Fishing
NEAR RECORD: Elroy Colledge didn't break the state record, but the 28.1-pound channel catfish at least settles bragging rights in his family.
Using chicken heart as bait, he caught the fish May 24 at Utah Lake after a 30-minute struggle, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said Thursday.
"I was with my granddaughter when she pulled a 15-pound catfish out of Utah Lake years ago. Since then, she's teased me about how she caught a bigger fish than me," Colledge said.
"I don't think I'll have to worry about our contest anymore," the Utah County man said.
The fish was 38 inches long and had a 28-inch girth. The Utah record for channel catfish was set in 1978 by LeRoy Mortensen, whose catch at Utah Lake weighed 32.5 pounds.
Horse racing
SKIPPING BELMONT: Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense will skip the Belmont Stakes so trainer Carl Nafzger can prepare his colt for the Travers Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic later this year. Nafzger said he talked to owner James Tafel for two hours Wednesday night before deciding against a rematch with Preakness winner Curlin in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Boxing
TYSON DENIED: Mike Tyson won't be allowed to travel to Atlantic City from Arizona to work heavyweight Sultan Ibragimov's corner during his WBO title fight against Shannon Briggs on Saturday. Tyson must get approval from a judge to travel outside of Arizona while drug charges against him are pending. Maricopa County officials never approved the former heavyweight champion's trip. However, Tyson is being allowed to attend his daughter's high school graduation in Washington on Friday.
Cycling
HALL GIVES RIIS BOOT: Denmark has removed retired cyclist Bjarne Riis from its sports hall of fame after he admitted using performance-enhancing drugs during his 1996 Tour de France victory.
"We consider his effort as being fraud," Else Trangbaek, head of the committee in charge of the hall, told Danish radio Thursday. "On that basis, one cannot be part of the list."
Hockey
CAPTAIN CROSBY:Sidney Crosby, already the youngest player in NHL history to get 100 points in a season and to win a scoring title, is now the youngest to wear the captain's C on his sweater. The Pittsburgh Penguins gave the 19-year-old Crosby the long-anticipated title Thursday, months after they initially wanted to do so.
HURRICANES SIGN WARD: The Carolina Hurricanes signed goaltender Cam Ward — the most valuable player of the team's run to the Stanley Cup last year — to a three-year contract Thursday.
Ward will earn $2 million next season, $2.5 million in the 2008-09 season and $3.5 million in 2009-10. The 23-year-old made $684,000 last year in the final year of the three-year entry-level contract he signed in 2004.