College Basketball
Time set for Fort Lewis at Wyoming exhibition
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The start times for Wyoming football and men’s basketball games Nov. 7 in Laramie have been set.
The Colorado State-Wyoming football game will kick off at 11 a.m. in Laramie.
The Mountain West Conference game will be televised on ESPN3.
With the football game start time set, the Cowboys men’s basketball team will open it season at 5 p.m. the same day when it hosts Fort Lewis College in the Arena-Auditorium.
College Football
Minnesota coach Kill retires because of health reasons
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill retired because of health reasons.
Kill made the surprise announcement Wednesday morning, one day after missing a scheduled meeting with the media. Kill has epilepsy and had to take a leave of absence from the team in 2013 while dealing with seizures.
Kill was 156-102 in coaching career and 29-29 at Minnesota.
Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys, who has worked with Kill for the last 21 years, was named interim head coach.
The Golden Gophers will host Michigan on Saturday night.
Horse Racing
Fond farewell awaits Pharoah after Breeders’
LEXINGTON, Ky. – In a few days, there will be a vacant stall in Bob Baffert’s barn and an empty space in the hearts of the trainer and the owner of American Pharoah.
The 3-year-old colt will bid farewell to racing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic this weekend, ending a memorable journey that included him winning the sport’s first Triple Crown in 37 years.
No longer will Baffert’s wife, Jill, and owner Ahmed Zayat be checking their smartphones in the wee hours of the morning to see what’s going on via the camera in American Pharoah’s stall.
No need to stash his favorite snack of peeled baby carrots in their pockets anymore. Their gushing, endless discussions about every little shake of the colt’s head or whinny or even him peeing will be just memories.
“For us, it’s a horse of a lifetime, once in a lifetime,” Zayat said. “The thing I’m most proud of is he excited all of us, all of his fans, the sport. Forever I’ll be indebted for how he changed all our lives hopefully for the better.”
Baffert said, “I feel fortunate that I’m the one that had him.”
Soccer
FIFA accepts 7 in presidential race, including Platini
GENEVA – Seven men are in the running to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president, with Michel Platini’s candidature accepted but pending because of his suspension from soccer.
FIFA published the list of valid applications “proposed in due time and form” Wednesday. It did not include former Trinidad and Tobago player David Nakhid, who did not have the five required nominations.
The seven candidates for the Feb. 26 election are: Platini, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, Gianni Infantino, Tokyo Sexwale, Musa Bility, Jerome Champagne and Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa.
FIFA’s three-man election panel, led by audit committee chairman Domenico Scala, will announce next month which of the seven candidates have been officially accepted after integrity checks by the FIFA ethics committee.
Three of the candidates are from Europe, two are from Africa and two from Asia.
The Confederation of African Football declined to endorse either South African Sexwale or Bility of Liberia after four days of meetings ended Wednesday in Cairo.
Associated Press
