James on injured reserve with foot injury
NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Seattle SuperSonics placed center Jerome James on the injured list Tuesday with a stress fracture in his right foot.
James has not played since Nov. 6, missing the last 15 games with the injury. He already has had the protective boot on the foot removed but is expected to be out at least two weeks.
The 7-1, 285-pound James is averaging 3.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in five games this season, including one start. He is in his second season with Seattle after signing a three-year contract in the offseason.
James spent his rookie season with the Sacramento Kings before coming to the Sonics prior to last season. He averaged 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 56 games -- 40 starts -- during the 2001-02 campaign.
Battie suspended for hitting referee
NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Boston Celtics forward Tony Battie was suspended by the NBA for one one game for striking an official with a kicked basketball.
League senior vice president of operations Stu Jackson announced the suspension on Tuesday.
The 6-11, 240-pound Battie kicked a basketball off referee Mark Wunderlich's backside with 6:04 remaining in the third quarter of Monday's win over the Orlando Magic.
Battie was whistled for a technical foul after arguing with Wunderlich about a play under the basket. The six-year veteran was given a second technical and ejected after kicking the ball.
Battie is averaging 8.4 points and 7.9 rebounds in 20 games this season. He will miss Wednesday's game against the Phoenix Suns.
Carter sidelined two weeks
TORONTO, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday that three-time All-Star guard Vince Carter is expected to miss two weeks after suffering a mild strain of his right patella tendon in practice Monday.
The knee injury is the second significant setback of the season for Carter, who missed 11 games in November with a strained left quadriceps. Toronto went 3-8 in his absence.
Carter is averaging 19.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game this season. He had been averaging 23 points per game over his last five contests for the Raptors, who are 7-13.
The 6-6 Carter missed 22 games last season. He is averaging 24.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in 277 career contests.
Devil Rays sell Steve Cox to Japanese
TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Steve Cox Tuesday was sold by Rampa Bay to the Yokohama Bay Stars of the Japan Central League.
Cox, who expressed interest in playing in Japan, hit .254 with 16 homers and 72 RBI in 148 games this season. The 28-year-old first baseman was second on the team in games (148), at-bats (560) and RBI as he set career highs in nearly every offensive category this season.
One of Tampa Bay's expansion draft selections in 1997, Cox is a .262 career hitter with 39 homers and 158 RBI in 378 games.
Morriss leaves Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Guy Morriss, the football coach at Kentucky the last two years, Tuesday resigned, apparently to take a similar post at Baylor.
An announcement at Baylor is scheduled for Wednesday.
The Houston Chronicle reported Monday night that Morriss, 51, met with the Kentucky players Monday afternoon after accepting the Baylor position, and there was an announcement by the school saying that Morriss, a Texas native, stepped down to accept a job at another school.
It did not specify the institution.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Tuesday that Morriss and his wife, Jackie, returned home from Waco Monday night to a scene of television cameras and reporters surrounding their house. Police officers were on hand to monitor the situation.
Morriss would become the second coach in less than a week to leave an SEC school for the Big 12 in Texas. On Friday, Dennis Franchione left Alabama to fill the vacancy at Texas A&M.
Morriss, an assistant at Kentucky from 1997-2000, took over for Hal Mumme in 2001 and posted a two-year record of 9-14. After going 2-9 last year, the Wildcats were 7-5 this season, but were not bowl eligible because of NCAA probation.
At Baylor, Morriss would replace Kevin Steele, and have an even bigger rebuilding task on his hands. The Bears barely have been competitive in the Big 12 as Steele posted a four-year record of 4-32, winning just one conference game.
Ramsey to start for Redskins
ASHBURN, Va., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Rookie Patrick Ramsey will start at quarterback Sunday when the Washington Redskins play at Philadelphia.
Coach Steve Spurrier made the announcement late Monday, when it was revealed that Danny Wuerffel will be out at least a week because of a shoulder injury.
Wuerffel was injured in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the New York Giants, which eliminated the 'Skins from the postseason.
Ramsey replaced Wuerffel and completed 12-of-27 passes for 204 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. He led the Redskins on two second-half touchdown drives, and had them driving for another score late in the game. An untimely fumble by wide receiver Darnerien McCants, one of five Washington turnovers, thwarted that effort.
For the season, Ramsey is 63-of-130 for 927 yards, with four touchdowns and six interceptions. He was Washington's No. 1 draft pick out of Tulane in the 2002 draft.
Hingis withdraws from Australian Open
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Martina Hingis, the former world No. 1 in women's tennis, Tuesday withdrew from the Australian Open.
Hingis still has not fully recovered from an ankle injury. The three-time winner of the annual first match of the Grand Slam took an indefinite break from tennis in October after failing to win a tournament following surgery on her left ankle in May.
She missed the French Open and Wimbledon before returning in mid-August at the Canadian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals, and added another quarterfinal showing at New Haven before losing in the fourth round at the U.S. Open.
In October, the Switzerland native admitted she probably came back too soon after surgery, and decided to take a break for an indefinite period.
Hingis, 22, won the last of her five Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open in 1999, and reached her sixth straight final at Melbourne Park last January.
The 2003 tournament will be held Jan. 13-26.
Hingis won three of her five majors in a dominant 1997 season when she came within a loss to Iva Majoli in the championship match of the French Open of a Grand Slam, winning all four majors within a calendar year.
Hingis, a slightly-built player who used tennis savvy to claim 40 career singles crowns has increasingly found it difficult to win now against the big power players who rule the WTA Tour.
She held the No. 1 singles ranking for 209 non-consecutive weeks, fourth on the all-time list, and has the distinction of being the youngest ever to hold the top spot. She also became the fourth woman ever to achieve a doubles Grand Slam.
