Heat’s Wade says he plans to return to lineup Friday
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade plans to return to the Miami Heat lineup on Friday, after missing six straight contests because of right knee soreness.
Wade told The Associated Press that his knee is healthy enough for him to play again and that he expects to play in both Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics and Sunday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls, barring any setbacks.
Wade has also dealt with a twisted ankle in the past couple weeks, but the knee was the bigger concern. Doctors eventually found three separate bone bruises that essentially surrounded his kneecap, and Wade said rest and treatment has largely taken care of the problem.
Officially, the Heat are listing Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh as day to day. Wade and James were among the players at the Heat facility Thursday working out and getting treatments. The team was otherwise off and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra isn’t expected to discuss the lineup for the Celtics game until the completion of Miami’s shootaround practice Friday morning.
James has been bothered by a right hamstring strain that has had him sidelined in four of Miami’s past six games. Bosh has missed Miami’s last three games, one with a sore knee and two others with flu and cold symptoms.
White Sox 2B Beckham needs surgery on left wrist
WASHINGTON — Chicago White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham is expected to miss about six weeks because of a broken bone in his left wrist.
General manager Rick Hahn says before Chicago’s game at Washington on Thursday that an MRI showed Beckham hurt the left hamate bone. He’ll need surgery.
Beckham says he first felt pain in the wrist while fouling off a pitch in the second inning of Chicago’s 8-7 loss to the Nationals on Tuesday night. He left that game in the third inning, and the White Sox announced then he had nerve irritation in the wrist.
Beckham sat out Wednesday and was replaced at second base for that game and Thursday’s by Jeff Keppinger, with Conor Gillaspie taking Keppinger’s spot at third.
Beckham is hitting .316 this season.
Rockies trade starter Aaron Harang to Mariners
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners have acquired right-handed pitcher Aaron Harang from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for right-hander Steven Hensley and cash.
The Rockies acquired Harang on April 6 when they traded catcher Ramon Hernandez to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Harang went 10-10 with a 3.61 ERA last season for the Dodgers.
The Rockies never intended to keep Harang, and the Mariners needed another starter after allowing Jon Garland to opt out of his contract this spring rather than adding him to their roster. The Rockies scooped up Garland and put him in their rotation.
Hensley was a fourth-round draft choice by the Mariners in 2008 out of Elon University. He has a 30-30 record in 123 career minor league appearances, including two at Triple-A Tacoma this se
Saints agree to one-year deal with OT Jason Smith
METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis says the Saints and free agent offensive tackle Jason Smith have agreed to a one-year contract.
Smith, whose acquisition was announced by the Saints on Thursday, has spent four seasons in the NFL, playing in 45 games with 26 starts at both left and right tackle.
The 6-foot-5, 308-pound lineman was the second overall pick out of Baylor in the 2009 draft by the St. Louis Rams and spent last season with the New York Jets.
During his stint in St. Louis, running back Steven Jackson had three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and quarterback Sam Bradford passed for 3,512 yards as a rookie.
In New York, Smith served at times as a tackle-eligible tight end, a position New Orleans’ offense also uses routinely.
Lions sign Norwegian kicking prospect Rugland
SAN DIEGO — The Detroit Lions are giving a Norwegian Internet kicking sensation a shot to make the team.
Detroit signed kicker Havard Rugland on Thursday, declining to disclose details of the deal.
With the move, the Lions seem to be giving newly acquired kicker David Akers some competition or at least provide some depth at the position for practice. Detroit recently signed Akers soon after Jason Hanson retired.
A trick-shot video — called “Kickalicious” — Rugland posted in September has more than 2.7 million views. The video shows him kicking and punting a football through uprights from as far away as 60 yards, from straight on and also from incredible angles. He also kicks a ball to a friend on a boat on a lake, in a moving car, on a skateboard, on a railroad bridge, on a hill, on a bluff overlooking a beach and over trees.
Rugland played amateur soccer in his native Norway before taking an interest in football in 2011 after watching the Super Bowl.
Ex-NFL player Hurd pleads guilty to drug charge
DALLAS — Former NFL wide receiver Sam Hurd pleaded guilty Thursday to trying to buy cocaine and marijuana to set up a drug-distribution network, a move that leaves him facing significant prison time.
Hurd, 27, pleaded guilty in federal court in Dallas to one count of possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute. His trial was scheduled to begin Monday, and a federal judge had refused his attorney’s request to delay it.
