Trade talk swirling around Sherman
A few teams have called the Seahawks inquiring about trading for cornerback Richard Sherman, coach Pete Carroll said at the NFL league meetings Wednesday in Phoenix, and the Seahawks have listened.
But could the Seahawks actually trade their six-year veteran standout corner?
Carroll appeared to rule it out, saying “I don’t see anything happening at all” while possibly not shooting the idea down quite as firmly as some might have expected given Sherman’s on-field value to the Seahawks since joining the team in 2011 out of Stanford.
“You either are competing or you are not,” Carroll said. “So we have always had to be open to every suggestion that comes along. There have been some teams that have called, and so we have talked about it. But he is extremely important to our football team. I don’t see anything happening at all. I don’t see anything happening with any of our players, just the banter that’s out there right now. But it has been talked about. He is a great player and he can impact a team. I can see why people would be interested in him.”
Carroll said running n back Marshawn Lynch “is somewhat entertaining” the idea of coming out of retirement. But Carroll also said that Lynch did not ask the Seahawks to be taken off the reserve/retired list when he talked to him 10 days ago.
Volleyball
Five-time Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings has not yet committed to play in AVP events this summer, leading the domestic beach volleyball tour to announce its 2017 schedule without including the game’s top draw among “the most respected names in the sport” who are expected to participate.
Tennis
Venus Williams has been coming together to Key Biscayne for 20 years, and she moved a step closer to her first title in the event since 2001 by beating top-ranked Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in the Miami Open quarterfinals.
Four-time Key Biscayne runner-up Rafael Nadal advanced to the men’s semifinals by beating American Jack Sock 6-2, 6-3. Nadal’s opponent Friday will be Fabio Fognini, who became the first unseeded player in 10 years to reach the men’s semis there when he beat 2016 runner-up Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-2.
Soccer
Cristiano Ronaldo has an airport named after him, but it was his odd-looking statue that attracted attention in the ceremony honoring the Portugal star in his hometown of Funchal.
The player’s bronze bust, which was unveiled to much fanfare by Portugal’s president and prime minister on the island of Madeira, hardly does the handsome footballer justice.
It squashes his eyes close together, and the cheeky raised-eyebrow smile more resembles a leer. The face is also unusually chubby, in contrast to Ronaldo’s chiseled looks.
Dozens of guests and hundreds of fans were at the unveiling of the bust in Ronaldo’s native Madeira Islands. It was part of an official ceremony to rename the local airport as Aeroporto Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo also attended the ceremony, but did not show any signs of being bothered by the odd look of his newly unveiled bust.
The New York Red n Bulls have signed two-time MLS Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips to a new contract.
Mike Petke will get another n chance to lead a MLS franchise. Real Salt Lake introduced Petke as its new head coach.
Midfielder Lindsey n Horan will miss the U.S. women’s national team’s upcoming training camp and matches against Russia because of a strained hip flexor.
College
UCLA announced that its football season opener against Texas A&M at the Rose Bowl has been pushed back one day to Sunday, Sept. 3, to give the game more of a featured television time slot before the start of the NFL season.
Wayne Duke, the former n NCAA executive who later served as commissioner of the Big Ten for 18 years, has died. He was 88.
Motor sports
NASCAR rookie Daniel Suarez has a new crew chief. Joe Gibbs Racing said crew chief Dave Rogers is out indefinitely on personal leave. Scott Graves will now call the shots for the No. 19 Toyota in the Cup series.