UPI NewsTrack Sports

Henderson, Rice make it into Hall of Fame

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y., Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Base-stealing whiz Rickey Henderson and power-hitting Jim Rice have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, officials announced Monday.

Henderson, who played for nine teams in his 25-year Major League career, is the all-time leader in runs scored (2,295) and stolen bases (1,406). Rice, with 382 home runs in a 16-season career spent with the Boston Red Sox, was among the most feared hitters during his prime in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Both will be enshrined in Cooperstown July 26.

Henderson finished with 3,055 hits, including 297 homers. His career included four stints with the Oakland Athletics. He also played for the New York Yankees, Toronto, San Diego, Anaheim, the New York Mets, Seattle, Boston and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Henderson was on two World Series title teams -- in 1989 with Oakland and 1993 with Toronto. He was the 1990 AL MVP with the Athletics and was an All-Star 10 times. His 81 career lead-off homers and 130 stolen bases in 1982 are both records.

Rice, in his 15th and final year on the ballot, was the AL MVP in 1978 and an eight-time All-Star selection. He was a .298 career hitter with 1,451 runs batted in.

Also voted in were Veterans Committee pick Joe Gordon, Ford C. Frick winner Tony Kubek and J.G. Taylor Spink winner Nick Peters.

Dungy reportedly quitting Colts

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy is expected to announce he's stepping down.

FOXSports.com reported Dungy has started saying goodbye to players and team personnel at the club's headquarters.

Dungy has taken the Colts to the playoffs in each of his seven years with the team. The Colts won the 2006 Super Bowl. He has an 85-27 regular-season record and is 7-6 in the post-season.

Indianapolis went 12-4 this season and finished second in the AFC South behind the 13-3 Tennessee Titans. However, the Colts lost to the Chargers 23-17 in the first round of the playoffs.

Dungy spent the past week discussing his future with his family and reportedly met with owner Jim Irsay Sunday.

The Colts have won at least 10 games in each season under Dungy and won five straight AFC South titles from 2003-07.

Before joining the Colts, Dungy spent six years as coach of Tampa Bay. He had a regular-season mark of 54-42 with the Buccaneers, guiding them to four playoff appearances.

Dungy is the only coach in league history since the merger to take a team to the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons.

Pittsburgh Panthers still No. 1

MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Panthers are still undefeated and No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today men's college basketball poll Monday but Wake Forest got some consideration.

Pittsburgh (15-0) received 29 of the 21 coaches' first-place votes and Duke (14-1) is still No. 2. But Wake Forest, also undefeated at 14-0, got the other two first-place votes and moved up one spot to No. 3 after beating North Carolina.

The 14-2 Tar Heels, who had been No. 1 two weeks ago, fell from third to No. 6 with their second loss of the season.

Connecticut (14-1) is ranked No. 4 and Oklahoma (15-1) is No. 5 this week.

Rounding out the top tier are UCLA (13-2), Syracuse (16-1), Clemson (16-0) and Michigan State (13-2).

The rest of the Top 25 are: Texas (12-3), Georgetown (11-3), Notre Dame (12-3), Marquette (15-2), Arizona State (14-2), Xavier (13-2), Minnesota (15-1), Butler (14-1), Purdue (12-4), Louisville (11-3), Baylor (13-2), Villanova (13-3), California (15-2), Michigan (13-3) and St. Mary's (15-1).

The arrival of California, Michigan and St. Mary's meant West Virginia, Boston College and Tennessee were bumped out.

Ronaldo, Marta collect soccer honors

ZURICH, Switzerland, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Manchester's Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazil's Marta received the FIFA's world player of the year awards Monday in Zurich, Switzerland.

It was the first time for Ronaldo, a 23-year-old winger who scored 31 goals in leading his team to the Premier League championship. He also helped Portugal to the quarterfinals at UEFA Euro 2008.

Lionel Messi of Argentina finished second in the balloting, followed by Fernando Torres of Spain, Kaka of Brazil and Xavi of Spain.

It was a record-tying third award for Marta, a 21-year-old midfielder who led Brazil to a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics last year. She also plays for Sweden's Umea IK.

Germany's Birgit Prinz placed second in the voting, followed by Brazil's Cristiane, Germany's Nadine Angerer and England's Kelly Smith.