Hidalgo has muscle, nerve damage
HOUSTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Houston Astros outfielder Richard Hidalgo, who had a gunshot wound in his left forearm last week, suffered muscle and nerve damage, the team announced Monday.
Hidalgo, 27, was shot Thursday in his native Venezuela. He returned to Houston and was examined by members of the Astros' medical staff.
"Richard is experiencing some numbness in the left pinky and ring fingers as well as weakness in the fingers and left hand," General Manager Gerry Hunsicker said.
Additional nerve and circulatory tests are being scheduled and Hidalgo will be monitored over the next two weeks to determine a course of action.
"If surgery is necessary, it would be performed to explore and decompress the nerve in the left forearm," Hunsicker explained. "If that is the case, we are cautiously optimistic that it would not prevent Richard from being ready for the start of spring training."
Hidalgo batted .235 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI in 114 games last season. His numbers - and playing time - have dropped consistently since he had a career year in 2000, when he hit .314 with 44 homers and 122 RBI.
Utah fires its football coach
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A season-ending victory over archrival Brigham Young was not enough for Utah football coach Ron McBride to keep his job as the university fired him Monday, two days after the Utes defeated BYU, 13-6, to finish the year at 5-6.
The 63-year-old McBride posted an 88-63 record in his 13 seasons at Utah, leading the Utes to six bowl games and a pair of shared conference titles. However, they are just 17-17 over the last three seasons, including a 10-11 mark in Mountain West Conference play.
"We are disappointed in how we have fared in league play over the last three seasons," Utah athletic director Chris Hill said. "Our expectations, given our facilities and support system here at Utah, are for us to win our share of conference championships and be ranked with some regularity in the top 25 at the end of the season."
Utah never won an outright conference title under McBride. It finished in a four-way tie for the Western Athletic Conference championship in 1995 and a three-way tie for the MWC crown in 1999.
Hill indicated a national search for McBride's successor will begin immediately.
Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma 1-2-3
MORRISTOWN, N.J., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The Ohio State Buckeyes completed a 13-0 regular season with a 14-9 win over Michigan on Saturday and already have accepted a bid to play for at least a share of the national title in the Fiesta Bowl on January 3 in Tempe, Ariz.
Ohio State, however, remains behind Miami (10-0) in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings Monday and the Hurricanes even widened their lead in the complicated formula in which the lower score ranks first. Miami has 2.89 points, compared to 4.21 for Ohio State.
The Hurricanes (10-0), however, still need to win their final regular season games against Syracuse and Virginia Tech in order to be assured of playing the Buckeyes. The latest BCS standings have installed Oklahoma (10-1) as the leading candidate to grab a Fiesta Bowl berth should the Hurricanes stumble over the next two weeks.
Washington State (9-2) had that advantage last week, but saw its national title hopes evaporate with an overtime loss to Washington that dropped it to eighth in the BCS.
Oklahoma is third with 9.09 points and finishes its regular season with games against Oklahoma State and Colorado in the Big 12 Conference championship game.
Georgia (10-1), another team hoping to see Miami falter, is fourth this week with 10.07 points.
Iowa (11-1) is third in the coaches poll and fourth in the Associated Press poll, but the BCS standings have the Hawkeyes a relatively distant fifth this week. Iowa finished its regular season on Nov. 16 with a 45-21 win over Minnesota and is headed to the Rose Bowl.
Southern California (9-2) and Notre Dame (10-1), who meet Saturday in Los Angeles, are sixth and seventh, respectively. The Fighting Irish are guaranteed an at-large BCS berth if they finish in the final six.
The final BCS standings and bowl matchups will be released Dec. 8.
Texas A&M football player dies
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- An 18-year-old Texas A&M football player, Brandon Fails collapsed at his dorm room on Monday morning and later died.
The school announced that Fails, a true freshman defensive end from Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas, had trouble breathing before collapsing at Cain Hall. Team physician Dr. Jesse Parr said Fails was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Bryan, Texas, where he passed away.
An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Fails played in four games this season and was credited with two tackles. He was a first-team All-State selection in high school.
Red Sox name Epstein general manager
BOSTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The Boston Red Sox Monday named 28-year-old Theo Epstein the youngest general manager in major league history.
Esptein was named assistant general manager in March, after a group headed by John Henry purchased the team and fired general manager Dan Duquette.
Mike Port was serving as interim general manager, and is expected to take another job within the organization.
Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane withdrew his name from consideration earlier in the month, and Red Sox President Larry Lucchino elected to go with Epstein.
Epstein, a 1995 graduate of Yale, grew up in Brookline, Mass., literally a stone's throw from Fenway Park. He built up his professional resume with the San Diego Padres, working his way up from media relations to assistant GM.
Esptein had been assistant general manager with the Padres under Lucchino, who was that team's president from 1995-01.
Pirates get Simon from Tigers
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates Monday began the process of rebuilding their offense by acquiring first baseman Randall Simon from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for minor league pitcher Adrian Burnside and two minor league players to be named later.
Simon, 26, was the Tigers' team MVP in 2002 after hitting .301 and setting career highs with 19 home runs and 82 RBI in 130 games.
In parts of five seasons with the Tigers and Atlanta Braves, Simon has a .305 lifetime average with 30 home runs and 149 RBI in 321 games.
Simon, a 6-foot, 180-pounder, made $290,000 last year, but because he is arbitration eligible, that figure is expected to increase to slightly more than $1 million in 2003.
The left-handed hitting Simon will be considered the favorite for the Bucs' starting first base job next season, although he appeared in only 59 games in the field with the Tigers in 2002. Because he has hit just .233 in his career against southpaws, Simon could platoon at first base with incumbent Kevin Young.
Burnside, 25, was originally acquired along with Mike Fetters from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Terry Mulholland at the trading deadline in 2001. The southpaw was 6-9 with a 4.55 ERA in 32 games, 23 starts, with Double-A Altoona of the Eastern League last season, and 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA in 13 Arizona Fall League appearances.
Bowden dismisses McPherson
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden Monday announced that sophomore quarterback Adrian McPherson, who had been the starter the last four games, has been kicked off the team for an unspecified rules violation.
McPherson struggled in the Seminoles' 17-7 loss at North Carolina State Saturday, and Sunday, Bowden indicated he had not decided who would be the starter when FSU plays arch-rival Florida this weekend.
No other details regarding the dismissal were released, but Bowden confirmed that Chris Rix, who has been supplanted by McPherson, would be the starter against the Gators.
McPherson had completed 80-of-155 passes for 1,017 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was intercepted just once, and rushed for 180 yards in nine games.
He replaced Rix after a loss to Notre Dame on Oct. 26, and led the Seminoles to wins over Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina, throwing eight touchdown passes with one interception.
Rogers to enter NFL draft
EAST LANSING, Mich., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Wide receiver Charles Rogers, a bright spot in a disastrous season at Michigan State, apparently will bypass his final college season and enter the NFL draft.
Rogers is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award as the top receiver in college football, and most draft analysts believe he will be taken high in the first round.
Michigan State was considered a preseason contender for the Big Ten Conference title, but the Spartans were just 4-8 and concluded the year with a 61-7 drubbing at Penn State Saturday.
The Spartans' season included the firing of Coach Bobby Williams and the revelation of a substance abuse problem by quarterback Jeff Smoker, which led to his suspension.
Rogers continued to put up big numbers, breaking his own school record for receptions in a season with 668. He caught 13 touchdown passes, and had 1,351 receiving yards.
He also established an NCAA record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass with 13.
