Indians, Carl Pavano agree to $1.5M, 1-year deal

Mark Teixeira joins the Bronx millionaires

By Kathy Willens (AP)

Mark Teixeira sat down with his wife on Dec. 12 to have dinner, his regular Friday \"date night\" with Leigh at the Vaquero Club in Westlake, Texas.

\"I\'d been asking her for weeks and weeks, Where do you want to go? Where do you want me to play?\" he related. \"And she said, `I want you to be happy. I just want you to be happy.\' And finally, she said, `I want you to be a Yankee.\' So that\'s when it was done. And once we got the contract figured out, it was a no-brainer.\"

\"The Yankees hadn\'t made their decision yet, but that\'s when we made our decision,\" he said with...

Gentlemen, start your bobsleds!

By Todd Bissonette (AP)

Dale Earnhardt Jr.\'s No. 88 fired up, the rumble of its exhaust echoing through the Adirondack Mountains. That can mean only one thing: The Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge is ready for its fourth run.

And even though the embattled economy forced Chevrolet to pull out as a sponsor this year, Bodine had positive news on Friday _ dedication of a new building for U.S. athletes to work on their bobsleds.

\"It\'s hard to tell you how excited we are and what this means for our project and bobsledding in general,\" Bodine said. \"It was time to upgrade the facilities. The problem has...

Bobcats surprise Celtics 114-106 in OT

By Chuck Burton (AP)

Raymond Felton scored 25 points, rookie D.J. Augustin added 11 of his 20 points in overtime, and the Charlotte Bobcats stunned Boston 114-106 on Tuesday to continue the Celtics\' sudden slide.

Beaten by their surprising nemesis for the second time in two seasons, the defending champions came undone in OT, and they\'ve quickly gone from unbeatable to vulnerable.

After a team-record 19-game winning streak and an NBA-record 27-2 start, the Celtics lost for the fifth time in seven games, leaving battered, bruised and angry by Larry Brown\'s upstart Bobcats.

Paul Pierce...

Wheres Reed? Looking to make an INT for Ravens

By Gail Burton (AP)

There\'s one thing every quarterback should know before attempting a pass against the Baltimore Ravens: Where\'s Ed Reed?

Reed led the NFL with nine interceptions during the regular season and added two more in Baltimore\'s 27-9 playoff win over Miami last Sunday. He returned the first pickoff 64 yards for his fourth touchdown of the season.

Four touchdowns? By a safety? That equals the number scored by former Ravens running back Jamal Lewis for the Cleveland Browns in 2008.

Reed played quarterback in high school and still has a knack for finding the end zone. He has 12...

Ducks forward Perry suspended 4 games by NHL

By Mark Avery (AP)

Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry was suspended for four games by the NHL on Saturday for elbowing Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux during the third period Friday night.

Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Perry will lose $114,516.

Perry will miss games against Phoenix Jan. 4, the home-and-home series against Los Angeles on Jan. 6 and 8, and the Jan. 9 game versus Tampa Bay. He will be eligible to return Jan. 11 against New Jersey.

Perry has 10 goals and 24 assists in 39 games this season.

Liverpool backs Gerrard after assault charge

By SCOTT HEPPELL (AP)

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, one of the world\'s best midfielders, was charged with assault Tuesday in connection with a bar fight. His team expects him to remain a vital part of the club as it bids for its first English league title since 1990.

Gerrard was charged with two other men after spending 24 hours in custody following the disturbance in the seaside resort of Southport in Merseyside. The bar\'s 34-year-old disc jockey, Marcus McGee, lost a tooth and was cut on his forehead. He was hospitalized and released.

A conviction on assault and affray carries a maximum...

Nadal, Federer easily advance at Qatar Open

By Hassan Ammar (AP)

Rafael Nadal routed Fabrice Santoro 6-0, 6-1 Tuesday in his first ATP Tour match of the year, with Roger Federer and Andy Murray also breezing into the second round of the Qatar Open.

The top-ranked Nadal needed only 46 minutes for the win, breaking Santoro three times in each set.

\"It was a quick start for me and that is good,\" Nadal said. \"I didn\'t expect it so easy because Santoro is a tough player. His style is difficult.\"

Federer advanced with similar ease, beating Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 6-2, while defending champion Murray defeated Albert Montanes 6-2,...

APNewsBreak USOCs official resigns

By (AP)

Steve Roush resigned from the U.S. Olympic Committee on Tuesday, leaving a post in which he played a key role in organizing logistics for American athletes at the last three games.

He was the USOC\'s chief of sport performance since 2003. For the three years before that, he worked as sports partnership director.

His duties were expected to be curtailed in a reorganization dividing the sports performance division into two sections: one for operations and logistics and another for athletes and national governing bodies.

\"While the decision to leave the USOC is not easy,...

No. 5 Connecticut 61, No. 25 West Virginia 55

By Don Wright (AP)

Jeff Adrien scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and No. 5 Connecticut beat No. 25 West Virginia 61-55 on Tuesday night.

Hasheem Thabeet added 13 points and 13 rebounds for Connecticut (13-1, 2-1 Big East). With the victory, Huskies coach Jim Calhoun moved past Lefty Driesell into seventh place on the NCAA career wins list with 787.

West Virginia (11-3, 1-1), making its season debut in the rankings, had its worst shooting performance from the floor at 30.3 percent. The Mountaineers were outrebounded 52-33 and managed just three field goals over the final eight...

Nadal, Federer easily advance at Qatar Open

By Hassan Ammar (AP)

Rafael Nadal routed Fabrice Santoro 6-0, 6-1 Tuesday in his first ATP Tour match of the year, with Roger Federer and Andy Murray also breezing into the second round of the Qatar Open.

The top-ranked Nadal needed only 46 minutes for the win, breaking Santoro three times in each set.

\"It was a quick start for me and that is good,\" Nadal said. \"I didn\'t expect it so easy because Santoro is a tough player. His style is difficult.\"

Federer advanced with similar ease, beating Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 6-2, while defending champion Murray defeated Albert Montanes 6-2,...

Daly suspended for 6 months by PGA Tour

By (AP)

John Daly smashed one tee shot off the top of a beer can during a pro-am. At another tournament, he returned from a rain delay with Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden as his caddie. And his most memorable photo this year came in an orange jail suit, eyes half-closed.

Daly said Wednesday that such unwelcome publicity is why the PGA Tour suspended him for six months.

The two-time major champion confirmed his suspension to The Associated Press, calling this the low point of an 18-year career during which he has made as much news off the course as he has with his prodigious...