Duke football player still listed as critical – Winston

Posted on by Listify Me

Duke football player Holliday remains in critical condition

Duke football player Blair Holliday was still in critical condition at the UNC Hospitals Trauma Center in Chapel Hill on Friday.

A Trauma Center spokesperson said no additional information could be given on Holliday’s condition. According to the hospital, “critical” condition means that a patient’s vital signs are not stable and are not within normal limits.

Several media outlets reported Friday that Holliday is in a coma. The spokesperson said the hospital could not confirm the reports or reveal if Holliday will undergo surgery for his injuries.

Holliday was injured Wednesday in an accident on Lake Tillery in Montgomery County when a Jet Ski on which he was riding collided with a Jet Ski ridden by Jamison Crowder, also a Duke football player.

Crowder was unhurt. Both players are receivers and are rising sophomores.

Bill Cole

Allen decides to sign with Heat

Ray Allen will take less money for a chance at another NBA championship.

Allen told the Miami Heat on Friday night that he intends to accept their contract offer and leave Boston after five seasons, even though the Celtics could pay him about twice as much as the Heat will be able to next season. Miami could only offer Allen the mini mid-level, worth about $3 million for next season.

Heat owner Micky Arison got the word from team president Pat Riley, who made Allen the team’s top free-agent priority, especially in recent days. Allen arrived in Miami on Thursday for a visit, and went to dinner with Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra, team executive Alonzo Mourning and others Thursday night.

Hours later, the choice was made. Allen’s agent, James Tanner, confirmed the decision to The Associated Press not long after Arison’s tweet.

Allen cannot officially sign until Wednesday because of the league’s moratorium.

76ers use amnesty on Brand

The Philadelphia 76ers have used the amnesty clause on veteran forward Elton Brand and will get about $18 million in salary-cap relief for next season, team president Rod Thorn confirmed Friday.

Brand was entering the final season of an $80 million, five-year contract. The amnesty clause allows a team to waive one player during the new labor deal and have 100 percent of his salary taken off the cap and the tax. Brand is still owed the money. Teams under the salary cap now can bid for Brand’s services for next season.

Brand was a two-time All-Star when he spurned better offers and signed the free-agent contract with Philadelphia. He never fulfilled expectations but his past two seasons were solid ones.

Parker cleared for Olympics

Guard Tony Parker can play for France in the Olympics basketball tournament after doctors for the San Antonio Spurs agreed that he has recovered from an eye injury. Parker had his left cornea scratched by shards of flying glass during a nightclub melee in New York last month.

“The two ophthalmologists (from the Spurs) confirmed the opinion of the French doctor who operated on Tony Parker, and the two Swiss specialists who also examined the player last Thursday, and indicated that he can resume playing,” the French Basketball Federation said Friday, adding that coach Gregg Popovich of the Spurs also gave his blessing.

Parker could play in a tune-up against England today. France’s first game at the Olympics will be against the United States on July 29.

Other NBA news

  • The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a one-year contract with guard Nick Young, said his agent, Mark Bartelstein. Young spent his first four-plus NBA seasons with the Washington Wizards before he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in March. He has averaged 11.4 points for his career.
  • The Brooklyn Nets signed second-round pick Tyshawn Taylor, the 6-foot-3 point guard from Kansas they acquired in exchange for cash in a draft-night trade with Portland. Taylor, a Hoboken, N.J., native, averaged career bests of 16.6 points and 4.8 assists last season, helping Kansas reach the NCAA championship game.
  • The Golden State Warriors signed 30th overall pick Festus Ezeli to his rookie contract Friday. The team took Ezeli with the final pick of the first round in last week’s NBA draft. Ezeli, 6-11 and 255 pounds, set Vanderbilt’s record with 204 career blocked shots in four seasons.

N.C. State hires softball coach

N.C. State announced the hiring of Shawn Rychcik as its softball coach Friday.

Rychcik led Boston University to the NCAA tournament and America East Conference titles in three of the past four seasons and had a record of 271-159 in eight seasons at BU. He also has been an assistant at BU, St. Bonaventure and Millikin and is an assistant in the U.S. women’s national team coaching pool.

Rychcik played for the U.S. men’s national softball team from 1994 through 2002.

Ex-Raider Smith faces new murder charges

New murder charges filed against Anthony Wayne Smith — a former Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders defensive lineman — say two brothers and another man were kidnapped and robbed before they were killed.

A criminal complaint filed earlier this week in Los Angeles charges Smith with three additional counts of murder with special circumstances, making him eligible for the death penalty.

Smith is awaiting retrial in the 2008 murder of Maurilio Pence.

A jury failed to reach a verdict in April.

Smith was charged with the November 1999 slayings of brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles and the 2001 death of Dennis Henderson.

Smith was a defensive end with Oakland and later the Los Angeles Raiders from 1991 to 1998.

Odds and ends

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets signed left wing Nick Foligno to a three-year, $9.15 million contract, general manager Scott Howson announced Friday. Foligno, who had 15 goals and 32 assists last season, was acquired in a trade with Ottawa for defenseman Marc Methot earlier in the week.
  • Leah Wigger, a former Virginia golfer who played on the LPGA Futures and LPGA tours in 2007, has been hired as an assistant women’s golf coach at North Carolina. She replaces Patricia Earley, who resigned.
  • The Montreal Canadiens re-signed center Lars Eller to a two-year contract Friday. Eller, 23, had 16 goals and 12 assists in 79 games last season. He has 25 goals and 22 assists in 163 career games in three seasons with St. Louis and Montreal.
  • The Phoenix Coyotes have signed restricted free agent forward Kyle Chipchura to a one-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Chipchura played 53 games for the Coyotes last season, scoring three goals.

From wire reports