“DEVIL INCARNATE” SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS IN PRISON
ENGLAND» A former English LIVERPOOL, youth soccer coach was jailed Monday for 30 years for abusing 12 players after the judge called him the “devil incarnate.”
Barry Bennell, a former coach at Crewe and scout for Manchester City, was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court of 50 child sexual offenses committed between
1979 and 1991.
“Your behavior toward these boys in grooming and seducing them before subjecting them to, in some cases, the most serious, degrading and humiliating abuse was sheer evil,” Judge Clement Goldstone told the 64-year-old Bennell.
Bennell looked at the floor and nodded as the judge sentenced him. Some members of the public began to applaud as he was sent down, but were stopped by the judge.
Goldstone said Bennell had appeared to his victims as a God.
“In reality, you were the devil incarnate,” the judge added. “You stole their childhoods and their innocence to satisfy your own perversion.”
Radwanska upset in first round.
Former champion Agnieszka Radwanska lost in the first round of the Dubai Championships for the first time in nine years.
Daria Kasatkina of Russia beat Radwanska 7-5, 6-4 in two hours.
• World No. 3 Marin Cilic of Croatia won his debut at the Rio Open. The tournament’s top seed beat Argentinian Carlos Berlocq 6-3, 6-2.
Fourth-seeded Albert Ramos Vinolas of Spain overcame Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva in three sets: 6-3, 3-6 and 6-4.
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco also needed three sets to win. He qualified for the ATP 500 round of 16 with a 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer.
Grand performance in baseball.
Santa Clara baseball player Jake Brodt belted two grand slams in the seventh inning and finished the game with three homers and 10 RBIs in Santa Clara’s 20-9 victory over Boston College on Saturday.
Brodt became the seventh Division I player to hit two grand slams in an inning since 1957, which is as far back as the NCAA baseball records go. He was the first person to accomplish that feat since 2000.
• Notre Dame pulled off a surprising season-opening series triumph at LSU, beating the 2017 College World Series runner-up Tigers 11-3 on Sunday as Eric Gilgenbach hit a grand slam and a three-run homer.
Freshman Cole Kmet made his college baseball debut Saturday and threw four innings of shutout relief in a 10-5 victory for the Irish.
Notre Dame bounced back to win the series after blowing a six-run lead Friday in a 7-6 loss.
• Stanford and Southern Mississippi delivered impressive openingweekend performances by sweeping the teams that knocked them out of NCAA regionals last season.
Southern Mississippi never trailed in its three-game series with Mississippi State and outscored the Bulldogs 23-6 over the weekend.
Stanford won three straight games from Cal State Fullerton for its first season-opening sweep since 2012.
• UC Irvine coach Mike Gillespie announced that he will retire at the end of the season.
Gillespie owns a career record of 1,124-696-2, including a 2-1 mark so far this season. He won a national title at Southern California in 1998.
• Utah began its season without coach Bill Kinneberg. The Pac-12 school’s athletic department suspended Kinneberg for the first 14 games of the season because of an NCAA rules violation involving a former staff member.
Arsenal gets lucrative deal.
LONDON» Arsenal landed a five-year extension of its jersey sponsorship with Emirates airline worth more than $280 million.