Hubie Brown becomes coach of Grizzlies
MEMPHIS, Tenn., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Memphis Grizzlies Coach Sidney Lowe resigned Tuesday and Jerry West, president of basketball operations for the only winless franchise left in the NBA, promptly made the surprise announcement that he had hired 69-year-old Hubie Brown to take over the team.
Brown last coached 16 years ago.
"When I called Hubie I said to him, 'Are you sitting down? How would you like to coach again?'" West said in announcing his decision. "There was silence at first, but the thing that impresses me the most is that he sounded like a teenager ready for his first date.
"Hubie is one of the premier basketball minds in the business."
Terms were not disclosed, but there was a report that Brown received a three-year contract worth $10 million. Brown will be introduced a news conference Wednesday.
Brown, a former coach of the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks, has been working as an NBA analyst for Turner Sports since he was fired as Knicks coach during the 1986-87 season.
Known for his passion as a coach, broadcaster and teacher at basketball clinics, Brown won an American Basketball Association title with the Kentucky Colonels and earned NBA Coach of the Year honors with the Atlanta Hawks in 1977.
Tejada wins AL MVP award
NEW YORK, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Shortstop Miguel Tejada, who led the Oakland Athletics to a third straight playoff berth, was named American League Most Valuable Player Tuesday.
Tejada received 21 first-place votes and a total of 356 points from the Baseball Writers' Association to become the second Oakland player in three years to be named MVP. Jason Giambi, Oakland's former team leader and best offensive player, won the award in 2000 and signed with the New York Yankees last winter.
Tejada is also the third native of the Dominican Republic to become a league MVP, joining Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder David Bell.
Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez received five first-place votes and was second with 254 points. Rodriguez, who was hoping to become the second MVP from a last-place team, led the league with 57 home runs and 142 RBI.
Tejada, 26, admitted that he was "surprised" to beat out Rodriguez.
"He (Rodriguez) had a monster year," Tejada said. "I was thinking the whole way he was going to win and I was surprised when they gave me the news. But he's probably going to win this award three or four times in a row."
Knight sues Indiana University
BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- In a sign that negotiations between Indiana University and former coach Bobby Knight had collapsed, Knight sued the school late last week for more than $7 million.
The suit was revealed Tuesday when the school released a statement denying allegations made by Knight.
"The university has fulfilled all of its obligations under the contract it had with Mr. Knight," the school said in its statement. "Indiana University will defend its interests vigorously."
Knight was fired by Indiana President Myles Brand on Sept. 10, 2000, ending a tumultuous career with the school during which the coach became one of the most familiar figures in American sports.
Since then, Knight has become head coach at Texas Tech University.
The statute of limitations for lawsuits in Indiana over dismissal complaints is two years, but that deadline had been extended as Knight and school officials had tried to work out a settlement.
Knight had filed notice of a possible suit last year, a step required by Indiana law.
The suit was filed last Friday. In it, Knight sought the multi-million dollar judgment for reasons of lost income, mental humiliation and interference with his attempts to find another coaching job.
Sonics hold off Wizards
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- With the Seattle SuperSonics clinging to a two-point lead, Brent Barry hit a three-pointer with eight seconds remaining Tuesday night to close out a 101-95 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Seattle overcame a career night by Rashard Lewis, who scored 37 points while hitting 16 of 19 shots. He dunked with 5:47 remaining to give the Sonics a 90-79 lead. But Washington stormed back behind Michael Jordan, who had 12 of his season-high 27 points in the fourth quarter.
Jordan's baseline jumper with three minutes left got the Wizards within 91-90 and, after Lewis missed a hook shot, Jerry Stackhouse was fouled with 2:26 to play. But Stackhouse missed both free throws and Lewis answered with a jumper.
Jordan got Washington within a point with another jumper, but Lewis countered with a basket to make it 95-92 with just over a minute remaining. The Wizards got no closer than 97-95 on a shot by Jordan from just beyond the foul line with 26 seconds left.
Washington, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Other NBA results: Indiana 95, Cleveland 75; Toronto 115, Orlando 109; Detroit 93, New Orleans 87; Los Angeles Clippers 101, Miami 82; Utah 108, New York 87; Houston 86, Portland 83.
Wild loses second in a row
ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Mike Comrie recorded his first two-goal game of the season Tuesday night as the last-place Edmonton Oilers defeated the first-place Minnesota Wild, 3-2, to remain undefeated in 11 meetings between the division rivals.
Edmonton wasted no time keeping its streak alive as Comrie netted his first goal 93 seconds into the first period off a feed from Anson Carter after creating a turnover at Minnesota's blue line.
Comrie's second of the game and eighth of the season gave the Oilers some insurance with a 3-1 lead at 2:36 of the second period.
The Wild climbed within 3-2 when Pascual DuPuis netted a power-play goal three minutes into the third period.
But Tommy Salo turned aside 21 shots, including 13 over the final 20 minutes, to help the Oilers improve to 9
2 all-time against Minnesota.
Dwayne Roloson had a personal five-game unbeaten streak snapped for the Wild, giving up three goals for the first time in his last four starts.
Minnesota, which has lost two in a row for the first time this season, managed just nine shots in the first two periods and went one for nine on the power play.
