Thirteen-year-old Brooklyn Beckham, the oldest of Beckham’s four children, is having a tryout with London club Chelsea and played in an under-14 game Tuesday at the team’s training facility, people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the teenager’s activities.

The Daily Mail newspaper’s website first reported the news Wednesday.

Pictures were posted on Twitter of David Beckham watching Brooklyn play Tuesday. Top pro teams routinely sign talented young players to their youth academies.

The elder Beckham, a former England captain and Manchester United star, is mulling offers from clubs around the world after leaving the Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of a six-year stint in Major League Soccer.

When Beckham played in the U.S., Brooklyn was on the Galaxy’s youth team. He still appears on the Galaxy website as a member of their under-14 squad, but the family left Los Angeles last month and returned to England.

Bayern announced the deal Wednesday, after a meeting of the top management.

Earlier in the day, Jupp Heynckes told Bayern he wanted to end his coaching career when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Rumors of Guardiola coming to the German powerhouse have been swirling around local media for weeks and Bayern made it official just a day after Guardiola expressed his desire to manage in England at some point.

Guardiola stepped down at the end of last season and is on a one-year sabbatical.

Under his guidance, Barcelona dominated Spanish and European competitions with its passing game and frequent scoring from standout Lionel Messi.

Barcelona won the Champions League twice during Guardiola’s tenure, in 2009 and 2011.

“We are very pleased that we managed to win the football expert Pep Guardiola for Bayern Muinich although he had been contacted and sought by many famous clubs,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said. “Pep Guardiola is one of the most successful coaches in the world and we are certain that he can give a lot of luster not only to Bayern but also to German football.”

Bayern president Uli Hoeness said only a coach of Guardiola’s caliber could be an adequate replacement for Heynckes.

Bayern lost the Champions League final last season to Chelsea and has failed to win a trophy in the past two seasons.

But it has a large lead in the Bundesliga this season, which resumes this weekend. Bayern is nine points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen.

He has been linked to clubs in France, Australia and Asia in what would be the final chapter of the illustrious career of the 37-year-old midfielder and former England captain.

A “host of clubs” have made offers, Beckham’s management company said in a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday, but it remains “early days in the process.”

“David is in no hurry to make a decision, the key is making the right one as he has always done successfully in his career,” the statement said.

Beckham ended his five-year stint in the United States by helping the Galaxy win the MLS Cup on Dec. 1.

He has said it’s unlikely he will return to the English Premier League, where he starred for Manchester United from 1993 to 2003. Beckham is also reported to have ruled out a move to Australia’s A-League.

The French sports newspaper L’Equipe said Thursday that Monaco, an ambitious French second-division club, has ended talks with Beckham, although his advisers have refused to comment.

“David is enjoying spending quality time with his family over the holidays,” his management company said.

Beckham has also played for Real Madrid in Spain and AC Milan on loan in Italy.

Young agreed to waive his no-trade clause Saturday, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced. The Phillies are sending right-hander Josh Lindblom and minor league righty Lisalverto Bonilla to the Rangers to get Young, who fills a void at third base. The Rangers also will pay a significant portion of Young’s salary for 2013. Young is due to earn $16 million. Reports say the Phillies will pay him about $6 million.

Young batted .277 with eight homers and 67 RBIs in 2012, a down year for him. In the nine previous seasons, Young hit at least .300 seven times and averaged 17 homers and 90 RBIs. A former AL Gold Glove winner at shortstop, Young hasn’t play third base regularly since 2010. Seven Phillies started at third base last year, including often-injured former All-Star Placido Polanco.

Brees and the team reached the agreement on Friday, which will pay the quarterback $40 million in the first year, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been publicly announced.

The Saints announced they had reached a five-year deal with Brees but did not release financial details of the contract.

Brees posted a note on his Twitter page reading, "Deal is Done! Love you, Who Dat Nation. See you soon!"

Brees had been tagged as the Saints' exclusive franchise player and could not negotiate with other teams.

Had a deal not been reached, the tender for a quarterback was worth $16.3 million. Brees would have had to play for that amount or hold out for a better one-year deal, which would have left his long-term future in New Orleans uncertain.

Brees skipped the Saints' offseason practices while holding out for his new long-term contract, which now gives him the highest average annual pay ($20 million) in NFL history. Buffalo defensive end Mario Williams also has a $100 million contract, but for six years.

Now Brees is set to report for the opening of Saints training camp on July 24, a needed dose of good news for a club whose offseason has been plagued by the bounty scandal that resulted in the season-long suspensions of head coach Sean Payton and linebacker Jonathan Vilma, among other sanctions.

