Oden reprimanded for pickup games

Greg Oden was reprimanded by the Portland Trail Blazers for playing in pickup games at a neighborhood gym. "We called him and we told him he can't do that," coach Nate McMillan said yesterday. Oden, the top pick in last year's draft, is out for the season after microfracture surgery on his right knee. He said he played two games Wednesday night when he was at the fitness center with friends. "I was going to play one, but I lost the first one," the 7-footer said. McMillan called Oden's actions "pretty innocent," but the coach wanted Oden to know he must avoid risky situations. "He's a young man," McMillan said. "He wants to be the same young man as when he came here. And he's not. He's got too much value."

Lisa Fernandez, a three-time Olympic champion and perhaps softball's signature star for more than a decade, did not make the US team's final 15-player roster for the Beijing Games. Fernandez, 37, was making a comeback after missing three years to start a family. "I was really hoping she would get close to where she was in 2004," said US coach Mike Candrea. "She is still in my eyes the best player who has ever played this game. I wanted her to go out on top." Said Fernandez, "I know I gave it everything I had. There wasn't a corner cut or a practice missed. I just ran out of time." . . . Colorado Springs has proposed a $53 million deal aimed at keeping the US Olympic Committee headquarters in the city.

Kacey Bellamy of Westfield and Sam Faber, both juniors at the University of New Hampshire, were among the 20 players selected for the 2008 US women's national hockey team. Faber led the Wildcats in points (49) and tied for the national lead in game-winning goals (13). Bellamy ranked 10th nationally in defensemen scoring. Others on the roster with local ties include Caitlin Cahow (Harvard), Sarah Parsons (Dover), Meghan Duggan (Danvers), and Erika Lawler (Fitchburg) . . . Four Boston University seniors have started their professional careers in the AHL: Bryan Ewing (Springfield Falcons), Pete MacArthur (Bridgeport Sound), Brian McGuirk (Syracuse Crunch), and Ryan Weston (Albany River Rats) . . . Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella will coach Team USA in the world championships in May in Quebec and Nova Scotia . . . Former Vancouver Canucks coach (and current Los Angeles Kings coach) Marc Crawford has been named in a lawsuit over Todd Bertuzzi's attack on Steve Moore in 2004. Crawford could be liable for millions if a judge in Toronto decides Moore deserves compensation for his injuries - a concussion and three fractured vertebrae in his neck. Bertuzzi sought to have Crawford included, saying his NHL contract compelled him to take orders from his coach.

Novak Djokovic often bounces the ball more than a dozen times before serving, and the tedious ritual may have cost him a match. The defending champion at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., went into a funk after being warned for taking too much time between points, then blew a third-set lead to lose his opening match to qualifier Kevin Anderson, 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-4. "I didn't focus myself in that moment," Djokovic said. Also winning were Rafael Nadal, James Blake, Xavier Malisse, and Dmitry Tursunov. In women's play, defending champion Serena Williams, three-time champion Venus Williams, and top-ranked Justine Henin won in straight sets.

In Milan, Italian cyclist Valentino Fois died at age 34, possibly from a pulmonary embolism, his brother said. The official cause of death isn't known. Fois was suspended for doping in 1998; some performance-enhancing drugs have been linked to such embolisms. The Italian cycling federation also suspended Fois for three years starting in 2002 for doping, which he later admitted . . . Herb Rich, a defensive captain of the New York Giants when they won the NFL title in 1956, died at 79 in Nashville . . . David Schlothauer of Westport broke the US record (25 feet) in the men's 90-year-old weight throw at the 2008 USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center when he tossed 32-11. Nine other US records were set.