Northeastern University will honor the life of longtime sports information director Jack Grinold Sept. 6 at 4 p.m. at Matthews Arena. Please RSVP by visiting GoNU.com/Jack. Grinold died April 21. He was 81. He spent more than 50 years on Huntington Avenue. Often called “the innovator of innovators,’’ Grinold shaped the careers of countless sports information professionals — including many whose careers were launched by an internship program he established.
Villanova’s Massimino dead
Rollie Massimino, who led Villanova’s stunning run to the 1985 NCAA basketball championship and won more than 800 games in his career, died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 82. Massimino’s death was announced by Keiser University, where he was still the men’s basketball coach. Massimino also coached at Stony Brook, UNLV and Cleveland State. Obituary, B7 . . . No. 17 Florida suspended starting running back Jordan Scarlett and receiver Rick Wells for its season opener against 11th-ranked Michigan Saturday at Arlington, Texas. Scarlett and Wells were suspended indefinitely for their roles in a debit card fraud.
NCAA president Mark Emmert was in Tokyo offering Japanese sports industry leaders advice on forming their own collegiate athletics association. Japan is seeking to become one of the few countries outside the United States to establish an NCAA-type governing body for college sports.
Massimino is survived by his wife, five children and 17 grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.
NHL
Bruins tickets on sale Sept. 7
Bruins single-game tickets for the 2017-18 season will go on sale Sept. 7 at 11 a.m. Tickets can be purchased on BostonBruins.com, through the team’s mobile app, through Ticketmaster by calling 1-800-745-3000, or at the TD Garden box office . . . Coyotes captain Shane Doan is retiring after 21 seasons with the same NHL franchise.
Baseball
Mariners acquire RHP Leake
The Seattle Mariners acquired righthander Mike Leake from the St. Louis Cardinals for minor league infielder Rayder Ascanio in an attempt to bolster their beleaguered starting rotation. Seattle is without James Paxton, Felix Hernandez and Hisahi Iwakuma because of injuries and has struggled to get five innings out of its starters for most of the past month.
Miscellany
Vana falls in Senior Amateur
Frank Vana of Boxford, Mass., was eliminated by Paul Simson of Raleigh, N.C., 5 and 3, in the semifinals of the the US Senior Amateur golf tournament in Minneapolis. Vana has won 14 Massachusetts Golf Association titles . . . Suffolk Downs will host the third live racing and food truck festival this weekend. The $75,000 Steve Pini Memorial Stakes will highlight the 11-race card on Saturday. Another weekend of live racing is scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 1 . . . St. John’s Prep named Pete Frates its 2018 Distinguished Alumnus. The school will dedicate its baseball diamond in Frates’s name and retire his No. 3 jersey in football, hockey and baseball. He graduated from the Danvers school in 2003 . . . Chris Froome increased his lead in the Spanish Vuelta, finishing second in the mountainous 11th stage behind Miguel Angel Lopez in Calar Alto, Spain. Froome leads second-placed Vincenzo Nibali by 1:19 overall . . . The US will play a World Cup soccer qualifier in the New York metropolitan area for the first time, a critical match against Costa Rica Friday night at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.
