Advertisement

UPI NewsTrack Sports

Patriots' Brady to fans: 'Drink early'

BOSTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said he had a message for the team's fans about the upcoming game with the San Diego Chargers: start drinking early.

Advertisement

Asked if he had anything to say to fans heading to Sunday's home opener in Foxborough, Brady replied, "Yeah, start drinking early."

"Get nice and rowdy. It's a 4:15 game, a lot of time to get lubed up. Come out here, and cheer for the home team."

The Patriots were quick to attempt to clarify Brady's "drinking early" remark, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

"He meant 'stay hydrated, drink a lot of water. Be loud, drink responsibly,'" the team said.

Brady said he was aware Gillette Stadium has been a quiet place for the home team over the last few years.

Advertisement

"Look, we make good plays, they're going to scream," he said. "If we don't make good plays, they're going to probably boo us. So we're going to focus on making good plays.

"The crowd, it always helps when they're loud but we got to give them reasons to be loud, we've got to give them reasons to cheer for us."


Nadal leads powerful Spain into Davis Cup

CORDOBA, Spain, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal, who helped Spain to two recent Davis Cup titles, will open for the Spaniards in their Davis Cup semifinal this weekend versus France.

Nadal, ranked No. 2 in the world, will be less than a week removed from a grueling four-set, 4-hour U.S. Open final that he lost to Novak Djokovic. Djokovic was given the first-match assignment for Serbia in its Davis Cup semifinal against Argentina.

The winner of the France-Spain semifinal heads into the Davis Cup title series Dec. 2-4 against either Argentina or Serbia.

The France-Spain best-of-five series is set for an outdoor, clay court in Cordoba, Spain. Spain has won five of its seven previous meetings against the French, although France took a 5-0 decision in the 2010 quarterfinals. Nadal, however, didn't play in that series.

Advertisement

He is to go against 15th-ranked Richard Gasquet in Friday's first match with world No. 5 David Ferrer drawing Gilles Simon, ranked No. 11, in the second match.

Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were paired by French captain Guy Forget for Saturday's doubles match against Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.

Sunday's schedule calls for reverse singles with Nadal meeting Simon and Ferrer playing Gasquet.

Spain has won the Davis Cup four times -- 2000, '04, '08 and '09 -- in recent years and was the 2003 runner-up. France lost to Serbia 3-2 in last year's final but has nine championships, the most recent in 2001.


Ex-Vikings player's wife in hit-and-run

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Hennepin County prosecutors have charged Amy Senser, wife of former Minnesota Vikings tight end Joe Senser, in a fatal hit-and-run.

Amy Senser surrendered to State Police Thursday and was charged with felony criminal vehicular operation in the death of a 38-year-old man who was struck on a highway ramp the night of Aug. 23, her lawyer told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The victim, Anousone Phanthavong, had pulled his car over on the Interstate 94 ramp near downtown to put more gasoline into the tank, the newspaper said. He was a chef at a Minneapolis restaurant.

Advertisement

Senser's lawyer, Eric Nelson, said Amy Senser was driving a damaged Mercedes SUV found in the family's garage in Edina the next night with blood on the hood after he contacted police on behalf of his client.

Joe Senser is co-owner of Joe Senser's Sports Theater restaurants and is a color analyst for University of St. Thomas football games.


GB&I jump out to Seve Trophy lead

PARIS, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- The Great Britain and Ireland team ran out to a 4-1 lead Friday over Continental Europe in the first day of the Seve Trophy competition.

GB&I, which has won the last five Seve Trophy events, took four of the five fourball matches Friday at the Saint-Nom-La-Breteche course in Paris.

GB&I got the first point of the tournament when Scott Jamieson and Ross Fisher teamed for a 6-and-4 victory over Peter Hanson and Raphael Jacquelin.

Simon Dyson and Jamie Donaldson defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal 2-and-1 in the day's first match while Darren Clark and David Horsey finished 1-up on Nicolas Colsaerts and Matteo Manassero.

Advertisement

Robert Rock and Ian Poulter took their match 5-and-3 over Thomas Bjorn sand Alexander Noren for the other GB&I point.

The lone Continental Europe point was earned by Andres Hansen and Francesco Molinari who were 1-up winners over Mark Foster and Lee Westwood.

The Seve Trophy is an every-other-year event pitting golfers from Great Britain and Ireland against a team of players from the European continent. It was first contested in 2000, which ended in Continental Europe's only victory.

It is named for Spanish golfing great Seve Ballesteros but this is the first competition since Ballesteros died.

Latest Headlines