Other NHL results: Boston 4, Buffalo 3; Carolina 3, Phoenix 2; Ottawa 5, New York Islanders 3; Detroit 4, Nashville 1; Dallas 4, Montreal 2; New Jersey 3, Anaheim 2 in overtime; Toronto 4, Los Angeles 3 in overtime; Colorado 5, Columbus 4.
Major League stars lose third straight
OSAKA, Japan, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Montreal Expos righthander Tomo Ohka had a rough homecoming Tuesday.
Kazuo Matsui and Norihiro Nakamura each drove in three runs as the Japan League All-Stars used a balanced attack en route to their third straight win over the Major League Baseball All-Stars, an 8-6 victory at the Osaka Dome.
Ohka, who grew up in nearby Kyoto, was tagged for six runs and eight hits in just 2 2/3 innings. His teammate, Bartolo Colon, also struggled, as was reached for two runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Matsui led off the game with a single and stole second base before Ohka walked Yoshitomo Tani. Nakamura, who hit 42 home runs this season for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, sent Ohka's next pitch over the fence for a 3-0 lead.
Suspects surrender in Pick Six case
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Three friends accused in an alleged betting scam that resulted in payouts of $3 million surrendered to authorities Tuesday.
Glen DaSilva of New York, Chris Harn of Newark, Del., and Derrick Davis of Baltimore -- all 29 -- surrendered at offices of the FBI and authorities said they will be charged with wire fraud conspiracy.
The three have been the target of a probe that the FBI said shows they manipulated a computer system to ensure winning Pick Six tickets in the Breeders' Cup on Oct. 26 at Illinois' Arlington Park.
The three were fraternity brothers at Tau Kappa Epsilon when they attended Drexel University in Philadelphia. The FBI and federal prosecutors confirmed last week that they had joined in the investigation of the suspicious bets.
Davis and DaSilva had phone accounts and Catskill OTB in New York and placed bets on races at Belmont Park in New York on Oct. 5 and and at Balmoral in Illinois on Oct. 3.
Harn was a senior programmer for Autotote -- a Delaware company that handles bets at tracks and off-track betting parlors -- and allegedly hacked into the computer systems to change DaSilva's bets.
The three men then are accused of moving on to the prestigious Breeders' Cup, where Davis, a computer services manager, had the only Ultra Pick Six ticker for the Breeders' Cup. The $12 ticket was the equivalent of six $2 tickets each worth $428,392 and also produced 108 consolation tickets worth $4,606.20 for five of six winners.
Pick Six winners must select the first-place finishers of six consecutive races.
Sanchez-Vicario retires
BARCELONA, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, a former world No. 1 and a winner of four Grand Slam titles, announced her retirement Tuesday.
Sanchez-Vicario confirmed her departure from the WTA Tour at a press conference near her native Barcelona.
After turning professional in June 1985, the 30-year-old won 29 tournaments, including the French Open three times and the U.S. Open once. She appeared in eight other major finals.
Sanchez-Vicario earned the nickname, "the Barcelona Bumblebee," for her tenacious style.
Hewitt wins Tennis Masters opener
SHANGHAI, China, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Defending champion Lleyton Hewitt moved closer to retaining his No. 1 ranking Tuesday with a three-set victory over Albert Costa in his opening round-robin match at the $3.75 million Tennis Masters Cup.
Hewitt held off Costa, the French Open champion from Spain, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in a Red Group Match to take a 108-point lead over American Andre Agassi in the 2002 ATP Champions race.
In the first match of the day, Spain's Carlos Moya defeated Russian Marat Safin, 6-4, 7-5, in a Red Group encounter.
Hewitt has led the ATP Champions Race every week since July 8 after winning his first Wimbledon title in July and has owned the No. 1 ranking on the ATP Entry System every week since Nov. 19, 2001 after winning last year's Tennis Masters Cup title in Sydney.
The 21-year-old Australian is hoping to become the fourth player to sit atop the rankings every week of the year.
Agassi, who is looking to become the oldest year-end No. 1 in ATP history, plays his first round-robin match on Wednesday.
Moya improved to 2-2 against Safin and gained revenge for his loss in the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Series event in Paris two weeks ago. Moya defeated Agassi in the quarterfinals to clinch a berth in Shanghai while Safin went on to collect his first title of the year.
In a Gold Group encounter, Roger Federer of Switzerland had a triumphant TMC debut as he cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.
Wakefield stays with Red Sox
BOSTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Tim Wakefield, arguably baseball's most versatile pitcher, Tuesday agreed to stay with the Boston Red Sox through the 2005 season, signing a three-year contract worth a reported $13.02 million.
Wakefield, a 36-year-old knuckleballer, is coming off one of his best seasons. He went 11-5 with a 2.81 ERA -- fourth-best in the American League -- in 45 appearances. As a starter, Wakefield was 9-3 with a 2.39 ERA in 15 appearances, going 6-1 with a 1.66 ERA in his final nine outings.
According to published reports, Wakefield will be paid $4 million next season, $4.35 million in 2004 and $4.67 million in 2005.
Last season, opponents hit just .204 against Wakefield, the second-best figure in the league. He also played a key role in the Red Sox's community services and was Boston's nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given to the player who succeeds on and off the field.
