Badgers' concussed Ball won't start camp:
Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema says star running back Montee Ball won't be ready for camp after suffering a concussion during a street fight. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Bielema said during a taping of a show at WISC-TV studios in Madison on Thursday that Ball won't be ready when practice begins Monday. The Badgers open the season at home Sept. 1 against Northern Iowa. Bielema gave no indication Ball would suffer any long-term problems. He said Ball's absence will spare last year's Heisman Trophy finalist hits and give other backs more repetitions. Police said five men knocked Ball down as he was walking near campus early Wednesday. The men kicked him in the head and chest before fleeing.
-- Despite its lopsided loss to Alabama in last January's BCS national title game, LSU will open the 2012 season ranked No. 1 in at least one poll. LSU sits atop the USA Today Top 25 coaches poll released Thursday, with Alabama second and Southern California third.
Young looks for deal in hate-crime case:
Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young is trying to work out a deal with prosecutors in New York in his hate-crime harassment case, his lawyer said Thursday. Young appeared briefly in a Manhattan court Thursday for an update on the misdemeanor case. He's accused of yelling anti-Jewish epithets at a group of tourists, tussling with them and tackling one to the ground in April, when the Tigers were in town to play the New York Yankees. His lawyer, Daniel J. Ollen, said after court that he and prosecutors are discussing a potential 'disposition that's acceptable to both parties.' The Manhattan district attorney's office said only that prosecutors aren't making an offer at the moment. The 26-year-old Young was standing outside the team hotel in New York when a panhandler, wearing a yarmulke and a Star of David necklace, approached a group of about four Chicago tourists standing nearby, police said. Young started yelling anti-Semitic epithets, though it wasn't clear at whom he was shouting, and got into a scuffle with the Chicago group, police said. Major League Baseball suspended Young for seven days without pay after the confrontation. Young is free on $5,000 bond and due back in court Nov. 7.
Cleveland Browns sale gets closer:
Here's one to make Cleveland fans shake their heads: A partial owner of the hated Pittsburgh Steelers is buying the Browns. A person with knowledge of the sale told The Associated Press on Thursday that Browns owner Randy Lerner has reached a deal to sell the team to Tennessee truck-stop magnate Jimmy Haslam III -- a minority stockholder in the rival Steelers. While the papers have been signed, the NFL still must approve the sale. Approval from 24 of the 32 teams is required, and no date has been set for a vote because the sale has not been presented to the league yet. The person said approval is expected by the end of September.
Etc.:
A sampling of the treasure trove that had been untouched for 100 years in an Ohio attic was sold during the National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore. The 37 baseball cards featuring the likes of Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Cy Young and Honus Wagner fetched $566,132 in brisk online and live bidding. They were expected to bring about $500,000.
-- Former NBA guard and Kentucky assistant coach Rod Strickland was arrested near the Kentucky campus in Lexington, Ky., and charged with driving on a DUI suspended license.
-- Ohio State running back Bri'onte Dunn, a 19-year-old incoming freshman, has pleaded innocent to a disorderly conduct charge after a weekend arrest in Alliance, Ohio, resulted in police finding marijuana in the car he was driving.
-- Nearly a year after promising to impose harsher sanctions on the most egregious rule-breakers, NCAA leaders in Indianapolis endorsed a proposal Thursday that would make schools subject to the same crippling penalties just handed to Penn State. The measure includes postseason bans of up to four years, fines that could stretch into the millions and suspensions for head coaches. A final vote on the sweeping overhaul will not occur before the board of directors' October meeting.
-- Cpl. Royce Denny, an Arkansas State Police trooper who found a gun and marijuana during a traffic stop of then-Arkansas State running back Michael Dyer has been fired.
-- Chicago Rush wide receiver Reggie Gray and center Billy Eisenhardt were selected to the Arena Football League's second-team all-arena offense.
-- The Chicago Wolves have signed forward Nathan Longpre.
