Track to honor first responders
The New Hampshire Motor Speedway will honor and welcome first responders from the Boston Marathon bombings and the Newtown, Conn., school shootings at the July 14 New Hampshire 301.
The announcement at a “Champions Event” luncheon Thursday at a Boston bar next to Fenway Park was made by the track’s general manager, Jerry Gappens.
“We’re going to honor first responders from throughout New England,” Gappens said at the event, which featured NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson and retired stars from the four local pro sports teams. “If you think about the swift and capable response that they brought to us in Boston that day, and they answer the call every day, they really go the extra mile.
“And our race in July is 301. And the reason that it’s not a 300 is because we talk about people going the extra mile, and there’s no better illustration of that than what they do.”
FORMER JETS SAFETY DIES
Jim Hudson, the former New York Jets safety who helped the team to its only Super Bowl title in 1969, has died. He was 70.
The team confirmed Thursday on its official site that Hudson died Tuesday in Austin, Texas. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Hudson was a starting safety against the Baltimore Colts, making a key play in the first half of Super Bowl III. The former University of Texas player had six tackles in the Jets’ 16-7 win, and finished with 15 career interceptions in six seasons with the Jets.
EX-BROWNS PLAYER PLEADS NOT GUILTY
A former rookie linebacker for the Cleveland Browns has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges in New Jersey.
Ausar Walcott was arraigned in Paterson, N.J. He is accused of punching Derek Jones in the side of the head outside The Palace Gentlemen’s Club in Passaic early Sunday.
A prosecutor says Jones is in a medically induced coma at a New York hospital, where he’s listed in critical condition.
The 23-year-old Walcott is being represented by a public defender while he attempts to hire an attorney. He is being held on $500,000 bail. The case will now go to a grand jury.
Walcott, who played for the University of Virginia, was signed by the Browns, but released on Wednesday.
MESSIER LEAVES RANGERS
Mark Messier is leaving the New York Rangers’ organization after being passed over to replace fired head coach John Tortorella.
Messier, who had been a special assistant to Rangers general manager Glen Sather, announced in a statement that he is resigning in order to “expand the game of hockey in the New York area by developing the Kingsbridge National Ice Center.”
However, he added that the Rangers’ choice to hire veteran coach Alain Vigneault to be the new head coach wasn’t a factor in his departure from the team.
LIGHTNING TO BUY OUT LECAVALIER’S CONTRACT
The Tampa Bay Lightning will buy out the contract of center Vincent Lecavalier, a move that will create salary cap space and make one of the stars of the franchise’s only Stanley Cup championship team a free agent next month.
Lecavalier was the top pick in the 1998 NHL Draft and helped Tampa Bay to the NHL title in 2004.