New Orleans had designated Brees, 33, as its franchise player in March after the club was unable to reach a new long-term extension with the record-setting quarterback before his previous six-year, $60 million contract expired.

Brees, however, was steadfast in not wanting to play for a one-year deal.

During the past six seasons, Brees has not only led the Saints to their only Super Bowl title, but has completed more passes (2,488) for more yards (28,394) and more touchdowns (201) than any other quarterback in the NFL. His 67.8 percent completion rate spanning the past six seasons also tops the league.

In 2011, Brees set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2. His prolific passing numbers helped the Saints set a new NFL high for total offensive yards in a season with 7,474. Brees yards-passing record shattered a mark of 5,084 set by Dan Marino back in 1984.

He led the Saints to a 13-3 regular season record and their second NFC South Division title in three seasons. New Orleans defeated Detroit in the first round of the playoffs before falling in the final seconds of its second-round game at San Francisco.

This offseason marked the first time Brees had the opportunity to negotiate a major, long-term deal with the leverage provided by a string of injury-free seasons highlighted by a slew of individual and team statistical records, in addition to a championship.

He commanded only second-round money when he was drafted by San Diego, and the Chargers placed the one-year franchise tag on him when that deal ran out in 2005. The right-handed Brees then had an injury the following season that required major surgery to his throwing shoulder, and which left him with few major offers during the 2006 offseason.

He wound up signing the six-year deal in New Orleans that left him playing for well below what the top quarterbacks in the league earned during the past few seasons.

Brees' new deal tops the previous benchmark contract for elite QBs set by with the five-year, $96 million deal Denver gave earlier this offseason to Peyton Manning, who is three years older than Brees and sat out last season while recovering from neck surgery.

A person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press that the former All-Star guard has agreed to terms on a two-year, $10.4 million deal to join the Wolves next season. The person requested anonymity because the news has not been officially announced.

The former Portland guard retired before last season because of chronic knee issues. The Blazers used the amnesty clause on the remaining $63 million of Roy's deal to get his salary off of its books, but he received some treatments that prompted him to try to return.

Roy was originally drafted by the Wolves in 2006, but traded to Portland on draft night for Randy Foye.

The Oregonian first reported the agreement.

That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because a three-team deal between the Dallas Mavericks, Clippers and Jazz is contingent on Williams exercising his $8.5 million player option for next season. That person said that was expected to happen by Friday.

Williams was drafted by the Jazz in 2003, and played 57 games as a rookie before going to Milwaukee, Cleveland and then the Clippers.

The Jazz are in position to absorb Williams' salary without sending a player to Dallas by using a trade exception created last season when they dealt Mehmet Okur to New Jersey.

Dallas faced a Friday deadline on a $2.4 million buyout of Odom's $8.2 million option for next season. Now the Mavericks instead will have an $8.2 million trade exception, similar to what they used to acquire Odom from the Los Angeles Lakers last December before the lockout-shortened season.

The Dallas Morning News first reported that a deal had been struck.

Odom, drafted fourth overall by the Clippers in 1999, is coming off an underwhelming 50-game stint with Dallas that didn't even take him through the entire season. He was the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year for the Lakers for the 2010-11 season.

The Mavericks on April 9 said Odom would be inactive for the rest of the season, when the then-defending NBA champions still had nine regular season games left and were making their push toward the playoffs. That move came two days after a heated halftime exchange during a game between Odom and Dallas owner Mark Cuban, who questioned the player's commitment to the team.

Odom's averages of 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 20.5 minutes in Dallas were career lows. The 32-year-old Odom has averaged 14.2 points and 8.6 rebounds in 879 career games.

Williams averaged 13.2 points and 3.1 assists in 52 games last season for the Clippers, who acquired him in a trade from Cleveland in February 2011. In 589 career games, he has averaged 13.8 points and 4.9 assists a game.

The Jazz took Williams 47th overall in 2003, coincidentally the same pick they had in Thursday night's draft.

The Jazz have spoken highly of Williams since they failed to re-sign him after just one season.

Utah already has Devin Harris at point guard, having acquired him as part of the blockbuster deal that sent superstar Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets in 2011. But team officials told The Associated Press they could make it work with both Harris and Williams.

Harris, who like Mo Williams is 29, got off to a slow start with the Jazz but finished last season strong, averaging 11.3 points and 5.0 assists.

Photo via Facebook/RealLamarOdom

A committee of university presidents on Tuesday approved the BCS commissioners’ plan for a four-team playoff to start in the 2014 season.

