Hawaii to host N. Arizona
in BracketBusters game
HONOLULU — Hawaii plans to host Northern Arizona in a nontelevised ESPN BracketBusters game on Feb. 23.
Hawaii officials announced the matchup on Monday as part of a two-day event involving 122 teams across the country. Ten Big West teams are involved.
Hawaii officials say it’s the second straight year the Rainbow Warriors (13-9) have faced a team from the Big Sky Conference. Northern Arizona’s record is 7-14.
The BracketBusters matchups give teams a nonconference game in the middle of their conference schedule, just a few weeks before teams are selected for the NCAA tournament.
Cal reaches
settlement with Tedford
BERKELEY, Calif. — California reached a $5.55 million settlement to pay off the final three seasons of former football coach Jeff Tedford’s contract.
The school released details of the settlement on Monday.
Tedford’s contract called for him to be paid $6.9 million through 2015. Instead he will get $1.8 million in 2013, $1.8 million in 2014 and $1.95 million in 2015. Tedford and the university will split any amount he earns in excess of $1.5 million as a college head coach or NFL head coach or assistant before Dec. 31, 2015.
Tedford is the winningest coach in Cal history with a 82-57 record in 11 seasons. He was fired in November after going 3-9 last season.
Standout Chargers lineman
Walt Sweeney dies at 71
SAN DIEGO — Walt Sweeney, a standout offensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers in the 1960s and 1970s, died at 71.
The Chargers website says Sweeney died of pancreatic cancer on Saturday.
Sweeney was a second-round pick out of Syracuse in the 1963 AFL draft, and stayed with the Chargers through the 1970 NFL merger. He was eventually named to the team’s Hall of Fame.
Sweeney played in either the AFL All-Star Game or the Pro Bowl nine straight seasons, and played in 181 consecutive games.
He spent 11 seasons with San Diego and two with the Washington Redskins.
In 1997, a judge ordered the NFL to pay Sweeney $1.8 million in disability after he claimed drugs his teams gave him made him an addict. The ruling was overturned on appeal.
2006 Cy Young winner
Brandon Webb retires
Brandon Webb, who won the NL Cy Young Award in 2006 and was one of the top pitchers in baseball before being beset by arm injuries, is retiring.
The right-hander’s agents, Mike Montana and Jonathan Maurer of Millennium Sports Management, confirmed Monday night that Webb was calling it a career.
Struck by puck, NHL
ref Rooney helped off ice
DENVER — NHL referee Chris Rooney was helped off the ice after being hit by a puck after a shot by Dallas Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak deflected off the skate of Colorado Avalanche forward Paul Stastny on Monday night.
The puck appeared to carom off the head of Rooney, who stayed down for quite some time behind the Avalanche net. A stretcher was brought out, but Rooney slowly got up and was assisted off the ice.
Rooney was hit just 3 minutes into the game and with the Stars leading 1-0. There was no immediate update on his injury.
With Rooney gone, the lone referee was Justin St. Pierre, along with two linesmen.
Rafael Nadal’s knee may
bother him for a few weeks
VINA DEL MAR, Chile — Rafael Nadal’s ailing left knee may still bother him for a few more weeks, his coach said Monday.
Nadal practiced for 90 minutes with Nicolas Massu of Chile on Monday, his fourth straight day of training since arriving in the country for his first match in more than seven months.
Nadal opens up Tuesday in the VTR Open, playing doubles with Argentina’s Juan Monaco. On Wednesday, he will play singles in the second round against the winner of a first-round match between Argentines Guido Pella and Federico Delbonis.
Super Bowl falls
short of ratings record
NEW YORK — With a partial power outage, an overly excited quarterback and a game that suddenly turned from snoozer to sizzler, CBS had its hands full at the Super Bowl. The game fell short of setting a viewership record, but it stands as the third most-watched program in U.S. television history.
The Nielsen Co. said an estimated 108.4 million people watched the Baltimore Ravens’ 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. The most-watched events in U.S. TV history were last year’s game, seen by 111.3 million, and the 2010 game, with 111 million viewers.
CBS had hoped to make it the fourth year in a row that football’s ultimate game broke the record for most-watched event in American television history. But pro football ratings in general have been down slightly this year.
By wire sources
