Texas Tech’s Sheffield has foot surgery
March 31, 2010
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP)—One of the two senior quarterbacks vying for the startingspot in Tommy Tuberville’s first season at Texas Tech will miss at least eightweeks after surgery on his left foot.
Tuberville says Steven Sheffield will be out 8-10 weeks after surgeryWednesday to repair the same bone injured in October at Nebraska. He re-injuredit at the end of practice Monday.
Sheffield and Taylor Potts, who started for Tech at the beginning of lastseason, are competing to be the Red Raiders’ starter next season. Tubervillesays Potts will be out for a week with stitches between his index finger andmiddle finger after hitting it on a helmet while throwing.
Sheffield threw for 1,219 yards and 14 touchdowns in six games in lastseason. Potts had 3,440 yards and 22 touchdowns in 12 games last season.
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Masters-like conditions draw star-studded field
March 31, 2010
HUMBLE, Texas (AP)—Fred Couples is back on the regular tour this week, joiningstars like Phil Mickelson, resurgent Ernie Els and defending champion Paul Caseyat the Houston Open, an event that’s embraced its niche as the run-up to nextweek’s Masters.
Couples, 50, feels rejuvenated by his success on the seniors Champions Tourand he’s putting as well as he has in a long time.
Couples, who will play a practice round for the Masters with Tiger Woods onMonday, laughs off the notion that he’s one of the favorites at AugustaNational. But he’s definitely one to watch at Redstone, where he has a pair oftop-4 finishes the last two years.
“I’m fading out on the regular tour a little bit,” Couples said, “butthis is a great opportunity for me, because I won the last three times on theChampions Tour. Winning is a lot of fun, and so far, this year has been a lot offun.”
Els is riding a streak of his own, with victories in his last two starts. Hecan become the first player to win three in a row since Woods won five straightin 2008.
Els isn’t totally comfortable with his game, though, after nearly lettinglast week’s win at Bay Hill slip away. He led by five shots with six holes lefton Sunday, then hit two shots into the water. Rain forced a suspension, and Elshad to return on Monday to make four tense pars and win.
He said his alignment is “out of whack” and he’s working with swing coachButch Harmon this week to iron out the kinks.
“I’ve been working on that a little bit the last couple of days and I’djust like to have it under pressure,” Els said. “Obviously, next week, you’vegot to do everything right under the biggest pressure you’re ever going tofind.”
Mickelson is another one of 30 players in Houston who’s already qualifiedfor the Masters. Mickelson is seeking his first win of the year, but like Els,he’s more focused on fine-tuning his game for the season’s first major.
“My game this year hasn’t been what I expected,” said Mickelson, who tiedfor 30th at Bay Hill last week. “I keep saying it doesn’t feel far off. Ihaven’t put together the scores, and I think this week in Houston is animportant week for me because I feel like my game has been pretty close.”
The players are once again raving about the condition of The TournamentCourse at Redstone. Organizers have lured another top-notch field by spreadingthe word that the course is set up to simulate the conditions at AugustaNational, from the fast greens and runoff areas to the light rough and thefairways mowed toward the tee.
“I think it’s an advantage for the players who play here going into nextweek,” Mickelson said. “The ball will react certain ways out of the first cutof rough and fairway, getting adjusted to the speed of the greens—all thatgoes into preparation for next week.”
The Houston Open moved to the week before the Masters in 2007, and theresults don’t fully support the notion that the event is a perfect tuneup.
Mickelson missed the cut in Houston last year, then finished fifth at theMasters. Couples finished fourth in 2008 and third in 2009, but missed the cutat Augusta both years. Casey beat J.B. Holmes on the first playoff hole herelast year to secure his first PGA Tour victory, then said he was disappointedwith a tie for 20th at The Masters.
“I think physically and emotionally, it took a little bit out of me,”Casey said. “If you don’t have everything in place going into a major, thenyou’re going to be found out. I think that showed where I finished at Augustathe following week.”
Inclement weather has become an annual intrusion at the tournament, andthunderstorms are possible on Friday and Saturday this year.
The event has been delayed by bad weather every year since 2006, when itmoved to the Tournament Course from the adjacent members’ course at Redstone.Last year, rain pushed back the start of the tournament by 2 1/2 hours, and highwinds forced the suspension of play later on Thursday.
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Hokies G Delaney puts name in for draft
March 31, 2010
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP)—Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney says he is puttinghis name in for the NBA draft, but he does not plan to hire an agent.
That would allow Delaney to retain his eligibility and return for his seniorseason. He must take his name off the list of early entries by May 8 to returnto Virginia Tech.
