RSS
|
Mobile
|
Daily Emails
|
We Twitter
| Make us your home page
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops earned $3 million when the calendar flipped.
A clause in Stoops' contract -- approved in 2005 by the university's board of regents -- provided for the 48-year-old coach to receive a so-called "stay bonus" of $3 million after completing 10 seasons as the Sooners' coach.
Stoops was scheduled to receive the bonus if he remained at Oklahoma through 2008, which ended Wednesday. He was hired as the Sooners' coach in December 1998, replacing John Blake.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of Stoops' contract through an open-records request.
No. 2 Oklahoma plays No. 1 Florida in the BCS championship game in Miami on Thursday.
"I'm always appreciative to the university, all our regents, our president, our athletic director and all our administration who feel that what we're doing here, they value it and feel it's brought value to the university," Stoops said earlier this week.
"I think it's pretty special that I've been able to be a part of this program for the last 10 years and to build it back to a pretty strong position in college football. Year in and year out, we seem to be in that position. And again, it isn't me. It's everybody."
Stoops, one of the nation's highest-paid coaches, has a 109-23 record at Oklahoma, having guided the Sooners to six Big 12 Conference titles and the 2000 national championship. He already receives annual raises of $150,000 under a contract that runs through December 2013. Stoops' 2008 guaranteed annual income was $2.775 million.
Along with the $3 million bonus, Stoops also would receive $250,000 if No. 2 Oklahoma beats No. 1 Florida in the Bowl Championship Series title game on Jan. 8 in Miami.
NFL
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Plenty of good seats are still available for Minnesota's playoff game against Philadelphia.
The Vikings reported 8,000 tickets remaining at noon New Year's Day for Sunday's game against the Eagles. The NFL has granted an extension until 3:30 p.m. local time Friday to reach a virtual sellout, but the possibility of a local TV blackout looms.
The blackout would not only encompass the Twin Cities, but secondary markets in the region as well. It includes satellite, cable and over-the-air systems, so nobody in the area could watch the game unless they're in attendance at the Metrodome.
Vice president of sales and marketing Steve LaCroix said the team has hired extra holiday help to solicit potential buyers. The Vikings haven't had a game blacked out since 1997.
*
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The NFL has granted a second, final 24-hour extension of its television blackout deadline for the Arizona Cardinals' wild card playoff game against Atlanta on Saturday.
The team has until 2:30 p.m. Friday to sell its remaining tickets. A sellout crowd is necessary for the NFL to lift its blackout of the home television market.
The NFL had already extended the deadline 24 hours to 2:30 p.m. Thursday. In a news release, the team said 3,700 tickets remained.
"Based on the activity we've seen the last couple of days and particularly in the last 24 hours, we're very optimistic that this extension will get us where we need to be," said Ron Minegar, the Cardinals executive vice president and chief operating officer.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Marquette 79, No. 15 Villanova 72: MILWAUKEE -- Jerel McNeal scored 24 points and Marquette opened Big East play with an upset, beating No. 15 Villanova 79-72 Thursday.
McNeal's 3-pointer with 3:55 remaining capped a 7-0 run by Marquette (12-2), giving the Golden Eagles an eight-point lead that Villanova couldn't chip away in the closing minutes.
Wesley Matthews added 19, including 16 in the second half.
Corey Fisher scored 21 for the Wildcats (12-2, 0-1), who held each of their first 13 opponents to 68 points or less. Dante Cunningham added 16 points and eight rebounds.
With Marquette leading by 1 point and 5:39 left, the Golden Eagles took control via a 7-0 run that began with a long jumper by Matthews to put Marquette ahead 61-58. Cunningham then was called for traveling under the basket, handing the ball back to the Golden Eagles.
NHL
Bruins 4, Penguins 2: BOSTON -- Manny Fernandez made 30 saves to remain perfect at home and help Boston take the overall NHL lead with its 10 straight victory.
Fernandez improved to 9-0-0 at home. Boston has only two regulation losses since Oct. 30 and its winning streak is its longest since March 9-28, 1973.
With the home-and-home sweep over the Penguins, the Bruins also moved into the top spot in the NHL with 62 points, one more than idle San Jose.
David Krejci, P.J. Axelsson, Milan Lucic and Marc Savard scored for Boston. Dustin Jeffrey scored his first NHL goal, and Ruslan Fedotenko added a goal for Pittsburgh.
*
Capitals 7, Lightning 4: WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two assists in Washington's fifth straight victory and seventh in a row over Tampa Bay.
Matt Bradley, Boyd Gordon and Mike Green had a goal and an assist each, Sean Collins scored his first NHL goal, and David Steckel and Chris Clark added goals to help Washington improve to 16-1-1 at home. Vincent Lecavalier scored twice for Tampa Bay, and Ryan Malone and Mark Recchi added goals.
*
Sabres 4, Maple Leafs 1: TORONTO -- Jason Pominville and Derek Roy each scored twice for Buffalo, and Ryan Miller stopped Niklas Hagman on a penalty shot and finished with 27 saves.
Roy also added an assist. John Mitchell scored for Toronto.
-- Wire reports
