FOOTBALL
Cardinals QB Skelton listed as doubtful for game vs. Patriots
TEMPE — Arizona quarterback John Skelton is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game at New England, but coach Ken Whisenhunt is refusing to rule him out altogether.
Skelton sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s game against Seattle. Kevin Kolb relieved him and directed the decisive touchdown drive in the Cardinals’ 20-16 victory.
Whisenhunt said Friday he “has hope” that Skelton will be available. The coach said Skelton was out of the protective boot and did some rehab work on the field. Skelton beat out Kolb for the starting job in a protracted battle that wasn’t decided until nine days before the season opener. Kolb will start Sunday if Skelton is unavailable.
Jets CB Revis ruled out vs. Steelers with concussion
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets will face the Pittsburgh Steelers’ speedy receivers without Darrelle Revis.
The All-Pro cornerback was ruled out Friday for the team’s game at Pittsburgh on Sunday with a concussion that left Revis “in a fog” after the injury occurred in the season opener against Buffalo.
Coach Rex Ryan said Revis was cleared for non-contact practice for the first time Friday but will not travel to Pittsburgh with the team Saturday.
“We followed NFL protocol this week,” Ryan said, “and we’ll always follow NFL protocol when it comes to concussions, but Darrelle is ruled out for the game.”
Revis needed to be cleared by the team physician and an independent neurological consultant in order to first practice and then play. He was injured when he made a diving tackle attempt on C.J. Spiller and teammate Bart Scott accidentally kicked him in the head.
Revis has missed just three games in his career, all in 2010.
Bengals LB Howard placed on injured reserve with torn ACL
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Bengals suffered a major blow to their defense on Friday when Thomas Howard was placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL during practice on Thursday.
Howard, a seven-year veteran from UTEP, was Cincinnati’s tackling leader last season with 120 stops. He started in the Bengals’ Week 1 loss to the Ravens on Monday night, finishing with four tackles, including a sack, and a pass defensed in the 44-13 defeat.
The Bengals (0-1) will play at home against the Browns (0-1) on Sunday.
No child porn found on computer of coach in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Investigators found no evidence of child pornography on computers taken from the home of a Minnesota football coach accused of having nude videos of his children on his cellphone, authorities said Friday.
Minnesota State Mankato coach Todd Hoffner was charged with two child pornography counts after three videos of his children were found on his work-issued cellphone when he took it to the university for service.
His attorney and wife have publicly rejected the charges as ridiculous, saying the videos simply captured the family’s children being silly.
Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Capt. Rich Murry said Friday a search of computers taken from the Hoffner home found “no additional items that would be considered child pornography.” The information was being forwarded to the county attorney’s office.
Hoffner’s attorney, James Fleming, said he was confident authorities would not come up with any additional evidence and the case will focus on the images recovered from the cellphone.
“So now we are dealing with: Are these images in fact, child pornography?” Fleming said. “And I believe that it’s going to be shown very clearly — they are not.”
The videos include images of Hoffner’s children behaving “silly” after a bath, Fleming said.
Hoffner was charged last month with one count of using minors in a sexual performance or pornographic work and one count of possessing child pornography. Both are felonies.
He was escorted off the football practice field after the videos were found, and he remains on leave pending a university investigation.
TENNIS
Spain sweeps United States in singles for 2-0 Davis Cup lead
GIJON, Spain (AP) — Sam Querrey and John Isner lost their clay-court matches Friday to give defending champion Spain a 2-0 lead over the United States in the Davis Cup semifinal.
David Ferrer put the hosts ahead in the best-of-five series with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over Querrey. Nicolas Almagro beat Isner 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to leave Spain one point from its fourth final in five years.
Almagro overcame 25 aces from Isner, who saved three match points before hitting a forehand long.
The U.S. must win the doubles match today to stay in the series, with brothers Mike and Bob Bryan facing Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez. The Bryan twins are 4-0 when the U.S. has faced a 2-0 deficit, and they are 5-0 against Spain.
Reverse singles are Sunday. Spain is playing without injured Rafael Nadal, and the U.S. is without Andy Roddick, who retired after the U.S. Open.
AUTO RACING
Andretti wins pole for IndyCar season finale at Fontana
FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Marco Andretti won the pole for the IndyCar season finale.
Andretti’s qualifying average of 216.069 mph Friday was good enough to take the top spot at Auto Club Speedway. It held off Ryan Briscoe’s average of 216.058 and gave Andretti the second pole of his career. The first came at Milwaukee in 2008.
The 25-year-old Andretti is having the worst season of his career in what’s ironically a comeback year for Andretti Autosport. The three-team organization is the most competitive it’s ever been, and Ryan Hunter-Reay will try to win his first IndyCar championship tonight.