Delaney, a junior from Baltimore, led the Atlantic Coast Conference inscoring with an average of 20.2 points. He was third in the ACC in free throwpercentage at .842.
He finished third in the ACC’s player of the year voting as the Hokies tiedtheir school record by winning 25 games. They lost at home to Rhode Island inthe quarterfinals of the NIT.
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Lincicome set to defend title at KNC
March 31, 2010
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP)—Brittany Lincicome was thinking birdie and came upwith an eagle.
That’s how she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship last year, her first majorand just her third career win.
The ending was a blur, from sinking a 4-foot putt to seal the win, gettingthe trophy and then finding out just how cold the lake is that winners jumpinto.
Always, though, there will be the shot.
After hitting a 275-yard drive down the middle of the fairway on No. 18,Lincicome hit a hybrid from 210 yards that cleared the water and landed on theupper part of the green, with the ball curling down just above the hole.
“Everybody always comes up to me, and they’re like, ‘I saw your shot. Talkme through it,’ Lincicome said this week. “It was really funny, yeah, I wasthere. I remember doing it.
“It’s definitely a shot that I kind of reflect on just for confidence, justknowing that I can hit that shot under pressure will help me in the future,”Lincicome said.
She’ll defend her title beginning Thursday at Mission Hills against a fieldthat includes South Korean Hee Kyung Seo, who ran away with the Kia Classic lastweekend, and Michelle Wie, whose rules gaffe on Sunday at La Costa cost her$90,000.
In last year’s final round, Lincicome was never worse than three strokesbehind. She stayed close as her good friend Kristy McPherson and Cristie Kerrtraded the lead back and forth.
Trailing McPherson by one stroke, Lincicome broke through with her amazingsequence of shots on the par-5, 485-yard 18th.
“My No. 1 thought was just getting the ball on the fairway,” she recalled.“After I hit that tee shot, it was like, all right, I’ve got a chance, at leastget it on the green, two putt and get the birdie and try to get in the playoff,hopefully Kristy doesn’t birdie on top of mine and beat me by one. But after Ihit that hybrid, it was right in the middle of the green, right where we wereaiming. I wasn’t anticipating it taking that slope that well, but I’m notcomplaining.”
Lincicome missed the cut at the Kia Classic. She tied for 26th in bothThailand and Singapore, the first two stops on the LPGA Tour this year.
Seo, meanwhile, ran away with the inaugural Kia Classic for her first LPGATour title. She beat Inbee Park by six strokes.
It was during Sunday’s round that Wie was penalized two strokes forgrounding her club in a hazard after hitting out of the water near the 11thgreen. The penalty dropped her into a tie for fifth.
“I think it was very unfortunate, and I left that where it was last week,and now I’m here at Kraft Nabisco and I’m really excited to play this week,”Wie said. “So all I’m thinking about is how I’m going to try to play my bestthis week.”
Still, it wasn’t her first run-in with the rules book.
“It’s unfortunate,” she said. “It’s something that you never want to do,but it happens. People make mistakes, but you know what, that’s all in the past.You know, I really think that that’s what happened, and hopefully from now on itwon’t happen. But you know, I’m just trying now to think about this week.”
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Oklahoma opens internal investigation
March 31, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—Oklahoma’s athletic department has opened an investigationfollowing reports that basketball player Tiny Gallon received money from aFlorida financial adviser.
Spokesman Kenny Mossman confirmed in an e-mail to The Associated Press onWednesday night that Oklahoma is “investigating matters that the public may beaware of through recent reports in the media.” He did not provide specificinformation about the investigation.
TMZ.com reported earlier this month that Gallon received a $3,000 banktransfer from financial adviser Jeffrey Hausinger. The internal investigationwas first reported by the Tulsa World, which received notification that theuniversity could not respond to an open records request about the case becauseof the ongoing investigation.
The school did not respond to a similar records request filed by TheAssociated Press earlier this month. A call to the records office after businesshours Wednesday went unanswered.
Oklahoma remains on probation for major NCAA rules violations committed byits football and men’s basketball programs in recent years. The footballviolations involved football players, including starting quarterback RhettBomar, receiving pay for work they did not perform at a Norman car dealership.The basketball violations stemmed from hundreds of impermissible recruitingphone calls made by former coach Kelvin Sampson.
Gallon was suspended for undisclosed reasons for Oklahoma’s game at OklahomaState in mid-February but returned to play the remainder of the Sooners’ games.The former McDonald’s All-American appeared in each of Oklahoma’s other 30 gamesthis season and started 21 times, averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 7.9rebounds.
