Sports News

ASHBURN, Va. - Running back Ladell Betts and guard Chad Rinehart are done for the season for the battered Washington Redskins.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. - The Detroit Lions have sold out the Thanksgiving NFL game against Green Bay, avoiding a local TV blackout.

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay Packers feared the worst after watching two of their top defensive players get carted to the locker room Sunday, and things didn't look any better the next morning. Cornerback Al Harris and linebacker Aaron Kampman will both have season-ending knee surgery.

LOS ANGELES - More than two decades ago, after Larry Bird made a shot from behind the backboard that didn't count in a preseason game, the NBA changed the rule on plays like that. Kobe Bryant was glad they did.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The Phoenix Suns routed the Detroit Pistons 117-91 Sunday to preserve their perfect home record and improve to a joint NBA-best 11-3.

PHOENIX - Amare Stoudemire scored 21 points and Steve Nash added 20 for Phoenix, then sat out the fourth quarter to watch the Suns rout road-weary Detroit 117-91 Sunday night for the Pistons' fifth straight loss.

WIGAN, England (AFP) - Wigan's shell-shocked players on Monday offered to refund supporters who travelled to London to watch their side being thrashed 9-1 by Tottenham.

PARIS (AFP) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called an extraordinary general meeting for December 2 following the Thierry Henry handball incident and an ongoing investigation into match-fixing in Europe.

LONDON (AFP) - Arsene Wenger has played down the significance of his side's first defeat in 14 matches and challenged his players to prove him right in Tuesday's Champions League clash with Standard Liege.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed forward Derek Dorsett on injured reserve retroactive to Thursday.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Bryan Bickell scored his first goal of the season 1:12 into the third period, and Antii Niemi made 30 saves to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night.

ATLANTA - Steven Stamkos scored his 15th goal at 2:56 of overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning their second straight win, 4-3 over the Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Standing behind the same podium where quarterback Tim Tebow delivered his now-famous promise 14 months and 21 wins ago, coach Urban Meyer vowed Monday to be at Florida "as long as they'll have me."

They don't all need glasses. But if you always suspected basketball referees are biased — well, you're right, according to a couple of professors who've studied the matter.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Western Kentucky has hired Stanford assistant Willie Taggart as its football coach.

LONDON (AFP) - Rafael Nadal was beaten in straight sets by Robin Soderling in his opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday, the Swede repeating his shock French Open win over the Spaniard.

LONDON (AFP) - World number one Roger Federer is looking forward to the chance for revenge over home favourite Andy Murray in the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Tuesday.

LONDON (AFP) - World number one Roger Federer dug deep to begin his ATP World Tour Finals campaign with a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Spain's Fernando Verdasco on Sunday.

RICHMOND, Texas - The sky cleared and Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin were left with one day to settle their duel for LPGA Tour player of the year.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Lee Westwood of England became Europe's No. 1 golfer on Sunday after winning the Dubai World Championship by six strokes.

RICHMOND, Texas - Michelle Wie withdrew from the LPGA Tour Championship on Thursday after hobbling through her first round on a sprained left ankle.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - The nickname "Four-Time" was claimed long ago by Jeff Gordon, leaving Jimmie Johnson in search of a fresh moniker to cap his record-setting fourth consecutive NASCAR championship.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Kyle Busch only needed the green flag to drop to win his first NASCAR title. His coronation was never in doubt and neither, really, was the outcome of the Nationwide Series finale.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - The head of Volkswagen's motor sports program is at Homestead-Miami Speedway, fueling speculation that the automaker is interested in joining Toyota as the second foreign manufacturer in NASCAR.

LONDON - The projected final cost of construction for the 2012 London Olympics has risen slightly, but the overall budget for the games remains unchanged.

Tony Benshoof's back problem is back, already causing concern for the Olympic season.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - Steven Holcomb said the U.S. bobsled team was going to be a powerhouse this year. He sure seems like a prophet.

BOSTON - Northeastern University is dropping its football program after 74 years, saying it's too expensive to maintain.

NEW YORK - Iowa and Penn State ended their seasons eligible for an at-large BCS bid, and Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech are also in position to be eligible for invites to the four big-money bowl games even though they have no shot to win their conferences.

Syracuse was so impressive in the 2K Sports Classic that it made one of the best entrances ever into The Associated Press' college basketball poll.