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Sports Briefs: Illinois State picks Purdue assistant
By The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 8:57 AM PST
NORMAL, Ill. — Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack will be Illinois State University’s next head football coach after he was passed over for the top job with the Boilermakers.
Illinois State sports information director Todd Kober said the school will introduce Spack at a news conference on Wednesday.
Spack will take over for Denver Johnson, who resigned after Illinois State’s season ended last month.
The Redbirds were 3-8 this season, and 2-6 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. It was the team’s second straight losing season.
The 45-year-old Spack spent 12 seasons at Purdue. Before that he was the defensive coordinator at Wyoming. He also was an assistant at Eastern Illinois University.
BASEBALL
Moyer stays with Phillies
PHILADELPHIA — Jamie Moyer agreed to a $13 million, two-year contract that keeps the 46-year-old left-hander with the World Series champion Phillies.
Philadelphia also confirmed it has a preliminary agreement with pitcher Chan Ho Park, a one-year contract worth $2.5 million.
PRO FOOTBALL
Chiefs changing GMs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Carl Peterson, who turned the Kansas City Chiefs into an NFL powerhouse in the 1990s, is out after nearly 20 years as president, CEO and general manager.
Clark Hunt, announcing his first major decision since he became chairman of the board upon the death two years ago of his father, Lamar, said the future of coach Herm Edwards would be decided later.
Hunt also said his decision was not based on what happened the previous day, when the Chiefs lost an 11-point lead in the final 73 seconds and were beaten 22-21 by San Diego, dropping their record to 2-12.
Minnesota loses Williams
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Minnesota star defensive tackle Pat Williams will miss anywhere from two to six weeks with a fractured shoulder, leaving the Vikings without their best run stopper with a playoff berth hanging in the balance.
Williams was hurt Sunday in a 35-14 rout of Arizona. It’s a big blow to a Vikings defense that is second in the NFL against the run. They need only one more victory or a Chicago loss in the final two weeks to capture their first NFC North title.
Kiffin will coach with son at Tennessee
TAMPA, Fla. — Longtime Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin confirmed he will leave the Buccaneers at the end of this season for a position with his son, Lane, the new coach at Tennessee.
Kiffin told reporters after Sunday’s 13-10 overtime loss in Atlanta that he made the decision the previous weekend and informed coach Jon Gruden, general manager Bruce Allen and the players last Wednesday.
Kiffin is in his 13th season running the Bucs defense, and the unit has ranked among the best in the NFL for most of that tenure.
AUTO RACING
Subaru pulls out of Rally Championship
TOKYO — The World Rally Championship lost one-third of its constructors within 24 hours when Subaru announced today it was following Suzuki out of the competition.
Both Japanese automakers cited concerns about the global economic crisis for quitting the sport. It followed the shocking decision of Honda, Japan’s second biggest car manufacturer, to withdraw from Formula One.
Subaru has been involved in the WRC for the past 19 years, winning three constructors’ titles and three drivers’ championships. It was third in the standings among six teams this season.
Honda announced it was pulling out of F1 on Dec. 5, a day after announcing it was cutting jobs in Britain and Japan and reducing its annual production of consumer cars because of plunging vehicle demand.
VOLLEYBALL
McCutcheon to coach U.S. women’s team
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Hugh McCutcheon will coach the U.S. women’s volleyball team through the 2012 Olympics after leading the men’s squad to a gold medal in Beijing.
USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal announced the move Monday. McCutcheon replaces Jenny Lang Ping, who did not seek a contract renewal. The women won silver in Beijing, their first medal since 1992.
Under the 39-year-old McCutcheon, the American men also won their first medal in 16 years.
McCutcheon endured tragedy in Beijing when his father-in-law was stabbed to death in a random attack at a tourist attraction. His wife is former U.S. Olympic volleyball player Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman. |