Carbondale–A summer full of buckin’ broncos and barrel racing gets underway tonight at the Carbondale Wild West Rodeo. The gates open at 5:30 with slack at 6:30 and the Grand Entry at 7:30.
Phoenix, AZ–The Rockies lost to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix last night, 6 to 1. The Rockies come home to host the LA Angels tomorrow night.
Elsewhere in sports…
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A lawsuit bringing together scores of cases
has been filed in federal court accusing the NFL of hiding
information linking football-related head trauma to permanent brain
injuries.
Lawyers for former players say more than 80 pending lawsuits are
consolidated in the “master complaint” filed in Philadelphia.
Plaintiffs hope to hold the NFL responsible for the medical
monitoring and treatment of more than 2,000 retired players.
FRENCH OPEN
Better late than never
PARIS (AP) – The French Open women’s semifinals are being played
today in Paris, where rain delayed the start of play for about an
hour.
Sixth-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia is taking on No. 21 seed
Sara Errani of Italy in the opener. Errani won the opening set 7-5.
Stosur has won all five of their previous meetings.
The most-anticipated match of the day at Roland Garros pits
second-seeded Maria Sharapova (shah-rah-POH’-vah) against No. 4
seed Petra Kvitova (kuh-VIHT’-oh-vuh), the Wimbledon titleholder.
Sharapova needs a French title to complete a career grand slam and
has a 3-2 record versus the Czech.
Friday’s men’s semifinals have six-time champion Rafael Nadal
taking on David Ferrer (feh-REHR’) and top-seed Novak Djokovic
(NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich) facing Roger Federer.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Plenty of afternoon baseball
UNDATED (AP) – The Cleveland Indians hand the ball to 7-3 Derek
Lowe this afternoon as they chase their first three-game sweep of
the Tiger in Detroit in almost four years (1:05 p.m. Eastern). The
home team is going with 0-1 rookie Casey Crosby in place of an
injured Doug Fister.
The Tribe starts play a-half game back of first-place Chicago in
the AL Central, while the division-rival Tigers are six off the
pace.
Also this afternoon in the junior circuit, the West-leading
Texas Rangers send Yu Darvish to the mound in Oakland in hopes of
earning a split of their four-game series with the A’s.
National League play gets started this afternoon in Washington
and Philadelphia (1:05 p.m. Eastern). The Nationals will be looking
to complete a three-game sweep of the New York Mets, and the
Phillies will be out to snap a five-game losing streak when they
host Los Angeles. The West-leading Dodgers are hunting a fourth
straight W.
There are also matinees in Milwaukee and San Diego, with the
Brewers hosting the Chicago Cubs and the Padres entertaining the
San Francisco Giants.
NBA-EASTERN FINAL
Heat in hot water
BOSTON (AP) – The Miami Heat face a must-win situation tonight
in a building where they haven’t had much success.
The Heat trail the Celtics 3-2 headed into Game 6 of the Eastern
Conference finals on the parquet floor in Boston, where they’ve
lost five straight and seven of eight since LeBron James took his
talents to South Beach to join forces with Dwyane (dwayn) Wade and
Chris Bosh..
NHL-STANLEY CUP FINALS
Devils won’t go quietly
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The participants in the NHL’s Stanley Cup
finals are enjoying the first of two off days before the series
resumes Saturday night in New Jersey. The Devils extended the
season with last night’s 3-1 victory on the Kings’ home ice,
cutting L.A.s advantage to 3-1 in the best-of-seven matchup.
Los Angeles was trying to become the first team to sweep the
finals since the 1998 Detroit Red Wings against Washington. The
Kings are still hunting the first Cup in the 45-year history of the
franchise.
BELMONT STAKES
Oddsmakers like I’ll Have Another
NEW YORK (AP) – Twelve horses are scheduled to answer the call
to the post for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, but all eyes will be on
one three-year-old thoroughbred — I’ll Have Another. The Kentucky
Derby and Preakness winner is the 4-5 early favorite to become
horse racing’s 12th Triple Crown champion.
I’ll Have Another will leave the starting gate at Belmont Park
from the No. 11 post under Mario Gutierrez.
Oddsmakers put Dullahan as the second choice at 5-1. The colt
finished third in the Kentucky Derby and sat out the Preakness.
There hasn’t been a Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
