Sports - The Salt Lake Tribune

NBA playoffs: Pacers steal Game 2 from Heat, 97-93

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:58:41 MDT

NBA playoffs: Pacers steal Game 2 from Heat, 97-93

by Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

Published May 24, 2013 09:58PM MDT

Miami • David West’s right hand helped the Indiana Pacers grab home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference finals. Roy Hibbert scored 29 points, West knocked away two passes by LeBron James for huge turnovers in the final minute, and the Pacers evened the East title series with a 97-93 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the series on Friday night. Paul George scored 22 points, George Hill added 18 and West finished with 13 for the Pacers, who handed the Heat just their fourth loss in th...

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NHL playoffs: Penguins rout Senators to advance to Eastern Conference finals

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:49:02 MDT

NHL playoffs: Penguins rout Senators to advance to Eastern Conference finals

by Will Graves The Associated Press

Published May 24, 2013 09:49PM MDT

Pittsburgh • The Pittsburgh Penguins expected desperation. Instead, the listless Ottawa Senators offered little more than resignation. Swarming the Senators from the opening faceoff, Pittsburgh roared to a 6-2 victory Friday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to take the best-of-seven series 4-1. James Neal picked up his first postseason hat trick as the Penguins capped a five-game onslaught against one of the NHL’s best defensive teams to stroll into the conference finals. Pit...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MLS: RSL ready to douse the Chicago Fire

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:32:49 MDT

MLS: RSL ready to douse the Chicago Fire

by Aaron Falk The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 08:32PM MDT

At times, Real Salt Lake has been known to let down its guard. With Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and others out of the lineup for the L.A. Galaxy earlier this year, an RSL letdown allowed two early goals in a disappointing home loss. So going into last-place Chivas last weekend, RSL defender Tony Beltran said he and his teammates were focused on “getting up and not taking them too lightly.” The same could be said this week as the Chicago Fire come to Rio Tinto Stadium. The Fire sit in the Easter...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen now a playoff force for Miami Heat

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:50:01 MDT

Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen now a playoff force for Miami Heat

by Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

Published May 24, 2013 07:50PM MDT

Miami • When Chris Andersen does something particularly impressive for the Miami Heat, a heavy metal guitar riff blares through their arena. Some children have shown up for games with replicas of his tattoos drawn upon their bodies. Others have gotten their hair gelled and shaped to match his Mohawk ‘do. His style is unmistakable. His numbers are pretty eye-catching as well. With a career that once looked like it would be inevitably cut short by his own mistakes, and in a season that started wit...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sports briefs: Gay player Robbie Rogers to join L.A. Galaxy

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:31:03 MDT

Sports briefs: Gay player Robbie Rogers to join L.A. Galaxy

Published May 24, 2013 07:31PM MDT

Robbie Rogers is expected to join the Los Angeles Galaxy and become the first openly gay player on a major men’s professional team in North America. The Galaxy are expected to introduce Rogers, 26, as a member of the Major League Soccer team at a news conference Saturday. Rogers announced that he was gay in February, when he also announced his retirement from soccer. Rogers played in MLS with the Columbus Crew before moving in 2011 to England. Jason Collins, the NBA player who announced that he ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NBA playoffs: Grizzlies ready to ‘believe’ vs. Spurs

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:09:03 MDT

NBA playoffs: Grizzlies ready to ‘believe’ vs. Spurs

by Teresa M. Walker The Associated Press

Published May 24, 2013 07:09PM MDT

Memphis, Tenn. • The towels are showing up all around Memphis. They hang over neighborhood signs and even at a door to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The sentiment? Believe Memphis. The Grizzlies certainly do. Yes, they are down 0-2 to San Antonio in their first Western Conference final, but they take heart in knowing they dug themselves out of an 0-2 hole in the first round against the Clippers. No NBA team has won separate series in the same postseason after losing the first two games....

