briefs
At The Meadows
Breaktime Hanover waited patiently inside, than charged through the Lightning Lane to pull off the mild 5-1 upset in Thursday’s feature at The Meadows, a $13,500 Conditioned Pace.
Breaktime Hanover grabbed the early lead from post 7 but found himself shuffled to third at the three-quarters. The 6-year-old Somebeachsomewhere-Best Chance Hanna gelding surged when Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. pointed him inside and scored in 1:53.1. Statham N was second, 1/2 length back, with the first-over Bit Ofa Tiger N third.
Ron Burke trains Breaktime Hanover, who lifted his career bankroll to $175,337, for Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.
Mike Wilder piloted four winners and Dave Palone three on the 13-race card.
In the NBA
Blake Griffin had 14 points and a season-high 11 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons routed the Washington Wizards 132-102 on Thursday night in a matchup of short-handed teams.
The Pistons were missing Reggie Jackson (back) and Luke Kennard (knee), while Griffin, Bruce Brown and Derrick Rose played through injuries.
John Wall, Davis Bertans, Isaiah Thomas, Thomas Bryant and Rui Hachimura sat out for Washington.
Suspicious fire at football creator houseConnecticut authorities are treating the Christmas Day fire that heavily damaged the historic home of Walter Camp – a Yale graduate credited with developing American football – as suspicious.
New Haven Fire Chief John Alston said officials are considering the blaze suspicious because the three-story, wood frame Victorian structure was vacant, secured and without power at the time.
He said the cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Fire officials have said no one was inside the structure at the time and that the third floor collapsed in the blaze.
The house, built in 1900, had been recently purchased and was under renovation.
The New Haven Register reports the 11,340 square foot building previously served as the home to the AIDS Interfaith Network, which sold it in 2015.
The building was most recently sold in November for $1.2 million to 1303 Chapel NH LLC, the newspaper reported.
Camp, who was born in New Britain, Connecticut, is considered the father of American football.
As captain of Yale’s rugby team, he tweaked the rules of the English game, introducing concepts such as the line of scrimmage and the quarterback position.
He also established American football’s system of downs and points, the number of players per side, tackling below the waist and other now familiar rules.
And Camp helped create what is today the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or the NCAA, which governs college sports. He died in 1925.
New Haven firefighters also battled a Christmas morning blaze at a waste recycling plant.
Belle Vernon wins
Devin Whitlock led four players in double figures with 14 points as Belle Vernon routed Frazier, 66-31, in the Charleroi Tournament.