Sports Briefs December 27, 2011
Baseball
Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba has been suspended from Venezuela's professional baseball league for 66 games for striking an umpire.
Torrealba was arguing with the home-plate umpire Friday after striking out. He angrily put a hand on the umpire's mask and shoved him. He was then ejected.
League President Jose Grasso Vecchio called Torrealba's behavior unacceptable and a violation of league rules.
Torrealba plays for the Caracas Lions when not playing in the majors. His agent, Melvin Roman, said Torrealba acknowledges he got carried away in the heat of the moment.
Football
Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III is getting help in dealing with his new fame.
The Baylor quarterback confirmed Monday that he's sometimes shadowed by security since being honored earlier this month as the nation's best player.
Griffin said he understands that "people are going to want a piece of you when you're doing great things." He added it was a good problem to have and downplayed the new part of his celebrity.
• James Franklin ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and Missouri (8-5) easily beat North Carolina (7-6) 41-24 in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.
Basketball
With Syracuse No. 1 for a third straight week, the top seven teams remain the same in The Associated Press' Top 25.
The Orange received 54 first-place votes from the 65-member national media poll. Ohio State, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Baylor and Duke held their places from last week.
Ohio State received five No. 1 votes, Kentucky had four and Louisville two.
Missouri, Connecticut and Florida round out the top 10.
Harvard moved into the rankings for the first time three weeks ago, then dropped out after one week. The Crimson are back at No. 24. San Diego State moved into the poll for the first time this season at No. 25.
Gonzaga (9-2) received 48 votes.
• NBA fans seem more excited about basketball's return than bitter about the lockout based on television ratings for the league's delayed openers.
The five Christmas games Sunday averaged 6.2 million viewers based on fast national ratings, up from 6 million last year.
Hockey
Blues 5, Stars 3: Adam Cracknell put host St. Louis ahead for good in the second period and the Blues scored two rare power-play goals in a win over Dallas.
Hurricanes 4, Devils 2: At Raleigh, N.C., Brandon Sutter scored a short-handed goal and was credited with a bizarre empty-netter, leading Carolina past New Jersey.
Avalanche 4, Wild 2: At St. Paul, Minn., Jan Hejda scored the go-ahead goal at 10:20 of the third and Colorado beat Minnesota.
Sabres 4, Capitals 2: Buffalo, N.Y., Brayden McNabb capped Buffalo's four-goal first period with his first NHL goal and the Sabres beat Washington.
Rangers 3, Islanders 0: Carl Hagelin scored twice for his second multi-goal game in the NHL and the New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders.
Red Wings 4, Predators 1: At Nashville, Tenn., Valtteri Filppula scored a pair of goals to lead Detroit over Nashville.
Blackhawks 4, Blue Jackets 1: Viktor Stalberg scored two goals and host Chicago beat Columbus.
Canucks 5, Oilers 3: Alex Burrows had a goal and assist and host Vancouver beat Edmonton.
Kings 4, Coyotes 3: Willie Mitchell scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and host Los Angeles beat Phoenix.
Ducks 3, Sharks 2: Jonas Hiller made 36 saves and visiting Anaheim beat San Jose.
- The Associated Press