TORONTO (AP) – The Maple Leafs acquired defenseman John-Michael
Liles from the Colorado Avalanche just hours before the start of
the NHL draft. Toronto is sending a second-round pick in the 2012 draft to the
Avalanche in the deal completed Friday. That selection had been
acquired by the Maple Leafs in the trade that sent defenseman Tomas
Kaberle to the Boston Bruins in February. The 30-year-old Liles, set to make $4.55 million in the 2011-12 season, can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. He had six goals and a career-high 40 assists in 76 games with Colorado last season. Liles, who has played his entire seven-year NHL career with the Avalanche, has led the club in scoring by a defenseman five
consecutive seasons. In 36 playoff games during that span, he has
four goals and seven assists.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – An Ohio State University trustee says the
school’s football scandal exposed cracks in values, not rules and
procedures. Trustee Jerry Jurgensen, retired chief executive officer of
Nationwide Insuranace, said Friday that the university has a lot of
soul-searching to do in terms of what is most important.
Trustees are beginning to comment on the memorabilia scandal
that led to coach Jim Tressel’s forced resignation, the suspension
of five players and the departure of quarterback Terrelle Pryor.
Trustee Robert Schottenstein said Friday Ohio State’s athletic
compliance program is good but the trustees will spend up to six
weeks reviewing the athletic program.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – Landon Donovan and the United States are
looking for another big win over rival Mexico in the title match of
the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Saturday night.
The game is the third consecutive time that the teams will face
each other for the title. Mexico won 5-0 in 2009 at Giants Stadium
after the United States won 2-1 in 2007 in Chicago.
The United States and Mexico have won nine of the 10 Gold Cup
championships since the tournament began in 1991, with Mexico
taking five titles. The Gold Cup winner qualifies for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, a preview of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) – Clint Bowyer says he wants to sign a
contract extension with Richard Childress Racing and the only thing
standing in the way of a new deal is sponsorship money.
Bowyer is in the final year of his contract with RCR. His name
was recently linked as a replacement for Kasey Kahne at Red Bull,
but any potential deal fell apart when Red Bull said this week it
will leave NASCAR at the end of the season.
Bowyer acted surprised Friday by all the Red Bull talk. He said
his intention has always been to stay with RCR, and he’d like to
sign a three-year extension. He says his phone blew up with the Red
Bull news while he was golfing, with friends asking him what he’ll
do next.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina has identified eight
football players who accumulated 317 parking tickets that were
uncovered in documents requested by media outlets covering the
ongoing NCAA probe. The school released a chart Friday that links those players’ names to their license plate numbers.
A week ago, the school released records that showed some players
combined for 395 citations totaling more than $13,000 between March
2007 and August 2010. The newest release showed receiver Greg Little had 93 tickets on multiple vehicles with nine different license plates.
The other players identified were linebacker Bruce Carter;
defensive backs Charles Brown, Kendrick Burney and Deunta Williams;
defensive lineman Robert Quinn and running backs Johnny White and
Ryan Houston.
