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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

S P O RT S

Baylor opens stadium with 45-0 win over SMU

WACO: Bryce Petty took a bruising shot to his lower Bears really didn’t need that much offense anyway. back on No. 10 Baylor’s first offensive drive in its new SMU’s three quarterbacks were sacked a combined campus since 1935. The Washington Redskins quar- grasp of a defender, tried to throw across the field riverfront stadium. eight times. The Mustangs (0-1) were held to 67 total terback and Baylor’s only Heisman Trophy winner took while running away from another one. He threw into a
The reigning Big 12 offensive player of the year then yards, their fewest since coach June Jones took over in part in the statue dedication more than three hours crowd and was intercepted by Xavien Howard.
Griffin was on hand for the Bears’ first game on again when Matt Davis, after scrambling out of the

moved gingerly at times, often grabbing at his back and 2008, and shut out for the second time in their last three before kickoﬀ and was also on the ﬁeld before the

Petty then had completions of 15 and 13 yards to

game, giving the invocation and taking part in the Jay Lee before his 5-yard TD run made it 31-0. Petty
“What allowed the game to be won tonight, the way opening coin toss with former President George W. got hit again in the side going into the end zone and

side between plays the rest of the ﬁrst half.

games.

Petty still managed to have a big impact in the

impressive debut of McLane Stadium, accounting for we dominated defensively,” Briles said. Jones’ predeces- Bush.

was slow getting up, though he played two more

Baylor led 24-0 after the ﬁrst quarter, including TD series after that.
The Mustangs completed 21 of 39 passes for only
“It’s nothing that serious. Everything’s good,” Petty things to get the ball out quickly but we did not do after Levi Norwood’s 45-yard punt return. Baylor’s ﬁrst 91 yards, also a low for Jones at SMU. The trio of quarinsisted afterward.“I’m already feeling a lot better.” what we needed to do to win,” Jones said. “It’s hard for a short drive came after Bryce Hager forced a fumble terbacks - starter Neal Burcham, Davis and redshirt three touchdowns in a 45-0 victory over SMU on sor at SMU was Phil Bennett, who is in his fourth season

Sunday night. He did not play in the second half.

as Baylor’s defensive coordinator. “We scripted a lot of drives of 6 yards after an SMU fumble and 4 yards

While he missed on a couple of passes he would quarterback to step back and throw anything when he that was recovered by Aiavion Edwards at the freshman Kolney Cassel - had minus-58 yards rushing usually complete, Petty was 13 of 23 for 161 yards and doesn’t have time.” two touchdowns. He also ran for a score that put the Bears (1-0) up 31-0 by halftime.
“He had a couple of throws - he had guys in space and missed them. We knew something was wrong, ed, Petty extended his streak with at least one touch- man KD Cannon, wide open behind the secondary, down I could tell that he was not sure of what he was
Mustangs 6. Shock Linwood scored on a 4-yard run.
SMU then went three-and-out before Linwood’s on 10 carries - including all the sacks.
“I had planned on playing two quarterbacks. I

Dedication

return set up Petty’s 3-yard TD pass to tight end knew it was a limited package for Matt as to what he
On the day a statue of Robert Griﬃn III was dedicat- Tre’von Armstead. Petty threw a 46-yard TD to fresh- wanted to do,” Jones said. “When our protection broke

that’s not Bryce at all,”coach Art Briles said.

down pass to a school-record 14 games, breaking a tie after SMU’s incomplete pass on a fourth-and-13 play.

The way their defense played, the Big 12 champion with Baylor’s only Heisman Trophy winner. doing. He didn’t have a chance. He was ﬁghting,
The Mustangs turned it over in their own territory scrambling trying to get away.”— AP

Lee sorry after another final failure on national day

COPENHAGEN: A crestfallen Lee Chong Wei final without dropping a game, raising hopes and the Malaysian Badminton Association Malaysia’s favoured son would finally deliver a (BAM) were left apologising to the nation major title on the significant day. after their independence day celebrations were soured by the much-loved shuttler’s London Games two years ago, proved too defeat in the world championship final. strong as extended China’s stranglehold of
But the tall Chen, bronze medallist at the
World number one Lee had been tipped the men’s title to seven consecutive champito land his first major title in the absence of onships and leave Malaysia still waiting for a great adversary Lin Dan but it was the double first. Olympic champion’s Chinese compatriot Chen Long who dished out the punishment to end a 37-year drought in the champiin Sunday’s final in Denmark. onships,” BAM deputy president Mohamad
“I am disappointed because we have failed
“I am disappointed with the way I played Norza said. “I sympathize for Chong Wei who today. I guess my fans are also disappointed. I tried his best to win the title.

am sorry. I wanted so much to win it - but

“I would also like to apologise to the peo-

Chen Long was too aggressive,” Lee was quot- ple of Malaysia because we ended up with ed as saying by Malaysian media after the 21- only a runner-up spot on a day when 19 21-19 loss. “I tried ... but he was returning Malaysians celebrated Independence Day.”

all my shots. I tried to break his rhythm and

The 31-year-old Lee, who suﬀered his third

open up the game. I tried to play patiently successive defeat in the world championship but I was making some simple mistakes. He ﬁnal, was already looking ahead to the Sept.

was just unstoppable.”