The move completes a six-month process in which the commissioners have been working on a new way to determine a college football champion. Instead of simply matching the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country in a championship game after the regular season, the way the Bowl Championship Series has done since 1998, the new format will create a pair of national semifinals. No. 1 will play No. 4, No. 2 will play No. 3.

The winners will advance to the national championship game.

The teams will be selected by a committee, similar to the way the NCAA basketball tournament field is set.

The commissioners want to lock in this format for 12 years with a television partner. The current BCS deal with ESPN runs through the 2013 season. The new format will be presented to potential TV partners in the fall, starting with ESPN.

There are still some details to work out, but all the decision-makers are on board.

Lower divisions of college football already have a playoff, but the highest level has always used bowls and polls to determine its champion. Those days are coming to an end.

“By making this change we felt we could enhance the regular season but at the same time provide the fans with the kind of postseason that will contribute to the regular season,” Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive said.

There are still some details to work out, but all the decision-makers are on board.

All that's left is for the presidents to sign off and major college football's champion will be decided by playoff come the 2014 season.

The commissioners have been working on reshaping college football's postseason since January. The meeting Wednesday was the sixth formal get-together of the year. They met for four hours and emerged together with a commitment to stand behind a plan.

In fact, all 11 commissioners stood shoulder-to-shoulder behind Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who pinch-hit for under-the-weather BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock and read the BCS statement from a podium set up in a hotel conference room.

"We are excited to be on the threshold of creating a new postseason structure for college football that builds on the great popularity of our sport," Swarbrick read.

Though they were stingy about providing specifics of that plan.

They said they were reluctant to share too many details before they had a chance to discuss them with their bosses, the university presidents. Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott did say the two semifinals would be worked into the existing major bowls and the site of the national championship game will be bid out similarly to the Super Bowl.

The BCS Presidential Oversight Committee meets Tuesday in Washington, and the commissioners and Swarbrick all stressed that ultimately the decision lies with their bosses. And that the presidents will have more than just one model to talk about.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 presidents have both expressed support for the so-called plus-one model, which gives the BCS a new look by selecting the championship game participants after the bowls are played instead of creating a pair of national semifinals, which is what the commissioners came away from the latest meeting in Chicago backing.

"I'm comfortable both of those will still be discussed at the president's meeting," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.

He added: "I think we're very unified. There are issues that have yet to be finalized."

The details being debated have been whether to have semifinal sites rotate between the major bowls – Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, Rose and possible others to be added such as the Cotton – or tie the site of the game to which teams were playing in them.

How the teams will be selected has also been up for intense discussion. They have talked about the use of a selection committee and giving some preference to teams that win their conferences.

"I am delighted," said Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive, who has supported a four-team playoff for years. "I am pleased with the progress we have made. There are some differences, but we will work them out. We're trying to do what is in the best interest of the game."

Lewis is entering the last season of a six-year, $118 million contract and could be a candidate for the NBA's amnesty clause, meaning he may not end up playing for the Hornets if New Orleans instead chooses to clear some salary cap space.

"We are rebuilding our team and this is one step in our new direction," Hornets general manager Dell Demps said. "This trade will provide an opportunity for our young players to develop and create flexibility to add to our core group moving forward."

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld said of the deal, "Rashard unfortunately was injured while he was with us, and he didn't get an opportunity to show the kinds of things he was capable of doing… He had a very hefty buyout in his contract, and we elected to add a couple of players to the roster by using his contract."

Grunfeld said the Wizards would have had to pay a $13.7 million buyout.

New Orleans also received the 46th pick in this year's draft, which originally belonged to Dallas.

The Hornets, who are expected to take Kentucky star Anthony Davis with the top-overall draft pick and also have the 10th selection, did not have a second-round pick before the trade. Washington, meanwhile, has the third-overall pick and still has the second pick of the second round.

Grunfeld said the deal won't have any effect on the team's draft plans.

"We felt like we needed to add some veterans to the roster, and we were able to do that with this move… We get players that are good solid players and fill two needs for us," Grunfield said. "Instead of going into free agency to try to fill our needs, we did it through a trade."

Okafor has never lived up to being the second pick in the 2004 draft, but has averaged double figures in points (12.7) and rebounds (10.1) during his career. Last season, however, he averaged a career-low 9.9 points and 7.9 rebounds and missed time with a sore left knee.

Ariza averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds, but was deactivated for the last few weeks of the season while the Hornets, already well out of playoff contention, took a closer look at younger players on the roster.

Several of those younger players, including second-year swingman Al-Farouq Aminu, showed signs of improvement as the Hornets won eight of their final 13 games.

