Sports Log

Interviews set for McDaniels and Pioli

January 4, 2009

Text size – +

Football

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who interviewed with the Cleveland Browns for their head coaching vacancy Friday, is scheduled to interview with the Denver Broncos for their head coaching position today in Providence. Meanwhile, Patriots vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli, who interviewed with the Browns Wednesday to run their football operation, is also scheduled to interview with the Kansas City Chiefs for a similar position.

MIKE REISS

Millen takes the blame for 0-16 Lions

Fired Detroit Lions president Matt Millen, the architect of the NFL's first 0-16 team, says he's responsible for its historic encounter with failure. Appearing on NBC's "Football Night in America," Millen said he would have fired himself after the 2008 season. He said being sacked after the third week cost the Lions and coach Rod Marinelli some needed stability and consistency. Detroit went 31-84 under Millen, a Super Bowl-winning linebacker lured out of the broadcast booth by team owner William Clay Ford in 2001 . . . Former New York Giants wide receiver Mark Ingram was arrested in Michigan, nearly a month after he disappeared on the day he was scheduled to begin serving a prison sentence for bank fraud and money laundering . . . Rutgers junior wide receiver Kenny Britt announced he's going to bypass his senior season with the Scarlet Knights and declare for the NFL draft. Britt led the Big East this season with 87 catches for 1,371 yards and scored 7 touchdowns.

Winter sports

Germany wins Nordic combined; US 6th

The German team of Georg Hettich, Eric Frenzel, Bjoern Kircheisen, and Tino Edelmann finished 16.9 seconds ahead of Norway in the 20-kilometer relay to win the four-man competition of the Nordic combined World Cup event in Schonach, Germany. Austria was third. Germany also won the ski jump portion, ahead of Austria and Finland. The US team of Todd Lodwick, Bill Demong, Johnny Spillane, and Brett Camerota finished sixth overall, moving up in the relay after finishing eighth in the jumping . . . Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch of Germany won their first World Cup luge doubles race of the season in Koenigssee, Germany, finishing in 1 minute 34.616 seconds to edge Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany by 0.07 seconds. Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger of Austria finished third. Mark Grimmette of Muskegon, Mich., and Brian Martin of Palo Alto, Calif., finished eighth. Christian Niccum of Woodinville, Wash., and Dan Joye of Carmel, N.Y., were ninth. In the women's singles, two-time world champion Tatjana Huefner of Germany finished in 1:34.948 to beat Natalie Geisenberger and Anke Wischnewski of Germany. Erin Hamlin of Remsen, N.Y., and Ashley Walden of Westborough, Mass., finished 11th and 14th, respectively . . . Former Craftsman Truck series champion Todd Bodine and brakeman Kenneth Stout of Ogdensburg, N.Y., beat Larry Gunselman and brakeman Matthew Golovach of Morrisonville, N.Y., by a hundredth of a second - 52.20-52.21 - to win qualifying for the fourth annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Hockey

NHL suspends Ducks' Perry 4 games

Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry was suspended for four games by the NHL for elbowing Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux during the third period Friday night. Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Perry will lose $114,516, missing games against Phoenix today, the home-and-home series against Los Angeles Tuesday and Thursday, and Friday against Tampa Bay . . . The Columbus Blue Jackets added forward Maksim Mayorov to the roster from their AHL affiliate in Syracuse . . . Martin Karsums, Mikko Lehtonen, Matt Marquardt, Wacey Rabbit, and Johnny Boychuk all scored to lift the first-place Providence Bruins over the Falcons, 5-2, in Springfield . . . Mikael Backlund scored two goals to help Sweden reach the championship of the world junior hockey championship with a 5-3 win over Slovakia in Ottawa. David Ullstrom, Simon Hjalmarsson, and Oscar Moller also scored for Sweden, which made it to the final for the second straight year.

Miscellany

Hornets' Chandler suspended 1 game

Hornets center Tyson Chandler was suspended without pay for last night's game at Denver for striking an opponent the previous night. Chandler was ejected during the third quarter of the Hornets' 92-77 win at Portland for elbowing Trail Blazers center Joel Przybilla in the neck. Przybilla was also fined $7,500 for his role in the incident. He struck Chandler in the chest with his forearm before Chandler retaliated . . . Andy Murray defeated top-ranked Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, to capture the Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition and $250,000 winner-take-all prize in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A day earlier in the semifinals, he topped No. 2-ranked Roger Federer, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6). The tournament, not part of the ATP Tour, included six of the world's top 10 players . . . Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan beat Genaro Garcia of Mexico on a technical knockout in the 12th round to retain his World Boxing Council super bantamweight interim title in Yokohama, Japan.