NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A hearing in federal court for suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma wrapped up yesterday without an immediate decision about whether he can temporarily return to work. Vilma is trying to persuade U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan to impose a temporary restraining order while his lawsuit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell proceeds. Vilma has been suspended for the entire upcoming season after the NFL determined he was part of a team bounty to injure opposing players.

UNDATED (AP) – The NHL Players Association made a number of presentations to owners yesterday, although the union says it is awaiting specific financial information from the owners before submitting a counterproposal. Player pensions, length of training camp and ice conditions were the topics of this round, as the two sides agreed to continue negotiations toward a new collective bargaining agreement on Monday at the league offices in New York. The current agreement ends on Sept. 15.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – NASCAR officials are mulling the elimination of the top-35 rule to put the focus back on speed in qualifying. Since 2005, the top 35 in points have been guaranteed provisional starting spots at the next race, which has sometimes eliminated faster cars from starting the race. The rule was designed to make sure full-time teams with big-name drivers and big sponsors did not miss the race, but that could change next season.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 2
Toronto 10, Oakland 4
Cleveland 5, Detroit 3
Seattle 4, Kansas City 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 7, L.A. Dodgers 4
Pittsburgh 5, Houston 3
Washington 8, Milwaukee 2
N.Y. Mets 3, Arizona 1

The Games of the XXX Olympiad are officially opened today with the Opening Ceremony at London’s brand new Olympic Stadium. The theme for this year’s ceremony is “The Isles of Wonder”. The ceremony is expected to include a countryside scene, with live animals, a village cricket team, and a rain-producing cloud. The Games will be officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and Paul McCartney will perform after the Olympic Flame has been lit. Leading the United States contingent of athletes into the stadium will be flag-bearer Mariel Zagunis. The native of Portland, Oregon has won the last two Olympic gold medals in sabre fencing. She’s only the second American ever to win gold in a fencing event.

While the Ceremony is the official start of the Olympic Games, the men’s and women’s soccer competitions have already gotten underway. The US Women’s Soccer team, looking to repeat as gold medal winners, got off to a strong start with a 4-2 victory over France on Wednesday. The Canadian women’s team, which features former Huskers Brittany Timko and Karina Leblanc, fell to Japan 2-1, also on Wednesday.

The only sport to be active today is archery. The preliminary rounds for the men’s and women’s individual and team archery competitions are today. The USA men’s team is expected to medal, as they enter the Olympics ranked number 1 in the world. The USA women, aiming for their first medal since 1988, are led by Khatuna Lorig, best known for her role as a technical advisor on the movie “The Hunger Games”.

You can see the Opening Ceremony televised in prime time tonight, starting at 6 PM Central Time on NBC.

Bo Pelini says it’s time for his program to “take it up another level”. The Huskers head man spoke yesterday at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, continually touching on themes of improvement and accountability. Pelini took questions from the assembled media and discussed a variety of topics. He said he’s not actively pursuing any current Penn State players who might wish to transfer in the face of NCAA sanctions on their program. He also dismissed the idea that he’ll put any extra emphasis on his team’s trip to Columbus to play his alma mater, Ohio State. Pelini had positive things to say about his quarterback, Taylor Martinez; his returning defensive talent; and running back Rex Burkhead, about whom Pelini said: “I wouldn’t trade him for another player in the country.” Burkhead, along with Will Compton and Kyler Reed, are representing the Huskers in Chicago as well.

The Colorado Rockies return home to begin a nine-game homestand tonight with the first of three games against the Cincinnati Reds. The Rockies are coming off a 2-4 Western road swing through San Diego and Arizona. They snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night to conclude the trip. The Reds come into Denver as the leaders in the National League Central division. They’ve won seven consecutive games and have the second-best record in the league. Drew Pomeranz returns to the mound for the Rockies. The rookie southpaw skipped his last start due to arm soreness. He’ll be opposed by Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo. ESPN Radio 1410 has all the action from Coors Field tonight. Pregame coverage gets underway at 7:05, with the first pitch at 7:40.

The Denver Broncos opened up their training camp to record-sized crowds at their Dove Valley facility in suburban Denver yesterday. Over 3,300 fans showed up to the practice, and they were there to see one man, new signal caller Peyton Manning. Manning was greeted by a huge roar as he jogged out to lead the Broncos’ first team offense. Both running back Knowshon Moreno and guard Chris Kuper, who suffered season-ending leg injuries last season, participated in practice yesterday as well.

The NBA schedule was released yesterday, and the Denver Nuggets will get an early road test. They wrap up a three-game season opening road trip with a visit to the defending champion Miami Heat on November 3. Denver’s home opener comes November 6 against Detroit. Other notable dates on the schedule include a Christmas Day game in Los Angeles against the Clippers, and Carmelo Anthony’s return to Denver as a visiting player for the first time on March 13 when the Knicks come to the Pepsi Center.

LONDON (AP) – Missy Franklin is dedicating all her Olympic races to her home state of Colorado.

