Yale's new coach will make history

Jacksonville Jaguars assistant Tom Williams has been hired at Yale, becoming the first black head football coach at the Ivy League school, the Associated Press and New Haven Register reported, citing sources familiar with the selection process. The school called a news conference for tomorrow to introduce the new coach. The 38-year-old Williams spent the past two seasons working with the Jaguars defense and has been an assistant at Hawaii, Washington, Stanford, and San Jose State. He replaces Jack Siedlecki, who retired after 12 seasons to become an assistant athletic director at Yale. UMass coach and former Yale assistant Don Brown was a candidate for the job, the Register reported, but talks broke down during contract discussions. Norries Wilson became the Ivy League's first black head coach when he was hired by Columbia after the 2005 season . . . Boston College defensive tackle Ron Brace, Northeastern tight end Brian Mandeville of Walpole, and Syracuse offensive guard Ryan Durand, formerly of Leominster, have been selected to play in the 84th East-West Shrine Game Jan. 17 in Houston. The 6-foot-7-inch, 253-pound Mandeville was one of four selections from the Football Championship Subdivision.

Mats Sudin's first game with the Vancouver Canucks could come as soon as tomorrow night. A coveted free agent, Sundin signed with Vancouver Dec. 18 and had his first full practice yesterday. The 37-year-old, nine months removed from his last NHL game in a 17-season career, said he would travel with the team to tomorrow night's game at Edmonton but there was no word if the longtime Toronto captain would play. The Canucks cleared room for Sundin to join the lineup this week, sending forward Jannik Hansen to Manitoba of the AHL . . . Buffalo Sabres captain Craig Rivet is ready to return after missing nearly a month with a shoulder injury, but forward Maxim Afinogenov is out indefinitely after hurting his groin when he was checked by Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara Saturday . . . The injury list keeps growing for the Philadelphia Flyers. Winger Joffrey Lupul will miss at least two weeks with a pulled abdominal muscle, and backup goaltender Antero Niittymaki will miss at least a week with a strained a groin muscle. Rookie center Jonathon Kalinski had surgery to have blood drained from a leg contusion, and rookie winger Claude Giroux is out indefinitely with a mild concussion. Simon Gagne (shoulder) might return tonight at Washington . . . The Columbus Blue Jackets placed defenseman Rostislav Klesla (lower body injury) on injured reserve. Klesla could miss four weeks.

Cody Hodgson scored twice as Canada won its fifth straight gold medal at the world junior championships, beating Sweden, 5-1, in the final in Ottawa. Canada's 15th gold at the world juniors matched Russia/Soviet Union for the all-time lead . . . Boston University, which won the Denver Cup over the weekend with wins over Rensselaer and Denver, climbed a spot to No. 2 in the USCHO Division 1 men's college poll. Northeastern, which beat Western Michigan before losing in overtime to Minnesota in the final of the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minneapolis, moved up two spots to No. 4. Boston College, which played two exhibition games, fell two spots to No. 9. Notre Dame remained No. 1.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton will be sidelined for at least two weeks by a foot injury. Walton, who started 11 consecutive games before missing Sunday's 100-86 win over Portland, will wear a protective boot for a week . . . Wizards coach Ed Tapscott said guard Gilbert Arenas is showing "signs of progress" as he works to return from knee surgery . . . Oklahoma City rookie forward D.J. White had a second surgery to remove a benign growth from his jaw, and is expected to miss at least the next 12 weeks . . . Suns guard Jason Richardson is facing charges of driving under the influence of alcohol Dec. 21 in an American Indian tribal community in metropolitan Phoenix . . . The Los Angeles Clippers acquired 7-1 Cheikh Samb of Senegal from Denver for a conditional second-round draft pick . . . Pittsburgh (14-0) made it to the top of the Associated Press men's college poll for the first time. Duke (12-1) jumped from fifth to second. North Carolina (13-1), which lost to new No. 17 Boston College Sunday, was third and Wake Forest (13-0) fourth. Connecticut (12-1) dropped three places to fifth.

David Beckham has a clause in his five-year deal with Major League Soccer that would enable him to leave the Los Angeles Galaxy after the 2009 season, his third with the team, Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reported. Beckham, on loan to AC Milan until March, is expected to play for the Italian juggernaut in an exhibition game against Hamburg today . . . Dominik Hrbaty upset James Blake, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), to lead Slovakia to victory over the defending champion United States at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. Dominika Cibulkova beat Meghann Shaughnessy, 6-2, 6-2, in the opening women's singles match . . . Entercom New England re-signed WEEI Sports Radio host Glenn Ordway to a multi-year contract . . . New Hampshire's Kris Freeman won a men's individual freestyle race shortened from 15 kilometers to 10 at the US Cross-Country Ski Championships in Anchorage. The temperature climbed to 2 degrees above zero, enabling the competition to begin after subzero temperatures canceled a weekend of races.