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4A baseball: Huge deficit fails to deter Maple Mountain

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:50:23 MDT

4A baseball: Huge deficit fails to deter Maple Mountain

by Kyle Goon The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 06:50PM MDT

Orem • It wasn’t much use calling in the Maple Mountain baseball team. The Golden Eagles’ season just had ended in a bitterly disappointing 14-10 loss Friday. As their coaches yelled across the field for them to come accept the Class 4A state runner-up trophy, they didn’t move from their huddle in shallow left field. They just were savoring a few more moments together, as a team, even if it was a moment of defeat. “It’s kind of hard to know I might not see these guys again,” senior K.J. Hall sai...

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4A baseball: Salem Hills secures state title (with video)

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:50:23 MDT

4A baseball: Salem Hills secures state title (with video)

by Aaron Falk The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 06:50PM MDT

Orem • It was a bittersweet moment for Scott Haney as he chatted with his players while they took one last batting practice on the Salem Hills field Friday morning. Haney knew months ago that the Skyhawks’ 10 seniors had talent. “We started in August and said, ‘We know we’ve got the skill level,” the baseball coach recalled, “but if you come together and are unified, then special things are going to happen.’ ” In the end, it was around their coach that the Skyhawks coalesced. Haney never had won...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Arena football: Blaze’s defense starting to assert itself

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:21:02 MDT

Arena football: Blaze’s defense starting to assert itself

by Christopher Kamrani The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 04:21PM MDT

As the Blaze offense continues to work out the kinks, it’s been the defense that has kept the team afloat. In fact, it’s been the defense that has dominated offenses over the course of the last four games. Nineteen turnovers. Eight turnovers on downs. The Utah defense, after being torched early on in the season, has finally figured it out. “I felt we’ve had that ability,” said Blaze coach Ron James. “If we can get the offense on track on the way it was last year, those landslide wins can return....

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Coca-Cola 600: Defending champ Keselowski tries to build on title

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:05:02 MDT

Coca-Cola 600: Defending champ Keselowski tries to build on title

by Pete Iacobelli The Associated Press

Published May 24, 2013 04:05PM MDT

Concord, N.C. • Defending series champion Brad Keselowski believes he’s still the fastest in Sprint Cup, even if his results four months into the season don’t bear that out. Keselowski is winless and seventh in points heading into the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night. He opened the season with four straight top-four finishes and seven top 10s in the first eight races. Recently, he’s struggled to stay near the top with a 33rd -place finish at Richmond, an 11th at Talladeg...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Indiana’s Carpenter on pole for Indy 500

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:01:02 MDT

Indiana’s Carpenter on pole for Indy 500

by Dave Skretta The Associated Press

Published May 24, 2013 04:01PM MDT

Indianapolis • He’s the hometown hope, the Butler University alum and die-hard Indiana Pacers fan who has put his modest, one-car program on the pole for the Indianapolis 500 ahead of powerhouse programs from Penske Racing and Andretti Autosport. There’s more, though, and it runs as deep as blood. The unflappable Ed Carpenter is also the stepson of series founder Tony George. That means his family tree has roots tracing all the way back to Tony Hulman, who bought Indianapolis Motor Speedway afte...

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Kragthorpe: Bingham adds to impressive tradition

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:39:53 MDT

Kragthorpe: Bingham adds to impressive tradition

by Kurt Kragthorpe Tribune Columnist

Published May 24, 2013 03:39PM MDT

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

5A baseball: Bingham outlasts Layton for title (with video)

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:39:16 MDT

5A baseball: Bingham outlasts Layton for title (with video)

by Christopher Kamrani The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 03:39PM MDT

Orem • Bending each side of his blue Bingham baseball cap, Joey Sato took a very deep breath and instructed his Miners, celebrating the school’s 21st state championship, to move the hooting and hollering off the mound. It was a long, wild and wacky game that delivered Bingham the Class 5A baseball state championship, a back-and-forth, error-filled extravaganza that the Miners eventually won 6-5 over a gritty group of Layton Lancers. “They knew the task,” Sato said. “I wanted them to have good, q...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Kragthorpe: SLCC softball keeps coming close

