JJB Sports suffers after weak sales

By Kate Burgess

Shares in JJB Sports, the lossmaking sportswear retailer, fell by a quarter as its chairman quit and it warned sales had been much lower than expected despite the European Football Championships.
JJB blamed the performance on disappointing demand for replica football kits during the Euro 2012 championships and the poor summer weather. Sales in established stores unexpectedly fell 8 per cent in the 22 weeks to July, putting paid to the group’s hopes of restoring profitability, while net debt rose to £15.4m from £11.3m in January.

Mike McTighe, who became chairman 20 months ago, will be replaced by Robert Corliss, the US chief executive of menswear company Robert Talbott. Mr Corliss will initially join the JJB board as deputy chairman before taking over as chairman in September.
The news marks a further deterioration in the fortunes of the Wigan-based group which a little over a year ago staved off administration by raising £65m from its shareholders and negotiating a Company Voluntary Agreement with its landlords.
The group’s shares, which were trading at the equivalent of more than £20 five years ago before three fund raisings and a share consolidation, fell another 25 per cent on Monday to 7.38p.
Hopes of a turnround for JJB were refuelled in April when Dick’s Sporting Goods, the US retailer, invested £20m in the company in exchange for a seat on the board and a stake of about 3 per cent. Dick’s also secured the right to buy £20m of convertible loans next year that would take its shareholding to 61 per cent. Other shareholders put up another £10m.
But on Monday Freddie George, analyst at Seymour Pierce, said he was forecasting pre-tax losses of £32m for 2013 and that he did not expect the company to break even until 2015 at the earliest.
Mr George said: “It does appear likely ... that the company, in view of the losses forecast, will require further investment in the business.”
Peter Smedley of Charles Stanley agreed: “JJB’s medium-term predicament remains largely unresolved,” he said. The poor weather and weak demand for Euro 2012 paraphernalia may have played a part, he said, but “we think that part of this underperformance is due to unprecedented price-driven competition from Sports Direct in the lead-up to and during the tournament”.
JJB is owned 47 per cent by fund managers Invesco, with a further 29.5 per cent of the shares in the hands of Harris Associates. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation owns another 5 per cent.

Quidditch nerds target Olympics to promote sport

By BELINDA GOLDSMITH, REUTERS
OXFORD, ENGLAND - Quidditch players riding broomsticks tagged on to the Olympics on Monday, acknowledging the game adapted from the Harry Potter series was for nerds but arguing that it was a legitimate sport worthy of being in the Olympics.
Five teams of quidditch players from Britain, the United States, Canada, France and Australia, flew into England for the sport's first major international tournament and to hold an exhibition match as the Olympic torch passed through Oxford, 95 km north-west of London.
The sport of ground quidditch was adapted in 2005 by U.S. students at Middlebury College in Vermont from the flying broomstick game in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels.
Since then, the sport has spread to 25 countries and has some 700 teams, mainly based in the United States and largely at colleges and universities.
Alex Benepe, one of the sport's founders, set up the New York-based non-profit International Quidditch Association in 2007 as players started to take the game more seriously and quidditch now boasts a rule book and a World Cup.
He said players happily admitted they were nerds, but sporty nerds, and they wanted to prove this was now a legitimate sport - and even aim for the Olympics in the future.
"Most people who play are nerds but we have a lot of jocks or athletes playing this sport as well, some of whom have never even read the Harry Potter books," Benepe, dressed in a three-piece suit and top hat, told Reuters.
"We thought it would be a great time to piggy-back off the Olympics, being held in the home country of Harry Potter, and show people this is an exciting sport. There are a lot more ridiculous sports in the Olympics than quidditch."
The International Quidditch Association describes itself as a magical, non-profit body "dedicated to promoting the sport of quidditch and inspiring young people to lead physically active and socially engaged lives".
Players said they were attracted to the sport as it drew in like-minded people who loved reading but also sport.
"Quidditch has helped athletes who had to be in closet about their nerdiness," said Benepe.
Allison Gillette, a player on the U.S. team which won the international tournament, said quidditch was as physically demanding as rugby and just as competitive but it retained a humour and camaraderie that other sports often lacked.
She said players were often teased but their tormentors changed their minds when they saw it was such a tough game.
"It is very physical but somehow having to run with a broom between your legs is humbling and this keeps a great sense of community in the sport," Gillette, a student from Emerson College in Boston, told Reuters.
Quidditch is best described as a mix of rugby and dodge ball. Each team has seven players and uses three different balls. Every player must have a broom between his or her legs.
Three players on each team are called chasers who aim to score goals through a hoop, worth 10 points each. Two players are beaters who use dodge balls, or bludgers, to disrupt the game. A keeper defends the hoop. The seeker's role is to snatch the snitch which is worth 30 points.
The snitch is a tennis ball in a yellow sock tucked into the waistband of a snitch runner who is not on either team, does not use a broom and can use any methods to avoid capture.
Benepe, who works in marketing in New York, said the game had changed since 2005. The cape once worn by players was ditched as it could choke people and the rules were now clearly set out.
"It has become far more serious and its growing popularity in the last year or two has really increased the quantity and the quality of players and improved the game," he said.
British player Angus Barry, who is studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics, at Oxford University, said five official teams had emerged in Britain in the past year and there were another 10 or so playing that did not join tournaments.
"The Harry Potter aspect is there but it is not an essential part of the sport. The sport would not have survived if it was just about Harry Potter. It stands on its own," said Barry.
Spectators looked on with amazement as the players, some wearing goggles, rode their brooms across the field.
Not all were convinced quidditch would make the Olympics.
"It's alright but it's a bit weird," said 10-year-old Tom Bound from Oxford, a Harry Potter fan who was hoping - in vain - to see some of the stars of the film series at the match.
"I don't think it's for the Olympics. It's probably better when the broomsticks actually fly," added his mother Emma Bound.

