Red Sox pitchers deny report they drank in dugout

The Boston Red Sox may have not made the playoffs, but the controversy surrounding their late-season collapse continues to make an October run.

Red Sox pitchers Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey strongly denied a television report that they drank beer in the dugout during games. WDHD-TV in Boston cited two unidentified Red Sox employees who claimed players would drink beer in the dugout after filling their cups in the Fenway Park clubhouse.

One of the unnamed Red Sox employees told the station that the three players were "bored on nights they weren't pitching and this is how they entertained themselves."

Team President Larry Lucchino denied the allegations in a news release:

"Tonight our organization has heard directly from Jon, Josh, John, and former manager Terry Francona. Each has assured us that the allegation that surfaced today about drinking in the dugout during games in 2011 is false, and we accept their statements as honest and factual."

IndyCar launches probe of Dan Wheldon crash, plans memorial Sunday

The Izod IndyCar Series said Tuesday it launched an investigation into the horrific 15-car wreck that claimed the life of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon in Las Vegas.

"We hope to have preliminary findings to report within the next several weeks," IndyCar said. "In the meantime, it would be inappropriate to comment further until the investigative team has had the opportunity to conclude its work."

Wheldon, 33, succumbed to injuries Sunday when his car was involved in the crash early in a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

IndyCar also said it would hold a public memorial service to celebrate Wheldon's life Sunday at Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

IndyCar said the governing body for Formula One racing, along with the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States, an umbrella organization of racing sanctioning bodies, would assist in the probe.

"The safety of our drivers, their crews, IndyCar staff, racetrack staff and spectators is always our paramount concern," the series said.

Wheldon's death sparked debate about whether it was too dangerous for 34 cars to be traveling at 220 mph and faster at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval. NASCAR stock-car racing champion Jimmie Johnson suggested IndyCar avoid oval tracks.

But two legendary open-wheel drivers, A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti, defended oval racing.

"I don't think Jimmie Johnson knows what he's talking about," Foyt, a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, told USA Today. "You could say the same about stock cars. I've drove both, and I've been hurt real bad in both."

Andretti told the newspaper that Wheldon's crash was "a fluke, freakish accident" and that while there is always room for safety improvements, to say "we don't have the knowledge to make these things safe enough for ovals is absolutely absurd."

RELATED:

Dan Wheldon's death raises questions about IndyCar racing

Dan Wheldon's death hits racing community especially hard

Dan Wheldon was an engaging young champion

-- Jim Peltz

Photo: Workers hang a tribute banner to Dan Wheldon above the gate at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

A.J. Pierzynski likes this baseball broadcasting stuff

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski is working for Fox as an analyst during the World Series between Texas and St. Louis, which begins Wednesday night. If you Google "A.J. Pierzynski" you find lists for "A.J. Pierzynski fight," and "A.J. Pierzynski jerk" and "A.J. Pierzynski meanest."

Maybe soon, A.J. Pierzynski, excellent broadcaster, will be a popular search term. Pierzynski, an Angels-killer in his day job as Chicago White Sox catcher, made baseball fans notice when he had an insightful discussion during the ALCS about how well Texas catcher (and former Angel) Mike Napoli blocked the plate in the series against Detroit, especially a play at home.

Pierzynski pointed out the way Napoli raised both legs up on that play, in contrast to  San Francisco Giants catching star Buster Posey, who had broken a leg early in the season and missed most of this year while blocking the plate on a similar play.

"You take the blow, you roll with it, you get your feet out of the ground. That's the proper way to stay healthy and still get hit hard but you get up and walk away," Pierzynski said.

T.J. Simers: Rick Neuheisel still has a chance to keep his job

We have reached the halfway mark in Rick Neuheisel’s fight for survival at UCLA. It’s been very thrilling.

He lost a game he should have won in Houston to start the "Rick must go" campaign.

But he’s come back to win the games he had to win or get fired on the spot: San Jose State, Oregon State and Washington State.

Thursday night’s game in Arizona is now the swing game.

If the Bruins win, they still have a shot at seven wins; if they lose, they have no margin of error when it comes to winning six.

Six wins makes the Bruins bowl eligible but does not guarantee a bowl invitation or another year on the job for Neuheisel. When UCLA went to Washington, D.C., a few years back, it did so because it finished with six wins and the bowls ran out of seven-win teams to fill all the games.

Seven wins, though, earns UCLA a bowl game, and Neuheisel rejoins the living.

UCLA is 3-3. It’s hard to say any Pac-12 game is winnable for the Bruins, but if Neuheisel is correct in saying UCLA is on the right track, then it should beat Arizona, Cal, Colorado and Utah.

NBA lockout: Live video chat with Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner

Join us Wednesday at 1 p.m. on The Fabulous Forum for a live video chat with Times Lakers reporters Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner. They will be discussing the NBA lockout and how it impacts the Lakers chances to win the title, and will answer questions from readers watching online.

It all starts Wednesday at 1 p.m. on The Fabulous Forum blog.

 

--Houston Mitchell

 

Georges St-Pierre hurts knee, out of Oct. 29 fight

Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has sustained a knee injury that has knocked him out of his title defense versus Carlos Condit Oct. 29, UFC officials said Tuesday.

St-Pierre was hurt in training camp Saturday in Montreal, UFC Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta told The Times in a text message, while awaiting a doctor's examination to establish the extent of the damage that is initially being described by Fertitta as a sprain.

Fertitta said St-Pierre's medial collateral ligament is not torn and he'll be out four-to-six weeks.

St-Pierre originally was to fight Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz, but UFC President Dana White scrapped Diaz after the Stockton fighter missed promotional events to hype the fight card.

Diaz will now fight Condit's originally scheduled Oct. 29 opponent, former two-division champion B.J. Penn, in a three-round main event at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and Condit will wait to fight St-Pierre for the title during the first quarter of 2012, Fertitta said.

St-Pierre has won nine consecutive fights since an April 2007 defeat to Matt Serra, avenging the loss to Serra while also defeating the likes of Penn, former champion Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck and Jake Shields to compete with middleweight Anderson Silva as the organization's top two pound-for-pound fighters.

RELATED

Times' October MMA rankings

--Lance Pugmire

 

Jerry West to be featured on HBO

Lakers icon Jerry West, who has been in the news a great deal recently thanks to his autobiography, steps into the spotlight once more as part of HBO's "Real Sports" series.

Bryant Gumbel sits down with the NBA Hall of Famer to discuss his lifelong battle with depression.

Real Sports premieres Tuesday Oct. 18 at 10pm ET/PT and replays throughout the month on HBO.

You can watch a preview of West's segment below.

 --Houston Mitchell