Five basketball players of the Duquesne University were shot on campus early Sunday after they tried to pacify a man, leaving Sam Ashaolu, a cousin of former Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon, in critical condition, official said. Police searched for the gunman, and the downtown school stepped up its round-the-clock police protection with armed university police officers guarding dormitories and other buildings

American Nicky Hayden won the MotoGP pole position for the second consecutive year for Sunday's Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. With about five minutes to go in the hour-long qualifying session Saturday, Hayden sped around the 4.445-kilometer Phillip Island circuit in 1 minute, 29.020 seconds. "It was a good day, our tires went well, and it's good to be out there in first," said Hayden. "But we've got a lot of work to do before tomorrow

Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis, who is recovering from a separated shoulder suffered in the preseason, has been ruled out for tomorrow night's road matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. He was downgraded from questionable to doubtful on the injury report. Coach Joe Gibbs said Portis will not play. Portis wore pads and said he "ran a few routes" in yesterday's practice, but apparently that wasn't enough

The 2011 Rugby World Cup to be held in New Zealand will be worth more than one billion NZ dollars (600 million U.S. dollars) to the economy. A report commissioned by the organizers said Friday the tournament will add about 500 million NZ dollars (300 million U.S. dollars) to New Zealand's gross domestic product that year. When the total amount of economic activity generated as a result of the cup is added in, the final total should top 1.1 billion NZ dollars (630 million U.S. dollars)

This summer's World Cup turned out a real financial success for the German organizers as Theo Zwanziger, president of the German football federation, revealed on Thursday that the showpiece event made a 135 million euro profit before tax. Zwanziger said 56.6 million euros of the total, after tax, will be split between the German Football Federation (DFB) and German Football League (DFL) while football's governing body FIFA netted 40.8 million euros

Tiger Woods wasn't about to fall for the $1-million question this time. The last time the Ryder Cup was held in Europe, Woods played the week before the matches and gave tabloids plenty of headline material when asked which event he would rather win. He chose the American Express Championship at Mount Juliet and its $1-million US prize. "Why? I can think of a million reasons," Woods said that day

Two-time American National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player Steve Nash has signed up in support of GuluWalk 2006 to aid children in northern Uganda. "As soon as I heard about the night commuters, I knew I wanted to help," said Nash, a native of British Columbia, who plays for the Phoenix Suns in NBA in the United States

FIFA are trying to bring together French captain Zinedine Zidane and Italy defender Marco Materazzi, Sepp Blatter, chief of the world soccer's governing body, said on Monday. Zidane was sent off in the second period of extra time in the World Cup final in July for head-butting Materazzi, who had insulted the French midfielder. Italy went on to defeat France 5-3 on penalties after the game in Berlin's Olympic Stadium finished tied at 1-1

Switzerland's Roger Federer will end the year as world number one for the third time in a row after winning the US Open title for the third straight time, the ATP announced on Monday. The 25-year-old Swiss, who beat American Andy Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 for his ninth career grand slam on Sunday, has won eight titles so far this season. His Flushing Meadows victory followed his titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon

Former Formula One world champion Damon Hill has predicted Michael Schumacher will go out on a high by winning his eighth world title. Ferrari driver Schumacher announced his retirement on Sunday after winning the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. That victory and the race retirement of championship leader Fernando Alonso with a blown engine on his Renault moved the German to within two points of the Spaniard in the title race