Weekend Sports In Brief
By The Associated Press
Jan 05, 2009 - 12:07:08 CST
Here's a look at weekend sports in brief around the country.
PRO FOOTBALL
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Jets interviewed Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo about their coaching vacancy Saturday.
Spagnuolo, one of the team’s top candidates, also met Thursday with Cleveland and Detroit about their openings, and talked to Denver on Saturday night.
The Jets, who fired Eric Mangini on Monday, wouldn’t be allowed to offer Spagnuolo a job until the Giants’ season ends. The NFC’s top-seeded team faces Philadelphia in a divisional playoff next Sunday.
Spagnuolo, 49, has become a popular candidate because of the Giants’ success on defense the last two seasons. He turned down the Washington Redskins job last year after being lauded for the pass-rushing game plan that stunned Tom Brady and New England in last year’s Super Bowl.
NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Cowher doesn’t plan to coach in the NFL next year, and will stay with CBS Sports as a studio analyst.
Cowher was recently wooed by the New York Jets, but said during “The NFL Today” on Sunday that he’s taking it “year to year.”
The Super-Bowl winning coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006, Cowher took himself out of the running as a candidate for the Jets job on Dec. 30. He also was a candidate for the vacant Cleveland job, but asked to be taken off the list.
CBS Sports will broadcast the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami.
UNDATED (AP) — Fired Detroit Lions president Matt Millen, the architect of the NFL’s first 0-16 team, says he’s responsible for its historic encounter with failure.
Appearing Saturday on NBC’s “Football Night in America,” Millen said he would have fired himself after the 2008 season. He said that being sacked after the third week cost the Lions and coach Rod Marinelli some needed stability and consistency.
Detroit went 31-84 under Millen, a Super Bowl-winning linebacker lured out of the broadcast booth by team owner William Clay Ford in 2001.
Millen says the Lions have more talent than they’re given credit for, and he thinks they could improve quickly. He cites two playoff teams, the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins, who had four wins and one win, respectively, in 2007.
MIAMI (AP) — Bill Parcells is staying with the Miami Dolphins, owner Wayne Huizenga said.
After the team’s 27-9 playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Huizenga said Parcells has decided to remain for another season.
Parcells’ contract allows him to leave and still receive the $9-12 million remaining on his four-year contract if the franchise is sold. That sale is expected to be completed soon.
But Huizenga said Parcells told him Friday he plans to remain as executive vice president of football operations.
Thanks in large part to the leadership of Parcells, hired in December 2007, Miami went 11-6 and made the playoffs for the first time in seven years. The breakthrough came after a 1-15 record in 2007.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow missed her fourth straight game Sunday as she battles a recurrence of breast cancer.
The 66-year-old Hall of Fame coach was first diagnosed with it in 1987. School officials said Yow’s status for next week’s game against No. 2 North Carolina probably won’t be known until later this week.
The Wolfpack had won the first three games that Yow missed before falling to South Carolina 56-55 on a buzzer-beating layup by Demetress Adams.
Yow stayed back at the hotel for a game on Dec. 22 at Columbia because cold temperatures in New York worsened her normally tolerable symptoms. Her low energy level kept her out of home wins last week against Jacksonville State and Georgetown.
AUTO RACING
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — Sam McQuagg, the 1965 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, died Saturday, his son said. He was 73.
McQuagg died at St. Francis Hospital, Sam McQuagg Jr. told The Associated Press, and preliminary medical reports show cancer as the cause of death.
McQuagg began racing in the 1950s and entered his first NASCAR race in 1962. In 1966, he claimed his only NASCAR victory, winning the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
In the 1965 Southern 500, McQuagg was involved in a spectacular wreck that sent Cale Yarborough tumbling over a guardrail. Footage of the crash was later used to illustrate the agony of defeat on “ABC’s Wide World of Sports.”
McQuagg drove in his last NASCAR race in 1974 and worked as a corporate pilot until retiring in 1997, McQuagg Jr. said.
HOCKEY
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL announced the starting lineups Saturday for the All-Star game, and the host Montreal Canadiens filled four of the six slots for the Eastern Conference.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, both broke the record for the most votes and claimed two forward positions. They will be joined up front by Montreal’s Alexei Kovalev.
Crosby, elected as a starter for the third time, garnered 1,713,021 votes — shattering Jaromir Jagr’s 2000 total of 1,020,736. Malkin was second with more than 1.5 million votes.
Montreal’s Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek will start on defense, and Canadiens teammate Carey Price will be in goal on home ice at the Bell Centre on Jan. 25.
Another pair of teammates dominated the voting for the Western Conference as youngsters Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of the upstart Chicago Blackhawks were the two leading vote-getters.
Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks will be the third forward on the starting line.