Prosecutors and Hurd’s attorneys have been in plea discussions for months, according to one of his attorneys, Jay Ethington. One sticking point was what allegations Hurd would acknowledge in a plea agreement, which will factor into his recommended sentence on the indictment, Ethington said in September.
Hurd was a player for the Chicago Bears when was arrested in December 2011 outside a Chicago-area steakhouse after accepting a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover officer, according to documents prosecutors filed in the case. Prosecutors alleged he told the officer and an informant at the steakhouse that he wanted to purchase up to 10 kilograms of cocaine a week for $25,000 per kilogram.
Patriots re-sign wide receiver Julian Edelman
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots have re-signed wide receiver Julian Edelman.
He was an unrestricted free agent.
The 26-year-old former seventh-round draft choice caught 21 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns last season before going on injured reserve with a foot injury. In four NFL seasons, he has 69 receptions for 714 yards and four touchdowns.
He has also returned three punts for touchdowns, including a franchise-record 94-yarder against Miami in the 2010 season.
The Patriots have lost leading receiver Wes Welker and signed Danny Amendola to replace him
USC great Cynthia Cooper-Dyke returns as coach
LOS ANGELES — Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is returning to Southern California as the Trojans’ head women’s basketball coach.
USC hired Cooper-Dyke on Thursday to replace Michael Cooper, who quit last month after four seasons.
“In Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, we have a proven winning coach who happens to be a USC basketball icon,” USC athletic director Pat Haden said. “She was a part of the best basketball ever played here at USC, and she has seen success at so many levels of the game. As a coach, she has turned around several programs. We believe she can lead USC back to successful women’s basketball.”
Cooper-Dyke, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended Locke High School, played on the Trojans’ NCAA championship teams in 1983 and 1984 alongside Cheryl Miller. USC went 114-15 during Cooper-Dyke’s four seasons, also reaching the 1986 NCAA final.
English Premier League to use Hawk-Eye; Spain, Germany hold off
MANCHESTER, England — The English Premier League on Thursday became the first leading club competition in world football to approve the use of goal-line technology, with Hawk-Eye being deployed at stadiums from next season.
The Spanish and German leagues, however, said they would hold off from giving referees high-tech aids for at least two years, while the Italians have no plans to use such systems.
The English have championed Hawk-Eye since 2006, but FIFA opposed the use of technology until 2010 when England’s World Cup campaign ended following a game that saw Frank Lampard denied a legitimate goal.
Now England’s leading stadiums can start to install the camera-based ball-tracking system from Hawk-Eye, which has been successfully deployed in tennis and cricket. It was chosen ahead of three rival products sanctioned by FIFA, which is set to use another camera system, GoalControl, at the World Cup next year.
Hawk-Eye, which is owned by Sony, sends a signal within a second of the ball crossing the line to the referee, who has the power to make the final call on a disputed goal.
Raiders sign S Reggie Smith, RB Rashad Jennings
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Oakland Raiders have signed safety Reggie Smith and running back Rashad Jennings to free agent contracts.
General manager Reggie McKenzie announced the deals Thursday.
Smith played four years with San Francisco after being a third-round pick in 2008. He had two interceptions and seven passes defensed in 45 games. He was with Carolina in training camp last year but was cut before the season.
Jennings replaces Mike Goodson as the backup to Darren McFadden. He has rushed for 944 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 61 passes in 38 games with Jacksonville.
Berankis tops Haas in U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships
HOUSTON — Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis beat second-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday night in the second round of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships.
Berankis, ranked 77th in the world, will face fifth-seeded John Isner, a 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3) winner over fellow American Jack Sock.
Top-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain overcame a slow start to beat Gael Monfils of France 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Fourth-seeded Sam Querrey, the top American in the world at No. 20, withdrew before his match against Rhyne Williams because of a strained right pectoral muscle.
Anderson reaches quarters in Morocco
CASABLANCA, Morocco — Second-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa advanced to the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II, beating Spanish qualifier Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday.
Anderson will play eighth-seeded Grega Zemlja of Slovenia, a 7-6 (5), 6-1 winner over Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen.
Third-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia will face seventh-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands in the other quarterfinal.
Klizan beat Italian qualifier Filippo Volandri 6-4, 7-6 (5), and Haase outlasted France’s Kenny De Schepper 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3.
From wire sources
