Americans try for another World Cup upset
ULSON, South Korea, June 21 (UPI) -- The United States tries to continue its remarkable World Cup run Friday night and American coach Bruce Arena believes all the pressure is on the opposition.
"The team that has to win this game is Germany," United States coach Bruce Arena said. "If we lose this game, we'll go home and be pleased with how we played here. If they lose, I don't think they'll be heading straight home to Frankfurt.
"But we're going into this game thinking we can win. There is enough evidence here to suggest the big boys can be upset."
The United States and Germany meet in one of two quarterfinal matches on the schedule Friday. Brazil and England will tangle in a clash of soccer powers.
German coach Rudy Voller said he fully expects a tough game from the underdog Americans.
"The USA players are strong in the attack, but they have a number of gaps in defense," Voller said. "We're going to have to take our chances. No one expected them to get this far and they're really on a roll. Their confidence is going to be high."
It is expected to be a physical game, but it will be refereed by one of the most respected officials in the sport - Scotland's Hugh Dallas.
"They're the biggest team in the tournament," Arena said. "We need to be aggressive, we need to be quick, we need to be alert."
Buck remembered in memorial service
ST. LOUIS, June 21 (UPI) -- Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck was remembered Thursday as a man of humility and compassion during an hour-long memorial service held at Busch Stadium.
Buck, who broadcast almost a half century of St. Louis Cardinals games, died Tuesday. He was 77.
Beginning at 8 a.m., mourners lined up to pass by Buck's closed casket, which was placed near home plate. Club officials estimated more than 10,000 people paid their respects prior to the service.
"There is a void out here and one in the box," said long-time broadcaster Mike Shannon. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have worked with someone like Jack for 30 years."
Buck's son, Joe, also a Cardinals' broadcaster, officiated during the ceremony.
"He showed us what humility was, going from poverty to wealth," Joe Buck said. "He never forgot where he came from."
Other speakers included Hall of Famer Lou Brock and Cardinals owner William DeWitt.
Castillo streak reaches 34
MIAMI, June 21 (UPI) -- Luis Castillo had just three trips to the plate Thursday night, but he needed only one to extend his hitting streak to 34 games in Florida's rain-shortened, 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Castillo singled to lead off the first inning, breaking the record for second baseman previously owned by Rogers Hornsby, and then scored the game's first run.
The game was called in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Castillo's hitting streak equals the 11th all time and leaves him 22 short of Joe DiMaggio's record. Four other players have recorded 34-game hitting streaks, one of them being DiMaggio's brother, Dom.
The crowd was announced at just 8,045.
Rockies win another wild one
DENVER, June 21 (UPI) -- Todd Zeile belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning Thursday as the Colorado Rockies won another wild contest with the New York Yankees, 14-11.
After being hammered in the first two games of the three-game series, the Rockies erased a six-run deficit, only to see the Yankees score twice in the ninth to force extra innings.
Larry Walker started the 10th with a single off Steve Karsay (3-3) and went to third on Todd Helton's hard base hit to right field. Zeile followed by sending an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for his 11th homer.
This season, the Rockies have stored baseballs in a humidor, which keeps balls damp, resulting in fewer runs at Coors Field. But the Yankees and Rockies combined for 70 runs -- the most in the stadium's history for a three-game series.
Colorado and Montreal combined for 64 runs during a series in May 2000.
Todd Hollandworth belted a grand slam in an eight-run sixth inning for the Rockies, who won for just the third time in the last 13 games.
Jason Giambi, Robin Ventura and Alfonso Soriano homered for New York, which scored 41 runs in its first trip to Coors -- its highest total in a three-game series since tallying 42 in 1951 against the St. Louis Browns.
Other interleague results: Chicago White Sox 6, Philadelphia 1; San Francisco 10, Tampa Bay 2; Texas 7, Chicago Cubs 4; San Francisco 10, Tampa Bay 2; Arizona 5, Baltimore 1; Oakland 5, Pittsburgh 3; Montreal 5, Kansas City 4 in 11 innings; New York Mets 3, Minnesota 2; Seattle 3, Cincinnati 2; Atlanta 3, Detroit 2.
In the National League, Houston downed Milwaukee, 9-3.
NHL to install safety netting
TORONTO, June 21 (UPI) -- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Thursday he had ordered safety netting be installed above the glass in the corners and behind the nets in all 30 arenas around the league.
The move follows the death of 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil, who was struck by a puck shot into the crowd at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on March 16.