Grunfeld said Ariza and Wizards point guard John Wall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft, played together in a pickup game in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

"We think we're a better team today than we were yesterday," Grunfeld said, "but we still have a lot of work ahead of us."

Irsay expects to meet with Manning in the next seven days, and the owner told The Indianapolis Star on Tuesday the return of the four-time MVP depends on his willingness to restructure his contract.

Manning has spent the past five months recovering from his third neck surgery in less than two years, and there have been conflicting reports about how much progress he has made.

The Colts owe Manning a $28 million roster bonus by March 8. They want to use the No. 1 pick in this year's draft on Manning's successor, and the future of their star QB will affect how much room they'll have under the salary cap.

Manning turns 36 in March.

"We can make it work if he wants to be here," Irsay told the newspaper. "We'd be excited to have him back and finish his career with us.

"I want him to be able to make the choice. We would love to have him back here if he can get healthy and we can look at doing a contract that reflects the uncertainty of the … healing process with the regeneration of the nerve."

The Colts went 2-14 last season without Manning, who started every game in his first 13 seasons in the NFL. He threw for 33 touchdowns and a career-high 4,700 yards in 2010, when Indianapolis went 10-6 and won the AFC South.

Manning guided the Colts to a win in the Super Bowl after the 2006 season.

The Colts also completed their coaching staff on Tuesday by hiring eight assistants and making Clyde Christensen the team's quarterbacks coach.

First-year head coach Chuck Pagano already hired Bruce Arians as offensive coordinator and Greg Manusky as defensive coordinator.

They can thank a guy who frequently gets booed by the home fans, and a young guard who wasn't supposed to be playing much at all.

Josh Smith answered his critics with a huge game — 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists — and fill-in Jeff Teague came up with the Derrick Rose-like plays down the stretch to lead the Hawks past the Chicago Bulls 100-88 Sunday night, evening the Eastern Conference semifinals at two games apiece.

The Hawks snapped a nine-game home losing streak in the second round, their misery dating to a May 13, 1996, win against Orlando.

Smith is frequently criticized by Atlanta fans for his inconsistent play. He heard nothing but cheers in this one, staying away from the outside jumpers, dominating on the inside and finding the open man with crisp passes.

"There are people who don't understand the game, who don't know the game. That doesn't faze me," Smith said. "My teammates matter more than anybody else. They believe in me. They have confidence in my game. When I was in my rut, they told me to stay positive, to stay in the game, just do what I'd been doing all season long. I stayed with it and had the game I had tonight."

Teague has been an even bigger surprise filling in for injured Kirk Hinrich, playing with the poise of a veteran instead of someone who played infrequently during the regular season and first round of the playoffs. He scored 12 points and doled out four assists, putting the capper on a late 10-0 run that broke open a game that had been tight and intense all the way.

"He's playing great," said Hinrich, who's watched this entire series in dress suits because of a hamstring injury. "Obviously he has ability. He's fast. He's good at finishing up around the rim."

Driving toward the hoop with Kyle Korver draped all over him, Teague flipped up a shot as he was falling down. It banked in, giving the Hawks a safe lead, 94-84, with 1:26 remaining. The second-year player bounced off the court with a big smile, bumping his teammates on the way to the bench.

Someone held up a sign, "M-V-Teague."

The actual MVP scored 34 points. But Rose needed 32 shots to do it, and he wasn't nearly as effective as he was in scoring a career-best 44 points in Game 3, leading the Bulls to a 99-82 rout that restored Chicago's home-court advantage. The top-seeded Bulls can still close out the series simply by winning at home, but the Hawks know they'll get at least one more home game.

"Game 6 tickets are on sale now," the Hawks public-address announcer said.

After an embarrassing performance two nights earlier, the Hawks changed up their lineup. They had been dominated on the boards in the two previous games, so they went back to a bigger lineup that worked so well against Dwight Howard and Orlando in the opening round.

Seven-footer Jason Collins started at center between Al Horford and Smith, putting Marvin Williams in a reserve role. Collins had a couple of early dunks, but he wound up playing less than 12 minutes.

More significant was the way Atlanta changed up its defense on Rose, charging at him with double-teams — even a few triple-teams — whenever it looked as though he was about to make a move toward the hoop.

No one stops Rose completely, of course. He still had plenty of moves for the highlight film, including a soaring dunk of his own when no one blocked him out early on.

But down the stretch, the Hawks clamped down on the Chicago star. Rose tied it at 84 on a drive with 4 1/2 minutes to go, but he missed his next shot, then turned it over twice before making a late basket that didn't matter. He finished 12-of-32 from the field.

