Flyers' Downie hit with 20-game ban

September 29, 2007

Flyers rookie Steve Downie received a 20-game suspension from the NHL yesterday for leaving his feet to deliver a deliberate and dangerous hit to the head of Ottawa forward Dean McAmmond, one of the longest punishments in league history. McAmmond was taken off the ice on a stretcher in the second period of Tuesday's preseason game and is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Roger Clemens flew home to Texas, choosing to rehabilitate his bothersome left hamstring there rather than at the New York Yankees' training facility in Tampa. Clemens missed his scheduled start at Tampa Bay Tuesday. "Wherever Roger goes, he's got workout facilities for what he needs to do," New York manager Joe Torre said . . . The line of succession in the Yankees' hierarchy became clearer when Hal Steinbrenner, 38, the younger of George Steinbrenner's two sons, was elected chairman of the board of Yankee Global Enterprises, the umbrella company for the team and the YES Network . . . The commissioner's office revoked the three-game suspension assessed a day earlier to Milwaukee Brewers reliever Seth McClung for hitting St. Louis's Albert Pujols with a pitch . . . Cecil Cooper will return as manager of the Astros after receiving a two-year contract that runs through the 2009 season. Houston has gone 13-15 since Cooper, 57, took over Aug. 27 . . . Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he would take a few days after the season to decide whether to return to the team he has managed for the past 12 seasons . . . The Nationals exercised the 2009 option on manager Manny Acta's contract.

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward has been ruled out of tomorrow' game at Arizona because of a sprained right knee. Ward has missed only three games to injury in his 10-season career . . . Raiders quarterback Josh McCown will miss tomorrow's game against the Dolphins with a broken toe, giving Daunte Culpepper the start against his former team . . . The Colts signed rookie running back Clifton Dawson of Harvard . . . Kelly Holcomb will get his second straight start at quarterback when the Vikings play the Packers . . . An Indiana bank sued suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for nearly $2 million for not repaying loans involving a car rental business . . . Texans defensive tackle Cedric Killings surprised his teammates by walking into practice for a visit, just five days after fracturing a vertebra in his neck . . . Broncos guard Ben Hamilton was placed on injured reserve with post-concussion symptoms.

Lorena Ochoa finished with three birdies to stay within striking distance of Stacy Prammanasudh after the second round of the Navistar LPGA Classic at Prattville, Ala. Prammanasudh made a 12-foot eagle putt on the par-5 eighth hole en route to a 4-under-par 68 that left her at 13-under 131, three strokes ahead of Ochoa . . . David Branshaw made 11 straight pars in a swirling wind, then birdied his final two holes to take a one-stroke lead over Bill Haas and former champion Cameron Beckman in the Viking Classic at Madison, Miss. . . . Britain & Ireland won the second set of fourball matches, 3-2, to pull even with Continental Europe in the Seve Trophy at Killenard, Ireland . . . Texas A&M football coach Dennis Franchione said he has stopped selling inside information on the Aggies in a newsletter to boosters who paid $1,200 per year in fees that helped finance the coach's personal website . . . A jury asked for hundreds of pages of testimony and documents before finishing its first full day of deliberations in the sexual harassment case brought by former New York Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders against coach Isiah Thomas . . . The Timberwolves traded guard Trenton Hassell to the Mavericks for guard Greg Buckner . . . Lleyton Hewitt was upset by Rainer Schuettler, 6-3, 7-5, in the quarterfinals of the Mumbai Open in India . . . Marion Bartoli upset Anna Chakvetadze, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the Fortis Championships in Luxembourg.