AP source: Rockets deal Camby to Knicks

By CHRIS DUNCAN (AP Sports Writer)

HOUSTON (AP) -- Marcus Camby is returning to New York, while the Houston Rockets continue to reshape their roster.

The 38-year-old Camby agreed Monday to rejoin the Knicks in a deal that sends three players and two second-round draft picks to Houston, according to a person with direct knowledge of the move.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither team has announced the trade.
Yahoo Sports reported that Camby's deal was for three years and $13.2 million.
The Rockets will get guard Toney Douglas, centers Josh Harrelson and Jerome Jordan and second-round picks in 2014 and '15.
The 6-foot-11 Camby, meanwhile, will be back in New York where he played from 1998-2002.
Douglas played in 38 games last season, starting only nine, and averaged 6.2 points and 2.0 assists. The 6-10, 275-pound Harrelson was a second-round pick by New Orleans in 2011 and was traded to the Knicks. He appeared in 37 games and averaged 4.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. The 7-foot Jordan, a native of Jamaica, averaged 5 minutes in 21 games last season.
Though Camby has battled injuries during his NBA career, he remains a productive rebounder and shot blocker even after 16 seasons. He also drew interest from Miami and New Jersey but made his destination clear on Twitter, with a simple posting of ''NY'' on Monday afternoon.
Camby helped the Knicks make a surprising run to the 1999 NBA Finals in his first season in New York. The No. 2 overall pick in the 1996 draft and a native of nearby Connecticut became a fan favorite before the Knicks dealt him Denver in 2002. He should become a valuable backup at center to Tyson Chandler, last season's NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
He becomes the second nearly 40-something to join the Knicks this summer, with Jason Kidd agreeing to go to New York last week. The deals cannot become official until Wednesday.
The Knicks had announced earlier Monday that all three players going to Houston would headline their summer league roster.
Douglas was the Knicks' starter at point guard to begin the season but struggled coming off offseason shoulder surgery. He quickly lost his starting job and eventually fell out of the rotation completely, even after injuries to Jeremy Lin and Baron Davis.
The Knicks and Rockets are also competing for Lin's services. Houston, one of the most active teams in the offseason, got Lin to agree to a four-year deal, but he is a restricted free agent, and the Knicks have three days after Wednesday to match the Rockets' offer.
The pursuit of Lin emerged after unrestricted free agent point guard Goran Dragic went to Phoenix. The Rockets immediately reached out to Lin and traded Kyle Lowry to Toronto.
Houston obtained Camby from Portland at the trading deadline. He averaged 7.1 points and 9.3 rebounds in 19 games. The Rockets traded starting center Samuel Dalembert before last month's draft, among the flurry of moves by general manager Daryl Morey after the team missed the playoffs for the third straight season.
The Rockets collected three first-round picks before the draft and were rumored to be building a package to offer Orlando for All-Star center Dwight Howard. But Houston couldn't pull off a draft-night deal, and the Rockets drafted guard Jeremy Lamb and forwards Royce White and Terrence Jones.
Houston continued to maneuver after the draft, getting Bulls center Omer Asik to agree to a three-year, $25 million deal. The 7-foot Asik is a restricted free agent, giving Chicago three days to match Houston's offer.
Houston withdrew its qualifying offer to guard Courtney Lee, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.
---
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed.