But Andretti is a career-worst 17th in points, is winless and has just one podium finish all season.
It’s a two-driver race for the championship in tonight’s return to Fontana, which is back on the IndyCar schedule for the first time since 2005.
Will Power, who is seeking for his first championship after settling for second the last two years, qualified third. Hunter-Reay, who trails the Australian by 17 points in the standings, qualified 17th. But both drivers will be penalized 10 spots on the starting grid for making unapproved engine changes.
At least 14 teams have informed IndyCar they’ll be making engine changes, so the starting grid will look considerably different than the qualifying order.
HOCKEY
No talks scheduled between NHL and players; lockout looms
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL seemed headed for another lockout Friday as neither team owners nor players showed interest in getting back to contract negotiations a day before the old labor deal was set to expire.
Brief conversations late Thursday and Friday between leaders on the two sides failed to spur more formal talks — in fact, the idea of restarting negotiations didn’t even come up. The current collective bargaining agreement that ended the season-long lockout in 2005 expires at midnight Eastern time tonight, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said a lockout would kick in immediately if a new deal hasn’t been reached.
The lockout would mark the NHL’s fourth work stoppage since 1992.
On Thursday night, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke to players association special counsel Steve Fehr, the brother of union executive director Donald Fehr. The discussions mostly dealt with answering questions each side have about current proposals.
Bettman has said the season won’t start without a new deal. Preseason games are scheduled to start on Sept. 23, and the regular season is to begin on Oct. 11.
Canucks sign Burrows to 4-year, $18 million contract extension
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks signed forward Alex Burrows to a four-year, $18 million contract extension Friday.
The 31-year-old left wing had 28 goals and 24 assists in 80 games last season.
Burrows has spent his entire seven-year NHL career with Vancouver, totaling 139 goals and 131 assists in 522 games. He also has 16 goals and 12 assists in 58 career playoff games, including a club-record three goals in overtime.
GOLF
Second-round play stopped at wind-swept Women’s British Open
HOYLAKE, England (AP) — Play was called off for the day at the Women’s British Open on Friday because of strong wind that disrupted the second round so badly that organizers declared early scores “null and void.”
With wind gusting to 60 mph at Royal Liverpool, players struggled to keep the ball on the tees and greens. Play was suspended at 8:25 a.m. with 36 players on the course, and the round was called off at 2 p.m.
England’s Felicity Johnson started with a quintuple-bogey 9. American Cristie Kerr’s ball blew off the 12th tee three times. Co-leader So Yeon Ryu bogeyed her only hole, the 10th, before play was stopped.
The second round was scheduled to restart early today, with conditions forecast to be more playable. Organizers said the cut will be reduced from 65 and ties to 50 and ties.
The final two rounds are scheduled for Sunday with a two-tee start and no redraw between rounds.
Ryu and fellow South Korean player Haeji Kang topped the leaderboard at 2-under 70.
Australia’s Karrie Webb, the tournament winner in 1995, 1997 and 2002, was a stroke back along with 16-year-old English amateur Charley Hull, Jiyai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Mika Miyazato, Stacey Keating, Lydia Hall, Vicky Hurst and Kate Kutcher. Two-time defending champion Yani Tseng opened with a 72. New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, the 15-year-old amateur coming off a victory three weeks ago in the Canadian Women’s Open, also was at 72.
Australia’s Senior takes lead in Champions Tour event in Hawaii
KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) — Australia’s Peter Senior shot a 7-under 65 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Champions Tour’s inaugural Hawaii Championship.
Winless in 65 starts in three seasons on the 50-and-over tour, the 53-year-old Senior birdied seven of the first 13 holes and closed with five pars in breezy afternoon conditions.
Jay Don Blake and Bill Glasson were tied for second. Blake, coming off a victory three weeks ago in the Boeing Classic, finished with eight straight pars after making six birdies in an eight-hole stretch.
Mark McNulty and Eduardo Romero shot 67, and Charles Schwab Cup leader Tom Lehman was another stroke back along with Duffy Waldorf and Willie Wood.
England’s Bland takes 1-shot lead after 2nd round in Italian Open
FIANO, Italy (AP) — England’s Richard Bland birdied his final three holes for a 6-under 66 on Friday and a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Italian Open.
The 39-year-old Bland, winless in 15 seasons on the European Tour, had a 12-under 132 total at Royal Park I Roveri. France’s Gregory Bourdy (64), Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (65), South Africa’s Garth Mulroy (67) and Scotland’s Marc Warren (65) were tied for second.
The three European Ryder Cup players in the field had solid rounds. Germany’s Martin Kaymer was at 8 under after a 66. Italy’s Francesco Molinari was at 7 under after a 69, and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts was at 6 under after a 67.