Sports Log

Erickson, Zook, Gill lose coaching jobs

November 28, 2011

Text size – +

E-mail

College football

Erickson, Zook, Gill lose coaching jobs An Arizona State official told the Associated Press yesterday that Dennis Erickson is out as coach, after another season in which the results didn’t meet the expectations for the Sun Devils. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because details of Erickson’s departure have not been finalized. Erickson, 64, will meet with athletic director Lisa Love as early as today and could be allowed to retire rather than be fired. Erickson could still coach in whatever bowl game the Sun Devils play in. Erickson’s job came into jeopardy after Arizona State lost its final four games following a 6-2 start. Erickson, who won a pair of national titles with Miami and had stops at Oregon State and Idaho before arriving in Tempe in 2007, was 31-30 with the Sun Devils . . . Illinois coach Ron Zook was fired after his team followed a 6-0 start to this season with a six-game losing streak, making the Illini the first FBS team to do so, according to STATS, LLC. Athletic director Mike Thomas said defensive coordinator Vic Koenning will take over as interim coach while a search begins for Zook’s successor. Zook came to Illinois in 2005 after being fired in his third season at Florida . . . Kansas fired coach Turner Gill after two losing seasons and with three years remaining on a contract that still owes him about $6 million. Gill was 5-19 with the Jayhawks. Gill arrived at Kansas after taking a perennially downtrodden program at Buffalo to unimaginable heights. But he was fired one day after the Jayhawks lost, 24-10, to rival Missouri and finished the season 2-10 . . . Memphis fired head coach Larry Porter after he went 3-21 in two seasons leading his alma mater . . . Neil Callaway resigned as football coach at Alabama-Birmingham, which lost to previously winless Florida Atlantic, 38-35, Saturday to complete a 3-9 season. In five seasons, Callaway went 18-42 . . . Washington State athletic director Bill Moos said that discussions with coach Paul Wulff about his future are ongoing.

Pro football

Lulay carries B.C. Lions to Grey Cup Travis Lulay led the British Columbia Lions to the Grey Cup title in Vancouver, throwing two second-half touchdown passes in a 34-23 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Lulay, the former Montana State star who added the game MVP award to CFL season MVP honors, completed 21 of 37 passes for 320 yards. The Lions won the title for the sixth time and became the first team in CFL history to win the championship after opening the season with five losses. They also are the first to win at home since 1994. Lulay’s 66-yard TD strike to former University of Houston receiver Kierrie Johnson on the final play of the third quarter put B.C. ahead, 24-9. Winnipeg’s Buck Pierce threw two late touchdown passes.

Tennis

Federer tops Tsonga for ATP World title Roger Federer held off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for his record sixth ATP World Tour Finals title in London, winning, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, at the season-ending tournament. Playing in his 100th career final, Federer broke for a 5-3 lead in the decider and served out the match at love, sealing his 70th career title with an easy volley. With the victory, Federer moved past Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras, who both won five titles at the event for the world’s top eight players. The Swiss star has not lost a match since the US Open semifinals. He finished the year with a 17-match winning streak following titles in Basel and Paris before coming to London. In the doubles final, Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor beat Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, 7-5, 6-3.

Winter sports

Schild captures season-opening slalom Austrian skier Marlies Schild won the season-opening World Cup slalom in Aspen, Colo., easily beating Maria Pietilae-Holmner of Sweden. Lindsey Vonn withdrew moments before the race, citing a sore back. Later, she confirmed that she and Thomas Vonn, her husband of four years, have started divorce proceedings . . . Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal raced to his third World Cup super-G victory at Lake Louise, beating Switzerland’s Didier Cuche by 0.23 seconds. Bode Miller was ninth to top the US finishers . . . Austria dominated the first ski jump World Cup meet of the season in Kuusamo, Finland, by winning the team competition and taking the top three spots, led by Andreas Kofler, in the individual event . . . Double Olympic gold medalist Petter Northug of Norway beat last year’s overall cross-country skiing champion Dario Cologna of Switzerland in the World Cup 15-kilometer pursuit in Kuusamo.

Miscellany

Detroit’s Eaves scheduled for surgery Red Wings forward and former Boston College star Patrick Eaves will have surgery on his broken jaw today in Detroit and is expected to be out 6-8 weeks. Eaves was struck late in Saturday’s game against Nashville by a Roman Josi slap shot and was taken off the ice on a stretcher. He was conscious and lifted himself onto the cart before leaving Joe Louis Arena . . . The Tampa Bay Rays acquired righthander Josh Lueke and a player to be named or cash from the Seattle Mariners for catcher John Jaso . . . Featherweight boxer Matt Remillard is expected to be sentenced to five years in prison tomorrow in the baseball bat beating of a man in Marlborough, Conn. State police say Remillard, 25, from Manchester, Conn., pummeled Jordan Evans in July 2010, leaving Evans with a fractured skull, eye socket, and hand . . . Mark Webber won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo after Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel struggled with a gearbox problem. Vettel, who had already secured the Formula One title, finished second . . . The Brookline-Jamaica Plain junior midget team (12-0) beat New Haven, 18-0, to capture the New England regional championship and advance to next Sunday’s Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando . . . Former Wales national soccer team and English Premier League star Gary Speed, who became coach of Wales 11 months ago, died at age 42.