Vikings' Favre to miss 2nd straight start
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre will miss his second straight start with a sprained shoulder, Coach Leslie Frazier said Saturday.
Favre, whose NFL-record 297-game iron man streak was snapped last week, will again be on the sidelines as the Vikings host the Chicago Bears outdoors Monday night at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.
In his place, rookie Joe Webb will get his first career NFL start, Frazier said.
"Brett tried to do some things prior to practice and that shoulder is not, his arm is just not where it needs to be so he definitely won't participate on Monday night," Frazier told reporters.
The coach insisted, however, that he didn't have any plans to put Favre on injured reserve because the 41-year-old signal caller was improving.
The Bears, meanwhile, practiced outdoors at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., Saturday to get acclimated to playing in cold weather on artificial turf, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The Vikings practiced at their facility in Eden Prairie, Minn., as usual, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
The Vikings-Bears game was moved to the Minnesota Golden Gophers' outdoor stadium after a Dec. 12 blizzard caused the fabric roof of the Metrodome to collapse. The Vikings played their last game, a loss to the New York Giants Monday night, in Detroit's dome stadium.
Weather forecasts called for game time temperatures in the teens above zero Fahrenheit with snow likely.
Fehr tapped as NHL players union chief
NEW YORK, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Former baseball players union President Donald Fehr Saturday was named the new chief of the National Hockey League Players' Association.
The NHLPA said in a statement that Fehr, 62, had been officially hired in a long-anticipated move and will take control of the union immediately after serving as an unpaid consultant since November.
"This process took a while because from the players' standpoint, they wanted to be sure and, from my standpoint, I wanted them to be sure that they had made a decision that they were comfortable with, that all the players had an opportunity to have their say and that this judgment represented a consensus view of the entire membership," Fehr told reporters.
"It has. That's both quite an honor and it is also quite humbling."
Fehr becomes the fourth leader of the NHLPA since 2005. He spent 33 years with the Major League Baseball Players Association before leaving last year.
He told NHL.com he's confident that players and management can work out a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the existing one without a work stoppage.
The current labor deal expires after the 2011-12 season.
Reports: Tebow may get first NFL start
DENVER, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Rookie Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is likely to make his first NFL start this weekend, multiple media outlets reported Saturday.
With Kyle Orton suffering from sore ribs, the struggling Broncos are likely ready to give the Heisman Trophy winner his much-anticipated first NFL start, the Denver Post, ESPN.com and the NFL Network all reported.
Orton missed an entire week of practices after sustaining a rib injury for the Broncos (3-10) during a 43-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, and, assuming he will be too sore to play Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, Tebow will get the starting nod, the Post said.
The two-time national champion from Florida was the Broncos' first-round draft choice, taken 25th overall last spring.
Broncos observers had expected Tebow to perhaps start one of the team's final two games of the season but Orton's injury has accelerated the timetable, the newspaper said.
Magic acquire Arenas, Turkoglu in trades
ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The Orlando Magic have acquired Gilbert Arenas from Washington and Hedo Turkoglu from Phoenix in a pair of trades, multiple sources reported Saturday.
The Magic traded forward Rashard Lewis to the Wizards for guard Arenas in one deal and picked up forward Turkoglu, guard Jason Richardson and forward Earl Clark from the Suns in exchange for guard Vince Carter, center Marcin Gortat, small forward Mickael Pietrus and a first-round pick, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported.
The newspaper cited an NBA source as saying the trade had been finalized and said Guy Zucker, Gortat's agent, confirmed the transaction. ESPN.com and Yahoo! Sports first reported the deal Saturday.
The moves served to rearrange Orlando's lineup. The key to the trades is the controversial Arenas, 28, who was suspended without pay last season for bringing guns into the Wizards' locker room following an argument on the team plane.
Arenas is reportedly owed about $62 million over the next three seasons.
Turkoglu, meanwhile, returns to Orlando, for whom he played from 2004-09. He is averaging 9.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game this season.
