SPORTS BRIEFS - Sports

SPORTS BRIEFS

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - 12:06 AM

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NFL

Bears' Gould is highest-paid kicker

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Robbie Gould became the highest paid kicker, agreeing yesterday to a five-year, $15.5 million contract extension with the Chicago Bears that includes a $4.25 million signing bonus.

The deal runs through 2013.

Gould, who had a year left on his contract, has made 84 of 99 field goal attempts and 99 of 100 PAT tries with the Bears. He hit 31 of 36 field goal attempts last season and made the Pro Bowl after the 2006 season, when he scored 143 points.

His new deal trumps the five-year, $14.2 million contract Josh Brown signed with St. Louis on March 1.

Walsh to meet with Goodell, Specter

NEW YORK - Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh will meet separately with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Sen. Arlen Specter today to discuss New England's videotaping of opposing coaches' play-calling signals in violation of league rules.

Walsh is scheduled to meet with Goodell at the NFL offices in New York at 7:30 a.m. Afterward, he will travel to Washington to meet with Specter. Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been critical of the NFL's handling of the investigation. Goodell and Specter each plan to hold a news conference after meeting with Walsh.

HOCKEY

Dubinsky leads U.S. in rout of Norway

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - New York Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky scored three goals, and the Americans scored three times in each period to wrap up their qualifying round at the world hockey championships with a 9-1 win over Norway.

The U.S. (3-2) locked up third place in Pool F. The Americans, who already had clinched a quarterfinal berth before the game, next play Finland, which lost to Canada 6-3.

Sharks fire Wilson

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose Sharks fired coach Ron Wilson after the team's latest disappointing early ouster from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Wilson, hired by the club in December 2002, is the Sharks' leader in wins and winning percentage, but San Jose only advanced past the second round of the postseason once with him behind the bench.

The Sharks were the No. 2 seed in this year's Western Conference playoffs but were eliminated in six games in the second round by the Dallas Stars. In other hockey news:

The Nashville Predators have signed forward Martin Erat to a seven-year, $31.5 million contract. Erat ranks third on the team in career scoring (253). He joined Nashville in the 2001-02 season after being selected in the 1999 draft.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Mayo's agency denies illegal activity

LOS ANGELES - The head of the sports agency representing O.J. Mayo denied any illegal activity involving the Southern California star a day after ESPN reported Bill Duffy Associates gave cash to an event promoter who provided gifts.

Louis Johnson, a former associate of Mayo's, told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that BDA Sports provided Rodney Guillory with about $200,000 before Mayo arrived at USC. Johnson said a portion of that money was given to Mayo. In other college basketball news:

In Newport Harbor, Calif., Bill Rankin, a star at UCLA during World War II and after, has died after a long fight with Parkinson's disease. He was 84. Mr. Rankin's daughter, Cindy Elliott, told The Associated Press he died Sunday night at his home on Balboa Island. Mr. Rankin played guard and forward under coach Wilbur Johns for the Bruins in 1945 and, with time out for the Navy, in 1946 and 1947.

ELSEWHERE

A University of Florida football player is recovering after being shot in the shoulder while at a Tampa, Fla., area-park. Florida coach Urban Meyer says Gators defensive lineman Matt Patchan is expected to fully recover. Patchan was shot Friday night. Details of the shooting are not yet known.

Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was suspended for three games as manager of the Midwest League's Peoria (Ill.) Chiefs for his role in bench-clearing incident last week. Sandberg, in his second season as Peoria's manager, began the suspension with Saturday night's game at Clinton, Iowa, and was to have completed the penalty last night at home against Quad Cities.

Veteran Jeff Simmons was hired to drive the second A.J. Foyt Racing entry in the Indianapolis 500. The No. 41 Dallara was originally assigned to Foyt's son, Larry Foyt, who instead will focus on his job as team director.

The Cuban national judo team returned home without one of its stars, whose weekend disappearance fueled speculation that she is defecting. Yurisel Laborde, a two-time world champion and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, was not with the team when its flight left Miami International Airport. AROUND THE STATE

Greg Lineberry of Creedmoor, N.C., won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division tournament on Lake Gaston on Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 15 pounds, 6 ounces.

The victory earned Lineberry $4,012 plus a $708 contingency bonus and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Seminole Regional Championship in Bainbridge, Ga., during Oct. 16-18.

Rounding out the top five were Wes Dacey of Colonial Heights. (five bass, 15-05, $2,360); Flash Butts of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. (five bass, 14-15, $1,574); J.T. Palmore of Gasburg (five bass, 14-09, $1,101) and Ricky Farr of Chesterfield (five bass, 14-03, $944). - From Staff and Wire Reports