Referee Joey Crawford reinstated by NBA
NEW YORK, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Veteran NBA official Joey Crawford was reinstated by the league Monday, five months after he was suspended for improper on-court conduct.
Crawford, with the NBA more than 30 seasons, threw San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan out of an April 15 game against Dallas. Duncan was on the bench at the time and laughing, apparently at a call by Crawford, who gave him his second technical foul of the game
After the game, Duncan claimed that Crawford had challenged him to a fight.
Two days later the NBA suspended Crawford and fined him $25,000.
On Monday NBA Commissioner David Stern issued a statement saying: "Based on my meeting with Joey Crawford, his commitment to an ongoing counseling program, and a favorable professional evaluation that was performed at my direction, I am satisfied that Joey understands the standards of game management and professionalism the NBA expects from him and that he will be able to conduct himself in accordance with those standards."
Woods pads fat wallet, No. 1 ranking
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods over the weekend padded his bank account and his No. 1 world golf men's ranking.
Woods won the Tour Championship Sunday, collecting the Fedex Cup along the way. The tournament win was worth $1.26 million now. The FedEx Cup comes with a $10 million annuity.
The victory also pushed Woods' lead over No. 2-ranked Phil Mickelson to 14.73 points, a jump of average 1.42 points.
The top seven positions in the weekly rankings stayed the same with Jim Furyk in third followed by Ernie Els, Steve Stricker, Adam Scott and Padraig Harrington.
Sergio Garcia, who finished fourth at the Tour Championship, behind Woods, Zach Johnson and Mark Calcavecchia, jumped from 11th to eighth in the latest rankings.
Rory Sabbatini moved from 10th to ninth and K.J. Choi slipped from eighth to 10th.
Penguins, Sabres schedule outdoor game
BUFFALO, N.Y., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres will play an NHL regular-season game on News Year's Day outdoors at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.
The so-called NHL Winter Classic is being billed as the first outdoors regular-season game to be player in the United States. The Jan. 1, 2008, game is to take place in the stadium when the NFL's Buffalo Bills play their games. Ralph Wilson Stadium seats nearly 74,000.
"Many of our players have great memories of playing outdoors when they were growing up," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "This game provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase our great players, honor hockey's heritage and ring in the New Year with the best fans in sports."
The average temperature in Buffalo in January is about 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cibulkova, weather rule at China Open
BEIJING, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Dominika Cibulkova was a winner Monday on the first day of the $600,000 China Open hard-court tennis tournament.
Cibulkova defeated Carolina Wozniacki 6-0, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 in the only match that was played on the first day of the weeklong tournament.
Fifth-seeded Martina Hingis was to play Tiantian Sun and Virginia Ruano Pascual was to have met Olga Poutchkova but those matches were rained out. They will be added to Tuesday's schedule.
Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, the defending China Open champion, was one of four top seeds to receive first-round byes. The others were: Jelena Jankovic, Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva.
The China Open winner will collect $88,265.