The 17-year-old swimmer says she was “so shaken” by the movie-theater shootings in the Denver suburb of Aurora, where she attends high school and trains. She will be keeping the people of Aurora in her thoughts while she’s in London.

Franklin, who lives in Centennial, Colo., will certainly be busy in her first Olympics. She is competing in seven events during the eight-day meet. She opens her Olympic program Saturday and is expected to swim a leg of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

LONDON (AP) – Usain Bolt says he has recovered from a stiff back that caused him hamstring problems and is ready to defend his Olympic titles in London.

Bolt says “it was a slight problem. I got that fixed and I’m ready to go.”

Bolt lost to training partner Yohan Blake at the recent Jamaican trials. And while he hardly enters the London Games as the dominant force he was four years ago in Beijing, he is still the reigning Olympic champion in the 100 and 200 meters.

He also still holds the world record in both events.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs have signed free agent offensive tackle Tony Ugoh to provide depth along the line.

The Chiefs announced the signing Thursday, the same day the team reported to training camp in St. Joseph, Mo. Their first practice is Friday.

Ugoh was a second-round draft choice of Indianapolis in 2007, and spent part of the 2010 season with Detroit and last season with the Giants. He’s played in 40 games with 28 starts.

The 6-foot-5, 301-pound Ugoh should provide some help behind left tackle Branden Albert and right tackle Eric Winston, who was signed as a free agent during the offseason.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay at Baltimore 11:35 p.m.
Oakland at Toronto 11:37 p.m.
Detroit at Cleveland 6:05 p.m.
Kansas City at Seattle 9:10 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
L.A. Dodgers at St. Louis 12:45 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Houston 7:05 p.m.
Washington at Milwaukee 7:10 p.m.
N-Y Mets at Arizona 8:40 p.m.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) – Embarrassing moment for London Olympic organizers, who mistakenly displayed the South Korean flag on a jumbo screen instead of North Korea’s before a women’s soccer match Wednesday in Scotland. The North Koreans  refused to take the field for nearly an hour, then went out and blanked Colombia 2-0.

LONDON (AP) – Police in London say a fire alarm forced authorities to briefly clear the sprawling mall beside the Olympic Park. Fears of terrorism have been at the center of preparations for the Olympics, and authorities have twice been forced to deploy troops when security arrangements fell short.

ABERDEEN, Md. (AP) -Police say Cal Ripken Jr.’s 74-year-old mother was found with her hands bound in the back seat of her car Wednesday after she said she was kidnapped at gunpoint a day earlier at her home outside Baltimore and driven around blindfolded by her abductor. Investigators say they do not know the kidnapper’s motive and there was no ransom demand for Vi Ripken’s release.

TORONTO (AP) – The NHL completed presenting a majority of its proposals in labor negotiations to the players union yesterday and is waiting for a response from the NHL Players’ Association. Representatives for the two sides met for a second consecutive day yesterday at the union’s headquarters in Toronto.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago White Sox 8, Minnesota 2
L.A. Angels 11, Kansas City 6
N.Y. Yankees 5, Seattle 2
Detroit 5, Cleveland 3
Tampa Bay 10, Baltimore 1
Oakland 16, Toronto 0
Texas 5, Boston 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington 5, N.Y. Mets 2
Pittsburgh 3, Chicago Cubs 2
Atlanta 7, Miami 1
Philadelphia 7, Milwaukee 6, 10 innings
San Diego 6, San Francisco 3
Cincinnati 5, Houston 3
St. Louis 3, L.A. Dodgers 2, 12 innings
Colorado 4, Arizona 2

A stellar outing from Jeff Francis and Marco Scutaro’s big night at the plate helped the Colorado Rockies salvage a game from their trip to Arizona. The Rockies knocked off the Diamondbacks 4-2 last night. Francis worked into the seventh inning, allowing just two runs on five hits. Adam Ottavino and Matt Belisle worked perfect relief in the seventh and eighth, and Rafael Betancourt struck out two in the ninth for his seventeenth save of the season. Scutaro opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and his two-run double in the third gave the Rockies a 3-1 lead. Wilin Rosario clouted a solo home run, his sixteenth of the season, in the fourth. The Rockies are off today as they return home following a 2-4 road trip. They’ll open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds tomorrow night at Coors Field.

The Denver Broncos take to the practice field for their first training camp workout today, and there are storylines aplenty to be found at Dove Valley for the defending AFC West Champions. Peyton Manning will lead his first official practice as the Broncos’ quarterback, putting the team squarely into the NFL’s spotlight. There’s also some upheaval on the defensive side of the football due to some unwelcome off-the-field issues. Longtime starting linebacker DJ Williams won’t be practicing with the first team defense at camp, as the Broncos prepare to be without the veteran for the first six games of the season due to his suspension for violating performance enhancing drug policy. The Broncos made a couple of roster moves on the eve of camp yesterday. They released rookies Eric Page and Coryell Judie, both of whom were dealing with injuries.