"It was a tough game but no excuses," Rose said. "Put this game on me. Two turnovers at the end of the game."

Watching from the bench, Hinrich noticed a big difference from Game 3 to Game 4.

"Our second line of defense was so much better," he said. "When Derrick got in the lane, we made him play in a crowd. That's what you have to do."

Smith showed what he can do when he's not sitting on the outside, launching up errant jumpers. In the decisive run, he played stifling defense on Rose, had a big rebound and dished out two nifty passes that set up dunks by Horford.

Horford had his best game of the series, scoring 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 24 points, knocking down some early shots to get over a rough showing in Game 3.

Carlos Boozer had 18 points for Chicago, and Luol Deng added 13. Korver had an especially rough night, going 1 for 8 from the field. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts.

The game was in single digits until the end. The Hawks ran to what was their biggest lead, 60-52, when Smith got out on a fast break and passed to Horford slicing in off the wing for a layup.

Chicago responded with a 17-7 spurt to close the third quarter. Boozer capped it with a nice spin move, laying it in with his left hand to send the Bulls to the final period up 69-67.

Coach Tom Thibodeau said the tone was set in the first quarter. The Hawks came out with much more effort than they did on Friday, and the Bulls weren't nearly as tight on defense as they had been. Atlanta made 13 of 24 shots in those opening 12 minutes.

"It was too easy," Thibodeau said. "Then we didn't finish the game the way we would have liked."

Notes
Damien Wilkins, the nephew of Hall of Famer and Hawks executive Dominique Wilkins, had a chance to close the first half with a flourish for Atlanta. He soared off the baseline for a dunk that would've made his uncle proud — if only it had gone in. The ball ricocheted off the rim just before the horn sounded. Wilkins slammed the padding under the basket in disgust, the Hawks settling for a 47-46 lead at the break. … Chicago G Keith Bogans went down awkwardly in the first quarter trying to guard Johnson, spraining his right ankle. Bogans went to the locker room to get it taped and was able to come back in the game, but he finished with only three points. … Horford got poked in the eye by his former Florida teammate, Joakim Noah, after collecting a rebound. Horford was OK, and Noah gave him a pat on the backside.

The person spoke Tuesday night on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement hadn't been made. The Clippers announced a news conference at their training complex for the presentation of a major NBA award, and Rookie of the Year is the only award left.

Griffin's victory is absolutely no surprise after his spectacular season. The No. 1 draft pick out of Oklahoma in 2009 easily led all rookies in scoring and rebounding after missing all of last year with a broken kneecap.

Griffin averaged 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists while playing in all 82 games and earning a reputation as one of the NBA's most fearsome dunkers, with his alley-oop slams and one-handed jams making highlight reels nightly.

The 6-foot-10 power forward made the West All-Star team, becoming the first rookie All-Star in eight years, and even won the dunk contest in front of his Staples Center fans with an iconic dunk while flying over a car.

Griffin was named the Western Conference's Rookie of the Month six times, becoming the first player to sweep that award since Chris Paul did it with New Orleans in 2005-06.

Griffin had 63 double-doubles while single-handedly energizing the Clippers, who still missed the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 seasons. Los Angeles went 32-50 in its 18th non-winning season in the past 19 years, but Griffin's nightly acrobatics and toughness always made the Clippers interesting.

Griffin was the NBA's fourth-leading rebounder and the 12th-leading scorer — the only rookie among the league's top 45 scorers and top 20 rebounders.

Washington's John Wall, the No. 1 pick last summer, was Griffin's only significant competition for the award, but Griffin could win the award unanimously. Sacramento's Tyreke Evans won the award last season.

Griffin will be the first Clippers player to win the award since the star-crossed franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1984. Terry Cummings won it with the San Diego Clippers after the 1982-83 season, while Adrian Dantley, Bob McAdoo and Ernie DiGregorio won the award during a five-year stretch with the Buffalo Braves, who moved to San Diego in 1978.

The contract, which will begin with the 2012-13 season, will be worth about $250 million per year, guaranteeing each of the 12 schools in the conference about $21 million, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been announced.

The contract is expected to be formally announced at a news conference in Phoenix on Wednesday.

The Pac-10 made less than $60 million in media rights this past season but became the latest conference to take advantage of the escalating market for college sports on television.

The ACC recently signed a deal for $155 million a year and the Big 12 reached a deal with Fox that made its total annual package worth about $130 million. The Pac-10, which will be renamed the Pac-12 in July with the additions of Utah and Colorado, topped those deals, as well as the $205 million the SEC gets and the $220 million paid to the Big Ten.