WIGGINS STAYS IN CONTROL

 
BESANCON, France: Bradley Wiggins tightened his grip on the yellow jersey with a maiden Tour de France stage victory that heaped the pressure on defending champion Cadel Evans yesterday.
Britain's Olympic track champion Wiggins was widely expected to increase his overnight lead of 10sec on his Australian rival on the first of two long time trials to feature in the 99th edition of the race.
But by the end of a 41.5 km solo ride that had seen former four-time world champion Fabian Cancellara finish 57sec in arrears, Wiggins had pushed his advantage over the Australian to 1min 53sec.
The icing on the cake for Team Sky was Chris Froome's second place at 35sec, two days after the Kenyan-born Briton claimed his maiden stage at the first hilltop finish at La Planche des Belles Filles.
Evans's American teammate Tejay Van Garderen was fourth at 1:06, just ahead of French time trial champion Sylvain Chavanel in sixth at 1:24.
Wiggins' priority had been to distance his rivals for the yellow jersey.
But soon after turning on the turbos from the start of the slightly technical rolling course, it was clear he would be giving Evans a small mountain to climb ahead of two days in the high Alps tomorrow and Thursday.
Italian Vincenzo Nibali, an aggressive racer who could become a key ally of Evans' in the mountains, did well to finish at 2:07 and is now fourth overall at 2:23.
Having raced against Froome and Wiggins at last year's Tour of Spain, where the English pair finished around a minute ahead of him on a 47 km time trial in Salamanca, the Italian was not surprised.
"I expected to lose as much time to Froome and Wiggins after the Tour of Spain result last year," said Nibali, who rides for Liquigas.
Russian Denis Menchov, a former winner of the Tour of Spain and Giro d'Italia, is in fifth at 3:02.
Despite getting the job done, Wiggins is not celebrating yet.
"After the rest day (on Tuesday) it will be a whole different ball game," he said. "And anything can happen, a bad day or a crash, so let's just take it a day at a time," he said.

Tennis

Roger Federer is being hailed as possibly the greatest athlete in sports history after his spectacular return to the summit of tennis with a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon crown.
Federer's spellbinding 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 triumph over home hope Andy Murray not only ended all arguments over his status as tennis' undisputed king, but also sparked fresh debate about his place in the pantheon of sport's all-time greats.
Competing in the fierce era of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, and with his younger rivals at the peak of their powers, Federer's unmatched 17th career major and return to the No.1 ranking one month shy of his 31st birthday is the strawberries and cream to ice an unparalleled career.
Murray declared the Swiss maestro deserved to now rank alongside the Peles and Muhammad Alis as "one of the greatest athletes of all time".
"He's up there. Rafa as well, for me, is up there in that conversation," the vanquished Scot told AAP after having his - and Britain's - hopes shattered with a vintage showing from the grasscourt colossus.
"Both of them have been unbelievable athletes. They've been great for the sport - and he's still playing amazing tennis.
"A lot of people have been asking me 'has he started slipping? Is he not playing as well?'
"If you look at the matches he lost the last couple years, very, very close matches, matches he definitely could have won.
"He could be sitting on 20 grand slams if one point or a couple inches here or there (had gone his way)."
In the most global of mainstream individual sports, Federer is now three clear of Pete Sampras on the men's all-time grand slam title leaderboard and one behind Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors in golf.
Federer, a four-times Laureus World Sports Star of the Year, was humbled by the comparisons.
"It's nice to be compared to other sporting greats," he said.
"If I can help the game of tennis with the image or with making it more popular, that's enough for me really.
"I want to leave the game better off than when I came into this great game ... but I drew a lot of inspirations from other great athletes in other sports.
"I think like Pete (Sampras) and (Stefan) Edberg and (Boris) Becker, I don't know, maybe (Michael) Jordan, Tiger Woods, you name it, Valentino Rossi, they inspire me to keep on pushing further.
"Not just being happy with world No.1 or being happy with a grand slam title, but maybe to reach for more."
In addition to his 17 titles from an unrivalled 24 grand slam finals, Federer has racked up numbers that will likely never be surpassed.
His record 33 consecutive grand slam quarter-finals - and 30 semis out of the past 33 - may well stand the test of time.
Federer credits the birth of his twin daughters, who turn three this month, for "playing some of the best tennis of my life right now" and vows to continue for years to come.
Too young to see his last grand slam final triumph in Melbourne in 2010, toddlers Charlene Riva and Myla Rose were in the centre-court stands as Federer matched Sampras' magnificent seven on London's hallowed lawns.
"Obviously that's a dream come true," Federer said. "It's the best. It's a magical moment for me."
Federer will also equal Sampras' record 286-week reign as world No.1 on Monday - and eclipse the American's mark next week - and said it almost felt like his destiny to match his idol's milestone at tennis's spiritual home.
"It's very unique and special in many ways this tournament," he said.
"From the get-go I really felt sort of I'm supposed to play well here.
"It's special."

