STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – Joe Paterno’s family strongly denies the findings of a special investigator who described the late coach as one of four high-ranking Penn State officials who covered up child sex abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky.
In a statement Monday, the family says they “vehemently disagree” with the conclusions reached by a team of investigators led by former FBI director Louis Freeh.
Freeh’s scathing report last week said Paterno and other university officials covered up for Sandusky to avoid bad publicity. It says administrators reversed a decision to report a 2001 encounter between Sandusky and a boy after the athletic director discussed it with Paterno.
Sandusky was convicted last month of 45 counts.
The family has attorneys reviewing the Freeh report and says it is “absolutely not” the last word in the case.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – The Big East has reached an agreement with Syracuse University, allowing the Orange to leave the league a year early for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Syracuse announced last year its intention to join the ACC, but under Big East bylaws, the school needed to serve a 27-month exit period. Instead, the Orange will now be allowed to leave on July 1, 2013, and also pay a fee of $7.5 million to depart.
“This closes a chapter and opens a new one filled with exciting possibilities for the Big East’s future,” interim commissioner Joe Bailey said. “With the recent addition of eight schools to the Big East, the future for the conference has never been brighter.”
Pitt will also leave the Big East for the ACC, but its departure date is uncertain.
“We look forward to the new academic and athletic partnerships and the extraordinary competitive opportunities that membership in the ACC offers,” Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross said. “We are excited about both our final season in the Big East and our long-term future with the ACC.”
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee Brewers starter Zack Greinke has been scratched from his scheduled start against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
The 2009 American League Cy Young award winner has been the subject of trade speculation, but there was no immediate indication that he had been traded or sustained any significant injury.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke is expected to address Greinke’s status before Monday night’s game against the Cardinals. Tyler Thornburg will start in Greinke’s place.
Greinke is coming off a rare stretch of three straight starts for the Brewers. He was ejected in the first inning of a July 7 start in Houston, pitched again the next day, then started Milwaukee’s first game after the All-Star break. But Greinke gave up 10 runs in eight-plus innings during those starts.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Blake Griffin will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Monday to repair the medial meniscus tear of his left knee that he suffered during practice with the U.S. national team in Las Vegas.
The Los Angeles Clippers say Dr. Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic will perform the surgery.
Griffin returned to Los Angeles last Thursday after experiencing discomfort in the same knee that bothered him during the playoffs. He will miss the London Olympics, but the Clippers say he should be ready for the start of the NBA season.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
L.A. Angels at Detroit 6:05 p.m.
Toronto at N-Y Yankees 6:05 p.m.
Chi White Sox at Boston 6:10 p.m.
Cleveland at Tampa Bay 6:10 p.m.
Baltimore at Minnesota 7:10 p.m.
Seattle at Kansas City 7:10 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Arizona at Cincinnati 6:10 p.m.
Washington at Miami 6:10 p.m.
St. Louis at Milwaukee 7:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Colorado 7:40 p.m. (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
Houston at San Diego 9:05 p.m.
Philadelphia at L.A. Dodgers 9:10 p.m.