Vick lawyer makes Va. court appearance
SUSSEX, Va., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Virginia's animal cruelty case against Atlanta Falcon Michael Vick got under way Wednesday with a brief court appearance by Vick's lawyer.
Vick and three co-defendants pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a dogfighting ring on property owned by the suspended NFL star.
Vick attorney Larry Woodward appeared at the Sussex County Courthouse, where the case is being heard while the Surry County Courthouse is undergoing renovation, the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press reported. Vick did not appear and the case was continued until Nov. 27.
Vick and two of his co-defendants, Purnell Peace and Tony Taylor, are free on personal recognizance. The fourth defendant, Quanis Phillips, is in federal custody, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
Vick is to be sentenced on the federal charges Dec. 10. He could face 18 months in jail and a $250,000 fine.
V.Williams keeps winning streak alive
TOKYO, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Venus Williams ran her match winning streak to seven with a second-round victory Wednesday in the $175,000 Japan Open tennis tournament.
Williams, coming off a win Sunday in the finals of the Korea Open, breezed though her match Wednesday, posting a 6-0, 6-4 rout over Vania King. Williams moved into the tournament quarterfinals where she will meet Alicia Molik, who advanced with an even more lopsided 6-1, 6-0 romp over Aleksandra Wozniak.
Second-seeded Sania Mirza was pushed to three sets by Casey Dellacqua before winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and No. 5-seeded Virginie Razzano beat Elena Baltacha 6-2, 6-2. Also, eighth-seeded Flavia Pennetta took out Abigail Spears 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
Mirza next goes against Pennetta while Razzano is paired against Camille Pin, who defeated Jelena Kostanic Tosic, 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.
The fourth quarterfinal has Caroline Wozniacki playing Klara Zakopalova. Wozniacki was a 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-1 winner over Meng Yuan and Zakopalova outlasted Urszula Radwanska 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in second-round play.
The eventual tournament champion will earn $25,840.
Report: Schoeneweis got steroid by mail
NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- New York Mets pitcher Scott Schoeneweis may have to explain reports he allegedly received six shipments of steroids from a Florida-based pharmacy.
The New York Daily News reported Wednesday shipments to the veteran left-hander arrived in 2003 and ’04, and he could be hauled before Major League Baseball officials in New York.
"I don’t even know what that is," Schoeneweis told the newspaper when told of the shipments of the drug "stanozolol," which other reports have said were shipped to others by the Florida-based Signature Pharmacy.
"Steroids in Florida? I never received anything from Florida. I'm not going to comment. I never even heard of it."
"We’re looking into it," MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said.
Schoeneweis, who overcame a bout with testicular cancer at Duke University, was in the first season of a three-year, $10.8 million contract in 2007, which has two years remaining.
Mets GM Omar Minaya said he hadn't spoken with Schoeneweis about the report.
Nieminen beaten at Japan Open
TOKYO, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- No. 5-seeded Jarkko Nieminen was defeated Wednesday but the rest of the top-rated players posted second-round wins in the $832,000 Japan Open.
Six of the top 10 seeded players advanced to the third round, with only Nieminen's 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Boris Pashanski bucking the trend.
No. 1-seeded David Ferrer beat Wesley Moodie 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 while second-seeded Tomas Berdych ousted Jiri Vanek 6-1, 6-4; No. 3-seeded Richard Gasquet topped Zack Fleishman 6-3, 6-3; and fourth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt stopped Luka Gregorc 6-3, 6-3.
Also winning second-round matches were sixth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov, who eliminated Paul Capdeville, 6-4, 6-3; seventh-seeded Ivo Karlovic, who beat Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-3; No. 8-seeded Fernando Verdasco, who took out Mischa Zverev 6-3, 6-2; and 10th-seeded Feliciano Lopez, who swept by Robert Kendrick 6-2, 6-4.
Other players who won in Wednesday's 14-match card were Dudi Sela, Vincent Spadea, Rainer Schuettler, Thomas Johansson and Michael Russell.
The tournament continues through the week with the 2007 Japan Open winner taking home a check for $145,000.
Former punter sentenced to seven years
DENVER, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Former Northern Colorado punter Mitch Cozad has been sentenced to seven years behind bars for his recent conviction in the stabbing of a teammate.
The incident occurred Sept. 11, 2006, when Cozad attacked fellow punter Rafael Mendoza.
At his August trial, Cozad was convicted of stalking and stabbing Mendoza in his punting leg outside the kicker' apartment in Evans to better his position in the battle to be the school's No. 1 punter.
"It's a sad state of affairs for this community for someone to stab someone else for the status of a game," Judge Marcelo Kopcow said Tuesday at the Weld County District Court during Cozad's sentencing.
Mendoza since has recovered, and is a member of UNC's 2007 squad.
Cozad, who could have been sentenced to 48 years in prison, said he plans to appeal.
"I will continue to be a model inmate during my sentence and my appeal," Cozad said.
