In Brief

UFL: We’ll take Vick

When the United Football League debuts in October, it wouldn’t mind having Michael Vick as one of its players.

Michael Huyghue, commissioner of the four-team league, says the UFL is willing to give Vick a place to play —- provided there are no pending legal issues. His rights belong to the Orlando franchise.

Vick already has served an 18-month sentence in federal prison for his involvement in a dogfighting ring. He is under home confinement until July 20, after which the NFL is expected to announce whether the former Falcons quarterback will be eligible to return.

“I don’t know if the NFL will suspend Vick,” said Dennis Green, coach of the San Francisco team and the chairman of the UFL’s competition committee —- a role he also held while coaching in the NFL. “What he did was very wrong, and he paid his debt to society. He was a model inmate, otherwise he never would have made it out from prison early.

“Now he has to show he loves the game and is a responsible citizen. You can’t show you love the game if you’re not able to play the game. So if Michael Vick were to say, ‘I will play for not a lot of money,’ well, hello. We’re here.”

News of the day

NASCAR’s chairman, Brian France, defended the organization’s drug testing policy as the toughest in professional sports, despite a federal judge’s ruling that overturned driver Jeremy Mayfield’s suspension.

Mayfield was indefinitely suspended May 9 for what NASCAR said was a positive test for methamphetamines. He sued to be reinstated, and a federal judge issued an injunction Wednesday that allowed Mayfield to race this weekend based on Mayfield’s argument that the testing system is flawed.

“We remain very comfortable and very calm despite the ruling, that our policy is thorough, it’s accurate, and it’s fair,” France said Friday at Daytona International Speedway, site of Saturday night’s race.

NASCAR coverage, C2

Michelle Kwan will skate before an audience for the first time in three years when she joins world champion Kim Yu-Na in Ice All-Stars 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, in August.

The five-time world champion and nine-time U.S. champ has been practicing and working out for most of this year. Her performance in Seoul could be an indication that competitive skating is still a possibility with the Vancouver Olympics looming.

Kwan, who recently graduated from the University of Denver and has been accepted into the master’s program at Tufts, has not been in a competitive environment since a foot injury forced her withdrawal from the Turin Olympics in 2006.

Today’s number

7 Roger Federer became the first man to make it to seven consecutive Wimbledon finals. The five-time champion has reached the 20th Grand Slam final of his career.