Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Bert Sugar, who was as much a part of the fight racket over the past 50 years as the boxers he loved to cover, died Sunday at a hospital in Mount Kisko, N.Y., of cardiac arrest, following a long battle with cancer.

Sugar, 75, was never seen anywhere without his fedora and his large stogie. He often wore brightly colored clothes, particularly loud pants, and was easily recognizable in any crowd. He loved boxing and was a throwback to an era when it was one of the three biggest sports in the country, along with baseball and horse racing.

In addition to loving boxing, he loved talking about it and helping others to understand its history. He was a regular on talk radio shows around the country and had worked for HBO Sports in recent years promoting pay-per-view cards by doing a series of interviews.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton will lose more than $5.8 million as a result of his suspension by the NFL, sources said Friday.

A league official says Payton’s suspension ends after the Super Bowl, Feb. 3, 2013 in New Orleans. That means his suspension, which begins April 1, will run just more than 10 months.

Payton’s yearly salary, according to the sources, is $7 million.

Former NBA All-Star, Allen Iverson, has signed a one month contract with a basketball team in the Dominican Republic.

Milton Nunez, club president of the Pueblo Nuevo team said that the 36-year-old point guard was due to arrive in D.R. on Sunday (March 25th) and will be playing in a game the same day.

NEW ORLEANS, LA – The New Orleans Saints’ crush-for-cash bounty system already cost them head coach Sean Payton for all of next season and general manager Mickey Loomis for half of it, plus two second-round draft picks and a $500,000 fine.

Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who oversaw and contributed money to the illegal fund, was suspended indefinitely.

NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp says he’s “heard” who the whistle-blower in the Saints bounty case is.

When a Twitter follower of the former NFL player guessed Jeremy Shockey, Sapp responded, “BINGO!”

Shockey, a former tight end in New Orleans from 2008-2010, would have witnessed the first two years of the bounty program under def. coordinator Gregg Williams which paid defensive players for harming opponents.

Shockey responded incredulously to Sapp’s tweet: “really?? Wow did I also have something to do with the um scandal?”

Sapp was originally critical of the unidentified Saints’ “snitch” when the NFL released its findings in early March. Falcons wide receiver Roddy White expressed a similar sentiment in a tweet Wednesday: “By the way y’all got a lot of snitches in your locker room and organization no loyalty”

Shockey is now a free agent after spending a season in Carolina. Both players attended the University of Miami, and Sapp spent 13 years in the league before retiring in 2007.

MIAMI  — Quarterback David Garrard signed a one-year contract Monday with the Miami Dolphins and said he was told he’ll be given a shot at the starting job.

He’s not sure yet who else will be part of the competition, though.

The Dolphins reached agreement with the former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback after failed courtships with Peyton Manning and Matt Flynn. They also hosted San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith for a visit Sunday and may still consider signing him.

The 34-year-old Garrard, a starter for Jacksonville from 2005-10, didn’t play last season. He was released five days before the opener by the Jaguars, and Miami courted him last year after quarterback Chad Henne’s season was ended by a shoulder injury.

ELMIRA, NY  — Officials at an upstate New York cemetery say someone keeps stealing a football from the grave of Ernie Davis, a college star who was the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy.

The football was discovered missing from its display case Thursday.

The ball has disappeared several times previously, only to turn up later on the cemetery grounds. Woodlawn Cemetery superintendent Tom Henegar says he suspects youthful pranksters.

Davis was an All-American at Syracuse. He won the Heisman in 1961, then died of leukemia in 1963 at age 23.

The ball at his Elmira grave has a mysterious origin. It first appeared on the headstone last summer. Officials don’t know who put it there, but they’ve treated the display with respect nonetheless.

Antoine Walker is finally saying goodbye to the 2006 NBA Championship ring he earned while playing with the Miami Heat.

On the market since 2010, the ring has reportedly finally found a buyer: a man is set to drop $21,500 on the diamond-studded chunk of bling.

Walker has been forced to sell the ring in the ongoing machinations of a staggering bankruptcy case. With $4 million in assets and $12.87 million in debt, he’s been forced to liquidate whatever possible.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The USF Bulls’ fantastic season of basketball fell one game short of the Sweet 16.

USF’s late rally came up a few shots shy of completion in a 62-56 loss to Ohio in Sunday’s third round of the NCAA Tournament at Bridgestone Arena.

What a memorable run it was, however, for a USF team (22-14) that won 10 games last season and used that motivation to secure the program’s first two NCAA tournament victories in its first trip back to the dance since 1992.

Victor Rudd Jr. and Anthony Collins led three Bulls in double figures with 13 points apiece, but the usually air-tight USF defense failed to stop Ohio’s Walter Offutt, who posted a game-high 21 points with many coming during the Bobcats’ game-deciding run midway through the second half.

USF’s offense ran out of steam late, but got off to an outstanding start against Ohio’s defense that’s top 10 in the nation in a number of categories.