UPI NewsTrack Sports

Mauer voted AL Most Valuable Player

NEW YORK, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer, who led the league in batting, was voted the American League Most Valuable Player, it was announced Monday.

Mauer missed the first month of the season with back problems but once he joined the lineup quickly made up for lost time. He ended with a .365 batting average in winning his third AL batting title and added 94 runs and 96 runs-batted-in over 138 games. He was the first player since Kansas City's George Brett in 1980 to lead the league in batting average, on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587).

He is just the second catcher in 33 years, joining 1999 winner Ivan Rodriguez, to be voted AL MVP. Mauer also collected his second Gold Glove for defensive excellence this fall.

Mauer was listed first on 27 of the 28 AL MVP ballots and second on the other to total 387 points. New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira was second overall with 225 points. Yankees shortstop Derk Jeter (193 points) was third and Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who had the other first-place vote, was fourth.

The Most Valuable Player awards are determined by a vote of member of the Baseball Writers Associations of America representing each American League or National League city. The NL MVP is to be announced Tuesday.

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Florida tops coaches' football poll

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Florida, as it has been since the pre-season, is the No. 1 team in the USA Today Coaches' football poll which saw its first nine teams unchanged this week.

Oregon (9-2) is the only new Top 10 team this week, moving to No. 10 from its 11th spot last week as Louisiana State (8-3) fell from 10th to 17th. Utah (9-2) was the biggest mover up -- going from 23rd to 19th in a week that saw little substantial movement.

Florida (11-0) pulled in 47 first-place votes and leads No. 2 Texas (11-0 and four first-place votes) and No. 3 Alabama (11-0 and eight first-place votes). Those three teams are the favorites to contest for the national championship.

Texas Christian (11-0) is fourth followed by, in order, Cincinnati (10-0), Boise State (11-0), Georgia Tech (10-1), Ohio State (10-2) and Pittsburgh (9-1).

After Oregon is No. 11 Penn State (10-2), 12th-ranked Oklahoma State (9-2) and No. 13 Iowa (10-2) with Virginia Tech (8-3) in 14th and Brigham Young (9-2) in 15th.

Clemson (8-3) is 16th, ahead of LSU, with Oregon State (8-3) at No. 18 and Utah and Houston (9-2) completing the Top 20.

Miami (Fla.) (8-3) improved from 24th to 21st with Southern California (7-3), Nebraska (8-3), North Carolina (8-3) and Mississippi (8-3) rounding out the rankings.

Mississippi is the only new entry this week while Wisconsin and Stanford both dropped out.

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Northeastern Univ. ending football program

BOSTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Northeastern University of Boston said Monday it is ending its intercollegiate football program after 74 seasons.

The university said in a news release the school made the decision to discontinue its football program based on a recommendation from Northeastern Athletic Director Peter Roby.

"Our goal for athletics is to achieve sustainable excellence in all areas," Roby said.

"We do not define success merely through wins and losses. Instead, we recognize that success comes from creating a positive student-athlete experience. The primary motivation for this decision was based on the significant obstacles to providing this experience for our football players."

Despite the end to the school's football program, whose varsity team played its final season game last weekend, the school will maintain its participation in 18 different intercollegiate sports.

"At a time when higher education is critically important to rebuilding our knowledge-based economy," Northeastern President Joseph Aoun said, "universities have an obligation to invest resources in areas of strength -- whether they are competitive athletic programs or cutting-edge academics."

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Westwood at career best in golf rankings

VIRGINIA WATER, England, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Lee Westwood's lucrative victory at the European PGA Tour's Dubai World Championship improved his world ranking to a career best.

Westwood was very impressive over the weekend, shooting a course-record 8-under-par 64 Sunday in winning the tournament in the United Arab Emirates by six shots. The tournament title was worth $1.25 million and pushed Westwood to the top of the European Tour's money list, earning him an additional $1.5 million bonus.

The win boosted his world ranking to No. 4, matching the highest of his career. Sergio Garcia, going from ninth to eighth, and Rory McIlroy, moving from 13th to 10th, also benefited from playing in the Dubai World Championship.

While Americans Tiger Woods, whose is No. 1 for the 233rd consecutive week, No. 2 Phil Mickelson and third-rated Steve Stricker are at the top for the rankings, six of the next seven spots are held by Europeans, marking the first time six European players have been in the Top 10 at the same time.

Westwood knocked Paul Casey to No. 5 while Padraig Harrington and Henrik Stenson kept their Nos. 6 and 7, respectively, rankings. Kenny Perry, another American, dropped one spot because of Garcia's move up to ninth.