Morning Briefing Feb. 13, 2010
Baseball
Five-time All-Star Mike Sweeney is back with the Mariners. And he’s a long shot.
Again.
The 15-year veteran was told in 1999 he wouldn’t stick with the Kansas City Royals. He was told in 2008 he wouldn’t make the Oakland Athletics. He was told by Seattle last year had little chance to stay there. Yet on Friday he agreed to a minor league contract that keeps him with the Mariners.
- Frank Thomas, 41, announced his retirement following a 19-season career in which he hit 521 homers and won two American League MVP awards with the Chicago White Sox.
Basketball
Two-time NBA MVP Karl Malone, six-time champion Scottie Pippen, and two of the great U.S. Olympic champions are finalists for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
The 1992 Dream Team, which Malone and Pippen played on, is a finalist in the team category. Also up for induction is the 1960 gold medalists, a team led by Hall of Famers Jerry West and Oscar Robertson that won its games in Rome by 42.4 points per game.
The class of 2010 will be announced on April 5 in Indianapolis before the NCAA championship game.
Returning finalists include Chris Mullin, another Dream Teamer, Dennis Johnson, coach Don Nelson and four-time WNBA champion Cynthia Cooper.
- Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans had 26 points and San Antonio’s DeJuan Blair had 22 points and 23 rebounds to give the NBA rookies a rare victory over the sophomores, 140-128 in the Rookie Challenge at Dallas.
- Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozan defeated Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon in the inaugural All-Star “Dunk-In” to earn a place in tonight’s slam dunk contest at Dallas.
Top 25 Men
Gilbert Brown and Ashton Gibbs made two free throws in the final 30 seconds and No. 25 Pittsburgh (19-6, 8-4 Big East) staged a frantic rally to tie it in regulation, then weathered three exhausting overtimes and West Virginia’s own comeback to beat the No. 5 Mountaineers (19-5, 8-4) 98-95 at Pittsburgh.
Football
Seattle Seahawks receivers coach Robert Prince is joining the coaching staff at Colorado, where he reunites with Buffaloes coach Dan Hawkins.
Hawkins said that Prince would be the passing game coordinator and receivers coach. Prince also coached receivers at Boise State when Hawkins coached there in the 2001-2003 seasons.
- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was given a new five-year contract as the league heads into a key period of labor negotiations that could lead to a work stoppage in 2011.
- The Seattle Seahawks signed long snappers Patrick MacDonald and Matt Overton to address a recent problem.
The team said it had doubled up in its attempt to find a consistent snapper for punts and place kicks.
Alex Cejka (67), Bryce Molder (65), Dustin Johnson (68), Paul Goydos (65), J.B. Holmes (67) and Matt Jones (67) are tied for the lead at 10-under par after two rounds of the PGA’s Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, Calif.
- Ronnie Black was one of only nine players in a field of 81 to finish the first round of the Champions Tour’s ACE Group Classic after high winds that gusted near 40 miles an hour suspended play until today at Naples, Fla.
Black shot a 69 and is tied for the lead at 3 under with both Fred Couples and Tommy Armour III, who finished 10 and 11 holes, respectively.
— The Associated Press