver and Ukraine’s Tatyana Filoniuk the bronze.
Balciunaite has denied the doping charges, contending the test results may have been influenced by a prescription drug from her gynecologist.
By wire sources
