European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 14, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday april 14 2007 stars and stripes Page 35 Duke players dont the associated press Durham the local prosecutor who charged three Duke Lacrosse players with rap ing a stripper apologized to the athletes thursday and said the North Carolina attorney generals decision to drop the Case was right to the extent that i made judg ments that ultimately proved to be incorrect i apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused Durham county District attorney Mike Nifong said on wednesday attorney Gen eral Roy Cooper not Only dropped All remaining charges against the players Reade Seligmann Collin Finnerty and David Evans but pronounced them innocent and said they were the victims of in songs tragic Rush to accuse Cooper branded Nifong a rogue prosecutor who was guilty of overreaching i have every Confidence that the decision to dismiss All the charges was the Correct decision based on that evidence Nifong said in what appeared to be a plea to the athletes not to take any fur ther action such As a lawsuit he said it is my sincere desire that the actions of attorney general Cooper will serve to remedy any remaining injury that has resulted from these cases Nifong refused to answer any questions after handing the state ment to an associated press re Porter outside his office in Durham Seligmann attorney Jim Cooney responded bitterly to the apology you can accept an apology from someone who knows All the facts and simply makes an error Cooney said if a person refuses to know All the facts and then makes a judgment that far worse particularly when that judgment destroys lives finnertysr father Kevin Finnerty said Nifong attempt at an apology was disingenuous and insincere it Falls Well Short of whatever it might take to even remotely re pair the damage he has inflicted sports briefs on so Many people Finnerty said when asked if he accepted the apology Finnerty said i do not too Little too late Evans attorney Joseph Cheshire accused Nifong of engaging in revisionist history with his statement ifs not an apology if s an excuse if s an attempt at an excuse Cheshire said if snot an acceptance of responsibility if s a self serving attempt to excuse bad behaviour indians sign Westbrook to 3year Extension Cleveland Jake West Brook signed a three year con tract Extension through 2010 on Friday with the Cleveland Indi ans who locked up a key starter before possibly losing him As a free agent the 29yearold Westbrook one of the als most reliable pitchers the past three seasons would have been eligible for free Agency after this season his seventh since coming to Cleveland in a Trade with the new York Yan Kees financial terms of the contract were not immediately available Westbrook has won 44 games the past three seasons since 2004 Only Westbrook teammate cuff Lee Minnesota Johan san Tana and Detroit s Kenny Rogers have won at least 14 games in each season he has a 5653 career record with a 440 Era reds place shortstop Gonzalez on bereavement list Cincinnati shortstop Alex Gonzalez will miss several games for the Cincinnati reds who placed him on the Bereave ment list thursday Gonzalez left the team to attend to a family matter in Venezuela he can stay on the bereavement list for up to one week the reds were off thursday be your Hometown newspaper Why pay full Price Home delivery Only where toll free 08001011270 Germany 0800780265 Italy 08000858827 us 080078073 Belgium 08000225203 Netherlands 0900958303 Spain Dan 3498437 email hours of operation of 07001800 Samsun 07301300 european stars and stripes attn circulation dept unit 29480 Apoate 09211 fore opening a weekend series in Chicago Gonzalez is hitting with three Bis for the reds who signed my As a free agent in the of season to improve their de sense he must stay on the bereavement list for a minimum of three Days meaning he will miss at least the first two games in Chi Cago Phillies minor leaguer suspended for positive test new York Philadelphia Phillies infielder Hector made was suspended for 50 games thursday for testing positive for a performance enhancing sub stance under baseballs minor league program made was acquired by the Phil lies last july in the Trade that sent Catcher Sal Fasano to the new York Yankees the 22yearold from the dominican Republic hit a combined 267 with four Hom ers and 32 Bis with Tampa and Clearwater in the Florida state league he became the third minor leaguer suspended under the drug program this year Oakland Pitcher Leonard Landeros was suspended for 50 games on april 6 for testing positive for a drug of abuse and Saikol Mesa who had been with the Cincinnati reds organization was suspended for 50 games on Jan 3 there were 37 suspensions under the program last for performance enhancing drugs and five for drugs of abuse former lion Heywood who served in three wars Dies los Angeles Ralph hey Wood a former Detroit lion who served in three wars As a us Marine has died he was 85 he died tuesday in Bandera Texas the cause was not Given Heywood a 1943 a american who played for the us trojans was a third round pick by the Lions in the 1944 nil draft As a lion he caught 13 passes for 198 Yards and two touchdowns in 1946 Heywood played for the Chicago rockets of the ail american football Confer ence he concluded Bis fou year pm Lam v pro career after seasons with the Boston yanks 1948 and the new York bulldogs he had a 32year career As an officer in the marines serving in world War n and the korean and Vietnam wars saints sign or Patten new Orleans the new Orleans saints signed receiver David Patten to a oneyear con tract thursday hoping the 10year Veteran can rebound from two disappointing seasons with the Washington redskins a saints spokesman confirmed the Deal but  release financial details Patten was Cut last month two seasons into a five year s13 Mil lion free agent Deal he signed with the redskins after helping the new England patriots win three super bowls earlier in the decade Patten caught 22 passes in nine games in 2005 before knee sur Gery ended his season in 2006 he caught one pass for 25 Yards hav ing fallen behind Santana Moss Brandon Lloyd and Antwan ran dle Al on the depth Chart he has not caught a touchdown pass since the 2004 season when new England was in route to it third nil title in four years Broncos sign free agent wide receiver Terrell Denver Bron cos signed free agent wide receiver David Terrell to a oneyear con tract thursday the 28yearold played for the Broncos in 2005 but was out of the nil last season after Denver released him on sept 2 he previously played for the Chicago bears and the new England patriots Terrell has 128 career receptions for 1602 Yards with nine touchdowns in 54 regular season games he has started in 29 games red wings Chelios Breaks nil postseason record Detroit Detroit red wings defens Eman Chris Chelios set an nil record thursday by playing in the postseason for a Carrier 22nd time facing Calgary in game 1 of their first round series in his 23season career Chelios has been relegated to watching the playoffs Only once he has won two Stanley cups Hall of Famer Ray Bourque held the previous Mark appear ing in 21 postseason the 45yearold Chelios be came the second oldest player to be in the playoffs and trails Only Hall of Famer Gordie Howe who was 52 when he played with Hart Ford in 1980 after a Stellar career with the red wings wizards sign argentinian midfielder Marine Overland Park Kan the Kansas City wizards have signed argentinian Carlos Marinelli to fill their need for a play making midfielder Marinelli who has played at the top Levelin Argentina England Italy and Portugal was introduced tuesday at the teams practice facility we were looking for a Guy who could run our team run our offence a Good passer of the Ball a Guy that s creative coach Curt Onalfo said we were very fortunate to get Carlos Mcaa approves football timing changes for 2007 Indianapolis last sea son the Mcaa wanted to Speed up football games next season it wants More plays on thursday the rules Over sight panel approved two major timing changes that would revert the rules to what they were in 2005 stopping the clock on pos session changes and not starting it on kickoffs until the receiving team touches the Ball some coaches complained the 2006 changes which resulted in about 14 fewer plays per game in division a had altered the game too much others said it pre vented teams from rallying late in games in february the football rules committee recommended going to Back to the old system after meeting with the american foot Ball coaches association in March the oversight panel agreed for Grafe Woehr Liesheim and Vii Eck for More information please Contact Tom at 01726707342