Reports: UConn Coach Calhoun to retire
STORRS, Conn., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- University of Connecticut men's basketball Coach Jim Calhoun, who led the school to three national titles, is set to retire, ESPN reported Wednesday.
ESPN said its sources confirmed Calhoun would step down at a Thursday news conference.
Assistant coach Kevin Ollie has been tapped to replace him at the Huskies' helm, the report indicated.
NBC Connecticut quoted a source saying the move is all but done and is a matter of Calhoun and his agent "dotting the 'i's' and crossing the 't's'," with a second source indicating the legendary coach wants to meet with his players in person before any announcement is made.
Calhoun, 70, retires after 26 seasons of guiding the Huskies with two years left on his contract.
The move comes after UConn was ruled ineligible for the 2013 NCAA tournament due to poor academic scores, and a month after Calhoun fractured a hip during a bicycle ride.
A cancer survivor, Calhoun also underwent surgery last season to alleviate nerve pain caused by a chipped bone in his back, ESPN noted.
NHL owners, players swap proposals
NEW YORK, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- NHL owners and the league's players association said Wednesday they swapped collective bargaining proposals as a deadline for a work stoppage loomed.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters at league offices in New York owners received a union proposal Wednesday morning, deemed it insufficient, then offered up a new package of their own, NHL.com reported.
The NHL chief said the latest proposal is a one-time-only offer that will be off the table after Saturday's expiration of the current labor contract, after which owners have threatened to lock players out of training camp.
"We decided that in the hopes of moving these negotiations along before the weekend that we would make yet another proposal, which we did," Bettman told NHL.com. "It had meaningful movement in it and it was an attempt to engage the union finally in trying to make a deal on economic main issues."
He confirmed that, like the league's earlier offers, it seeks to reduce players' absolute share of "hockey-related revenue" from its current 57 percent.
"It obviously has to be studied," NHL Players Association Executive Director Donald Fehr told NHL.com. "We hope they're going to be studying our proposal too.
"It is too early to say whether or not this will represent any meaningful progress. That remains to be seen."
Nationals shut out Mets
NEW YORK, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- John Lannan combined with five relievers Wednesday to produce Washington's ninth shutout of the season, a 2-0 victory over the New York Mets.
The Nationals need 11 victories in their last 19 games to reach 100 for the season.
With Stephen Strasburg having been shut down for the remainder of the season, Lannan (3-0) moved into the rotation for his third start of the campaign. He has won them all.
Lannan allowed five hits through 5 1/3 innings while throwing 81 pitches. Drew Storen came on in the ninth with two on and two out and protected the shutout by getting Daniel Murphy on a fly ball to center.
Washington, which began the game with a National League-best 3.31 team earned run average, won its third straight.
The Nationals' runs came on a homer by Ryan Zimmerman in the fourth and another by Ian Desmond in the eighth.
Matt Harvey (3-5) gave up the first home run and four other hits while striking out 10 over five innings to take the hard-luck loss.
Ferrero to retire from tennis next month
VALENCIA, Spain, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Juan Carlos Ferrero, who was ranked No. 1 in men's tennis in 2003, Wednesday announced he was retiring from competitive tennis next month.
Ferrero, 32, has been hampered by injuries in recent seasons and is ranked No. 111. He won the French Open in 2003 and later that year rose to No. 1 in the rankings for eight weeks.
Ferrero said he will retire after the Valencia Open 500, an event he won in 2003, in his home country of Spain. The 2012 tournament begins Oct. 22.
"The Valencia Open 500 will be my last tournament, it's the best possible stage for me to retire," Ferrero said. "Because of injuries, I was not able to play a full season and it's been a complicated year as I could see I didn't have the same ambition after 14 years on the tour.
"I am very excited about my new life and new projects. I will of course still be involved with tennis through the Valencia Open 500, the academy and my foundation."
Ferrero turned professional in 1998 and won 16 titles, including the tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, last year, and nearly $14 million in prizes. His singles record is 479-261.
In addition to winning the French Open in 2003, he was second at the U.S. Open that year. That result moved him to No. 1 in the rankings.
