Freestyle skier Burke seriously hurt
SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke was in serious condition after crashing on the slopes in Utah, ski association officials said Tuesday.
The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association said the four-time Winter X Games gold medal-winner was airlifted to a hospital after being hurt at Park City Mountain Resort.
The association said in Twitter message Burke's injuries were "very serious," but didn't supply any further details.
"Park City Mountain Resort mountain patrol stabilized her at the scene and then transported her to base patrol," resort representative Andy Miller told The Vancouver Sun. "From there, she was flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City."
Burke, 29, a native of Midland, Ontario, has been hailed as pioneer in the halfpipe freestyle event.
Her husband, skier Rory Bushfield of Squamish, British Columbia, told the Sun he and other family members were preparing to fly to Salt Lake City.
"Sarah is a very, very strong human and she will be fine," he said.
Raiders' new GM fires Coach Hue Jackson
OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The Oakland Raiders have fired Coach Hue Jackson after just one season on the job, new General Manager Reggie McKenzie said Tuesday.
McKenzie told reporters during a news conference called to introduce himself as the team's new GM that Jackson had been axed following the team's 8-8 performance in a season marked by the death of longtime owner Al Davis.
"Early this morning, I informed coach Hue Jackson that he was relieved of his head-coaching duties," McKenzie said. "I wished him well as he moved forward into his future."
McKenzie, a former Raiders linebacker, took over as GM Friday after spending 18 years in the front office of the Green Bay Packers.
Jackson's fate was apparently sealed after the Raiders failed to make the playoffs despite needing only a victory over San Diego on the final day of the season to win the AFC West.
The Denver Broncos instead took the title as the Raiders lost to the Chargers 38-26 at home, finishing the season with four losses in five games.
Speculation centered on Packers assistant Coach Winston Moss as a candidate to replace Jackson.
Reports: Selig to get 2-year extension
NEW YORK, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Baseball owners will ask Commissioner Bud Selig to stay on the job two more years and he is expected to accept, multiple reports indicated Tuesday.
ESPN first reported owners will extend the offer to Selig Thursday during meetings in Phoenix, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said the baseball chief is expected to accept and stay on after his current contract extension expires at the end of 2012.
The newspaper said Selig had voiced his intention to retire following the end of his current three-year deal.
"This is clearly it," he said in January 2008. "I can say this without equivocation."
But owners asked him to stay on longer and never formed a committee to find a replacement.
Should Selig, 77, accept the extension, he will have served as baseball commissioner for 22 years by the time it wraps up in 2014 -- longer than any commissioner in history except the first one, Kennesaw Mountain Landis.
Landis held office for 24 years before his death in 1944, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Notre Dame coach Kelly gets 2 more years
SOUTH BEND, Ind., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Notre Dame football Coach Brian Kelly has received a two-year contract extension, the school announced Tuesday.
Notre Dame Athletics Director Jack Swarbrick said Kelly has been rewarded following two consecutive 8-5 seasons and a 1-1 record in bowl games.
The new deal will keep the Fighting Irish mentor behind the bench through the 2016 season.
"While Coach Kelly and I are focused on the additional work that must be done to reach our goals, I am very pleased with the progress we have made during the past two years." Swarbrick said.