19-Oct. 4 Asian Games, one of his last chances

Lee came into the event with concerns to end his major title drought.

about a thigh muscle injury which had pre-

The row between his coach Rashid and

vented his Commonwealth Games title the BAM had intensified after the poor defence and was also caught in a row performances by Lee’s understudies at the

between the BAM and his coach.

Commonwealth Games and the body are

Men’s singles coach Rashid Sidek was anxious about finding someone to fill the banned from travelling to Denmark but then void with Lee likely to retire after the 2016 allowed to work with his shuttlers after the Rio Games. “It is a must to find Chong Wei’s country’s sports minister stepped in to broker successor soon. They must be exposed and

BILBAO: United States’s Kenneth Faried, bottom right, ﬁghts for the ball with Turkey’s Sinan Guler, during the Group C Basketball World Cup match, in Bilbao northern Spain, Sunday. The 2014 Basketball World Cup competition take places in various cities in Spain from Aug 30 through Sept 14. — AP

a peace deal.

moulded to take over. We must also con-

It appeared to do the trick as twice tinue our development programmes,”
Olympic runner-up Lee raced through to the Norza said. — Reuters

US down battling Turkey as France edge Serbia

MADRID: A sluggish United States needed a strong spearheaded the Spanish charge with 18 points and
“I know this Serbia team very well because I ﬁnal quarter to overpower Turkey 98-77 in the bas- eight rebounds as the home side never looked back played with some of them at Partizan and improved

ketball World Cup and European champions France after racing to an early 19-2 lead.

immensely there in my last 12 months with the club,”

celebrated a dramatic 74-73 win over dark horses

Guard Rudy Fernandez amassed 14 points and Lauvergne told French daily L’Equipe.

Serbia on Sunday. Hosts Spain overwhelmed Egypt Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol scored 12 91-54 and talented Croatia, looking for their first against the unfancied Egyptians. World Cup medal, sank Argentina 90-85 after their flowing outfit cancelled out a valiant solo effort by happy,”Oklahoma Thunder forward Ibaka told Cuatro be a key player for France.” Indiana Paces forward Luis Scola. television. “The fans gave me a lot of confidence and Indiana Pacers forward Scola carried the
The US looked a pale shadow of the team that support and I now feel ready for the match on Argentines on his broad shoulders with 30 points
“It was the most important free throw of my career for France and it’s a massive win for us after
“I felt good, I really wanted to play and was very the opening defeat to Brazil. I hope that one day I will

mauled Finland 114-55 and trailed 40-35 to the Turks Monday (against Brazil). in Bilbao at halftime after committing a ﬂurry of and nine rebounds but the 2002 tournament runners-up were undone by the depth of Croatia’s roster. turnovers and needless fouls. With the scores tied 59- 59 late in the third quarter, the Americans moved up

Lauvergne haunt

Playmaker Krunoslav Simon scored 18 points,
France forward Joffrey Lauvergne honed his skills Brooklyn Nets new signing Bojan Bogdanovic racked a gear and pulled away in the final 10 minutes with a for 18 months at Serbian champions Partizan up 16 and seven rebounds while American-born series of fast breaks, long-range shots and entertain- Belgrade and he haunted some of his former team guard Olivier Lafayette added 11 and nine assists for ing slam-dunks.
Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried led the with 19 points and six rebounds.
US with 22 points and eight rebounds, Indiana Pacers Serbia conjured an eight-point halftime lead but 81-76, the Dominican Republic stung New Zealand mates, nailing the game-winning free throw to finish the Croatians.
Finland rallied with a 22-2 run to beat Ukraine

COPENHAGEN: China’s Chen Long plays against Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei (not in pic- ture) during the men’s single ﬁnal match at the 2014 BWF Badminton World champi- onships held at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen on Sunday. — AFP

centre Anthony Davis added 19 points and Cleveland their three-pointers dried up in the second half as 22- 76-63 and Brazil strolled to a 79-50 victory over Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving chipped in with 13 and year old Lauvergne, who moved to Russian side Iran ahead of their mouth-watering clash with

ﬁve assists. Congolese-born forward Serge Ibaka Khimki in June, dominated at both ends of the court.

