Leadership 'failure' led to Paterno firing
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 12 (UPI) -- Penn State's Board of Trustees said football Coach Joe Paterno was fired due to his lack of actions following allegations of sexual abuse by an assistant coach.
Paterno, who died in January, had been fired Nov. 9 following a unanimous vote of the board, which was also trying to deal with allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Other university officials were also fired.
Sandusky has been charged with multiple counts of sex crimes involving young boys. An indictment listing the allegations was handed down Nov. 4 and his trial is to begin May 14.
Sandusky was a member of Paterno's Penn State staff from 1969-99.
The board issued a report Monday outlining the reasons for Paterno's dismissal, saying his failure to address concerns regarding Sandusky "constituted a failure of leadership." It said Paterno did his "minimum legal duty" when he heard of allegations about Sandusky.
Paterno had been associated with Penn State since 1950 and was head coach from 1966-2011. His teams had a combined record of 409-136-3. The 409 victories are the most for a major-college coach.
He died of lung cancer at the age of 85.
Kentucky near-unanimous No. 1
MCLEAN, Va., March 12 (UPI) -- Kentucky heads into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1-ranked team but the USA Today/ESPN Board of Coaches didn't make it unanimous.
The Wildcats (32-2) were beaten in the Southeastern Conference tournament title game 71-64 by Vanderbilt. That didn't seem to matter to the NCAA Division I Tournament selection committee, which installed Kentucky as the No. 1 overall seed.
But it apparently did to Wisconsin-Milwaukee Coach Rob Jeter, who placed the Wildcats second on his ballot. The other 30 coaches all had Kentucky No. 1. The Wildcats were a unanimous No. 1 the seven previous weeks.
Syracuse (31-2) remains No. 2 while Missouri (30-4), which got Jeter's first-place vote, moves from fifth to third after its Big 12 tournament championship. Michigan State (27-7) is up four spots to fourth after it won the Big Ten tournament.
North Carolina (29-5) drops one place to No. 5, ahead of Kansas (27-6), down three to sixth, while Ohio State (27-7) is again seventh. Duke (27-6) slips two to No. 8 with Murray State (30-1) and Baylor (27-7) both up one to ninth and 10th, respectively.
Marquette (25-7) comes in at 11th while Florida State (24-9) jumps five rungs to 12th after an ACC tournament win. Wisconsin (24-9) is 13th, Michigan (24-9) is at the 14th place and Georgetown (23-8) is No. 15. Those three all are down one place.
St. Mary's (Calif.) (27-5) is 16th with Indiana (25-8) in 17th, Louisville (26-9) taking the 18th spot, Wichita State (27-5) coming in at 19 and Creighton (28-5) at No. 20.
Florida (23-10) is at No. 21 with, in order, New Mexico (27-6), San Diego State (26-7), Vanderbilt (24-10) and Nevada-Las Vegas (26-8) rounding out the Top 25.
Spurs' Ford says he's played his last game
SAN ANTONIO, March 12 (UPI) -- San Antonio Spurs guard T.J. Ford said Monday he is retiring as a player and will take a look at other opportunities to stay in the sport.
Ford said he is still physically able to play, despite having gone through years when his doctors advised against it, but a game last week when he wound up face down on the floor, unable to move, led him to his decision.
"After last Wednesday, I felt that being on the floor and being in that position and that scenario of being on the floor one too many times, I felt that was enough for me and my basketball career," Ford told sportswriters.
"So I definitely will be retiring and that was my last basketball game you guys will see me play."
Ford said the Spurs management has invited him to remain with the team to "help out and mentor." He said he would use the opportunity "to see if that's a route I want to take some day."
Ford, 28, had his playing time limited due to a series of neck and spine issues.
He was a first-round pick in the NBA draft by Milwaukee in 2003 and averaged 11.2 points, 5.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds over 429 regular-season games.
Ford played three seasons with the Bucks before joining Toronto for two years and then Indiana for three. He signed with San Antonio this season but injuries limited his play to 14 games.
Animal Kingdom out of World Cup
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla., March 12 (UPI) -- Animal Kingdom, the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner, will miss the Dubai World Cup because of lameness in his left hind leg.
The injury was detected after a workout Saturday at the Palm Meadows training facility.
A hairline fracture in the same leg forced surgery and caused Animal Kingdom to miss the second half of last season. He won his first race this year on Feb. 18 and had been scheduled to ship to Dubai on March 20 for the March 31 race.
Animal Kingdom would have been among the favorites for the $10 million race at the plush Meydan facility. However, Barry Irwin, CEO of Team Valor International, which owns Animal Kingdom, said the timing of the injury rules out the trip.
Irwin said tests were being conducted to determine the severity of the injury. "If he comes out of this okay, hopefully we can run in the World Cup in 2013," Irwin said.
