Sports

NEW YORK (AP) - The baseball jersey worn by New York Yankees legend Don Larsen when he pitched the only perfect game in World Series history will soon be available for auction.

Steiner Sports Memorabilia is conducting the auction in the fall. They say a bidding war is expected for the one-of-a-kind jersey. In May, a jersey worn by Babe Ruth sold for more than $4.4 million.

Larsen pitched the perfect game during Game 5 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium on October 8, 1956. The Bronx Bombers defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 in the game and went on to win the series in seven.

Larsen, now 82, says the game is the best thing that ever happened to him.

Steiner will announce the auction at a press conference Thursday.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - David Beckham says he has failed to make the British Olympic soccer team.

The former England captain made Stuart Pearce's shortlist of 35 but wasn't selected for the final 18-man squad as one of three players over the age of 23 allowed to compete in the London Olympics.

"Everyone knows how much playing for my country has always meant to me, so I would have been honored to have been part of this unique Team GB squad," Beckham said Thursday in a statement to The Associated Press. "Naturally I am very disappointed, but there will be no bigger supporter of the team than me. And like everyone, I will be hoping they can win the gold."

Beckham had been heavily favored to be on the team after being instrumental in helping Sebastian Coe, the head of the London organizing committee, and his team win the rights to stage the games in the 2005 vote.

LONDON (AP) - Time to ring in the games. Almost.

Five super-sized Olympic rings were lowered off Tower Bridge on Wednesday, draping the internationally recognized symbol over the iconic landmark spanning the Thames river.

London Mayor Boris Johnson lowered the rings with a few words barked into a walkie-talkie from a barge circling below.

The fusing of a London icon - the gateway to the city - with the rings is a signal that London is ready to go one month before the games. The Olympics start July 27 and end on Aug. 12.

The massive rings , 82 feet wide and 37 feet all - are part of efforts to bedeck the city in Olympic banners and bold color ahead of the competition.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett says the pace of the investigation into Jerry Sandusky's child sex crimes was necessary to build an "ironclad" case against the former Penn State assistant coach.

Corbett told CBS' "This Morning" on Monday that the investigation might have taken longer than people would have liked but prosecutors needed to find as many witnesses as possible.

Sandusky was convicted Friday on 45 of 48 counts. He will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars for abusing 10 boys.

Corbett was attorney general when the investigation began following sex assault allegations in 2009. Sandusky wasn't charged until November 2011.

Corbett says Penn State's trustees are still awaiting the results of an internal investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh into the school's handling of Sandusky.

MIAMI (AP) - The Miami Heat are getting ready to wrap up their championship celebrations.

After four nights of parties since winning the NBA Finals, the Heat convene Monday morning for their parade through downtown Miami. Fans began lining up Sunday night to grab spots along the route.

Following the parade, the Heat will hold a celebration inside their arena.

LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and the Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games for the title.

James took MVP honors after his long-awaited first championship.

NEW YORK (AP) - Drew Brees knows he has a dangerous job.

The record-setting quarterback of the New Orleans Saints is eager to make football safer at all levels. So he's teamed up with PACE - Protecting Athletes Through Concussion Education. The program provides free concussion testing for more than 3,300 middle and high schools and youth sports organizations.

Brees says "any time you can educate young kids and their parents, especially in regards to concussions and raise awareness, is vital."

Brees will headline a panel discussion on the topic Tuesday, joined by former U.S. soccer player Briana Scurry, retired NHL star Mike Richter and ex-New York Giants linebacker Carl Banks.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling says the collapse of his 38 Studios video game company has probably cost him his entire baseball fortune, and he put part of the blame on Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.
 
    
Schilling said during an interview on WEEI-FM in Providence on Friday morning that he put more than $50 million of his own money in the company and that the money he made playing baseball is "probably all gone."
 
    
Schilling also said Chafee's public comments last month questioning the firm's solvency harmed the company as it tried to raise private capital to stay afloat.
 
    
38 Studios filed for bankruptcy protection on June 7. It had been lured to Rhode Island from Massachusetts in 2010 after Rhode Island offered a $75 million loan guarantee.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Asia's reputation as a hotbed of soccer match-fixing and corruption is getting some overdue attention, as nations move to clean up the sport and position the region as a rival to Europe and South America in attracting players, fans and investment.

Last week Chinese courts handed out prison sentences to senior officials and players for accepting bribes, while South Korea is taking measures to improve the sport after the match-fixing scandal of 2011.

Earlier this week, soccer's governing body, FIFA, extended the national bans imposed by South Korea's K-League on 13 players into worldwide sanctions. Former national team player Kim Dong-hyun received a lifetime ban just a month after being arrested in Seoul for an attempted kidnapping at knifepoint.

LONDON (AP) - Andy Roddick is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing season at the Queen's Club grass court tournament.

The 29-year-old American has always been happy to put the clay court season behind him and turn his attention to grass, a surface he has excelled on by reaching three Wimbledon finals and winning the title at Queen's four times.

The seventh-seeded Roddick says: "When I get on a grass court it just feels natural to me. I don't feel I'm fighting myself like I do on clay."

After a first-round bye, Roddick faces Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France or Kazak qualifier Evgeny Korolev. The start of the warmup event for Wimbledon, however, was delayed by bad weather Monday.

Roddick also competes in doubles with another four-time former champion, Lleyton Hewitt.

DESTIN, Fla. (AP) - College football's most dominant conference has its wish list for a playoff.

The Southeastern Conference took an official stance on a proposed four-team playoff Friday when school presidents and athletic directors voted unanimously to support having the four best teams play for the national title. The league doesn't want a playoff to include ties to conference champions.

It makes sense that the powerhouse league, which has won six consecutive Bowl Championship Series titles, would want a best-four format. That gives the SEC the greatest chance to get two teams into the tournament every year.

The league also voted to keep its current football scheduling format, known as 6-1-1. Teams will play six division teams annually, have one permanent crossover rival and one game that rotates among the other six teams.