Steve Foley faces drunken driving charge
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- San Diego Chargers linebacker Steve Foley, recovering from gunshot wounds, faces misdemeanor drunken-driving charges.
Foley was charged with two counts of driving under the influence and allegations of committing an offense within 10 years of a conviction on a similar charge, the San Diego Union-Tribune said. He is to be arraigned Wednesday.
Foley, 31, was shot at least three times in a leg and hand after a run-in with an off-duty Coronado, Calif., cop last month.
He was placed on injured reserve by the Chargers and is out for the season.
Zidane up for soccer player of the year
CHICAGO, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- France's Zinedine Zidane, involved in the controversial head-butt in the 2006 World Cup title game, has been nominated to be soccer's player of the year.
Zidane was voted the 2006 World Cup Golden Ball, as the tournament's outstanding player, despite his head-butt of Italy's Marco Materazzi. That led to Zidane's ejection from the game and Italy went on to win the World Cup in a shootout.
Still, Zidane was among the 30 men and 20 women selected as finalists to be soccer's players of the year. The men's and women's players of the year will be announced Dec. 18 at the FIFA World Player Gala in Switzerland.
In addition to Zidane, the list of men eligible for player of the year includes Brazil's Ronaldinho, Kaka and Adriano.
Among those considered favorites for the women's honor are Germany's Renate Lingor and Silke Rottenberg, who helped their national team to the 2003 Women's World Cup title.
A total of 20 women and 30 men have been selected by various FIFA committees. The head coaches and captains of the men's and women's national teams have the opportunity to vote for the player of the year.
Safin into Kremlin Cup quarters
MOSCOW, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Local favorite Marat Safin rallied for a three-set victory Thursday in the second round of the $1 million Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow.
Safin, a Moscow native, lost his first set but was solid in the other two for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Italy's Daniele Bracciali. Safin earned a Friday quarterfinal pairing against Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, who was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over the Czech Republic's Robin Vik on Thursday.
Sixth-seeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau was upset by Belarusian Max Mirnyi 6-2, 2-6 7-6 (7-2). Mirnyi moves into a quarterfinal match with top-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
The only other seeded play who had a match Thursday was No. 7 Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who ousted Russian qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk 6-1, 6-1. Other second-round winners were German Philipp Kohlschreiber and Frenchman Arnaud Clement.
The tournament is scheduled to wrap-up Sunday with the titlist winning $142,000.
Teen dies during football practice
WEST CALDWELL, N.J., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A 16-year-old football player at a West Caldwell, N.J., high school has died of cardiac arrest during a practice.
Police said James Bliss fell face-first onto the field Wednesday while walking from a spot where he had been tackled to a huddle during the practice at James Caldwell High School, the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reported Thursday.
West Caldwell Police Chief Charles Tubbs said a team doctor attempted cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and used a defibrillator but the teenager was declared dead at 4:45 p.m. at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, N.J.
Dan Gerardi, superintendent of Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools, said Bliss had passed a physical before the football season with no known medical conditions.
"We're trying to piece together what happened," Gerardi said. "It was right on the field."
Gerardi said grief counselors would be on hand Thursday to talk to students
