Ab Lounge Sport

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew will officially close out its 12th season on Tuesday (Nov. 13) when it plays host Tecos UAG of the Mexican Premier Division in an international exhibition at Crew Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday's match will be broadcast live exclusively via webcast at TheCrew.com, with Neil Sika on the call.

The game is included in all Gold-level Crew Soccer Nation memberships, designated as Special Game "C." Tickets - priced at $12 adults/$10 youth (south end), $17/$13 (north end), $20/$15 (upper sideline), $24/$17 (lower sideline) and $37/$27 (club seats) - are on sale at the Crew Stadium Box Office, all central Ohio Ticketmaster retail locations, via Ticketmaster phone at 614-431-3600 and on-line at TheCrew.com. Group pricing is available and may be acquired by calling 614-447-CREW.

NFL Notes

MIAMI -- Ricky Williams' latest comeback lasted one game. The Miami Dolphins running back will miss the rest of the season with a torn chest muscle, according to his agent, Leigh Steinberg. Williams was hurt Monday at Pittsburgh, when he played in his first game in nearly two years. He returned following a 1 1/2 -year suspension for his latest violation of the NFL drug policy. He played for the Toronto Argonauts during the 2006 season. The team was off yesterday, and a spokesperson for the Dolphins said they had no comment on Williams' status. Williams was injured in the second quarter after he fumbled. After being tackled, he was accidentally stepped on while chest-down on the ground. Williams finished with 15 yards in six carries, and the Dolphins lost 3-0 on a last-minute field goal.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Trial date to be set for Vick on state charges

The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback was not expected to attend a hearing in Surry County Circuit Court to schedule his trial on two felony dogfighting counts. Vick is being held at a jail in Warsaw, Va., after unexpectedly turning himself in Nov. 19 to begin serving time for a federal dogfighting conspiracy conviction.

Vick faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 10 in the federal case.

The two state charges - beating or killing or causing dogs to fight other dogs, and engaging in or promoting dogfighting - also are punishable by up to five years in prison each.

Vick's lawyers have indicated they will fight the state charges on the grounds he can't be convicted twice of the same crime.

Vick and three co-defendants, who also face state charges, pleaded guilty to the federal charge in U.S.

Evans achieves Olympic qualification

Badminton Ireland has announced that Scott Evans, has reached the qualification standard for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing.

Hardly the retiring type: Salem's Gosselin still can be found where the action is

SALEM, N.H. - The wide array of school photos which have taken over the table in Bill and Irene Gosselin's Salem home tell the story of this busy, but happy retirement.

It's been better than a half a century since Gosselin played his last down of football for Arizona State. It has been nearly as long since he last held a clipboard in a high school football coaching career that saw him crisscross the Merrimack Valley with three different teams (Lawrence, Woodbury in Salem, N.H., and Methuen), and it has also been 14 years since Gosselin last spent the bulk of his waking hours in the Methuen's AD's office.

But the fall is still all about sidelines and whistles for the Gosselins. Whether it be a middle school field hockey game in Windham one day or a freshman football game at Central Catholic the next, when you had seven athletic children who correspondingly add another 22 grandchildren into the mix, it goes with the territory.

Published November 29, 2007 Hooping it up: Over 400 kids sign up for recreation league basketball but high numbers ...

As a record-breaking soccer season winds down for the Pickens Recreation Department, another season gets ready to hit high gear with 440 boys and girls ready to play basketball this winter.
With soccer leagues ending in early November for all but All-Star players, basketball players and coaches are already in full swing with practices at area schools.
Recreation Department Director Greg Walker said the county had 300 soccer players this year, comprising 27 teams ranging in age from four to 14.
"We’ve had success at the (soccer) playoffs," Walker said. "We sent five All-star teams, and our Under-12 girls were in the finals and the Under-10 kids in the semi-finals. For being so late starting a soccer program, we’re really starting to make some noise at the district level.

'Beckham transcends the sport'

Australian football may be forever in the debt of David Beckham after 'Becksmania' enticed 80 000 fans to watch an international club friendly. Los Angeles Galaxy's 5-3 loss to Sydney FC was immaterial. It was the prospect of watching the international football phenomenon strut his stuff for the first time in Australia that attracted the fans in their droves to Sydney's Olympic stadium on Tuesday. Only Australia's World Cup final eliminators have drawn more home fans than the 80 295 at Tuesday's exhibition. Charismatic Beckham didn't disappoint his legion of admirers, stroking home a signature "Bend it like Beckham" free kick in the first half and even getting steamed up enough to earn himself a yellow card for a square-up tackle. .