“Sports” on The Daily Caller

ROME (AP) — Rome dropped its bid for the 2020 Olympics on Tuesday after Premier Mario Monti said the Italian government would not provide financial backing for an estimated $12.5-billion project at a time of economic crisis. (more)

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s sports minister acknowledged Tuesday the country has a doping problem that needs fixing after its record in the fight against drugs came under scrutiny with Alberto Contador’s ban from cycling. (more)

Jimbo Fisher got a raise of roughly $950,000 after last season, his first as head football coach at Florida State, boosting his pay to about $2.8 million. (more)

By now, you’ve probably seen or heard Bryant Gumbel’s racially charged on-air rant about NBA Commissioner David Stern and the way he’s handling negotiations during the NBA lockout. But while plenty of folks are expressing shock and indignation over Gumbel’s comments, I’m sure Gumbel is just kicking back and enjoying all the fuss. (more)

Chances are that over the last few days you haven’t been able to escape discussion of Tedy Bruschi’s brutal takedown of New England Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco (nee Johnson). But instead of this being the story of an old-school football player taking a layabout superstar to the woodshed, there’s a lot less here than meets the eye. Let me explain. (more)

As pro football’s first Sunday gets underway this weekend, there will be more than a few of the league’s employees missing from the sidelines. And no, I’m not talking about the absence of Peyton Manning from the Indianapolis Colts lineup for the first time since the Clinton administration. (more)

A day after an earthquake in Virginia shook up qualifying matches and preparation, the U.S. Open tennis tournament is facing another blow from Mother Nature. Hurricane Irene, churning in the Atlantic Ocean, could do damage this weekend. (more)

(AP) Cleveland Indians fans wondered if a special effects explosion had gone off at a nearby movie shoot. Spectators at a tennis tournament in Connecticut felt as though a truck had smashed into the stadium. Golfer Brendan Steele thought he was getting shaky over his putts. (more)

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis has thrown out a judge’s order lifting the NFL lockout, handing the league a victory in a labor stoppage that has reached its 115th day. (more)

Are you ready for some football?! (more)

Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis could be dashing headlong into New Jersey politics. (more)

Prosecutors in the Barry Bonds perjury trial stunned the court Monday by revealing the discovery of a secret recording of Bonds’ orthopedic surgeon, who denied last week that he had discussed the player’s alleged steroid use with others. (more)

Even in the unpredictable, anything-goes world of March Madness, this is a Final Four nobody saw coming. (more)

After slowly but steadily working his way through a 26.2-mile course drenched by driving rain, mammoth distance runner Kelly Gneiting finished Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon in nine hours, 48 minutes and 52 seconds, probably establishing a Guinness world record for someone his size. (more)

I’m not good at very many things in life. I could probably count them on one hand if I was feeling particularly reflective. I’m not the best in the world at anything at all. Of all the things I wish that I were better at, wish that I’d had the drive to excel at, it’s the physical. The idea of taking the one thing that God gave me and cultivating it at its peak, of making myself stronger, faster, and more beautiful, fascinates me. I am, quite frankly, insanely jealous of athletes who, through some magical mélange of genetics, passion and hard work, push their bodies day after day and compete to prove to the world and themselves that they are the absolute best at what they do. It’s something we mere mortals can only daydream about. (more)

In basketball terms, an NBA referee Monday asked a federal judge to call a technical foul on a sportswriter for bad sportsmanship. (more)

A drama class in “Beginning Improvising” and another in “Social Dances of North America III” were among dozens of classes on a closely guarded quarterly list distributed only to Stanford athletes to help them choose classes. (more)

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech fired Pat Knight on Monday, ending a disappointing three-year run for a coach who failed to lead the Red Raiders to the NCAA tournament after taking over for his famous father. (more)

FENNVILLE, Mich. — A 16-year-old basketball player from western Michigan collapsed and died after delivering a game-winning shot to complete his high school team’s perfect season, the Holland Sentinel reported Friday. (more)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After a standout season in which he went 35-4, Joel Northrup had every reason to dream of winning an Iowa wrestling championship this year, but he gave it all up before his first state tournament match Thursday. (more)