National Digest
Golfer charged
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — PGA Tour player Tripp Isenhour faces charges for hitting a hawk with a golf shot because it was making noise as he videotaped a TV show.
Isenhour was with a film crew for “Shoot Like A Pro” on Dec. 12 at the Grand Cypress Golf course. The 39-year-old player, whose real name is John Henry Isenhour III, was charged Wednesday with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines.
Isenhour apologized in a statement and said he was only trying to scare the hawk away.
According to court documents, Isenhour got upset when a red-shouldered hawk began making noise, forcing another take. He began hitting balls at the bird, then 300 yards away, but gave up. Isenhour started again when the hawk moved within about 75 yards, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Brian Baine indicated in a report.
Official exit
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Sitting by himself on an airplane ride up to Green Bay on Thursday morning, Brett Favre struggled to find a sincere and graceful way to say he was finished with football.
In the end, his tears told the story.
“It’s been a great career for me, and it’s over,” Favre said, his voice cracking with emotion during a news conference at Lambeau Field two days after he announced his retirement. “As hard as that is for me to say, it’s over.”
Wearing an untucked collared shirt, blue jeans and several days’ worth of stubble, Favre said he was convinced he could still play on Sundays, but had lost his passion to practice and prepare the way he would need to lead the Packers to another Super Bowl.
Given that fact, he could draw only one conclusion: It was time to hang up his helmet.
“I have way too much pride,” Favre said. “I expect a lot out of myself. And if I cannot do those things 100 percent, then I can’t play.”
After a farewell news conference that lasted just over an hour, Favre put his arm around his tearful wife, Deanna, and left the stage — presumably for good.
He takes with him a Super Bowl victory, virtually every quarterback record worth having and the widespread admiration of his peers and fans.
The 38-year-old Favre also leaves with graying hair and a deliberate gait — signs that the years were quietly taking a toll on the man who was celebrated for playing a serious and precise game with the carefree joy of a little boy.
He cried Thursday as he discussed his decision.
“I promised I wouldn’t get emotional,” he said. But as the tears flowed, he added, “I’ve watched hundreds of players retire and you wonder what that would be like. You think you’re prepared ...”
Favre thanked the Green Bay Packers for letting him play.
“I hope that with every penny they’ve spent on me, they know it was money well spent,” he said. “It wasn’t about the money or fame or records. I hear people talk about your accomplishments and things. It was never my accomplishments, it was our accomplishments.”
Favre is the NFL’s only three-time MVP, and leads the league with 442 touchdown passes, 61,655 yards passing and 160 career victories. He started 253 consecutive regular-season games, more than any other quarterback in history.
GOLF
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Bart Bryant got his bad shots out of the way early and birdied his last two holes for a 6-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead among early starters who were lucky to beat the rain in the PODS Championship.
Bryant was thrilled to twice escape with pars through six holes, and he wasn’t paying that much attention to his card until he realized he was 4 under. Then came birdies on two of the toughest holes at Innisbrook, including a 15-foot putt on the 18th, and he found himself atop the leaderboard.
Ernie Els, coming off a victory in the Honda Classic that ended an 0-for-47 drought on the PGA Tour, was part of the afternoon wave that did not finish the first round because of a 2 1/2-hour storm delay. Els made two straight bogeys when he returned to the course, and finished his day with a birdie at No. 11 to return to even par.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, who has not had full status on the PGA Tour since 2006, made good use of his sponsor’s exemption with five birdies that left him one stroke behind with three holes remaining.
John Daly, another player without a card but no shortage of exemptions, was 3 over through 10 holes and still got the biggest buzz. After ducking into a Hooters hospitality tent during the rain delay, he emerged with Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden as his caddie for the rest of the afternoon. It didn’t help much, as Daly three-putted from the front of the 18th green for another bogey. OLYMPICS
BEIJING (AP) — The completion date for the Beijing Olympics’s marquee venue has been pushed back by a month, a top organizer said, as workers put finishing touches on the stadium that symbolizes China’s ambitions for the games.
Work on the futuristic “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium has been slowed by preparations for the opening and closing ceremonies and it will not be ready until late April, Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, told the China Daily newspaper.
The main structure of the stadium was complete and only finishing touches remained, organizing committee spokesman Sun Weide told The Associated Press.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A No. 2 finish in 2007 helped earn Georgia coach Mark Richt a big raise.
Georgia’s athletic board approved an $800,000 raise for Richt, increasing his annual pay to $2.8 million.
Even after the raise, Richt is only the fifth-highest paid coach in the Southeastern Conference, behind Alabama’s Nick Saban, LSU’s Les Miles, Florida’s Urban Meyer and Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville.
Saban, Miles and Meyer each have won national championships. TENNIS
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Andy Roddick and Jimmy Connors are done working together.
Connors resigned as coach of the sixth-ranked player “about a week ago,” Roddick said after upsetting Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-2 at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Roddick and Connors paired up in July 2006, and within months Roddick reached the U.S. Open final. But they weren’t able to replicate that success at a Grand Slam tournament.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Andy Roddick used his strong serve to upset Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-2 and reach the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, and then announced he has split with coach Jimmy Connors.
Roddick said that Connors resigned about a week ago because he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Also, Nikolay Davydenko edged Andy Murray 7-5, 6-4 to reach the semifinals.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Russia’s Evgeny Korolev upset top-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the Tennis Channel Open quarterfinal.
In another surprise, unseeded American Robby Ginepri beat third-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the final second-round match.
Korolev had a 5-2 lead and a 40-15 advantage in the eighth game of the second set, but the 13th-ranked Gonzalez rallied to win the game, and won the next three as well for a 6-5 lead capped by a shutout victory in the 11th game.
Korolev will face South African qualifier Kevin Anderson, a 7-6 (2), 7-5 winner over American wild-card John Isner. Ginepri will play Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Australian qualifier Peter Luczak.
YACHT RACING
NEW YORK (AP) — Team New Zealand filed two lawsuits against America’s Cup champion Alinghi of Switzerland, seeking compensation for delaying the next regatta.
The Kiwi syndicate filed suit in the New York State Supreme Court under a breach of contract argument since the team signed up for the 33rd edition with the promise that it would be raced in Valencia, Spain, in July 2009.
The other suit was filed in federal court under U.S. antitrust legislation, stating that Alinghi abused its power “to stifle competition” by accepting a Spanish yacht club’s invalid challenge to “gain an unfair competitive advantage.”
