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MLB
sets tighter security for spring training
NEW
YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that
it will implement new security measures for spring training.
Fans
will be prohibited from bringing coolers, backpacks and large bags
into games.
Smaller
bags will be inspected. Only authorized cars will be allowed within
100 feet of stadiums.
“In
our continuing effort to make the ballpark experience safe and enjoyable
for fans and players, we must maintain a new level of security awareness
and an aggressive security posture at all spring training facilities,”
said Sandy Alderson, the executive vice president for baseball operations
in the commissioner’s office.
Houston
Texans passing on players over the age of 30
HOUSTON
(AP) — The Houston Texans won't say which players they plan
to select in Monday's NFL expansion draft. They are going to bypass
at least one group, however.
“Any
player over 30, we've eliminated from our thinking,” general
manager Charley Casserly said Wednesday. “We are assuming contracts
in the draft, so that’s where age comes in.
“You
look at players you think can play out their contracts and if they
can, we put them on a list to take.”
That
would eliminate 43 of the 155 players in the pool of players unprotected
by the existing 31 NFL teams.
The
Texans also expect to go for quality over quantity — Casserly
said they probably will draft 15-to-25 players instead of the 30-to-42
they're allowed to take.
Under
expansion rules, the Texans must take at least 30 players from the
pool, or a smaller group if the salaries of the players it takes
add up to 38 percent of the league's salary cap of nearly $72 million
— about $27.3 million.
But
the age limit seems arbitrary — restricted to players who are
30 or over on Monday, when the draft takes place. Jacksonville offensive
tackle Tony Boselli, who could be the Texans' first pick, will be
two months’ short of the mark — he turns 30 on April 17.
Neither
Casserly nor coach Dom Capers would discuss specific players Wednesday,
although
there is really little intrigue with one team drafting. Many of
the existing teams hope Houston accepts the large salaries they’re
trying to dump.
Quarterbacks
Jeff Blake of New Orleans and Chris Chandler of Atlanta didn't make
the 30-year-old cut, nor did New York Giants linebacker Jesse Armstead,
who has been in five straight Pro Bowls.
Gov.
Perry asks to deny Tyson’s fight application
AUSTIN
(AP) — Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday asked the chairman of the
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to deny boxer Mike
Tyson’s application to fight in Texas.
“Since
Mr. Tyson has criminal charges pending against him for violence
against women, recently sparked a brawl at a pre-fight news conference,
has refused to submit to required drug tests in other states and
has had boxing licenses revoked and refused in the past, I ask that
his request to fight in Texas be denied,” Perry wrote in a
letter to Chairman William Fowler.
Tyson
has applied for a license to box in Texas in order to fight Lennox
Lewis.
The
two were scheduled to fight a heavyweight title bout April 6 in
Las Vegas but the Nevada State Athletic Commission rejected Tyson’s
license application a week after a melee at a news conference in
New York.
In
his letter, Perry said Texas supports the world’s best amateur,
college and professional sporting events, but said it would be best
not to subject Texas families and fans to a Tyson fight given the
boxer’s “bad behavior and unresolved criminal charges.”
If
a license is granted, the Houston Astrodome, the Alamodome in San
Antonio and the new American Airlines Center in Dallas are considered
likely options for a Tyson-Lewis fight in Texas. Texas Motor Speedway
in Fort Worth announced Monday it would not bid for the fight.
Calls
to the Department of Licensing and Regulation were not immediately
returned.
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