By wire sources
Four Heisman QBs up for college Hall of Fame
DALLAS — Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks Eric Crouch, Danny Wuerffel, Vinny Testaverde and Ty Detmer are among first-time candidates on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot this year.
The National Football Foundation mailed ballots with the names of 76 former players and eight coaches to its 12,000 members and current Hall of Famers this week.
After votes are counted, the NFF’s 14-member honors court chooses a class of about 15 players and coaches to be inducted.
Testaverde won the Heisman for Miami in 1986. Detmer won the Heisman for BYU in 1990.
Wuerffel was Florida’s second Heisman winner in 1996. Crouch became the third Nebraska player to win the Heisman in 2001.
NASCAR suspends Knaus six races
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR issued steep penalties against five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and his team for failing the first inspection for the Daytona 500.
Crew chief Chad Knaus was fined $100,000 and suspended six races Wednesday, car chief Ron Malec also was barred for six races, and Johnson was docked 25 points, sending him into this weekend’s race last in the Sprint Cup Series standings.
The penalties stem from a failed inspection Feb. 17 at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR said the No. 48 Chevrolet had illegally modified sheet metal between the roof and the side windows, an area known as the C-posts.
Obama gives college football playoff thumbs up
President Barack Obama gives his seal of approval to a college football playoff, plans to welcome his hometown Chicago Bulls to the White House as NBA champions sometime in the next “five years” and says he’s “been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while.”
In an interview with Bill Simmons of Grantland.com, Obama was asked how often he hoped to welcome the Bulls as NBA champions.
“Every year,” Obama said. “And it hasn’t happened yet, but it will happen.”
He later said he has “another five years” to welcome them, though he stands for re-election in November.
The President says he would prefer to see an eight-team major college football playoff rather than the four-team one that is being considered, but called four “a good place to start.”
As for Lin, Obama says Secretary of Education Arne Duncan tipped him off while the two played basketball together.
“He said, ‘I’m telling you, we’ve got this terrific guard named Jeremy Lin at Harvard,”‘ said Obama, himself a Harvard alum.
“And then one of my best friends, his son is a freshman at Harvard, and so when he went for a recruiting trip he saw Lin in action. So I’ve been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while.”
Cardinals agree to terms with 24 players
JUPITER, Fla. — Postseason stars David Freese and Allen Craig will make slightly more than the major league minimum this season for the St. Louis Cardinals, who agreed to one-year contracts with 24 players.
Freese, the NL championship series and World Series MVP, will make $508,000, just $28,000 above the minimum of $480,000. If the 28-year-old third baseman from St. Louis County is optioned to the minors he’d make $249,600.
Craig also gets a split contract. He will make $495,000 in the majors and $248,400 if he is optioned.
Craig, who hit three homers in the World Series last year, gives the Cardinals another option in the outfield but will miss at least the first month of the season while recovering from knee surgery.
Pa. judge denies Sandusky motion
HARRISBURG, Pa. —The judge in Jerry Sandusky’s 52-count child sex abuse case on Wednesday rejected a defense attorney’s request for a two-month delay and indicated he was reluctant to push back the May 14 start of jury selection.
Judge John Cleland’s eight-page memo and order said a postponement should only be a last resort and would require concrete justification.
“Absent extraordinary circumstances presented by either the commonwealth or the defendant, postponement of the trial date will only be considered if required by the demands of selecting a jury and providing for their care, conflicting demands on courtroom space, or similar logistical complications,” Cleland said.
Cleland did grant Sandusky lawyer Joe Amendola three extra weeks to file a catch-all pretrial motion that had been due Thursday, and ordered prosecutors to disclose addresses and phone numbers of witnesses within seven days. He also adjusted other pretrial timetables.
“We will move forward with Jerry’s defense, and we look forward to receiving additional discovery materials from the commonwealth,” Amendola said in response.
A spokesman for the attorney general’s office declined comment.
Sandusky, 68, denies allegations he engaged in sexual misconduct involving 10 boys over 15 years.
He remains confined to his home while awaiting trial.
Burnett struck in
face by batted ball
BRADENTON, Fla. — Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett was struck in the face by a batted ball on Wednesday and will fly from the team’s spring training complex to Pittsburgh to have his right eye examined by team doctors.
Burnett was injured as he hit during a bunting drill. After the ball hit the temple near his right eye, a dazed Burnett dropped into a crouch near home plate.
Martic, Hsieh win
at Malaysia Open
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Fifth-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia and Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan dodged downpours to advance to the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open on Wednesday.
Matches have been repeatedly interrupted this week amid persistent rain at Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort.
Martic bounced back from losing the second set to beat Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. Hsieh kept up her run by beating Casey Dellacqua of Australia 6-1, 7-5.
Djokovic, Federer into quarterfinals at Dubai
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer each won in straight sets Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Djokovic beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 7-6 (5), 6-3, while Federer defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 7-5, 6-3.
Andy Murray of Britain also reached the final eight with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland, as did Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny, who beat American Mardy Fish 6-2, 7-6 (0).
Almagro advances
at Mexican Open
ACAPULCO, Mexico — Two-time champion Nicolas Almagro of Spain defeated Benoit Paire of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Mexican Open on Wednesday.
The second-seeded Spaniard lost his serve twice to drop the first set, but settled and took control of the match to win at The Fairmont Acapulco Princess.
The 99th-ranked Benoit saved 10 break points against Almagro, who won the Brazil Open two weeks ago.
Almagro won the Mexican Open in 2008 and 2009.
Isner reaches Delray Beach quarterfinals
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Top seed John Isner captured a 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow American Ryan Sweeting on Wednesday to move into the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships quarterfinals.
The 11th-ranked Isner struggled through his first- round win over wildcard recipient Jesse Levine on Tuesday because of the humidity, but was in better shape playing Sweeting.
By wire sources