The Buzz: Olympic baseball and basketball
Olympic baseball and basketballExtra innings will have a new look in what could be baseball’s last Olympic appearance.
Each team’s at-bat in the 11th inning and beyond will begin with runners on first and second bases. Teams may start the 11th at any point in their batting order under format changes announced Friday by the International Baseball Federation and adopted in time for next month’s Beijing Games.
Baseball and softball are making their last appearance for a while, after the International Olympic Committee voted to eliminate the sports from the 2012 London Games. Both sports are working to be reinstated for the 2016 Olympics.
•The U.S. beat Canada 120-65 Friday night in the opener of its exhibition schedule. LeBron James was out because of a sprained right ankle; Dwyane Wade scored 20 points.
More trouble for Kivisto
Kansas booster and donor Tom Kivisto was sued Friday by Bank of America for $12.8 million, according to the Tulsa World.
On July 18, Kivisto was removed from his position as CEO of SemGroup LP, an energy company based out of Tulsa, Okla. The company Kivisto founded in 2000 then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday. The affidavit, according to the newspaper, said that Kivisto owed SemGroup $290 million.
The Kansas athletic department is waiting on $8 million of a $12 million pledge from Kivisto to help fund the new $31 million Anderson Family Football Complex.
KU football moved into the state-of-the-art facility earlier this month. The $12.8 million lawsuit from Bank of America stems from an unpaid $15 million loan in 2006.
Lions All-Star game
The 32nd annual Missouri Lions All-Star football game will be at 7:30 tonight at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. The game features several local players who will represent the West squad, which is coached by Trenton coach Wes Croy. Tickets for the game are $7 and are available at the gate.
Youth soccer
The KC Wizards Juniors, an under-19 boys soccer team representing Kansas, advanced and will play Sunday for the U-19 championship in the 2008 U.S. Youth Soccer national tournament in Little Rock, Ark. The Wizards tied Solar 89 of Texas 1-1 on Friday. The Wizards face Solar on Sunday.
The under-15 KCFC Intensity girls soccer team representing Kansas won 1-0 on Friday over the Slammers FC but didn’t advance out of pool play to the championship game, which is today.
| Staff and wire reports
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