Nova pitches Yankees to 7-3 win over Red Sox

By HOWARD ULMAN (AP Sports Writer) 

BOSTON (AP) -- Ivan Nova struck out 10, Andruw Jones hit his fourth homer in three games and the surging New York Yankees went into the All-Star break with a 7-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night.

The Yankees took three of four at Fenway Park and boosted their record to a major league-best 52-33. They hold the biggest division lead in baseball at seven games over Baltimore.
Boston (43-43) dropped its sixth game in the last seven and fell into a last-place tie in the division with the Toronto Blue Jays, 9 1-2 games off the pace. Only three AL teams - Minnesota, Kansas City and Seattle - are below .500 at the break.
Nova (10-3) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings. Jones provided a cushion with a two-run homer in the seventh that gave New York a 7-2 lead.
Jon Lester (5-6), who won at least 15 games in each of the last four seasons, left with one out in the fifth after giving up five runs and nine hits. Until Sunday, the lefty had rebounded from early-season troubles and posted a 3.86 ERA in 13 starts.
The Yankees scored in the first inning in all four games in the series, taking a 2-0 lead in the finale. The first three batters all hit safely - singles by Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson and an RBI double by Mark Teixeira. Granderson scored when Nick Swisher grounded into a forceout.
The Red Sox got an unearned run in the bottom of the inning when Jeter dropped a routine popup by Cody Ross with two outs. The shortstop's misplay scored Pedro Ciriaco, who had singled and stolen second.
New York made it 3-1 in the second on a double by Jayson Nix, a passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and a sacrifice fly by Chris Stewart. Boston came back again with a run in the third on Ciriaco's single and David Ortiz's double.
The Yankees drove Lester from the game in the fifth, scoring twice for a 5-2 lead. Teixeira started the rally with a single and scored on a triple by Alex Rodriguez. Jones then singled in Rodriguez.
Nova won five consecutive starts before going 0-1 in his next three. He would have gotten out of a first-inning jam had Jeter held on to the soft popup near second base. The righty even pumped his fist and started walking off the mound but stopped as the ball bounced out of Jeter's glove.
Then Nova struck out the side in the second before escaping trouble in the third when the Red Sox scored a run and loaded the bases with one out. But Saltalamacchia struck out for the fifth time in seven at-bats and Ryan Sweeney grounded out.
Nova fanned three of his last four batters and at least one in each of his six innings.
Jones' homer was his 11th of the season and the Yankees' 134th, most in the majors. They're on a pace for a club-record 255. The 1997 Seattle Mariners hold the major league record with 264.
NOTES: Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a double in the ninth, tying Jeter for the longest on the Yankees this year. ... Ortiz's double was his 373rd with the Red Sox, tying Jim Rice for sixth in club history. ... Nova had lost his last road start, ending a streak of 16 starts without a loss away from home. ... Jeter scored his 1,816th run in the first, tying Boston's Carl Yastrzemski for 16th on the all-time list. ... Red Sox 1B Adrian Gonzalez left the game in the third because of illness. He struck out in his only at-bat, ending his career-best hitting streak at 18 games. ... The Red Sox will honor Jason Varitek before their night game July 21 against the Toronto Blue Jays. The catcher retired in February after 15 seasons with the team. ... Ceremonial first pitches were thrown by Ted Williams' daughter Claudia (to Rice) and Babe Ruth's granddaughter Linda Ruth Tosetti (to Ortiz).