Kyle Lewis advances into todays semifinals

NORMAN ­­— Kyle Lewis advanced into today’s semifinals of the Oklahoma Junior Amateur golf championship by winning both of his Wednesday matches at the Jimmie Austin Golf Course in Norman.
Lewis began the day by defeating Russell Cozad of Lawton, 2 and 1. Lewis then met up with Matt Helms of Edmond in the quarterfinal round. Lewis poured it on Helms in the hot Oklahoma wind, taking a 6 and 4 win into today’s semis.
The Bethel native will now take on Andrew Green of Edmond in the 8:30 a.m. semifinal. The winner of the Lewis-Green match will face the winner of the other semifinal between OKC’s Hunter Sparks and Bixby’s Karsten Majors. The championship match is scheduled for today at 12:40 p.m.
Pickens honored
DALLAS (AP) — Boone Pickens, the billionaire alumnus who has donated more than $400 million to Oklahoma State University, will be honored in December at the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony.
Pickens, who donated a record $165 million in 2005 to renovate the university’s football stadium and create an athletic village, will be recognized for his philanthropy work with this year’s Distinguished American Award at the Dec. 9 ceremony in New York.
Pickens’ most recent gift was $100 million to endow professors’ positions at the university.
Rays slugger sidelined for broken index finger
BOSTON (AP) — Tampa Bay slugger Carlos Pena was placed on the disabled list Wednesday because of a broken left index finger.
Pena was hurt when he was hit by a pitch from Boston’s Justin Masterson in the first inning of Tuesday’s game at Fenway Park.
The first baseman, who started 56 of Tampa Bay’s first 58 games this season, stayed in the game to double in the fourth and connect for his team-leading 11th homer in the sixth.
Buccaneer tight end suspended for drugs
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Jerramy Stevens was suspended without pay for the first two games of the season and fined an additional game check Wednesday for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
The league also said any additional violations between now and the start of the season would increase the suspension to three games. Stevens also would face additional discipline for a new violation.
Chicago finalist for 2016 Olympic host
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Chicago was among four cities picked as finalists Wednesday for the 2016 Summer Olympics, setting the stage for a high-profile bidding contest between candidates from the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.
Also making the IOC shortlist were Madrid, Spain; Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
IOC suspends Iraq
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The IOC provisionally suspended Iraq’s national Olympic committee Wednesday for “political interference” by the government, a decision that leaves Iraqi athletes in danger of missing the Beijing Games.
The International Olympic Committee’s executive board took the action because the Iraqi government’s recently dissolved the national Olympic body and appointed an interim group presided over by the minister of sport.
“The Iraqi national Olympic committee is suspended on a provisional basis ... as a protective measure due to the interferences from the Iraqi government authorities,” the IOC said in a statement.
Lineman turns informant
BOSTON (AP) — A starting lineman for the New England Patriots worked as an informant for federal drug agents after he was arrested in New York on a charge of carrying the powerful painkiller oxycodone without a prescription, an attorney said.
Nicholas Kaczur, 28, wore a wire to help agents build a case against his alleged supplier, Daniel Ekasala, according to Ekasala’s attorney.
All-Stars gather to farewell Yankee Stadium
NEW YORK (AP) — For all the All-Stars who have played at Yankee Stadium in its 84 seasons, never have so many appeared there at one time.
In what is being billed as the largest gathering ever of baseball stars, more than 40 Hall of Famers have committed to attending a ceremony before the All-Star game July 15 in the stadium’s final year.
“Since we are lucky enough to have the All-Star game in the stadium’s farewell year, there’s a heavy burden on us to send it off with a grand gesture, a gesture that’s fitting in the stadium’s place in history,” Tim Brosnan, Major League Baseball’s executive vice president for business, said at a news conference Wednesday announcing the event.
Stanley Cup ratings double for game five
NEW YORK (AP) — Television ratings for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals more than doubled from last year.
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ triple-overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday earned a 3.8 national rating and a 7 share on NBC, the network said Wednesday. That’s up 111 percent from last season’s Game 5 between Anaheim and Ottawa, which drew a 1.8.
Rays prepare for draft
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The heat on the Tampa Bay Rays is self-imposed.
They have the No. 1 pick in the baseball draft, and as a rising club that expects to keep getting better, there’s an added sense of urgency to make the right call on Thursday at Disney World.
“In our minds and in our planning, hopefully this is the last time we’re picking this high for a while, so we put a little more pressure on ourselves to add another impact player before hopefully we start picking in the 20s,” Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.