– The South African judge ruling on Oscar Pistorius’s murder charges said Thursday the double-amputee Olympian was "negligent” but has struck down both premeditated murder and murder verdicts. However, the 27-year-old athlete could still be found guilty of culpable homicide, which could come with a sentence of several years in jail. The judge has adjourned the court until Friday when a formal verdict in the case is expected.
– The NFL says former FBI director Robert S. Mueller the Third will conduct a probe into how the NFL handled evidence as it investigated domestic violence claims against former Ravens running back Ray Rice. The NFL’s announcement came after a law enforcement official told the Associated Press that he sent a tape of Rice striking his spouse to an NFL executive in April. Commissioner Roger Goodell has maintained that no one at the league had seen the tape prior to Monday, when it went viral online.
– The National Organization for Women has called for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to resign in the wake of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident, saying the league has "a violence-against-women” problem. Politicians are also getting in on the act. Twelve Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have sent a letter to Goodell questioning his handling of the Rice incident.
– Wednesday ranked as quite a day for the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Canadian Hockey League released its pre-season Top 10 Rankings, with the Wheat Kings being the top-ranked Western Hockey League team and #3 overall in the CHL. The weekly rankings are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.
– TSN’s Craig Button released his initial top 40 players for the 2015 NHL Draft Wednesday, and it included two members of the Wheat Kings. New Wheat Kings’ import defenceman Ivan Provorov is ranked 21st and Brandon blueliner Ryan Pilon was ranked 40th.
– Mitch Wiebe stopped 20 shots for the shutout as the Waywayseecappo Wolverines blanked the Neepawa Natives 7-0 in MJHL pre-season play Wednesday night. Alex Keena had a hat-trick and an assist for the Wolverines while Matt Miller added a goal and three helpers. Thursday’s pre-season play includes Waywayseecappo entertaining the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers and the Virden Oil Capitals hosting the Portage Terriers.
– Brody Smith scored a pair of third period goal to lift the Yellowhead Chiefs to a 3-2 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings in Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League pre-season action Wednesday night. Jory Nychuk also scored for Yellowhead while Landon Wilson and Connor Gutenberg scored the goals for Brandon. The two teams will meet again Friday night in Shoal Lake.
– Canada opened the second stage of the World Volleyball Championship with a come-from-behind five-set win over Cuba Wednesday. Brandon’s Dustin Schneider played in all five sets, starting the last three, and had four digs and 61 sets. Rivers’ product Toon Van Lankvelt saw action as a substitute in the first set and recorded one kill. Canada is back on the court Thursday against Finland.
– A trio of Lady ‘Cats will serve as captains for the BU women’s basketball team this season. Kaela Cranston, Aleah Bridges and Stephanie Haynes will share the top leadership duties. BU doesn’t open their pre-season schedule until October 3rd. CKLQ’s Tyler Crayston has more here.
– The Brandon Bobcats will make their men’s soccer debut in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference this weekend, hosting Saint Boniface Saturday and Providence College on Sunday. The Bobcats were .500 during a ten-game exhibition schedule last season and captain Taylor Blue feels that bodes well for possible success this season. Blue will join CKLQ’s Tyler Crayston on Thursday’s Westman Sports Talk at 12:10 and 4:05 p.m..
– Drew Hutchison matched a career high with 10 strikeouts and at one point sat down 15 straight batters as the Blue Jays hammered the Chicago Cubs 11-1 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep. Edwin Encarnacion, Danny Valencia and Dioner Navarro all drove in two runs each for Blue Jays as they won for the ninth time in 11 games. Toronto is 3 1/2 games behind Detroit for the second wild-card spot in the American League.
– A day after the Saskatchewan Roughriders announced quarterback Darian Durant was likely done for the season, the club signed quarterback Keith Price. The University of Washington product joins the Riders after attending the Seattle Seahawks rookie camp and practiced with the team Wednesday.
– The Tour Championship, the PGA’s fourth and final playoff event, began Thursday. This year’s tournament is in Atlanta at the East Lake Golf Club. Sweden’s Henrik Stenson is the current champion.
