Press Box: Sports Recap
AUTO RACING: Josef Newgarden had the fastest car in the final full practice for the Indianapolis 500. Less than 24 hours after earning the No. 2 starting spot for Sunday’s race, Newgarden posted the best lap in the second-to-last practice at 227.414 mph. Target Chip Ganassi teammates Tony Kanaan and defending series champion Scott Dixon were second and third. Pole
winner James Hinchcliffe was 17th. COLLEGES: Pittsburgh RB James Conner says he is cancer-free six months after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. Conner was the ACC Player of the Year in 2014, then tore a ligament in his right knee in the first game last season. Doctors discovered tumors on Conner’s chest and neck at Thanksgiving, and he started chemotherapy in December . ... Boston College WR Troy Flutie, the nephew of former Eagles QB
Doug Flutie, was suspended from the team after police charged him with operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor . ... Liberty F Evan Maxwell will transfer to Kansas. The 6-foot-10 Maxwell averaged 10 points and 4.8 rebounds last season.
HORSE RACING: Two days after the first loss of his career, Kentucky Derby winner
Nyquist has developed a slight fever, leaving plans temporarily on hold for a rematch with Preakness winner Exaggerator in the Belmont Stakes. Nyquist had been scheduled to be shipped to Belmont Park on Monday morning.
NFL: League officials improperly sought to influence a government study on the link between football and brain disease, according to a senior House Democrat. New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone said the league tried to strong-arm the National Institutes of Health into taking the project away from a researcher the NFL feared was biased. The league had agreed to donate $30 million to the NIH to fund brain research but backed out after the institutes refused to take a $16 million grant away from Boston University researcher Robert Stern. The NFL denied Pallone’s findings . ... Jaguars DE Jonathan
Woodard, a seventh-round pick from Central Arkansas, tore his right Achilles tendon during workouts two weeks ago and had surgery. He likely will miss his rookie season.
■ SOCCER: Louis van Gaal was fired by Manchester United after months of uncertainty, and United is set to make Jose Mourinho its third manager in the three years since Alex Ferguson’s trophy-laden 26year dynasty ended. The 20-time English champions said their “decision on a successor as manager will be announced soon” while giving no names . ... FIFA fired finance director and interim secretary general
Markus Kattner after an internal investigation revealed he got irregular bonus payments worth millions of dollars . ... Luis Suarez is expected to travel to the United States to join Uruguay’s national team for the Copa America but could miss the start of the tournament with a hamstring injury.
■ ALSO: John Brophy, who coached the Maple Leafs from 1986-89, died after a lengthy illness. He was 83 . ... Sandor Tarics, a water polo gold medalist for Hungary at the 1936 Berlin Games who was the oldest living Olympic champion, died Saturday in San Francisco. He was 102 . ... Slovenian mountain biker Blaza Klemencic received a two-year ban for doping and had her results from the 2012 London Olympics wiped out. The International Cycling Union announced that Klemencic tested positive for EPO in a retest of a sample given in March 2012.