Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

Sports World

Vancouver -- Top story

Olympics

Final tickets for winter games

go on sale on Saturday

The final round of ticket sales for the 2010 Winter Olympics begins Saturday.

There are more than 100,000 tickets available for events in Vancouver, such as curling and hockey. They include seats to gold-medal games.

The tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis through the Olympic committee's Web site.

Organizers are also putting the final touches on their ticket resale Web site, which they expect to launch to help people sell tickets they can't use.

Across the nation

Basketball

Clippers to pay settlement

WASHINGTON Los Angeles Clippers owner and real estate mogul Donald Sterling has agreed to pay a record $2.725 million to settle allegations by the government that he allegedly refused to rent apartments to Hispanics, blacks and to families with children, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The Justice Department sued Sterling in August 2006 for allegations of housing discrimination in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles. Other defendants were Sterling's wife, Rochelle, and the Sterling Family Trust.

The defendants allegedly made statements to employees indicating that African-Americans and Hispanics were not desirable tenants.

In addition to the pro basketball Clippers, Sterling owns and manages 119 apartment buildings with more than 5,000 apartment units in Los Angeles County.

"The magnitude of this settlement should send a message to all landlords that we will vigorously pursue violations of the Fair Housing Act," Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, said in a statement.

Football

Goodell, union resume talks

Washington NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tells The Associated Press he'll participate in the latest round of labor negotiations with the players' union.

Goodell says he will be present Wednesday in New York for talks about a new collective bargaining agreement. NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith also is to attend Wednesday's session.

The NFL opted out of the collective bargaining agreement last year, although the contract won't expire until after the 2010 season. That season will not have a salary cap under the current pact, and Smith has said he hopes to have an agreement before then.

The old contract was negotiated in 2006.

Tampa Bay signs Connor Barth

Tampa, Fla. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed Connor Barth and released kicker Shane Andrus.

Barth, a standout at the University of North Carolina, was cut by the Miami Dolphins in August after kicking in 10 games for Kansas City last season. He made 10 of 12 field goals and converted all 24 of his extra-point attempts with the Chiefs.

Andrus signed with Tampa Bay after Mike Nugent struggled early this season. He appeared in three games, going 0-for-1 on field goal attempts while converting six extra points without a miss.

Hockey

NHL buys bankrupt Coyotes

Phoenix Final papers have been signed closing the sale of the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes to the NHL.

Notification of the closure was filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Attorneys signed final papers on Monday and $13.3 million was transferred into an account that will hold the money until dispersal is determined.

In all, the NHL paid about $140 million for the team.

The $13.3 million is what is remaining, primarily for owner Jerry Moyes and ex-coach Wayne Gretzky. The figure is expected to drop when additional attorney fees and other administrative costs are determined.

The NHL plans to resell the team, preferably to an owner that would keep the franchise in Glendale, Ariz.

Spanning the globe

Golf

Irish uphold men-only golf clubs

Dublin A premier Dublin golf club can continue to bar women from membership, the Irish Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a discrimination case inspired by similar protests against men-only clubs in the United States.

In a split 3-2 judgment, Ireland's top court ruled that Portmarnock Golf Club was not violating Ireland's Equal Status Act, because that 2000 anti-discrimination law permits exceptions for exclusively male and female clubs.

The seaside club northeast of Dublin successfully appealed a 2004 Dublin District Court judgment that found Portmarnock in breach of the law - and threatened to withdraw its bar license if it didn't give women equal access to the clubhouse.

The Equality Authority of Ireland pursued the case on behalf of the National Women's Council of Ireland. It filed a 2002 complaint following similar protests against the men-only membership of the Augusta National Golf Club in the U.S. state of Georgia.

But in their majority judgment, the three Irish Supreme Court judges - among them one woman - noted that Ireland's law permits clubs to restrict membership to one sex, if that club's "principal purpose is to cater only for the needs of persons of a particular gender." Those needs included Portmarnock's central purpose of social fraternization, they ruled.

Ireland, a country of 4.2 million, has nearly 1,000 golf courses. Portmarnock is among the most exclusive with about 1,300 members.