Coaching icon John Wooden dies
LOS ANGELES, June 4 (UPI) -- John Wooden, who built an unmatched college basketball dynasty at UCLA, died Friday at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles the university said. He was 99.
Wooden was admitted to the hospital late last month and it had been reported on Thursday that he was in grave condition.
His tenure as coach of the Bruins, which began in 1948, made him one of the most revered figures in American sports. During his UCLA career, his teams set NCAA records with 10 national titles, 12 Final Four appearances and an 88-game winning streak.
Wooden began his stretch of NCAA titles with back-to-back crowns in 1964 and 1965. Beginning in 1967, his teams captured seven national crowns in a row -- a feat that will likely never be equaled.
His championship run came with the help of two of the top big men in the history of college basketball -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. Wooden, however, also won the NCAA Tournament with rosters that did not include superstars.
The streak of 38 consecutive tournament game victories ended in 1974 when the Bruins lost in the national semifinals to North Carolina State.
UCLA's 88-game winning streak came from 1971 through 1974. Wooden coached 40 years in high school and college, winning 885 games and losing 203.
The 12 Final Four trips for Wooden is one more than that made by North Carolina's Dean Smith and Duke's current coach -- Mike Krzyzewski. Smith, however, won only two national titles and Krzyzewski has four.
Wooden played college basketball at Purdue and was a member of the 1932 team that won that school's only national championship.
He was the first person to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.
Fowler leads at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio, June 4 (UPI) -- Rickie Fowler, who had never seen the Muirfield Village Golf Club course until Tuesday, opened a three-shot lead Friday midway through The Memorial.
Fowler, a professional golfer for less than a year who is seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour, fired a 6-under 66 on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course Friday for a two-day total of 13-under 131.
For the second straight round, Fowler equaled the low score of the day. He did so thanks in part to a 34-foot eagle putt at the par-5 15th.
Justin Rose, who like Fowler was once touted as a sure superstar but who has not come close to that status, was alone in second at 134 after shooting a 69. Tim Petrovic and Jim Furyk shared third place at 135.
Phil Mickelson suffered five bogeys, but still managed a 1-under 71 by holing birdie putts at each of the last two holes. He was tied for eighth at 138.
Tiger Woods shot a 69, the third time he has been in the 60s in the 11 rounds he has played on the tour this year. He was 10 shots off the lead in a tie for 25th.
Fowler and Rose shared first place with Geoff Ogilvy after the opening round Thursday. Ogilvy stumbled to a 72 Friday and finished 36 holes at 142.
Toronto ends New York winning streak
TORONTO, June 4 (UPI) -- Jose Bautista homered in his first two at-bats Friday and Brett Cecil won his third straight start to bring Toronto a 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees.
New York had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Bautista, who leads the American League in homers with 18, hit a solo shot in the second and a two-run blast in the fourth. Edwin Encarnacion added a solo homer for Toronto in the fifth.
Cecil (6-2) limited the Yankees to a run on five hits with five strikeouts in eight innings. In his only other two starts against New York, Cecil's ERA was 11.25.
A.J. Burnett (6-3), who once pitched for the Blue Jays, took the loss. He gave up all Toronto runs on six hits in six innings. Burnett won a career-best 18 games for Toronto in 2008.
Kyle Busch to start first in 200th race
LONG POND, Pa., June 4 (UPI) -- Kyle Busch, who will make his 200th Sprint Cup start Sunday, won the pole Friday for the Gillette Fusion 500 at Pocono Raceway.
Busch turned his qualifying lap in 169.485 mph for his second pole of the season and the seventh of his career.
"To start on the pole for race 200 is going to mean a lot, and of course, it will mean even more if we can win this thing," said Busch, who is second in the points race behind Kevin Harvick.
Clint Bowyer qualified second at 169.138 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified third, followed by Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin. Kurt Busch won last week's 600-mile race in Charlotte.
The second five qualifiers were Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon. Four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson turned in the fastest time in practice earlier in the day but will start in the 25th position.
Indians lose Sizemore for the season
CLEVELAND, June 4 (UPI) -- The Cleveland Indians announced Friday that center fielder Grady Sizemore has undergone knee surgery and would be lost for the remainder of the season.
It was originally expected that Sizemore would miss no more than two months, but the damage to his knee turned out to be more serious than doctors had first thought. The recovery period will be from six to nine months.
Sizemore suffered the injury May 16 sliding into second base during a game against Baltimore.
He also had surgeries following the 2009 season to repair inflammation in his left elbow and an unstable abdominal wall. Sizemore, a career .272 hitter, was batting .211 with 13 RBI and no home runs in 33 games this season.