Brian Campbell finished first among defenseman and will team with Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer on the blue line in front of Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
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PRO FOOTBALL
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Jets interviewed Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo about their coaching vacancy Saturday.
Spagnuolo, one of the team’s top candidates, also met Thursday with Cleveland and Detroit about their openings, and talked to Denver on Saturday night.
The Jets, who fired Eric Mangini on Monday, wouldn’t be allowed to offer Spagnuolo a job until the Giants’ season ends. The NFC’s top-seeded team faces Philadelphia in a divisional playoff next Sunday.
Spagnuolo, 49, has become a popular candidate because of the Giants’ success on defense the last two seasons. He turned down the Washington Redskins job last year after being lauded for the pass-rushing game plan that stunned Tom Brady and New England in last year’s Super Bowl.
NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Cowher doesn’t plan to coach in the NFL next year, and will stay with CBS Sports as a studio analyst.
Cowher was recently wooed by the New York Jets, but said during “The NFL Today” on Sunday that he’s taking it “year to year.”
The Super-Bowl winning coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006, Cowher took himself out of the running as a candidate for the Jets job on Dec. 30. He also was a candidate for the vacant Cleveland job, but asked to be taken off the list.
CBS Sports will broadcast the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami.
UNDATED (AP) — Fired Detroit Lions president Matt Millen, the architect of the NFL’s first 0-16 team, says he’s responsible for its historic encounter with failure.
Appearing Saturday on NBC’s “Football Night in America,” Millen said he would have fired himself after the 2008 season. He said that being sacked after the third week cost the Lions and coach Rod Marinelli some needed stability and consistency.
Detroit went 31-84 under Millen, a Super Bowl-winning linebacker lured out of the broadcast booth by team owner William Clay Ford in 2001.
Millen says the Lions have more talent than they’re given credit for, and he thinks they could improve quickly. He cites two playoff teams, the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins, who had four wins and one win, respectively, in 2007.
MIAMI (AP) — Bill Parcells is staying with the Miami Dolphins, owner Wayne Huizenga said.
After the team’s 27-9 playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Huizenga said Parcells has decided to remain for another season.
Parcells’ contract allows him to leave and still receive the $9-12 million remaining on his four-year contract if the franchise is sold. That sale is expected to be completed soon.
But Huizenga said Parcells told him Friday he plans to remain as executive vice president of football operations.
Thanks in large part to the leadership of Parcells, hired in December 2007, Miami went 11-6 and made the playoffs for the first time in seven years. The breakthrough came after a 1-15 record in 2007.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow missed her fourth straight game Sunday as she battles a recurrence of breast cancer.
The 66-year-old Hall of Fame coach was first diagnosed with it in 1987. School officials said Yow’s status for next week’s game against No. 2 North Carolina probably won’t be known until later this week.
The Wolfpack had won the first three games that Yow missed before falling to South Carolina 56-55 on a buzzer-beating layup by Demetress Adams.
Yow stayed back at the hotel for a game on Dec. 22 at Columbia because cold temperatures in New York worsened her normally tolerable symptoms. Her low energy level kept her out of home wins last week against Jacksonville State and Georgetown.
AUTO RACING
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — Sam McQuagg, the 1965 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, died Saturday, his son said. He was 73.
McQuagg died at St. Francis Hospital, Sam McQuagg Jr. told The Associated Press, and preliminary medical reports show cancer as the cause of death.
McQuagg began racing in the 1950s and entered his first NASCAR race in 1962. In 1966, he claimed his only NASCAR victory, winning the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
In the 1965 Southern 500, McQuagg was involved in a spectacular wreck that sent Cale Yarborough tumbling over a guardrail. Footage of the crash was later used to illustrate the agony of defeat on “ABC’s Wide World of Sports.”
McQuagg drove in his last NASCAR race in 1974 and worked as a corporate pilot until retiring in 1997, McQuagg Jr. said.
HOCKEY
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL announced the starting lineups Saturday for the All-Star game, and the host Montreal Canadiens filled four of the six slots for the Eastern Conference.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, both broke the record for the most votes and claimed two forward positions. They will be joined up front by Montreal’s Alexei Kovalev.
Crosby, elected as a starter for the third time, garnered 1,713,021 votes — shattering Jaromir Jagr’s 2000 total of 1,020,736. Malkin was second with more than 1.5 million votes.
Montreal’s Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek will start on defense, and Canadiens teammate Carey Price will be in goal on home ice at the Bell Centre on Jan. 25.
Another pair of teammates dominated the voting for the Western Conference as youngsters Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of the upstart Chicago Blackhawks were the two leading vote-getters.
Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks will be the third forward on the starting line.
Brian Campbell finished first among defenseman and will team with Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer on the blue line in front of Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.