Rights to some football and men’s basketball games were not sold to Fox and ESPN, preserving some premium property the conference can use for a Pac-12 network to go along with Olympic and other non-revenue sports, a person close to the deal said.

Unlike the Big Ten Network, which Fox has a 49 percent ownership share in, the Pac-12 will own its entire network. That could add difficulties in terms of getting wide distributions on cable and satellite systems but allows the conference to have complete control of its content and keep all the profits if the network is as successful as the Big Ten.

The conference will also launch a digital network to show games online that aren’t on ESPN or Fox.

The deal with Fox and ESPN was first reported by Sports Business Daily, while The New York Times first reported details about the network.

This deal accomplishes all three goals Commissioner Larry Scott set out heading into negotiations: increasing revenue, getting more exposure and starting a Pac-12 network to provide an outlet to broadcast non-revenue sports and to help brand the conference.

Under this deal, Fox and ESPN will split the rights to college football games. ESPN will air its games on cable as well as ABC and Fox will show its games on its broadcast network, basic cable network FX and on the Fox Sports Net regional networks.

ESPN will air four prime-time games on both Thursday and Friday nights, as well as a late-night Saturday window for football. There will also be at least five Saturday night prime-time games on ABC or Fox.

Men’s basketball games will be split mostly between ESPN and Fox Sports Net, with ESPN showing games on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, as the conference becomes more flexible with scheduling. ESPN will also have the rights to the Pac-12 women’s basketball championship.

The two entities will alternate showing the Pac-12 football championship game and the men’s basketball tournament. Fox, which will air the inaugural football title game this season, will have the first football championship under this contract in 2012, with ESPN getting the men’s basketball tournament later that season, a person familiar with the deal said.

ESPN also gets the rights to some Olympic and other non-revenue sports.

Finalizing a media rights deal is the latest step in the transformation of the conference under Scott, who took over from Tom Hansen in July 2009.

Scott spearheaded last year’s expansion effort and then got the schools to agree to an equal revenue sharing plan and aggregate all of their media rights at the conference level.

That set the stage for the television negotiations, which began in earnest April 1. While Comcast/NBC was an aggressive bidder and Turner Sports also was interested, incumbents Fox and ESPN won out.

This deal means full revenue sharing will kick in as soon as this contract begins. As part of an agreement to give up their historically larger share of television revenues, Southern California and UCLA were each to receive a $2 million premium any year that the media rights did not reach $170 million.

Officer Dan Donakowski says Hunter was stabbed Wednesday, but didn't have any additional information, including where the incident took place, who was responsible and Hunter's condition. The hospital wasn't disclosed.

Hunter is a five-year pro who also has played for the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers.

The stabbing comes only days after police in Florida said Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall, a former Bronco, was stabbed with a kitchen knife by his wife.

Update (2:26 pm): WXYZ.com is reporting that Hunter's 23-year-old girlfriend stabbed him in the left shoulder Wednesday morning.

Hunter's girlfriend, who's name was not released, was taken into custody. However, according to the report, no charges will be filed because Hunter doesn't want to pursue the case.

The Denver Broncos have released this statement regarding Hunter:

"We are aware of the reports regarding Jason Hunter and are currently in the process of gathering information and reviewing the facts. Our thoughts are with Jason, and we are hopeful he makes a quick recovery.  Out of respect for his privacy, we will not have additional comment on the matter at this time." 

He's less encouraged about point guard Chauncey Billups.

Neither injured player practiced Thursday. Stoudemire stayed at home so driving wouldn't aggravate the pulled muscle causing the back spasms that kept him out of the second half of Game 2. Instead, Knicks trainers would come to him.

"You don't know until he wakes up," D'Antoni said of Stoudemire's status for Friday, when the Knicks return to Madison Square Garden trailing 2-0.

Billups underwent treatment for his strained left knee at the Knicks' training facility. He said he had a cortisone shot and had the knee drained Wednesday. Billups missed Game 2 after he was hurt on a drive to the basket near the end of the series opener.

"Just hoping for the best," Billups said.

Asked why he was less optimistic about Billups, D'Antoni said with a laugh, "He hurts more."

Michele Ferrari was cleared in 2006 of criminal charges accusing him of distributing doping products to athletes, but he remains barred for life by the Italian Cycling Federation.

Italian authorities suspect Ferrari of continuing to work with 20 to 30 top-level cyclists despite his ban, including Armstrong, and are actively pursuing that line of investigation, the law enforcement official said. Padua prosecutor Benedetto Roberti ordered raids on Thursday across Italy involving cyclists believed to have ties to Ferrari. Italian riders who work with the doctor risk bans of three to six months.