Since the end of the season, Oklahoma has lost two other players. Pointguard Tommy Mason-Griffin, also a former McDonald’s All-American, decided toturn pro after his freshman season and reserve guard Ray Willis opted totransfer.
The university has declined requests to interview coach Jeff Capel.
Associated Press Writer Murray Evans contributed to this report fromOklahoma City.
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James unlikely to play for US at worlds
March 31, 2010
CLEVELAND (AP)—LeBron James(notes) has a busy summer ahead. Maybe too busy toplay basketball.
Cleveland’s superstar said Wednesday night that he’s “probably notplaying” for Team USA this summer in the world championships in Turkey. James,who was a captain on the U.S. team that won a gold medal at the Beijing Games in2008, is eligible for free agency after the season and is scheduled to film amovie.
His crammed itinerary may make it impossible to play for his country for thethird time. James also was a member of the 2004 Olympic team in Athens.
“I got a really, really, really, really, really busy summer,” James saidabout an hour before tip-off against the Milwaukee Bucks. “I would love if Ihad the opportunity and the time to play to represent my country and go outthere and do that. But there’s a lot of things I need to take care of first.”
So will he play?
“It’s very, very shady right now,” he said. “I’m probably not playing.There are a lot of decisions I need to make this summer before I decide to getback out on the court.”
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‘Run-in’ with coaches keeps Vujacic out
March 31, 2010
ATLANTA (AP)—Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson says Slovenian backup guardSasha Vujacic(notes) hasn’t played the last two games because of “a little run-in”with the coaching staff.
Jackson says the incident happened during last Friday’s game at OklahomaCity. He says Vujacic didn’t play at all in the next two contests at Houston andNew Orleans because he “hasn’t atoned himself for that error.”
Jackson refused on Friday to give any more details about the incident.Vujacic says he doesn’t know what his coach is talking about.
The Lakers are wrapping up a five-game road trip at Atlanta.
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Poulter goes from 4 handicap to top 10 in golf
March 31, 2010
PALM HARBOR, Florida (AP)—Ian Poulter doesn’t see himself the way others do.
They see an Englishman with spiked hair who was brazen enough to wear allpink before a New York gallery in the final round of a U.S. Open. They see aplayer with the audacity to scatter golf tees with the final score—Europe 18 1/2 ,USA 9 1/2—on the driving range in Ireland two weeks after the 2004 Ryder Cup, aplayful jab at the Americans.
What they don’t see is the photo Poulter keeps on his mobile phone of arundown Ford Fiesta.
“My blue rust bucket,” Poulter says proudly as he flips through the photosuntil he finds it. He bought the used car in 1995 with the meager earnings fromwinning a small-time tournament when he worked as an assistant pro.
The car didn’t look like it could go very far. At the time, neither didPoulter, a 4 handicap when he turned pro.
But that’s why he keeps the picture. It’s a reminder of an amazing journeyfilled with defiance, determination and double portions of confidence, all ofwhich helped him achieve so much with so little.
Poulter now goes to Augusta National as a serious candidate to win theMasters. He is coming off his first World Golf Championship title and is rankedin the top 10 in the world for the first time in his career.
Surprising? Not to him.
“When someone hasn’t been exposed to golf at a high level early on, itbecomes a shock when someone does something,” Poulter said. “Eight-fivepercent of the top 50 in the world played college golf, the Walker Cup, goodamateur golf. There’s a background story that has them jumping on the train andgoing on their way.
“That’s why it’s a surprise to people why I’ve gotten so far.”
At an age when his peers aspired to play in the Walker Cup or qualify forthe British Open, Poulter, now 34, was putting new grips on clubs, changingspikes in soggy shoes, folding shirts in the pro shop and giving group lessonsto juniors on the weekend. Between jobs, he watched Greg Norman and SeveBallesteros on TV, believing that could be him one day.
Poulter never doubted that. Not once.
“I didn’t know any differently,” he said. “I just felt that if I workedhard enough and practiced, then I would have a chance to get out on tour and wingolf tournaments.”
Few others had reason to believe him. Some even discouraged him.
His teachers mocked him for bringing golf clubs to class so he could hitballs on the football field during recess. They said he was wasting his time.The club manager at Chesfield Downs didn’t make it easy, requiring Poulter totake holiday time to play in local tournaments.
One of those was the Panshanger Classic, where Poulter shot 66-66 and won1,800 pounds (roughly $2,700 nowadays), money he used to buy his blue rustbucket. To prove a point, he took the trophy to the shop and set it on thecounter for the club manager to see.
