Gretzky fears two-year shutdown
Wayne Gretzky fears the NHL could be shut down for as long as two years if a labor deal is not reached soon. The NHL's all-time leading scorer and part owner of the Phoenix Coyotes said an "even more alarming" scenario could await the league if the lockout is not settled in the next few days. "I'm scared we could be looking at a year, year-and-a-half, two years, not just three months like a lot of people thought back in September," Gretzky said. The NHL board of governors will meet Jan. 14 in New York . . . Dan Gilbert, founder of the nation's largest online mortgage company, Quicken Loans, bought the Cleveland Cavaliers for $375 million yesterday from Gordon Gund. The Detroit businessman heads a group of investors that will assume ownership of the team and operational control of the 20,000-seat Gund Arena once the league's Board of Governors approves the deal . . . The Golden State Warriors acquired forward Zarko Cabarkapa from the Phoenix Suns for two second-round draft picks . . . The Suns activated center Jake Voskuhl who missed 11 games following an appendectomy . . . James Blake won three straight points in a second-set tiebreaker today to beat Peter Wessels of the Netherlands, 6-1, 7-6 (4) and clinch a 2-0 victory for the United States at the Hopman Cup at Perth, Australia. Meghann Shaughnessy, a late addition to the American team for the injured Lindsay Davenport, beat 15-year-old Michaella Krajicek, 7-5, 6-4. In other Hopman action, Mark Philippoussis and Alicia Molik rallied after dropping the first set and beat Dominik Hrbaty and Daniela Hantuchova, 11-9, in a mixed doubles third-set super-tiebreaker to give Australia a 2-1 win over Slovakia . . . Top-ranked Roger Federer made his 2005 debut by beating David Ferrer of Spain, 6-1, 6-1, in the first round of the Qatar Open . . . Third-seeded Rainer Schuettler was upset by Oliver Patience, 6-2, 6-2, in the first round of the Chennai Open at Madras, India, which started as scheduled despite the tsunami catastrophe . . . NASCAR driver Robby Gordon retook the lead in the Dakar Rally with his second stage victory. Gordon won the third leg of the 76-mile race from Rabat to Agadir, Morocco, in 1 hour 14 minutes 1 second.
Miscellany
Gundy takes over at Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma State wasted little time in finding a new football coach to replace Les Miles, who was hired at Louisiana State. The Cowboys promoted offensive coordinator Mike Gundy to head coach. Gundy, a record-setting quarterback for the Cowboys in the late 1980s, joined the Oklahoma State staff in December 2000 when Miles became head coach . . . Meanwhile, Oklahoma State junior running back Vernand Morency said he will declare for the NFL draft because Miles is leaving. "When the boss man leaves, you don't know where the team is heading," Morency said . . . The Salt Lake Tribune reported that quarterback Alex Smith, who led Utah to a 12-0 season and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Pittsburgh, has decided to skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft . . . Peter Mazzaferro, head football coach at Bridgewater State for the past 36 years, is retiring. Mazzaferro compiled a 195-137-7 record for the Bears and won or shared New England Conference titles seven times . . . Washington football coach Tyrone Willingham hired five assistant coaches, including three who worked with him at Notre Dame -- defensive coordinator Kent Baer, offensive line coach Mike Dembrock, and secondary coach Steven Wilks . . . St. John's will not participate in the Big East basketball tournament because of penalties the school imposed on itself earlier this season. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese confirmed that the Red Storm will not be eligible and there will be one less game in the 11-team tournament, with the fifth-seeded team also receiving a bye into the quarterfinals . . . Christian Cantwell, Adam Nelson, John Godina, and Reese Hoffa, who among them had the 10 longest throws in the world last year, will compete in the shot put at the Reebok Boston Indoor games Jan. 29 at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center . . . Finland's Janne Ahonen won his third straight leg of the Four Hills ski jump at Innsbruck, Austria, moving within one victory of sweeping the event. He has captured 10 of 11 World Cup competitions this season . . . Boston College's women's basketball team moved to No. 13 in the Associated Press poll, vaulting past UConn, which slipped four spots to No 15. The 11-0 BC men moved into the AP poll at No. 25.