The average height of the netting is expected to be 18 feet.
Bettman also mandated that protective glass along the sides of rinks extend at least five feet above the top of the boards.
The NHL Board of Governors, meanwhile, approved a new procedure designed to speed up line changes and faceoffs.
Under the new guidelines, the puck will be dropped within 20 seconds of a stoppage in play, except in the final two minutes of the third period or overtime and after goals are scored. The procedure is similar to one that proved popular at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
Theodore wins Hart in tiebreak
TORONTO, June 21 (UPI) -- It took a first for Jose Theodore of the Montreal Canadiens to become just the second goaltender in four decades to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player.
Theodore won a unique tiebreaker with Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames Thursday night to join Dominik Hasek as the only players since 1962 to win the Hart and Vezina trophies in the same year.
Both Theodore and Iginla, who led the NHL in goals and points, received 434 points in voting by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. But Theodore got the nod because he received three more first-place votes than Iginla.
Amazingly, Theodore won another tiebreaker to capture the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender. Both he and Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche received 105 points in a poll of NHL general managers, but Theodore received three more first-place votes.
Iginla became the second player in three years to win the NHL Players Association's Lester Pearson Award as outstanding player only to lose the Hart Trophy. Jaromir Jagr won the Pearson Award in 2000, when St. Louis Blues defenseman took the Hart.
It was a big night for Montreal as captain Saku Koivu received the Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication after a comeback from cancer.
Nicklas Lidstrom became the eighth player to win consecutive Norris Trophies as the NHL's top defenseman, outdistancing Detroit Red Wings teammate Chris Chelios and Rob Blake of the Avalanche.
As expected, Dany Heatley of the Atlanta Thrashers won the Calder Trophy after leading all rookies in scoring with 26 goals and 41 assists.
New York Islanders captain Michael Peca won his second Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward and Bob Francis won the Adams Award as coach of the year after guiding the Phoenix Coyotes to an unexpected playoff berth.
Tanaka, Quigley share GHO lead
CROMWELL, Conn., June 21 (UPI) -- Hidemichi Tanaka and Brett Quigley both fired a 6-under-par 64 Thursday and shared the lead after the opening round of the Greater Hartford Open.
In his first year on the PGA Tour after a successful run in his native Japan, Tanaka has missed the cut in seven of 16 events.
But he found the TPC at River Highlands to his liking, recording seven birdies and a bogey en route to his best round of the year.
Quigley also has struggled this year, finishing no better than 49th in his last three tournaments and failing to make the cut in eight of 17 events.
Tim Herron, Skip Kendall and Scott Verplank were among six players who shot 65s and were one stroke back. There were 12 players within two shots of the lead.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson, who finished second behind Tiger Woods at last week's U.S. Open, carded a 69. Sergio Garcia also shot 69, but Woods is taking the week off after his eighth major championship.
Texas reaches CWS title game
OMAHA, Neb., June 21 (UPI) -- Dustin Majewski hit a tie-breaking home run and closer Huston Street registered his third save of the College World Series Thursday night as the Texas Longhorns advanced to the championship game with a 6-5 victory over Stanford.
Texas (56-15) will play in its ninth title game and first since 1989, when it lost to Wichita State. Seeking their fifth title and first since 1983, the Longhorns will face Clemson or South Carolina on Saturday.
Majewski broke a 5-5 tie with one out in the seventh inning with a solo homer off a 3-0 pitch from Stanford starter Jeremy Guthrie (13-2). Majewski was two for four with two RBI and a pair of runs scored.
Texas reliever Jesen Merle (3-3) allowed just one hit in four-plus innings and left after Sam Fuld reached on a bunt single to start the bottom of the ninth. Street got Ryan Garko to fly out and Jason Cooper to ground into a game-ending double play.
Rusedski nears rare grasscourt win
NOTTINGHAM, England, June 21 (UPI) -- Greg Rusedski of Britain moved a step closer to his first grasscourt title in five years Thursday, upsetting third seed Magnus Larsson of Sweden in three hard-fought sets at the Samsung Open.
Rusedski posted a 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over Larsson, setting up a semifinal match with Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman. A Canadian-born lefthander, Rusedski is seeking his first title on grass since he won here in 1997.
Bjorkman, who has yet to drop a set this week, eased past Andrei Stoliarov of Russia, 6-1, 6-0. The Swede is seeking his fifth career ATP title and first since he won this event in 1998.
The other semifinal will pit sixth seed Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland against Australian lefty Wayne Arthurs.
