Sports Briefs December 6, 2011
Baseball
Ron Santo was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Monday, chosen by the Veterans Committee nearly a year to the day after the Chicago Cubs third baseman died hoping for this honor.
Santo breezed in with 15 votes from the 16-member panel. It took 75 percent - 12 votes - to get chosen.
Santo was a nine-time All-Star, hit 342 home runs and won five Gold Gloves. He was a Cubs broadcaster for two decades, beloved by his fans eagerly rooting for his favorite team on the air.
Football
Stanford's Andrew Luck won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually to the nation's top quarterback who best exemplifies character and scholastic and athletic achievement.
The award was announced by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation. The trophy will be presented Friday in Baltimore, where Unitas starred with the Colts.
• Luck, along with Robert Griffin III, Trent Richardson, Tyrann Mathieu and Montee Ball are the Heisman finalists. The group will be in New York for the presentation Saturday night.
Luck threw for 3,170 yards and 35 touchdowns this season to lead fourth-ranked Stanford to an 11-1 record. The Cardinal will face No. 3 Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2.
Besides owning almost every major school passing record, Luck has a 3.48 cumulative grade-point average and was selected to the Pac-12 Conference's All-Academic First Team. He also was the league's offensive player of the year.
• All-American cornerback Cliff Harris has been dismissed from the Oregon Ducks for violating team rules.
Harris was already suspended from the Ducks and wasn't allowed to participate in team activities. He missed the last five games of the regular season and last weekend's Pac-12 championship game.
Harris was suspended by coach Chip Kelly following a traffic stop in Eugene, during which Harris was cited for driving on a suspended license, without proper insurance and without a seat belt.
• Sophomore quarterback Jake Heaps plans to transfer from BYU after losing his starting job to Riley Nelson.
Coach Bronco Mendenhall said in a statement Heaps wants a fresh start.
Heaps, from Skyline High in Sammamish, Wash., beat current Washington State QB Connor Halliday and Ferris in the state 4A title game two years ago.
Heaps started the first five games this season before Nelson took over midway through the Utah State game and led BYU to wins in six of his seven starts.
Basketball
Kentucky (8-0) beat North Carolina on Saturday and holds the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press' Top 25 for a second straight week. The Wildcats received 47 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel.
Ohio State (8-0) had the other 18 first-place votes to remain second. Syracuse, which beat Florida last week, moved up a spot to third. North Carolina, Louisville and Baylor are fourth through sixth, each advancing a place.
Gonzaga (5-1), which lost to Illinois on Saturday, slipped from No. 19 to No. 23.
Auto racing
Kurt Busch and Penske Racing parted ways after six bumpy seasons, a split that clouds the former champion's future in NASCAR as he embarks on a personal journey to reclaim his passion for racing.
Both the team and driver said ending the relationship was a "mutual agreement," but most believe Busch was fired in the fallout of yet another embarrassing incident. A fan caught Busch on video verbally abusing an ESPN reporter during last month's season finale, and Busch was fined $50,000 by NASCAR after the clip was posted on YouTube.
- The Associated Press