sports in brief

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jan 9, 2008

Baseball: Clemens says McNamee has lied before

St. Petersburg, Fla., detectives believed the former New York Yankees trainer who says he injected Roger Clemens with steroids lied to them during the 2001 investigation of a possible rape, according to documents released Tuesday by police.

Police said Brian McNamee denied having sex with a possibly drugged woman in a hotel pool, even though security guards and other witnesses said they saw him.

"I explained to him that his client did talk with me once, and he lied to me," St. Petersburg Police Detective Donald Crotty wrote in a report.

The state attorney's office, however, decided not to press charges.

Clemens cited the incident as an example of McNamee's dishonesty in a defamation lawsuit filed Sunday in Texas.

Marcus Giles and the NL champion Colorado Rockies agreed to a minor league contract Tuesday with an invitation to spring training.

Eddie Guardado is close to reaching a contract with the Texas Rangers, who could use some experience at the back of their bullpen.

Football: Georgia president proposes eight-team playoff

The president of the University of Georgia proposed an eight- team playoff system to determine the NCAA's national football champion.

Michael Adams, chairman of the NCAA executive committee, has opposed a playoff for 20 years but said Tuesday the current BCS system is "undercutting the sportsmanship and integrity of the game."

Adams wants the NCAA to seed eight teams into the four bowls. If one of the major bowls declines to participate, then another bowl could fill the void.

Five Missouri football players who considered entering the 2008 NFL draft will return for their senior season instead.

The juniors, including quarterback Chase Daniel and tight end Chase Coffman, had submitted their names to the NFL College Advisory Committee before the Cotton Bowl.

The others who submitted their names were free safety William Moore, defensive end Stryker Sulak and defensive tackle Ziggy Hood.

The University of Hawaii fired athletics director Herman Frazier on Tuesday after he failed to re-sign football coach June Jones.

In a brief statement, the university said the move was made "in the best interest of the athletics program." It came a day after Jones, the winningest coach in school history, accepted a five-year deal worth about $2 million a year to coach at SMU.

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez filled out most of his coaching staff Tuesday, bringing many of the assistants who helped him build West Virginia into a Big East power.

Rodriguez will be joined by six former Mountaineer coaches and five members of their support staff, choosing to keep only one of Lloyd Carr's assistants: Fred Jackson as running backs coach.

Auburn defensive tackle Pat Sims said Tuesday he will skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

Ray Rice will skip his senior year to enter the NFL draft after becoming the leading rusher in Rutgers history.

Alex Mack will return for his senior season at California after being chosen the Pac-10's top offensive lineman this past season.

Basketball: New Mexico State freshman waives hearing

New Mexico State freshman Herb Pope has waived his right to a preliminary hearing on a drunken driving charge filed by police who say they found Pope passed out in a running car on a western Pennsylvania highway.

The decision to waive Tuesday's hearing means Pope will be scheduled to stand trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

One of the nation's top recruits last season, he chose New Mexico State over Cincinnati, Kansas State, Louisville, Maryland, Memphis, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh and Texas.

The NCAA on Tuesday penalized Prairie View A&M's women's basketball team for violations attributed to unfamiliarity with rules by coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, a former Houston Comets star.

The NCAA reduced Prairie View A&M's scholarships in women's basketball from 15 to 12 for the next three years, and the program also was placed on four years' probation for "major violations" in 2005-06 that ranged from Cooper-Dyke giving players small amounts of cash to various forms of unauthorized practices.

The Miami Heat won't get Shaquille O'Neal back for at least a week while he receives treatment for a hip injury that has sidelined him for six games.

General: Crosby leads NHL All-Star voting for second time

Sidney Crosby, the 20-year-old reigning NHL MVP, topped All-Star voting for the second straight year and will start again for the Eastern Conference, the league announced Tuesday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain, in his third NHL season, received 507,274 votes, nearly 200,000 more than anyone else in the East, and about 30,000 more than West leader Nicklas Lidstrom.

The Nebraska volleyball team's starting setter has announced she will leave the program and quit playing at the collegiate level.

Rachel Holloway says she's transferring to a school closer to her family's home in Franklin, Tenn., and will end her volleyball career.

From wire reports