COLLEGE FOOTBALL
DESTIN, Fla. — Alabama coach Nick Saban wants a college football commissioner.
Speaking at the Southeastern Conference annual meetings, Saban said satellite camps are “bad for college football” and added “there needs to be somebody that looks out for what’s best for the game, not what’s best for the Big Ten or what’s best for the SEC or what’s best for Jim Harbaugh, but what’s best for the game of college football — the integrity of the game, the coaches, the players and the people that play it. That’s bigger than all of this.”
Saban says each of the Power Five conferences continue to politick for what they want, often creating the kind of chaos that surrounded satellite camps earlier this year.
Harbaugh responded on Twitter, saying, “’Amazing’ to me — Alabama broke NCAA rules & now their HC is lecturing us on the possibility of rules being broken at camps. Truly ‘amazing.’”
HOUSTON — A Texas Tech football player who was kicked off the team earlier this month stole at least seven guns after burglarizing a Lubbock home in December, according to an arrest affidavit.
Robert James Castaneda told investigators he took a gun safe with at least seven weapons — including shotguns and rifles — as well as a television and a camera during a Dec. 20 burglary, according to the affidavit, which was made public.
The 20-year-old sophomore ex-backup offensive lineman is free on $5,000 bond after being arrested Friday and charged with burglary of a habitation. If convicted, Castaneda faces up to 20 years in prison.
Phone numbers listed for Castaneda were disconnected, and court records don’t list an attorney for him.
U.S. SOCCER
The U.S. Soccer Federation asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismiss a complaint of wage discrimination made by members of the World Cup-winning women’s national team.
Five players filed the EEOC complaint in March, claiming members of the team make in some cases up to four times less than their male national team counterparts.
The USSF’s response was contained in a position statement sent to EEOC’s Chicago office by Latham & Watkins, a law firm representing the federation. It says there is no evidence U.S. Soccer is acting with a “discriminatory motive” or is in violation of law.
The letter details financial information regarding the team’s compensation structure.
An attorney for the players who filed the complaint did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
PRO FOOTBALL
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady has added more high-profile legal power to his “Deflategate” appeal.
The AFL-CIO filed a friend of the court brief asking the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a decision handed down by a three-judge panel in April. Also weighing in: Kenneth Feinberg , who helped divvy up the funds for Sept. 11 and Boston Marathon bombing victims.
Brady was suspended four games for what the league said was a scheme to use improperly inflated footballs in the 2015 AFC Championship game. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell rejected his initial appeal, and Brady appealed to the federal courts.
In its brief, the AFL-CIO says Goodell “acted arbitrarily as an employer seeking to justify his own disciplinary decision rather than as a neutral arbitrator considering an appeal.”
BASEBALL
Detroit Tigers closer Francisco Rodriguez says he contracted the Zika virus over the offseason in his home country of Venezuela and advises potential Olympic athletes to educate themselves on the virus before heading to Rio de Janeiro.
Rodriguez told ESPN.com that he wouldn’t blame athletes for skipping the Olympics, and that “if they have plans to have kids in the future, you’ve got to think about it.”
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus linked to severe birth defects and possible neurological problems in adults.
Rodriguez says he was bedridden for about two weeks with head and body aches, sore joints and other symptoms. It felt like he had a cold at first, but as symptoms worsened, he went for bloodwork that determined it was Zika. It took about two months until he felt normal again.
BASKETBALL
GRANITE BAY, Calif. — Sacramento Kings point guard Darren Collison was arrested on a charge of domestic violence after deputies responded to a report of a woman being assaulted inside a California home, authorities said.
Collison, 28, was arrested Monday after deputies found the woman visibly injured, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said.
Collison was booked at the Placer County jail in Auburn, California, and he was freed hours after his arrest on $55,000 bail, the office said. He also was booked on two misdemeanor bench warrants for driving on a suspended license.
Officials didn’t release the name of the woman or any other details.
The Sacramento Kings said in a brief statement that the team is aware of the arrest.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
GENEVA — UEFA is set to decide in December on changing the Champions League as Europe’s top clubs chase a new format and bigger share of the competition’s billion-dollar annual income.
Closed-door meetings of European soccer leaders in Milan around Saturday’s Champions League final made slow progress shaping the competition for the three seasons from 2018, The Associated Press was told.
Talk of a breakaway Super League was fueled in January by some wealthy members of the European Club Association (ECA) who saw uncertainty over UEFA’s leadership during the FIFA presidential election.
Though an American-style closed league is thought unrealistic, one aim is making the current 32-team group stage more attractive to the biggest clubs and global TV viewers.
Many fans, however, sense a grab for power and money by clubs like Real Madrid and Juventus that are already rich and influential.
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