IN BRIEF
SCULLY’S LAST CALL: REGULAR-SEASON FINALE
Vin Scully says the last ballgame he will broadcast is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ regular-season finale — regardless of whether they reach the playoffs. The 88-yearold announcer tells the Los Ange
les Times that his Hall of Fame career will end Oct. 2 in San Francisco. Scully had already said this would be his final season in the booth after 67 years but until Tuesday had not announced whether he planned to call any potential postseason games on radio. Scully says if he stayed on the air, he would be “saying goodbye like in grand opera, where you say goodbye 12 different times.” His decision was not a surprise to the team, Dodgers spokesman Joe Jareck says. Scully switched from TV to radio in recent years during the playoffs, when national broadcasters have exclusive TV rights. Not this time. “I’m going to say goodbye at Dodger Stadium the last game with Colorado. I will say goodbye in San Francisco. And then that will be it,” he tells the Times.
UNC FOOTBALL PLAYER ACCUSED OF ASSAULT
A University of North Carolina student came forward Tuesday and accused a Tar Heels football player of sexual assault, a move she said was necessary after inaction by police, prosecutors and the university. “My life has changed forever,” sophomore De
laney Robinson said in a news conference. “I see him every day on campus. ... It’s distracting, hard to get my schoolwork done. ... There won’t be a cultural change without individuals stepping up. A university isn’t going to feel the pressure to make a concrete change unless there are people pressing them to do so.” North Carolina football coach
Larry Fedora issued a statement identifying the player as Al
len Artis, a 21-year-old junior linebacker from Marietta, Ga., and said the program was aware of the charges but could not comment on the allegation or investigative process. A magistrate issued an arrest warrant Tuesday that accuses Artis of two misdemeanors — sexual battery and assault — both against Robinson. The warrant says Artis had sex with her while she was “mentally incapacitated and physically helpless.” Artis is suspended from the football team indefinitely per UNC’s athletics department policy that states any player charged with a misdemeanor can only be reinstated after approval by Fedora, athletics director Bubba
Cunningham and university officials. USA TODAY Sports does not usually identify accusers in rape cases, but Robinson has made the allegations public. Robinson is pursuing charges as an individual citizen without the involvement of law enforcement or prosecutors. North Carolina is one of a handful of states that allows citizens to pursue charges individually in such cases. A magistrate decides if there’s probable cause to issue an arrest warrant. Robinson directs much of the blame on how her allegations were handled at the UNC Department of Public Safety along with the school’s Title IX office. Jim
Woodall, the district attorney for Orange and Chatham counties, told USA TODAY Sports that the investigation remained active in his office and at UNC. HS PA ANNOUNCER RESIGNS An Alabama high school PA announcer has resigned but said his remarks about those who choose not to stand for the national anthem were misquoted. McKenzie High announcer Pastor Allen
Joyner said he did not want his decision to be taken as an admission of “being wrong ” but rather that he was choosing not to put his family, his church and the school under further scrutiny. In a lengthy email that Joyner sent to Butler County schools Superintendent Amy Bryan on Monday and reprinted by The
Greenville Advocate, Joyner said, “I never said anybody should be shot. My words were, ‘If you don’t want to stand for the national anthem, please go sit at the baseball field and let some of our folks take a shot at reminding you of the price our military paid for your freedom to sit.’ I never advocated violence of any kind. … Just an opportunity to educate.”
RAMS WILL STICK WITH KEENUM AS STARTER Even after being shut out by the San Francisco 49ers, the Los Angeles Rams aren’t expecting to make a change at quarterback. Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Tuesday that Case Keenum would remain the starting quarterback and that he wouldn’t have wanted to bench Keenum even if No. 1 overall draft pick Jared
Goff had been active for the 28-0
loss Monday. “I just wanted Case to finish it. ... I would have done the same had Jared been (No.) 2,” Fisher told reporters after the game. “I would have let Case finish it. This doesn’t change anything as far as quarterback is concerned.” Keenum completed 17 of 35 passes for 130 yards with two interceptions.
NBA SUSPENDS THUNDER FORWARD MCGARY AGAIN
Oklahoma City Thunder forward
Mitch McGary has earned his second suspension of the 2016-17 season for violating the terms of the NBA/National Basketball Players Association anti-drug program, the league announced Tuesday. McGary, who was initially suspended for the first five games of the season in July for a drug violation, will be forced to sit out a minimum of 10 additional games upon completion of the first suspension. Per league rules, the specifics of both violations were not released. The suspensions will be served without pay. In and out of the NBA Development League last season, the 24year-old second-year player appeared in 20 games for the Thunder, averaging 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds in 3.6 minutes. He missed the end of the season for undisclosed personal reasons.
‘DWTS’ REVIEWS SAFETY
New safety measures could be installed on the set of Dancing with
the Stars after Ryan Lochte was nearly attacked during Monday’s live premiere. Two men wearing anti-Lochte T-shirts – identified by Los Angeles police as Sam Satoodeh, 59, and Barzeen Soroundi, 25 – rushed the stage after the Olympic gold medalist swimmer’s performance. According to the Associated Press, the men were arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing and held on $1,000 bail. “The safety and security of our cast, crew and studio audience is of utmost importance,” a BBC Worldwide Productions spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. “A full evaluation of security pro- cedures/protocols is taking place, and we will make any changes deemed necessary.” SHARAPOVA DECISION EXPECTED IN OCTOBER
Maria Sharapova will find out next month if her appeal of a twoyear doping ban has been successful. The Russian tennis star was banned in June after testing positive for meldonium during the Australian Open. She appealed the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In a statement Tuesday, court said it would issue its decision in the first week of October.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BEGINS WITH MESSI HAT TRICK
Lionel Messi’s first goal of the Champions League soccer season took three minutes. Edinson
Cavani needed just 44 seconds for Paris Saint- Germain. Messi had a hat trick in Barcelona’s 7-0 rout of Celtic, and fellow superstar forwards Neymar and Luis
Suarez also scored. Celtic had a penalty saved when trailing 1-0 midway through the first half. Cavani’s even faster strike was the end of Paris Saint- Germain’s scoring in Paris against Arsenal, and Alexis Sanchez’s late equalizer earned a 1-1 draw.