MEN’S WORLD CUP SKIING
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (AP) – Travis Ganong of the United States turned in the fastest time in the downhill training run Wednesday on the Birds of Prey course. The first racer out of the starting gate, Ganong flew through the course in 1 minute, 41.38 seconds, a time that held up for the rest of the afternoon. He edged Siegmar Klotz of Italy by 0.29 seconds. Joachim Puchner of Austria was third. Austria’s Klaus Kroell, who had the fastest time the day before, elected to skip the practice run. So did Ted Ligety and a handful of other top skiers. The downhill race is scheduled for Friday. Bode Miller is the defending champion, but won’t compete to give his left knee more time to heal after undergoing microfracture surgery nine months ago.
BRONCOS PRIORITY LIST
ENGLEWOOD (AP) – Before the season begins, almost every team puts these words near the top of a long list of goals: “Win the division.” That’s all but a foregone conclusion in Denver, though when the Broncos wrap up the AFC West, there won’t be much of a celebration. They didn’t bring Peyton Manning to town just to win division titles and, given their six-game winning streak and the soft schedule ahead, this is a team that has every right to be thinking about bigger goals. Says Broncos coach John Fox: “Our goals are still alive … and that is, win our division and get into the tournament.” A win over the Buccaneers (6-5) on Sunday or a San Diego loss to Cincinnati will wrap up the division for Denver (8-3).
MILE HIGH SUPER BOWL?
DENVER (AP) – Denver has submitted an application to bid for the Super Bowl. The Broncos and Visit Denver submitted an application in late August to the NFLs Super Bowl Advisory Committee to bid to host the Super Bowl in 2018, 2019 or 2020. Visit Denver CEO and President Richard Scharf calls it a very preliminary step. The NFL is expected to select next year which cities are eligible to submit an official bid.
PAC 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Palo Alto, Calif. (AP) – This week has been unlike any other in the 20 years Mike Gleeson has been Stanford football’s video director. Even though there’s a tight turnaround between the Cardinal’s 35-17 victory last Saturday at UCLA and the Pac-12 championship game rematch Friday night, Gleeson’s typical task is simplified. All he has to do is add video from the first game and recalculate statistics to the preparation done last week. What the coaches want him to do with that information is when things get complicated.
With the league title and a Rose Bowl berth at stake, the eighth-ranked Cardinal (10-2, 8-1) and the No. 17 Bruins (9-3, 6-3) don’t have much time to think. Both are searching for any advantage they can get for the strange sequel at Stanford Stadium.
LOTT AWARD NOMINEES
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Georgia’s Jarvis Jones, Manti Te’o of Notre Dame, Stanford’s Chase Thomas and Arthur Brown of Kansas State are the finalists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, given to the collegiate defensive player having the biggest impact on his team. The winner of the award named for Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott will be announced on Dec. 9. Each of the finalists was recommended by their schools for their strong academic work, community involvement and team leadership. The winner’s school will receive $25,000 for its general scholarship fund. Luke Kuechly of Boston College was last year’s winner.