The law enforcement official, who is not authorized to speak publicly because the inquiry is still under way, said that Armstrong met with Ferrari frequently over the past several years, usually in St. Moritz, Switzerland, or Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Ferrari had worked with the seven-time Tour winner for several years before their 2004 split.

Reached at his home by the AP on Friday, Ferrari was asked when he last saw Armstrong.

"I really don't know. When, last year? Look, right now I don't remember," he said, "but I haven't had a professional relationship with Mr. Armstrong for a long time."

Armstrong has always denied doping. He retired from cycling for the second time earlier this year.

"Lance has not had a professional relationship with Ferrari since 2004, but he remains friends with the doctor's family and sees them every once in a while. Lance last saw Dr. Ferrari about a year ago," Armstrong lawyer Mark Fabiani said in an email.

Recent meetings between Armstrong and Ferrari could provide evidence for a United States federal probe into doping in cycling. Armstrong is by far the highest-profile athlete under scrutiny in that case, which is before a grand jury in Los Angeles.

Without identifying its source, Sports Illustrated said in January that when Italian authorities raided the home of Armstrong teammate Yaroslav Popovych last November in Italy, they found texts and emails linking the RadioShack team with Ferrari as recently as 2009.

In November, European and American agents met at Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France, to share information on all the investigations.

"Government sources are leaking inaccurate rumors to create the false impression that this taxpayer money-wasting fishing expedition actually has a purpose," Fabiani said.

The cyclists raided Thursday in Sicily and northern Italy include Michele Scarponi – a title contender for this year's Giro d'Italia — and Lampre teammate Leonardo Bertagnolli, as well as five current and past Russian riders with the Katusha team.

No arrests were made.

One of the Russians, Aleksander Kolobnev, won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, getting bumped up from fourth after Italy's Davide Rebellin was stripped of silver.

The Lampre and Katusha teams confirmed that police inspected the riders' biological passports and confiscated anti-inflammatories, powdered milk and energy bars.

Ferrari refused to comment on the raids.

"I have a lot of things to say, but I'll say them when the moment is right," he said. "At the moment I don't have anything to say."

More raids are likely, the Italian law enforcement official said.

"We were looking to make a few connections and we found some of what we were looking for. But it's not finished yet," the official said. "It's all related to [Ferrari]."

Next year, it well could be: Let's look at the replay!

Major League Baseball is leaning toward expanding replay for the 2012 season to include trapped balls and fair-or-foul rulings down the lines, a person familiar with the talks tells The Associated Press.

Commissioner Bud Selig and a group of umpires discussed the extra video review at spring training and were in agreement, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still being discussed.

"Yeah to all of them, oh yeah," St. Louis reliever Ryan Franklin said. "I just think they should all be called the right way, and it doesn't matter if it takes an extra five minutes."

"Don't take so long between innings, cut 10 seconds off between every half-inning and that could make up for five minutes for the replay on a trapped ball or something like that," he said. "It doesn't happen that often."

Baseball began using replay late in the 2008 season, though only to check potential home run balls. The NFL, NBA, NHL and the NCAA had already employed instant replay.

Since then, there have been a spate of missed calls in the playoffs and World Series.

Last October, Yankees right fielder Greg Golson clearly caught a low liner for the final out of Game 1 in New York's first-round series against Minnesota, but the umpire ruled the ball bounced. In the 2009 AL playoffs, Joe Mauer's looper down the left-field line landed fair by a full foot at Yankee Stadium, hopped into the seats and was mistakenly called a foul ball.

Out-or-safe calls on the bases, like the one that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game last year, would not be subject to review. Nor would ball-or-strike decisions.

Players and umpires approved adding replay three years ago. MLB's contract with the umpires runs through the 2014 season; the labor deal with players expires this December.

Selig's special committee for on-field matters, a 14-man panel that includes managers, general managers and team executives, also is said to favor the additional replay for next year.

"All anybody wants, and that's the umpires and us, is to make sure we get the call right," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Thursday. "And whatever it takes to do that, I think, that's what they're trying to do. The one thing you don't want is to have the game last longer and longer because of all these replays and go deep into the night."

Others are a little leery, too.

"I think it might be too much if you do that. Then you have to do it for everything, strikes, I think it's just a tough call," Seattle third baseman Chone Figgins said. "To have those guys go back and look at replay for everything, it would be just too long unless they had a signal from upstairs and hit a button."

Said San Francisco's Aubrey Huff: "You're messing with the history of the game when you start messing with too much."

