Hancock family drops suit
The family of late Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock dropped a wrongful-death lawsuit against Mike Shannon's restaurant stemming from the player's death in April.
The family's lawyer, Mark Bronson, said he filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit before a procedural hearing Monday in St. Louis Circuit Court. The lawsuit had alleged that others shared responsibility for Hancock's death.
Hancock, a 29-year-old relief pitcher, died after a Cardinals home game in April when he crashed his sport utility vehicle into the back of a tow truck stopped on U.S. 40 in St. Louis. The lawsuit was filed a month later by Hancock's father, Dean Hancock.
NASCAR teams strengthen: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick each strengthened his personally owned race teams Monday when the drivers partnered with their respective Nextel Cup team owners.
Car owner Rick Hendrick will merge his existing Busch team into JR Motorsports, the Busch team Earnhardt owns. Harvick, meanwhile, strengthened the existing alliance between Richard Childress and Kevin Harvick Inc., which races in the Busch and Truck Series.
The deals were announced separately Monday, and come on the heels of mergers last week between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing, and a partnership between Robert Yates Racing and the open-wheel organization of Newman/Haas/Lanigan.
Whitney record will stand: Upon further review, Lawyer Ron's record winning time in the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga will stand.
Lawyer Ron won Saturday's 1Æ-mile Whitney in 1:46.64, but the accuracy of the clocking was questioned by the Daily Racing Form, which suggested the clocking was "out of whack with the other races on the Saratoga card."
Both the teletimer operator and New York Racing Association placing judge Stephen Foster hand-timed the race, as is normal procedure, and their results verified the teletimer result.
On Monday, the race was retimed off the video recording of the Whitney, and all the timings were consistent with the original clocking.
Lawyer Ron's time broke the record first set at 1:47 by Tri Jet in 1974, before the use of hundredths of a second.
Irish, Michigan extend rivalry: Michigan and Notre Dame will be knocking helmets on the football field for another two decades.
The two storied programs agreed to a 20-year contract extension Monday that will have them playing annually through 2031. The series was set to expire after the 2011 season.
The schools are 1-2 in wins and winning percentage in college football. Michigan is 860-282-36 with a .745 winning percentage, while Notre Dame is 821-269-42 with a .744 winning percentage. Michigan leads the all-time series 19-14-1.