FOOTBALL

Alexander’s Broken Foot Confirmed by 2nd Test

On second look, Shaun Alexander’s foot is indeed broken.The league MVP asked for and got another round of CT scans yesterday on the previously diagnosed cracked bone in his left foot.

Alexander said those tests showed the same crack in the fourth metatarsal that was there on Monday. So despite feeling “great” following two days of praying and “a bone machine” feverishly working at Alexander’s house, he says he is out indefinitely.

Earlier in the day, Alexander said his foot felt so good that he thought the original CT might have been misread.

“Shaun Alexander came in today feeling very, very good. Kind of frisky, as a matter of fact. Told me he could play in the game,” coach Mike Holmgren said yesterday afternoon before learning of the new test.

Bengals’ Thurman Suspended For Season

Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman, already banned for the first four games of 2006 for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, was suspended yesterday for the rest of the season following his arrest on a charge of drunken driving.

Thurman was arrested about 3 a.m. Monday.Police said his blood alcohol was 0.18% when he was arrested, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08% in Ohio.

Thurman, a second-round draft pick from Georgia last year, started all but one game in 2005. His arrest came less than a week after commissioner Roger Goodell visited Cincinnati and reminded players of their responsibility to stay out of trouble and represent the league honorably.

COLLEGE SPORTS

NCAA Graduation Rates See Slight Increase

An overall increase of 1 percentage point in graduation rates might not seem significant. NCAA president Myles Brand disagrees. For the second straight year, the NCAA released figures showing more than more threequarters of college athletes, 77%, graduate within six years, a slight increase over last year’s 76%.

The study included 93,000 Division I athletes, almost all on scholarship, who entered college from 1996 to 1999. All sports, regardless of gender, had higher graduation rates under the NCAA’s formula than those calculated under federal guidelines. The difference in the totals is a result of the NCAA now including transfers in graduation rates, something the federal numbers do not take into account.

This is the second year the NCAA has released its own data. Athletes in 35 sports — 17 men’s and 18 women’s — were evaluated. Graduation among male athletes increased from 69% to 70%, while female athletes remained at 86% for a second year. As usual, men’s basketball, football, and baseball were the lowest-ranked sports.

SOCCER

Drogba Propels Chelsea In Champions League

Didier Drogba scored a hat trick in Chelsea’s 3–1 win at Levski Sofia yesterday, and FC Barcelona needed a late equalizer to tie 1–1 at Werder Bremen in the Champions League.

Drogba scored in the 39th, 52nd and 68th minutes, while Group A rival and defending champion Barcelona got Lionel Messi’s score in the 89th to offset captain Carles Puyol’s own goal.

Chelsea has six points, Barcelona has four, Bremen one, and Levski zero.

Inter Milan lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich and finished the match with nine players. It was Inter’s second straight loss in Europe and left the Italian champion in trouble in Group B.

In Group C matches, Liverpool edged Galatasaray 3–2 and PSV Eindhoven blanked Bordeaux 1–0; in Group B, Spartak Moscow tied Sporting Lisbon 1–1; and in Group D, Shakhtar Donetsk drew with Olympiakos 2–2 and Valencia topeed AS Roma 2–1.

— Associated Press