"We make mistakes, they make mistakes. You're talking big home runs, that's one thing. You're talking out or safe at home, then why have umpires? Let the cameras make the calls. It's just stupid," he said.

Tracking whether a ball lands fair or foul could be achieved with enhanced technology, experts say. Grand Slam tennis has replay for line calls, using a multi-camera system aimed at fixed points.

Judging whether a ball is caught or not could be more tricky. Then again, the NFL sorts out catch-or-no catch by reviewing broadcast shots from several angles.

"I think that the fair-foul thing, I'd be more in favor of that than the trap," San Diego third baseman Chase Headley said. "Not that I'm against it, but I just think that that it seems like that would be a pretty simple, quick thing."

"I don't think you want to drag the game on too long, so you don't want to go too overboard with it," he said. "I could see it happening, but I think that if they're going to keep adding stuff they should do it little by little to kind of see how it goes."

Detroit catcher Alex Avila called himself a "purist."

"The human element of the game, to me, is one of the best parts about baseball," he said. "Honestly, if they didn't have replay at all, that wouldn't bother me."

Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp could be helped — or hurt — by reviews on balls hit his way.

"Sometimes you're going to be on that side where you want a replay and then sometimes you're going to be on the side where you don't want a replay," the Gold Glover said. "I say you just keep it the way it is and let the umpires decide what it is and go on about playing the game."

New York's left-handed specialist has been on the disabled list since the start of the season with what was described as a rotator cuff strain, but a contrast MRI performed Wednesday showed the tear.

Feliciano said Thursday he will see noted orthopedist James Andrews on Monday then choose a course of action, which could be surgery. Feliciano also could have a shot in the shoulder and refrain from throwing for 1 1/2 months.

Based on the more invasive MRI, where dye is injected into the shoulder, surgery appears to be the likely route for Feliciano.

"Most likely that opinion will hold up, unfortunately," general manager Brian Cashman said, "because this is not a close call, it appears to be very obvious."

He added: "Capsular tears are very serious. In all likelihood he's looking at a significant surgery."

Surgery would be a big blow for Feliciano, who is a workhorse. He signed a two-year, $8 million free agent contract in the offseason after making 344 relief appearances for the Mets since 2007, a major league record for a four-year stretch. He led the majors in games each of the last three seasons, including a career-high 92 outings in 2010.

"I want to be here. I'm the guy who likes to pitch every day, like I've been doing the last three or four years," Feliciano said. "And now to be shut down for maybe a year — I don't know if I could handle it."

He says he could be ready for next spring training, but Cashman was skeptical.

"The time frame for recovery could be that," Cashman said. "Can he come back and be Pedro Feliciano? I couldn't tell you that."

Cashman compared Feliciano's situation to that of former Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang, who is still trying to make a comeback — now with the Washington Nationals — after having had capsule surgery in 2009 while with New York.

Feliciano said he was healthy when he arrived in training camp this year and didn't blame his heavy workload with the Mets for the injury. Cashman said there was no evidence of an injury during a pre-signing physical that included a traditional MRI.

Cashman then defended his comments from earlier April that the Mets "abused" the reliever, but said "I'm not blaming the Mets for what was happening now."

Cashman also took several minutes to use the news conference as a "forum" to defend his record against accusations in the media that he was a hypocrite for attacking the Mets on their usage of Feliciano when former reliever Scott Proctor made 83 appearances for the Yankees in 2006 and again in a season split with New York and the Dodgers in '07.

"If you want to get Joe Torre on the phone you'll know I'm not a hypocrite," Cashman said. "I dealt with our pitching coach, with our manager. We have new people here that utilize people in a certain way. These guys aren't (infinite) assets out there. There's a very limited group of people capable on a consistent basis of performing at the major league level at a high level of success."

To that end, Cashman said it is very unlikely that he will find a lefty to join Boone Logan, the only left-hander in the bullpen. Current manager Joe Girardi was fine with that.

"We believe we have right-handers capable of getting out left-handers," Girardi said.

Walker, who led UConn to its third national championship, is projected as a first-round pick, and coach Jim Calhoun said he has advised Walker to forgo his senior season. But with a lockout looming, Walker has so far left his options open.

“It would be a lot of fun if I came back,” he said last week. “These guys are my brothers and I love them. So, if I have an opportunity to come back, it would be special.”

Walker averaged almost 24 points and five assists per game in leading UConn to a 32-9 record, including an 11-0 run through the postseason. He accounted for 45 percent of his team’s points.

Where will Kemba Walker be selected in the NBA draft?Market Research