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SPORTS BITS: Man sentenced in Price murder; NFL releases schedule; Duke player’s disturbing e-mail; Griffey’s homer; black grad rates; Robinson on stamp.
*Suspected gang member Edward Maxfield, 25, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday for the 2003 drive-by shooting death of Yetunde Price, the 31-year-old half-sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. Prosecutors say Maxfield fired about 11 shots from an assault rifle to protect a drug house before midnight in September 2003. One of the bullets struck the head of Price as she was driving past the house in Compton. Serena addressed Maxfield before he was sentenced. "I wasn't going to speak today because it's too hard for me to talk," she said, but she "wanted to let you know that this was unfair to our family, and our family has always been positive and we always try to help people." A murder charge against a second man, Aaron Hammer, was dismissed after the first trial. Authorities concluded that his alleged firing of a handgun during the incident did not cause the fatal wound.
*The NFL released its 2006 schedule yesterday, and all eyes fell on Oct. 8, the day Terrell Owens and his Dallas Cowboys visit Philadelphia to play his former team, the Eagles. Owens was dismissed by Philly a month ago following “behavior detrimental to the team.” Another special game takes place on Sept. 25, when the New Orleans Saints return to the Superdome for the first time since Hurricane Katrina forced the team to play home games last season in San Antonio, Baton Rouge and East Rutherford, N.J.
*An e-mail sent by a Duke University lacrosse player that vows to kill and skin strippers in his dorm room has led to the resignation of the coach, the cancellation of the season and an internal probe into the university's response to alleged violence by athletes. The e-mail is the latest fallout from allegations that three white players on the men’s lacrosse team raped a black stripper at an off-campus party on March 13. On Wednesday, authorities unsealed documents stating that less than two hours after the alleged rape, a player sent an e-mail saying he was planning an encore to "tonights (sic) show." The message, addressed "To whom it may concern," said, "however there will be no nudity. I plan on killing the b****es as soon as the(y) walk in and proceeding (sic) to cut their skin off." The player signed the e-mail with his jersey number. The player's name does not match the three names the woman gave to police as her attackers. Shortly after the e-mail's release, lacrosse coach Mike Pressler resigned, ending a 16-year run that included three Atlantic Coast Conference championships and a trip to last year's national final. Duke President Richard H. Brodhead followed Pressler’s exit with the announcement of a series of steps planned to address the allegations, including examining the culture of the lacrosse team and investigating the school's response to the scandal.
*Ken Griffey Jr.’s home run against the Chicago Cubs Wednesday moved him ahead of Mickey Mantle and into 12th place on the all-time home run list. His Cincinnati Reds went on to beat the Cubs 8-6. The homer, Griffey’s 537th, also gave him 1,538 career RBIs, breaking his tie with Joe DiMaggio for 31st on the career list. Last year, Griffey was on the mend from reconstructive hamstring surgery at the start of the season and didn't crack his first homer until his 22nd game of the season, the longest such drought of his career.
*Graduation rates for black athletes have risen 24 percent from 1984 to 2004, according to a new study released Thursday by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. The boost in diplomas marks big gains for a demographic that once recorded just 35 percent graduation success. Female black athletes remained more successful than males, graduating 73 percent of the time compared with 54 percent for men. The same was true of whites, with 73 percent of women graduating and 66 percent of men. Graduation success for all whites still outpaced black athletes 66 percent to 52 percent, according to federal graduation rates cited in the study.
*A new 39-cent stamp will honor legendary boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. The unveiling ceremony takes place today at Madison Square Garden in New York. Its design will resemble a vintage fight poster of the 1940s and '50s. Ray Robinson II told the Associated Press: "I think he would have thought [the stamp] was a gift from God." Robinson was world welterweight champion from Dec. 20, 1946, until Feb. 14, 1951, when he won the world middleweight title for the first of five times. Robinson fought 201 bouts overall, winning 174 (109 by knockout) against only 19 losses, six draws, and two no contests. He was voted "Fighter of the Century" by a panel of experts in 1999.
