News & Notes

College Football

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Joe Paterno will stay in the hospital at least through Wednesday, and possibly longer, as a precautionary step in the Penn State coach’s recovery from left leg surgery.

The 79-year-old Paterno still wants to return to practice, and missing Saturday’s game against Temple “was not a consideration” for him, team spokesman Guido D’Elia said.

Pro Football

KIRKLAND, Wash. – The crack in Shaun Alexander’s foot still isn’t healed, and the league MVP will almost certainly miss his sixth consecutive game Sunday when Seattle hosts St. Louis for the NFC West lead. Coach Mike Holmgren said that consecutive days of MRIs and CT scans on last season’s NFL rushing leader showed the fourth metatarsal on Alexander’s left foot still is cracked.

PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter

was fined $15,000 for remarks made to a member of referee Tony Corrente’s officiating crew during a 20-13 loss at Oakland on Oct. 29.

Pro Basketball

PHOENIX – Jalen Rose signed with the Phoenix Suns and is expected to be in uniform at San Antonio on Wednesday.

Rose, who received a $14.5 million buyout from the New York Knicks last week, will receive about $1.5 million in his one-year deal with Phoenix.

DALLAS – The Mavericks will be without Josh Howard for two weeks because of a sprained left ankle.

College Basketball

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas forward C.J. Giles was dismissed from the team after a student reported Giles had dragged her from his apartment by her feet and hit her.

Baseball

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. – Johnny Sain, a three-time All-Star who teamed with Warren Spahn to make up one of baseball’s most fabled pitching tandems, has died. He was 89.

Sain’s best year was 1948, when he and Spahn led the Boston Braves to the World Series, where they lost to Cleveland. It was during that season when the famous saying was born: “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.”

Sain was 139-116 with a 3.49 ERA in 11 seasons, mostly with the Braves and New York Yankees.

BOSTON – The Red Sox will not exercise their $7.5 million option on reliever Keith Foulke, the star closer on their 2004 World Series championship team who struggled with injuries and inconsistency the past two seasons.

CINCINNATI – Dick Pole, Dusty Baker’s bench coach with the Chicago Cubs the last four seasons, was hired as the Reds’ pitching coach.

DENVER – Jason Jennings’ $5.5 million option was exercised by the Colorado Rockies.

Hockey

ST. LOUIS – Former Blues defenseman Al MacInnis was hired to be the team’s vice president of hockey operations.

MacInnis ranks third among NHL defensemen with 340 career goals and 1,274 points in 23 seasons.

MONTREAL – Canadiens left wing Christopher Higgins will be sidelined for six weeks with a partially torn left ankle ligament.

BOSTON – The Bruins sent goalie Hannu Toivonen and defenseman Mark Stuart to Providence of the AHL, and called up goalie Brian Finley.

Toivonen, in his second season with the Bruins, is 2-3 with a 4.20 GAA.

Track and Field

Track coach Trevor Graham received notice from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that he is accused of violating doping rules, sources familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.

Graham, whose star athletes included Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin, was indicted by a grand jury last week on three counts of making false statements to federal agents. Now, he has 10 days to respond to USADA’s allegation letter. The case then will be presented to a review panel that recommends whether sanctions should be levied.

The sources, who spoke to AP on condition they not be identified because the charges have not been announced, said the letter informed Graham that he is being accused on a “non-analytical” basis, meaning the doping violation isn’t predicated on positive drug tests, but rather on other evidence.

Tennis

MADRID, Spain – Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo lost to Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-2 in opening round-robin play at the WTA Championships, and U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova beat Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-4.

Third-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

Mauresmo entered the tournament ranked No. 1. For her to end the year with the top ranking, the Frenchwoman needs to successfully defend her title, Henin-Hardenne must finish last in their group and No. 2 Sharapova must miss the final.