White Sox' Uribe may skip next season

Chicago White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe may sit out the season after a judge in San Cristobal ordered him to make twice-monthly court appearances in a Dominican Republic shooting case. "I am going to decide if I am playing in the major leagues or not this year," said Uribe, who hit .235 with 21 homers and 71 RBIs last season. "It looks very ugly to be accused of something. But first I am going to resolve this and then I will go to the major leagues." The 27-year-old, due to make $4.15 million this year, said the case was likely to force him to miss the start of spring training in mid-February, but the White Sox say they expect him there. Uribe was questioned along with his brother and a friend following a shooting in October that wounded a Dominican farmer in the coastal city of Juan Baron. The farmer, Antonio Gonzalez Perez, said he was arguing with Uribe and that the player pulled out a pistol and began to fire. Uribe said he was not in Juan Baron when the shooting occurred . . . Fired as manager in October, Felipe Alou rejoined the Giants as special assistant to the general manager . . . Former Atlanta Braves closer Chris Reitsma agreed to a $2.05 million, one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners. David Newhan (Mets) and Jerry Hairston Jr. (Rangers) also got one-year deals.

Maria Sharapova rallied to beat Elena Dementieva, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, advancing to the final of the Champions Challenge at Hong Kong, a warm-up for the Australian Open. Sharapova's opponent will be Kim Clijsters, who defeated Patty Schnyder, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 . . . Top-seeded Martina Hingis lost to No. 2 Dinara Safina, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, in the final of the Australian Women's Hardcourt Championship today at Gold Coast . . . Rafael Nadal swept Davide Sanguinetti, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Chennai (India) Open. He'll face third-seeded Xavier Malisse, who defeated Fabrice Santoro, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 . . . Andy Murray capitalized on Nikolay Davydenko's shin injury to upset the top seed, 7-5, 6-2, advancing to the Qatar Open final in Doha. The No. 4 seed will face No. 2 Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Robin Soderling, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 . . . Russia defeated Spain, 2-0, at Perth, Australia, to win its first Hopman Cup team title.

Calgary Flames star Jarome Iginla will be sidelined for at least a week after spraining a ligament in his left knee. Iginla, who has 23 goals and 30 assists in 39 games, was injured Thursday night when his leg was pinned against the boards by Florida defenseman Bryan Allen. The Flames captain then got into a spirited fight with Allen . . . Canada scored three goals in a three-minute span for a 4-2 win over Russia, capturing its third consecutive gold in the World Junior Hockey Championship at Leksand, Sweden. The United States took third place with a 2-1 win over Sweden. Erik Johnson scored the winning goal and assisted on the first . . . The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that former 76ers coach Larry Brown, an unofficial team adviser, will be named executive vice president today . . .The Nuggets' Allen Iverson was fined $25,000 by the NBA for his remarks about referee Steve Javie following Denver's loss Tuesday to Philadelphia. The NBA penalized Iverson for "verbal abuse of a game official" and for postgame criticism of an official . . . Pat Riley had three large pieces of cartilage removed from his right knee, but a timetable for the Miami Heat coach's return is still unknown . . . The inflated roof at B.C. Place, the 60,000-seat Vancouver stadium where the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be held, collapsed as heavy, wet sleet fell. There was no event going on in the stadium and fire officials said no injuries were reported . . . Central Michigan chose West Virginia assistant Butch Jones as football coach, replacing Brian Kelly, who took the Cincinnati job last month . . . Tampa Bay's Jon Gruden and San Francisco's Mike Nolan and their staffs will coach in college football's Senior Bowl at Mobile, Ala., Jan. 27.