Spain. — Reuters

McCabe’s triple neck-break sparks prevention call

SYDNEY: Experts have warned rugby players not to rely

“Physical preparation of players is paramount and the tackle above the shoulder penalised, so it becomes an mental or acquired, but for whatever reason, the presence

on neck-braces to stop spinal injuries but to focus on pre- responsibility of all players. Strengthening the neck muscu- anatomical fact rather than an interpretation by the refer- of a narrower canal signiﬁcantly inﬂuences the risk of vention as concerns grow over increasingly heavy colli- lature is the single best preventative measure as there is ee. “Players should also be coached in the correct tech- injury,”he said.

sions following the three neck fractures suﬀered by nothing else that can provide the stability to withstand the nique, not just to avoid making high tackles, but to ensure

Milburn added that the risk of re-injury to the cervical

their head is behind the player in a tackle, not in front,” he spine was reported to increase by 17.2 percent following
“Neck braces are not eﬀective and may give the player a said. Milburn said in McCabe’s case his research involving an initial injury, and the twice-injured player had an 87 per-

Australia’s Pat McCabe.

loads on the neck,”Milburn said.

The Wallabies centre ended his career last week after suﬀering his third neck-break in the Wallabies’ Test against false sense of security and, in fact, increase their risk if they retired players found a high incidence of cervical spine cent chance of being hurt again. the All Blacks, an incident which underlined safety worries know their neck is vulnerable.” as players get ever bigger, faster and stronger.

degeneration in the form of narrowing of the spinal canal.

“This places a player like Pat McCabe at a much higher

He said the laws of the game should be applied and any

“The question is whether this is congenital, develop- risk of injury following his initial diagnosis,”he said.

“It’s shattering thinking I’ll never play for the Wallabies or the Brumbies again,”McCabe said.
“But it wasn’t a particularly hard decision in the end. I’m lucky to be able to walk away from the game after three serious injuries intact. It’s a blessing.”
The 26-year-old’s retirement comes after Newcastle
Knights forward Alex McKinnon suﬀered a severe spinal injury in a spear tackle during a National Rugby League game in March, leaving him wheelchair-bound.
Rugby union’s blackest day came at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, when Ivory Coast winger Max Brito was paralysed below the neck after a ruck collapsed on top of him in a match against Tonga.
And as professional rugby players grow in size and athleticism, especially among the backs, experts say more can be done to minimise the risks.
Welsh winger George North, All Blacks centre Ma’a
Nonu and Wallaby fullback Israel Folau are examples of hulking modern-day backs, tipping the scales around 105 kilos (16.5 stone) and capable of incredible acceleration.
North, who stands six foot four inches (1.94 metres) tall and weighs 109 kilos, has been timed running 40 metres in less than ﬁve seconds.

Jarring knock

McCabe, who played 24 Tests, first fractured his neck in
2012 on the Wallabies European tour and hurt it again against the British and Irish Lions last year which ruled him out for the season.
He then suffered a jarring knock in Australia’s 51-20 loss to the All Blacks at Auckland’s Eden Park in August, which was later diagnosed as a third break to his C1 vertebrae.
Andrew McIntosh, from the Federation University in
Ballarat, Victoria, has undertaken biomechanical research of neck injuries in rugby union and other football codes.
He said while rugby had done much to reduce the incidence of spinal injury, current protective equipment was not effective in reducing serious neck injuries.
“Through the scrum laws, policing the tackle (high tackles and spear tackles) the incidence of serious and catastrophic neck injury had been reduced. However, it is challenging to prevent all forms of spinal injury in a contact sport,”McIntosh told AFP.
“Programmes, like the Australian Rugby Union’s
SmartRugby, through which coaches and match officials are trained on safety practice, have been shown to be effective in reducing spinal injury,”he added.
McIntosh said preventive measures such as policing tackles and improving tackling skills, reducing accidental hits and identifying players at risk, were more effective than using protection like neck braces.
Rugby’s injuries debate mirrors similar situations in other sports such as American football, where concern over the effects of concussion is growing.

False sense of security

Peter Milburn, head of the School of Allied Health
Sciences at Griﬃth University on Australia’s Gold Coast, played, coached and refereed in rugby union, and among his primary research interests is player welfare and injury prevention. He told AFP that sports bodies could do more to protect players, for instance by strengthening their necks or outlawing tackles above the shoulder.
“At present, and in the foreseeable future, it will be unlikely that personal protective equipment (PPE) can be used to prevent this type of spinal injury,”he said.
“One reason is that players need to have mobility.
Another reason is that fractures often happen earlier in an impact event, that is before PPE such as a neck brace would function.”— AFP

BRISBANE: A file photo taken on June 22, 2013 shows Australian Wallaby player Pat McCabe (bottom) tackling British and Irish Lions player Adam Jones (top) during the first Test match in Brisbane. Experts have warned rugby players not to rely on neck-braces to stop spinal injuries but to focus on prevention as concerns grow over increasingly heavy colli- sions following the three neck fractures suffered by Australia’s Pat McCabe. — AFP