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Athletic director Tom Osborne retiring at Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. — Tom Osborne, who put together one of the most successful coaching runs in college football history before serving in Congress and taking the reins as Nebraska’s athletic director five years ago, is retiring.

The 75-year-old Osborne announced at a news conference Wednesday that he would step down Jan. 1, though he will stay for an additional six months to assist in the transition to a new athletic director.

“At some point, whether you’re able to function or not, just the perception that you’re getting old can get in the way,” Osborne said. “I don’t want to be one of those guys everybody is walking around wringing their hands trying to figure out what are we going to do with him? That happens sometimes.”

Osborne, who had double-bypass heart surgery in 1985, said he has no health issues that led to his decision.

Besides the success his Cornhuskers teams enjoyed from 1973-1997, Osborne served in Congress and lost a gubernatorial bid before returning to the university in 2007 to take over the athletic department. He oversaw the rebuilding of the football program he loves and shepherded the school’s move from the Big 12 to the Big Ten.

Under Osborne’s watch, the athletic department has built a new basketball practice facility and entered into a public-private partnership to build a 16,000-seat basketball arena in downtown Lincoln that will open for the 2013-14 season. He also oversaw an expansion project that will increase Memorial Stadium’s capacity to more than 90,000 next year.

Osborne is most widely known for his coaching. Every one of his 25 teams won at least nine games, and three of his last four teams won national championships. He retired with a career record of 255-49-3, an .836 winning percentage that ranked fifth all-time among Division I coaches, and 13 conference titles. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998, the year after he retired.

APNewsBreak: Ex-Dodger owners back in family court

LOS ANGELES — The ex-wife of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has filed a motion to set aside the couple’s divorce settlement, claiming he committed fraud by vastly understating the team’s value.

Jamie McCourt’s attorney, Bertram Fields, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she “thought very long and very hard about whether to file this motion” but after other means failed she was forced to return to court over the value of the team that sold for $2 billion in May.

“Mr. McCourt got about 93 percent of the family assets, and Mrs. McCourt got about 7 percent,” Fields said in a phone interview. “We would’ve much preferred to have this massive imbalance resolved with some modification, but we got no response to that approach. We didn’t want to have more family litigation, but now it’s up to the court.”

The motion filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court claims Frank McCourt misrepresented the couple’s Dodgers assets as worth less than $300 million during their protracted divorce.

The pair’s marriage was dissolved in October 2010, and Jamie McCourt received $131 million. The new court papers claim that after the sale and subtraction of relevant debts, Frank McCourt’s assets turned out to be worth $1.7 billion, well over 10 times the amount Jamie McCourt received.

The motion says that even if Frank McCourt’s figures were the result of mistakes rather than fraud, the settlement should be tossed out on the basis of the errors.

An email message seeking comment was sent to Ryan Kirkpatrick, an attorney for Frank McCourt, late Tuesday.

Rockies star Todd Helton plans to play next season

DENVER — Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy is welcoming word that star first baseman Todd Helton plans to play at least one more year.

Helton had season-ending surgery on Aug. 10 to repair a torn labrum in his right hip.

Helton told The Denver Post that he intends to return in 2013 to play out the final year of his contract. He turned 39 last month.

The five-time All-Star is a lifetime .320 hitter but batted a career-low .238 in 69 games.

“Todd Helton knows himself better than anybody and if he feels physically that he’s capable of doing it, then there’s a big part of me that says he will be bound and determined to walk back out here and have another bounce-back season,” Tracy said Wednesday.

David Wright breaks Mets record for career hits

NEW YORK — David Wright has the most hits in New York Mets history.

The slugger reached on an infield single in the third inning Wednesday night against Pittsburgh for his 1,419th hit, snapping a tie with Ed Kranepool atop the team’s career list.

Wright pulled into second base thanks to a throwing error on the play and his achievement was shown on the Citi Field scoreboard. The Mets played a few of Wright’s highlights on the big video board, including his first major league hit. He received a warm ovation and quickly waved twice to the skimpy crowd before flashing a wide smile toward the New York dugout.

A six-time All-Star, Wright accomplished the feat in 1,256 games from 2004-12. Kranepool played in 1,853 games from 1962-79.

Kranepool was at Citi Field on Wednesday, and the two posed for pictures together during batting practice.

Orioles place Wolf on 60-day disabled list, add Bill Hall

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles placed left-handed pitcher Randy Wolf on the 60-day disabled list with a torn ligament in his left elbow.