“I was not very politely asked to remove it,” Poulter said. “He came intowork and says, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘I’ve just won the tournament.’ And hesaid, ‘You can just take it off the counter.’ I got a written warning for what Isaid to him, and I left a week later.”
Small wonder he is perceived as brash and cocky.
Justin Rose, one of his best friends in golf and his roommate during theirdays in the minor tours, recalls playing golf in South Africa not long afterPoulter got his European Tour card for the first time.
“My brother remembers Ian saying, ‘Now that I’ve got my European Tour card,it’s going to be easy. I’ll probably win a couple of times.’ And my brothersaid, ‘I just played with you and I beat you.’ But that’s the way he is,” Rosesaid. “And it’s served him in good stead. Now he has the game to back up theconfidence. And he’s always had the confidence.”
Geoff Ogilvy also remembers playing with Poulter before his rookie season inEurope. In some respects, Poulter hasn’t changed. He was brash and funny. Buthis golf? Ogilvy can’t believe the turnaround.
“His game was not where it is now,” Ogilvy said. “He had a lot going forhim around the greens. From where he was then to now, he is the most improvedplayer in the world. He was a 4 handicap when he turned pro. Most guys on tourwere shooting 65 when they were 16.
“But his No. 1 attribute is belief,” Ogilvy said. “He’s not afraid. It’salmost like he’s very defiant.”
Poulter is known as much—if not more—for his clothes than anything hehas done on the golf course. He famously wore trousers of the Union Jack flag inthe 2004 British Open at Royal Troon. Another year, he wore pants with theclaret jug down one side of the leg. Ballesteros looked at them and said,“That’s as close as he’ll get to the claret jug.”
Poulter is used to hearing doubts. It’s been that way his whole life.
“There are plenty of naturally talented, better golfers out there,” hesaid. “I just think mentally I might be stronger. And I’ve got a lot ofself-belief in what I know I can do.”
What makes his rise so remarkable is that he had so few good experiences tocarry him through the struggles.
It was nothing like Rose, who had a heralded amateur career and tied forfourth in the 1998 British Open at age 17. He turned pro, then missed 21consecutive cuts.
“What got me through it was belief that I had to be good to have theamateur career I did, and if I worked hard, I could get back,” Rose said. “IfI didn’t have that, I would have struggled.”
And what did Poulter rely on? Rose just shook his head.
“You see a lot of kids, and you almost want to say to them, ‘Listen guys,enough is enough. Move on,”’ Rose said. “It just shows you that sometimes thatreal determined streak … I mean, it’s amazing where Ian has come from.”
Poulter is more interested in where he’s going.
He caught plenty of grief from a magazine interview two years ago in whichhe said when he reaches his full potential, “it will be just me and Tiger.” Itwas a slap at the rest of the players, suggesting they didn’t have what it tookto challenge the world’s No. 1. At the Match Play Championship that year, Woodspassed Poulter walking out of the locker room and said, “Hey, No. 2.”
But Poulter is rarely embarrassed over his words, his clothing, his play.
He has done a brilliant job marketing himself through his clothing, and hebelieves that in time, he will be known as much for his golf. A World GolfChampionship certainly helps. A major championship would change everything.
“I would say a lot of people over time would probably see me as the golferthat has worked hard on his game,” he said. “Yet you’ve still got people whodon’t watch a lot of golf that might think I’m cocky, arrogant, outspoken. I’veheard it quite a lot. I see myself as someone who, from where I come from,always had the self-belief that I could achieve things in golf at a high level.And I’m now starting to achieve those goals.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “But I’ve always believed that.Always. And I always will believe that.”
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Cavs squeak past improved Bucks 101-98
March 31, 2010
CLEVELAND (AP)—The Milwaukee Bucks have climbed in the standings—and instature.
In fact, they’ve risen so far, so fast that their confident coach felt as ifhis young squad handed a victory to the NBA’s best team.
“We should have won that game,” Scott Skiles said following a tough,101-98 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. “We gave them thatgame.”
Mo Williams(notes) made four free throws in the final 12.8 seconds and teamed upwith LeBron James(notes) on the game’s defining play as the Cavaliers held on to beatthe vastly improved Bucks, who are 17-6 since the All-Star break and could be ahandful for any team in the playoffs.
“Very dangerous,” Cavs forward Antawn Jamison(notes) said. “Any time you have acoach like Scott you know they’re going to be aggressive, they’re going to playhard throughout 48 minutes. They got a lot of confidence. They got a greatmixture of veteran guys as well as young guys.