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:39:16 MDT

Kragthorpe: SLCC softball keeps coming close

by Kurt Kragthorpe Tribune Columnist

Published May 24, 2013 03:39PM MDT

Nobody’s sure how to greet Mary Kay Amicone these days, after her Salt Lake Community College softball team finished second in the NJCAA tournament for the third year in a row. Congratulations? Condolences? Consolation? She’ll accept any combination of those expressions. Amicone realizes how difficult it is to reach the finals every year, with a revolving group of sophomores bouncing back and doing whatever it took to get there again. But losing hurts, obviously. The pain extends through a suppo...

AP source: FIFA task force seeks 5-game racism ban

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:16:17 MDT

AP source: FIFA task force seeks 5-game racism ban

by Rob Harris The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 03:16PM MDT

London • FIFA’s new anti-racism task force will ask soccer’s governing body next week to approve a mandatory five-match minimum ban for any player found guilty of racist abuse, a person with knowledge of the situation said Friday. The anti-racism task force is to report to the FIFA Congress in Mauritius next week, aiming for FIFA to introduce the mandatory ban in all 209 member nations. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss th...

French Open: Unlike injured Nadal, Federer has stayed healthy

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:08:22 MDT

French Open: Unlike injured Nadal, Federer has stayed healthy

by Howard Fendrich The Associated Press

Published May 24, 2013 03:08PM MDT

Paris • Perhaps not surprisingly, the first three questions posed to Roger Federer at his pre-French Open news conference Friday concerned rival and nemesis Rafael Nadal. The third was about the difficulties of making a successful return from injury, the way Nadal has, reaching the final at all eight tournaments he’s played in 2013 after going more than half a year between matches. Federer shrugged and replied simply: “I don’t know. I have never been out for seven months.” No, he hasn’t. Federer...

4A boys’ soccer: Bountiful powers past Orem for title (with video)

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:39:21 MDT

4A boys’ soccer: Bountiful powers past Orem for title (with video)

by Christopher Kamrani The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 02:39PM MDT

Sandy • The lights didn’t come at Rio Tinto Stadium on Thursday evening. They didn’t need to. They didn’t need to because the Bountiful Braves played their best game of the season when it mattered most. In the Class 4A state title game, Bountiful’s impressive and rare conglomerate of players and styles melded together in a 2-0 win over Orem. The lights stayed off, and once the clock ran dry, the Braves, clad in all black, sprinted to the south goal and mobbed under a nearly full moon. “This was ...

5A boys’ soccer: Lehi blanks Bingham for state title (with video)

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:12:43 MDT

5A boys’ soccer: Lehi blanks Bingham for state title (with video)

by Christopher Kamrani The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 12:12PM MDT

Sandy • Purple streamers tumbled around the grass at Rio Tinto Stadium. Some caught onto the heels of players. Others, blowing in the wind, wrapped around the Pioneer players dancing and screaming and laughing. The accomplishment, a Class 5A boys’ soccer state championship for Lehi and its 2-0 win over Region 4 rival Bingham on Thursday evening, was dwarfed by an entire season. Jerry Preisendorf used one word to describe this year’s team, the team that ended up waving flags in the air and spra...

Cyclist tests positive for EPO, risks life ban

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:57:02 MDT

Cyclist tests positive for EPO, risks life ban

by Andrew Dampf Ap Sports Writer

Published May 24, 2013 11:57AM MDT

Rome • Cycling’s first major race since the end of the Lance Armstrong case was rattled by another high-profile positive doping test Friday. Former Giro d’Italia winner Danilo Di Luca tested positive for EPO in a surprise check at his home before this year’s race, organizers said. If confirmed in a backup “B’’ sample, Di Luca risks a lifetime ban since this is his third offense. “I wasn’t expecting this. It was a surprise for me. I’m disappointed,” Di Luca said upon leaving his team’s hotel in n...