Manager Buck Showalter said that Wolf, who was 2-0 with a 5.28 ERA in five games with the Orioles since signing as a free agent on Aug. 31, felt discomfort in his elbow during the fifth inning of Saturday’s start in Boston.

Baltimore purchased Bill Hall’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk. The 32-year-old Hall, who plays both infield and outfield, will be used to help out in the outfield while Lew Ford recovers from a groin injury.

Hall batted .222 with a home run in seven games with the Orioles earlier this season.

Athletics set single-season AL strikeout record

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Oakland Athletics have set an American League record for striking out the most in a season.

Chris Carter’s strikeout in the second inning Wednesday night at Texas was the team’s third of the game and 1,325th this season, one more than the Tampa Bay Rays had in 2007. The A’s quickly added to that total when Brandon Moss followed with an inning-ending strikeout.

Oakland already had four strikeouts through two innings, but also had a 5-3 lead at that point against the AL West leaders.

The A’s, who have seven games left after Wednesday night, already surpassed their previous strikeout total by more than 100. They had 1,226 in 2008.

Indians’ Ubaldo Jimenez finished for season

CHICAGO — Cleveland Indians right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez won’t pitch again this season because of a sprained right ankle. Jimenez was examined Monday in Cleveland after having some problems in his previous two starts. He was 9-17 with a 5.55 ERA.

Left-hander Rafael Perez had arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder Wednesday in Wilmington, Del. Perez is expected to begin throwing in two months and recover in time for spring training. He was 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA in eight appearances and last pitched April 25.

Right-handed pitcher Roberto Hernandez, bothered by a sprained right ankle, threw 60 pitches during a four-inning simulated game Wednesday. The Indians will evaluate Hernandez on Friday before deciding if he can pitch again this season.

Phoenix wins No. 1 pick in WNBA draft lottery

BRISTOL, Conn. — The Phoenix Mercury won the WNBA draft lottery Wednesday night and earned the right to choose Brittney Griner with the top pick next year.

Chicago will pick second and Tulsa third. Washington, which had the worst record in the league will pick fourth. The Mystics (5-29) had a 44 percent chance to win the top pick.

The Mercury (7-27) had the second worst record in the league and a 28 percent chance of getting the No. 1 choice.

The 6-foot-8 center Griner, The Associated Press women’s college basketball player of the year, guided Baylor to a national championship and 40-0 record.

Griner headlines a talented class. Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne led the nation in scoring last season and is a versatile 6-foot-5 guard who can score from almost anywhere on the court. Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins has guided the Irish to the past two national championship games and is one of the most followed female athletes on Twitter.

Sharapova reaches quarterfinals of Pan Pacific

TOKYO — Two-time champion Maria Sharapova overpowered Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (5) Wednesday to advance to the Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals.

The second-seeded Russian was coming off a tough, three-hour win over British qualifier Heather Watson on Tuesday, while Safarova advanced to the third round on a walkover.

Sharapova will face Sam Stosur in the quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Australian beat Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-4, 7-5.

In other matches, Sara Errani of Italy beat Marion Bartoli 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, while Nadia Petrova of Russia beat Petra Martic of Croatia 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4.

Davydenko, Istomin, Falla advance at Malaysia Open

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Nikolay Davydenko beat lucky loser Sanam Singh of India 7-5, 6-4 Wednesday in the first round of the Malaysian Open.

Singh was playing only his third match in an ATP main draw, while Davydenko won the first Malaysian title in 2009 and has been ranked as high as No. 3.

Fellow Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. defied a dozen aces and missing nine break points to beat British qualifier Dominic Inglot 7-5, 6-3 and set up a second-round match with top-seeded David Ferrer.

Colombian Alejandro Falla moved on after American Rajeev Ram pulled out with a hamstring injury while trailing 7-6 (4), 4-2, and Denis Istomin of Uzkebistan beat sixth-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3, 6-2.

American qualifier Michael Yani lost 6-3, 7-5 to Vasek Pospisil of Canada.

Verdasco, Troicki win opening matches at Thailand Open

BANGKOK — Former finalists Viktor Troicki of Serbia and Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen each won first-round matches Tuesday at the Thailand Open.

Troicki, the runner-up in 2009, beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-3, while Nieminen, who was a finalist two years ago, advanced when Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita retired with an ankle injury after dropping the first set 6-1.

Fifth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain beat Tatsuma Ito of Japan 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya earned his first win on the tour this year when he beat Robin Haase of the Netherlands 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3, and Dudi Sela of Israel beat Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4.

From wire sources