“That’s a team that if they get it going, they can definitely get somemomentum and be very dangerous in the playoffs.”
James scored 23 and Williams 21 for the Cavs, who have won 10 of their past11 and are closing in on the league’s best record and home-court advantagethroughout the postseason. The win, coupled with Atlanta’s win over the LosAngeles Lakers, dropped Cleveland’s magic number for clinching the overall No. 1seed to 2.
John Salmons(notes) scored 28 points and Andrew Bogut(notes) had 19 points and 12 reboundsfor the Bucks, who attempted just nine free throws—none in the fourth quarter— to 45 for Cleveland.
Afterward, Salmons was careful not to complain about the discrepancy.
“I don’t want to lose my money,” Salmons said, shaking his head. “I’m notgoing to speak about that.”
Salmons’ 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds left pulled Milwaukee to 99-98, butWilliams, one of the NBA’s best free-throw shooters at 89 percent, was fouledand knocked down two free throws. James then stole a pass by Luke Ridnour(notes) with 2seconds left to seal it.
With the win, the Cavaliers (59-16) improved to 26-0 at home against EasternConference opponents in March under coach Mike Brown.
This one wasn’t easy, though. The Cavs were flat and sorely missed energeticforward Anderson Varejao(notes), who missed his second straight game because of a sorehamstring.
The Bucks overcame a 10-point deficit and took a 95-93 lead with 1:27 lefton a 3-pointer by Ersan Ilyasova(notes). The Cavs had been unable to separate from theBucks in the fourth mostly because they kept missing free throws, but James madetwo straight to tie it with 49.3 seconds left.
Salmons missed on Milwaukee’s next possession and the Cavaliers called atimeout during which they set up a play that has worked all season.
Williams took the inbound pass and drove the left side drawing twodefenders. Once in the lane, he threaded a bounce pass from under the rim to acutting James, who muscled in his layup over Bogut to put the Cavs ahead 97-95with 17.4 seconds left.
“It has not worked I think one time,” James said. “We played Charlotte athome and (former teammate) Flip (Murray) sniffed it out one time. We added acounter to it since then and it hasn’t failed us yet.”
So what’s it called?
“I can’t tell you,” James said, smiling. “It’s called, ‘always works.”’
Milwaukee called time and ran a play for Salmons, but as he started to thebasket he was stripped by J.J. Hickson(notes). The officials initially gave the ball tothe Bucks but changed the call after a video review. Williams was fouled andmade two free throws to make it 99-95.
Salmons then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 8.6 seconds to go,giving the Bucks new life.
But Williams, mired in a shooting slump from the field, then made his twofree throws as the Cavs, who are a league-best 33-4 at home, finally put awaythe Bucks.
Cleveland made its final six free throws after beginning the fourth 5 of 11.
Skiles has the Bucks believing they can win every time out. Moral victoriesare no longer acceptable.
“I think we stopped doing that a long time ago,” he said. “Hopefullyevery guy in there knows we should have won that game. We played hard. I can’tfault the effort of anyone out there. The game was there for the taking and it’snot often when you come into this building and the game is there for the taking.
“When it is, you have to take it.”
Late in the third quarter, James provided another of those plays that onlyhe can make.
Taking a bounce pass on the right wing, he began to elevate just as he wasbeing wrapped up by Ridnour, who threw his arms around James’ neck. But evenwith the 175-pound Ridnour clinging to him, James rose off the floor. He missedthe layup but the awesome display of power drew oohs and aahs from the crowd asit was replayed on the giant scoreboard.
NOTES: Rapper Kid Rock sat courtside. … James warmly greeted formerteammate Darnell Jackson(notes) on the floor before the game. Jackson, who was waivedby the Cavaliers earlier this month, signed with the Bucks last week but has yetto appear in a game for Milwaukee. … The Cavs went 13-2 in March.
Dooley’s buyout with Vols could be $5M
March 31, 2010
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Tennessee has written some hefty protection both for theprogram and the coach into its deal with new coach Derek Dooley.
The university released the memorandum of understanding signed by Dooley onMarch 3 on Wednesday.
Dooley would have to pay $4 million if he resigns before Feb. 15, 2012, anumber that drops to $3 million through the next year.
He would pay $1 million to buy out his contract starting Feb. 16, 2013,$750,000 a year later, and $500,000 in 2015.
Tennessee’s buyout to get rid of Dooley is even steeper. He would be owed $5million through Feb. 15, 2013, a number that drops to $4 million into 2014 and2015. The buyout falls to $2.5 million after Feb. 15, 2015.
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