T-Wolves' Kevin Love re-breaks right hand
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love is on the shelf again after re-breaking a bone in his right hand, the team said Saturday.
Love -- the T-Wolves' leading scorer and rebounder -- underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam Saturday that showed he has again fractured the third metacarpal in his right hand.
Love had earlier missed more than four weeks after fracturing the third and fourth metacarpals in the same hand. The all-star forward said he sustained the injury while doing knuckle pushups during a workout at home.
He returned earlier than expected in late November.
The latest injury apparently came during the third quarter of Thursday's 101-97 win over the Nuggets in Denver.
The team said Love will be evaluated in the coming days by Dr. Andy Weiland, a hand specialist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
A timetable for his return will be provided after that exam.
Hamline coach suspended in assault case
ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Hamline University men's basketball Coach Nelson Whitmore was suspended and 14 players were disciplined after an alleged assault, the Minnesota school said.
The school lowered the boom this week after a Hamline player was arrested for allegedly hitting a woman at the team's hotel in Spokane, Wash., on New Year's Eve.
Hamline forfeited Saturday's game against Gustavus Adolphus as a result of the incident.
"This is an extraordinarily serious incident and we are treating it as such," the school said in a written statement. "We hold our players to the highest standards as students, athletes, and citizens."
Eugene Lawrence, 18, of New Orleans, was kicked off the team after being released on bail in Spokane, where he was charged with second-degree assault. Lawrence allegedly broke a 20-year-old woman's jaw at the team's hotel.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press said the alleged victim, Kayla Bray, was acquainted with another Hamline player and got into a verbal altercation with Lawrence.
The newspaper said Whitmore was suspended indefinitely after a "thorough external investigation and internal review."
Details on Whitmore's role in the incident were not revealed.
Funeral set for Stars Coach, GM Wren Blair
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Funeral services will be held next week for Wren Blair, the first coach and general manager of the expansion Minnesota North Stars, who died at 87 this week.
Blair died Wednesday at his home in Whitby, Ontario. He was remembered fondly as being the right person at the right time when the NHL brought the North Stars to hockey-crazy Minnesota in the late 1960s.
"Wren was really flamboyant, he was outgoing, he was gregarious, he was demonstrative," said Lou Nanne, who played for Blair and later became the North Stars coach and general manager. "He loved hockey, and his players, and working with the game."
Former Stars defenseman Tom Reid recalled Blair was not the best skater around but made his presence known on the practice rink and behind the bench.
"He was a character, he really was," Reid told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "The things he used to do on the bench and in the dressing room were crazy."
Blair remained with the Stars until 1974. He went on to become president of the Pittsburgh Penguins and player personnel director of the Los Angeles Kings.
His ability to spot young hockey talent was demonstrated in 1962 when he signed 14-year-old Bobby Orr to a team sponsored by the Boston Bruins.
Report: Lance Armstrong may admit doping
NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Lance Armstrong has been considering admitting publicly he used performance-enhancing drugs during his stellar cycling career, sources told The New York Times.
Armstrong has denied using drugs and blood transfusions to improve his performances but is considering reversing his stance so he can have his athletic eligibility restored by U.S. and international anti-doping officials, the sources told the newspaper.
Another source said Armstrong was being pressured by supporters of the cancer charity he founded, who are concerned his sullied reputation will erode support for the organization.
There was no immediate comment from Armstrong's camp or the doping agencies involved.
Armstrong lost his seven Tour de France titles and was banned from all Olympic sports after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released an extensive report on his reputed activities.
The Times said the World Anti-Doping Code allows for lifetime bans to be reduced if an athlete publicly comes clean about use of steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.
