Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ó Don’t bother looking for an emotional Super Bowl rematch when the New York Giants and the New England Patriots meet in their preseason finale at Giants Stadium tonight.
The starters won’t be on the field either long enough or at all for anyone to get too wound up.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is a question mark for the game because of a training-camp long injury to his right foot. Eli Manning and the Giants’ first-team offense are going to be on the field for 10 plays.
And to be blunt, the only thing players are concerned about is leaving the game healthy as they look forward to their regular-season openers.
The Super Bowl champion Giants (1-2) kick off a week from tonight in a nationally televised game against the Washington Redskins. The Patriots, whose only blemish last season was their 17-14 loss to the Giants in the title game, open at home against Kansas City on Sept. 7.
“It is a waste,” Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce said of the preseason finale. “We don’t need to be playing these games. Obviously you see in the league that guys are getting hurt. You don’t need to play. Obviously with us having a long season last year, going to the Super Bowl, playing more games in the preseason and having a risk of injuries is not smart.”
In other preseason action Thursday, Detroit at Buffalo, New York Jets at Philadelphia, Cincinnati at Indianapolis, Jacksonville at Washington, Atlanta at Baltimore, Carolina at Pittsburgh, Chicago at Cleveland, Tennessee at Green Bay, Minnesota at Dallas, Tampa Bay at Houston, Miami at New Orleans and St. Louis at Kansas City.
CHARGERS
SAN DIEGO ó The surgeon’s knife can wait. Shawne Merriman is going to play football, two torn knee ligaments and all.
A day after visiting a fourth doctor, the San Diego Chargers’ star outside linebacker decided Wednesday to play this season rather than have surgery on his damaged left knee.
“To be as simple as possible, I just want to play football,” Merriman said. “That’s what it comes down to. I know what’s on the table, I know what’s on the line. I put a lot of work in this and I want to play.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
CINCINNATI ó Quarterback Ben Mauk lost his latest appeal to the NCAA for another year of eligibility on Wednesday, leaving him with one final chance to play for Cincinnati.
After a couple of days of mixed signals, the NCAA told the former Bearcats’ quarterback that it had turned him down for the fourth time. Now, Mauk will appeal directly to the NCAA’s reinstatement committee for another season.
Mauk will talk to the reinstatement committee by phone on Thursday afternoon, a few hours before the Bearcats open their season at home against Eastern Kentucky. He expects a decision either later in the day or on Friday.
– WINSTON-SALEM ó Wake Forest is experiencing one of the pesky byproducts of building a successful program: Other schools want to hire its coaches.
While Jim Grobe spurned Arkansas this offseason to stay with the 23rd-ranked Demon Deacons, two of his assistants have moved on. Defensive coordinator Dean Hood took the head job at Eastern Kentucky, and quarterbacks coach Jeff Mullen took over as offensive coordinator at West Virginia.
– CONWAY, S.C. ó A freshman Coastal Carolina football player has been suspended from the team and the school after he was charged with simple assault. Campus police say Jeremy Harden of Hamlet, N.C., was arrested Monday after a residence hall fight.
The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports Harden is the sixth Chanticleer football player arrested in the past year.
NASCAR
CHARLOTTE ó Joey Logano will drive in seven Sprint Cup races this fall as a tuneup before the 18-year-old star begins his full-time ride at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Logano, who will replace two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Toyota in 2009, will make his Sprint Cup debut Sept. 6 at Richmond International Raceway in the No. 02 Toyota.
U.S. OPEN
NEW YORK ó Jelena Jankovic’s leg cramped so badly, she couldn’t take another step.Luckily for the No. 2 seed in the U.S. Open, the agony occurred during her post-match run on the treadmill. Anyone who watched could clearly see she left about everything she had out on the court.
Jankovic outlasted Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 Wednesday on yet another uncharacteristically mild August day in Flushing Meadows. She planned to take a 10-minute run on the treadmill but lasted only three when pain flared in the area of a knee injury sustained at Wimbledon.
NBA
BEIJING ó The Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors will travel to China in October to play two exhibition games, the NBA and Chinese Basketball Association said on Wednesday.
The NBA China Games tips off with the Bucks and Warriors meeting on Oct. 15 in Guangzhou and Oct. 18 at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena.