By The Associated Press

Published: Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Updated: Friday, January 22, 2010 9:54 AM CST

Here's a look at Thursday's sports in brief around the country.

GOLF

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Police and hospital security patrolled the streets. Property owners asked for quiet. One business owner told of a photographer offering big money just to stand on his roof and snap pictures on the odd chance Tiger Woods appeared.

Whether or not Woods was in a Hattiesburg sex addiction clinic, neighbors made one thing clear: They want the paparazzi out.

One day after a celebrity Web site posted what it said were the National Enquirer’s first photos of Woods since his Nov. 27 car crash — and they sure looked like golf’s No. 1 player — authorities beefed up protection at the Pine Grove Behavorial Health and Addiction Services.

PRO BASKETBALL

NEW YORK — Allen Iverson was voted to start in the All-Star game, while Steve Nash and Tim Duncan made late moves to claim starting spots for the Western Conference.

Nash passed the inactive Tracy McGrady as the second guard, while Duncan disappointed Dallas fans hoping to see Dirk Nowitzki start by rallying past the Mavericks forward.

LeBron James was the leading vote-getter for the Feb. 14 game at Cowboys Stadium, becoming the first player to earn at least 2.5 million votes three times. Joining James and Iverson as East starters were Miami guard Dwyane Wade, Orlando center Dwight Howard and Boston forward Kevin Garnett.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was picked in the West along with Phoenix center Amare Stoudemire and Denver forward Carmelo Anthony.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant became the 15th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 career points and the youngest to hit the milestone.

Bryant reached the mark by making one free throw late in the second quarter of the Lakers’ 93-87 loss at Cleveland. He finished with 31 points.

At 31 years, 151 days, Bryant got to 25,000 in 35 fewer days than Wilt Chamberlain, who finished his career with 31,419 points.

BASEBALL

MIAMI (AP) — Pitcher Josh Johnson and the Florida Marlins finalized their $39 million, four-year contract, announcing the deal at the construction site of the ballpark they expect to move into by 2012.

Florida reached the agreement last week, just days after the Marlins pledged to increase payroll spending in response to complaints from the players’ union.

The right-hander gets $3.75 million in 2010, $7.75 million in 2011 and $13.75 million in both 2012 and 2013.

FIGURE SKATING

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Skating for the first time since the 2006 world championships, Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen skated with her trademark elegance and smoothness in the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and showed she is not to be taken lightly. Here and, if she keeps skating like this, at the Vancouver Olympics. The women’s final is Saturday.

Cohen had a score of 69.63, slightly behind 2008 national champion Mirai Nagasu and just ahead of Rachael Flatt.

PRO FOOTBALL

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Wade Phillips signed a new two-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys, a deal that indicates owner Jerry Jones is encouraged but not satisfied.

The Cowboys have won two NFC East titles in three years under Phillips, and two weeks ago got their first playoff victory since 1996, which was the season after their last Super Bowl.

While Phillips is 34-17 in Dallas (playoffs included), there had been speculation about his status since Jones had failed to pick up the 2010 option that was part of the deal Phillips got when he replaced Bill Parcells after the 2006 season. Instead of picking up the option, though, Jones gave Phillips a new contract. One that doesn’t include an option past the next two seasons.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Michael Vick returned to the site of his gruesome dogfighting crimes, looked at an empty dog bowl left behind in a dingy cage and wondered how he ever could have risked fame, freedom and fortune for “Bad Newz Kennels.”

His visit to the property he once owned in Surry County, Va., where he trained pitbulls for vicious fights and helped drown or hang dogs that didn’t do well, is a teaser of what’s ahead in his docu-series “The Michael Vick Project.”

Vick candidly tells how he became entangled in a dogfighting ring that sent him to prison and temporarily halted his NFL career as part of a series that debuts next month on BET.

DALLAS (AP) — A second university has learned that its indoor practice facility for football is vulnerable to the same type of winds that toppled the Dallas Cowboys’ practice building last year, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press.

An independent engineering study conducted for the University of New Mexico found that the Albuquerque school’s steel and fabric facility could be subjected to unforeseen pressure if hit by a major wind storm. The facility was designed and built by Summit Structures LLC of Allentown, Pa., which also constructed the failed Cowboys’ building. A dozen people were injured when that facility fell in a wind storm last May 2.

In September, Texas A&M was informed through a similar analysis that its Summit-designed indoor football and track facility wasn’t built to withstand the maximum winds prescribed by the building code.

AUTO RACING

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR is relaxing some of its rules this season, and encouraging drivers to show more aggression and emotion, in large part to answer a growing fan sentiment that the sport had gone stale.

The first change will be evident when the season opens next month at Daytona International Speedway, where restrictions on bump-drafting will be lifted and horsepower will be increased by the use of the largest restrictor plate since 1989.

Another change coming this year will be an eventual switch from the rear wing to a spoiler on the back of the car, a design change that should both positively affect downforce and the aesthetic look that race fans prefer.