Barnes avoids jail time in club brawl
Golden State Warriors forward Matt Barnes pleaded guilty Tuesday for his involvement in a December nightclub brawl in New York City, but he will not be going to jail, according to TMZ.
Barnes, then a member of the Sacramento Kings, was visiting the Avenue club with ex-teammate DeMarcus Cousins when a fight broke out and Barnes bumped a woman near his VIP booth. The woman claimed Barnes choked her. He said he was defending himself.
TMZ reported that Barnes will spend time doing community service as part of a plea deal in the case. He is due back in court in August for an update on the sentencing.
Barnes, 37, formally pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. In exchange, he was sentenced to 10 days of community service.
A civil lawsuit against Barnes and Cousins is still pending in court.
Summertime Warriors
Kevon Looney, Patrick McCaw and Damion Jones are the top players for the Warriors on their NBA Summer League team that runs July 7-17 in Las Vegas.
Also named to the team were Oregon products Jordan Bell, Chris Boucher, Dylan Ennis and Elgin Cook as well as guards Bryce Alford of UCLA and Joe Rohan of Saint Mary’s.
Player development coach Chris DeMarco will coach the team.
NHL
The Dallas Stars announced a buyout of the final year of goalie Antti Niemi’s contract, a plan that will spread the $3 million payment over two seasons for an annual salary-cap hit of $1.5 million.
Niemi, a former Shark, was due to make $4.5 million coming off a disappointing season in which he was 12-12-4 with a 3.30 GAA. The ninth-year pro became expendable after Ben Bishop was acquired in a trade.
Soccer
After years of intrigue about allegedly corrupt World Cup bidding, FIFA published Michael Garcia’s 430-page dossier that showed how voters exploited the murky system yet allowed Russia and Qatar to host the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
The report verified the broad conclusions of a summary of Garcia’s work published by FIFA in 2014.
A Russia bid backed by Vladimir Putin gave limited cooperation to Garcia’s team which found no evidence of undue influence. Putin met six of 22 FIFA voters before the December 2010 elections. And Qatar’s ultimate victory over the U.S. tested FIFA’s bid rules to the limit. The bid team used a full range of lavishlyfunded state and sports agencies, plus advisers.
Garcia’s report was once a holy grail for FIFA critics who hoped it would be explosive and force a re-run of the World Cup hosting votes.
The true significance of the report might only be seen once Swiss authorities complete their work. It started with suspected money laundering linked to the World Cup bids and extended to other FIFA business.
Doping
The World Anti-Doping Agency has partly restored drug-testing duties to the Russian anti-doping agency.
RUSADA was suspended in 2015 when its staff was accused of helping to cover up drug use, but will now have wide-ranging authority over testing.
After intense negotiations and sweeping personnel changes at the Russian agency, WADA said it has now allowed RUSADA to “plan and coordinate” drug testing under the supervision of British agency UKAD, which has overseen testing in Russia during the antidoping body’s suspension.
Betting
The Supreme Court agreed to take up New Jersey’s bid to allow sports betting at its casinos and racetracks, a case that could lead other states to seek a share of the lucrative market.
The justices will review a lower court ruling against the state, which is hoping to capture some of the estimated $150 billion that is illegally wagered on sports each year.