How’s the air up there? Roger seen in Kraft box
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell watched the Patriots’ exhibition opener on Thursday night in Foxborough. It was his first game in New England since suspending quarterback Tom Brady in the scandal that came to be known as “Deflategate.”
Goodell was in Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s luxury suite as the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars started, according to a photograph posted on Twitter by The Boston Globe. The Jaguars won the game, 31-24, with Brady sitting out. Backup Jimmy Garoppolo went 22-for-28 with two TDs.
Goodell suspended Brady four games after an NFL investigation concluded that he conspired to use illegally underinflated footballs in the 2015 AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.
New England fans rallied to their quarterback’s defense and lashed out at Goodell for the harsh penalty that was based on dubious evidence.
FEDERER ADVANCES, NADAL OUSTED
Roger Federer overcame a weak first set to post a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Spaniard David Ferrer in the third round at the men’s Rogers Cup in Montreal.
Later, top-seeded Rafael Nadal was beaten by Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
In Friday’s quarterfinals, the second-seeded Federer will face 12th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, who outlasted Frenchman Gael Monfils 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) at Uniprix Stadium.
The 18-year-old Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ontario, advanced to a quarterfinal meeting Friday night with France’s Adrian Mannarino, who defeated Hyeon Chung of South Korea 6-3, 6-3.
Shapovalov battled back after Nadal cruised through the first set, then erased a 3-0 deficit in the tiebreaker for the biggest victory of his career
Unseeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman posted a strange win over American Jared Donaldson 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 to advance to a quarterfinal meeting with Robin Haase.
FORMER UMP DIES
Former major league umpire Ken Kaiser, a colorful figure between the lines who briefly moonlighted as a professional wrestler to make ends meet while working in the minor leagues, has died. He was 72.
The World Umpires Association said he died in his hometown of Rochester, New York, on Tuesday.
Kaiser had diabetes for years. An American League umpire from 1977-99, Kaiser umpired two World Series, one All-Star Game and several playoff series.
He weighed just under 300 pounds and often was criticized for that portly physique during the more than 3,000 big-league games he umpired. Former Chicago White Sox announcer Jimmy Piersall once called him “a gutless, lazy whale,” while fellow former umpire and mentor Ron Luciano described him as “like a barrel on which two arms had been stuck on backwards.” GETTY