Sports briefs
Selig says some clubs lost money this year
CHICAGO (AP) - Some teams lost money in 2009, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday after the final owners meeting of the year.
"There was no question about that," Selig said. "I don't think the concerns have been ameliorated at all. I think the concerns are still there because all these people have their own economists."
Selig said final figures for this year are still being calculated and everyone is living in the most difficult economic times since the Great Depression. He declined to identify the teams.
Major League Baseball's average attendance dropped 6.7 percent last season from an average of 32,528 in 2008 to an average of 30,350. Total attendance of 73.4 million was baseball's fifth-highest.
Alomar hoping for Hall of Fame election
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Roberto Alomar has career numbers that compare favorably with many of baseball's greatest second basemen. The question is how will one memorable lapse impact his bid to make the Hall of Fame.
On the ballot for the first time, the 12-time All-Star's resume is impressive. He was a two-time World Series champion with Toronto, and hit .300 with 210 homers, 1,134 RBIs and 474 stolen bases in 17 seasons.
But his stats have often been overshadowed by an incident in late 1996 when, after being called out on strikes, he spit in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck.
Alomar and Hirschbeck grew close after that episode.
"We became real good friends," Alomar said Thursday. "He forgave me and I hope all the other people forgive me. Sometimes, we as human beings, we do stupid things. I regret doing that."
Wilson plans major overhaul of Bills
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) - Firing coach Dick Jauron was merely the start of a major overhaul Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson is prepared to conduct this offseason in order to make his team a contender again.
Outlining his plans in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Wilson said he's open to going after a high-profile coach, is willing to hire a general manager with a football background, and warned that no position on his team is safe.
"I tell you, we have a lot of work to do," Wilson said from his home in suburban Detroit. "We've got to revamp and take a look at the whole operation and that's what we're going to do."
Dungy seeks better NFL communication
NEW YORK (AP) - Tony Dungy is taking a lead role in improving communication between the NFL and its players.
Dungy will lead a new NFL player advisory forum that will meet with players about league policies, programs and issues that affect their lives on and off the field. Those subjects will include player health and safety, personal conduct, game rules and procedures, career transition and player development.
Dungy, who retired as coach of the Indianapolis Colts after last season, is a special adviser to commissioner Roger Goodell.
Notre Dame plans quick Weis decision
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick plans to make a decision on the future of coach Charlie Weis within days of the season's end.
Swarbrick said Thursday that how he made his decision last fall, when he met with Weis three days after the season ended and told him he would be back, would be "fairly representative of the timing" of what he does this year.
The Fighting Irish play at home against Connecticut (4-5) on Saturday then play at No. 14 Stanford (7-3) in the regular-season finale on Nov. 28. Notre Dame (6-4) is hoping for a good bowl bid.
Swarbrick said the student-athletes are his primary concern because he knows the scrutiny of Weis is difficult for the team.
"I understand with everything that's swirling around it's tough on them. My interest is being responsive to their needs," he said.
The evaluation of Weis is an ongoing process, he said.
"But it gets more intense toward the last quarter of the season, the last third of the season. It's always happening, but you get a little more organized about it as you approach the end of the season," he said.
Swarbrick said he will take into account more than Weis' 35-25 record, which is the same winning percentage as his two predecessors.
He pointed out that NCAA graduation numbers released Wednesday show Weis is doing a good job. He said Weis is doing well in other areas, saying the football team does well in the classroom, doesn't have disciplinary issues and Weis does a good job of bringing in the types of student-athletes Notre Dame likes.
"Many, many of those other things that are important to our analysis are quite positive," Swarbrick said.
Swarbrick added, though, that the won-loss record is a "very important" part of the equation.
"Sports are about winning and losing and none of us shy away from that," he said.
Swarbrick said another factor he takes into consideration is how the student-athletes feel about a coach. A number of Irish players said this week they believe Weis should be allowed to come back for a sixth season.
"Coach Weis is, I think, just a great fit for what Notre Dame stands for and what this university is looking for," quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. "To be honest, a lot of people don't know who coach Weis is, what he's all about. He's a loving, caring guy. He treats all the guys on the team exactly the same as he treats his son Charlie Jr."
Defensive end John Ryan said Weis sets the tone for the team in his work ethic.
"He's a true success story in the way he's risen all the way up the ranks to what some would say is the pinnacle of the college profession," he said. "It's his work ethic. He's tireless. He doesn't stop working."
Weis said he won't spend any time Saturday thinking it could be his last home game as Notre Dame coach.
"Not one bit. That would be very selfish for me to do it, to start off with," he said. "I'd have to be very, very, very selfish for me to be thinking about anyone other than those fourth- and fifth-year players. I promise as far as I could ever tell I don't think those thoughts would ever enter my mind."
Ex-players cite abuse by kansas coach
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - University of Kansas officials are willing to talk with former players about allegations of abusive behavior by football coach Mark Mangino - and two former players had plenty to say on Thursday.
Former Jayhawks receiver Raymond Brown recalled how in 2007, after his younger brother was wounded in a shooting near his home in St. Louis, teammates gathered around and warmly pledged their support.
A few days later, Brown said, an angry Mangino ordered him to the sideline during practice and made a shockingly insensitive comment.
"He went off on me yelling, which is fine," Brown told The Associated Press. "I kept saying, #Yes, sir, yes, sir,' to everything he was saying. A teammate asked me what happened. Then he started on me again and I said, #Yes, sir,' and he said, #Don't you #yes sir' me. I'll send you back to St. Louis where you can get shot by your homies."'
Brown and another former player also told the AP that Mangino made insensitive comments about a player's father being an alcoholic.
Mangino declined to return calls Thursday but defended himself later Thursday night on his weekly radio program, saying there were "people who are embarrassing this program just for their 15 minutes of fame."
"More than anything some guys might be a little bitter because we have structure and discipline, because I've asked them to represent the football program and the university in a class way," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of our guys have done that. They have been great. I'll be honest with you - some of this stuff is flat-out embellished and not true. Just not true."
The university this week confirmed that it is investigating allegations of verbal and emotional abuse by Mangino, the 2007 national coach of the year.
The probe by associate athletic director for risk management Lori Williams began Sunday after senior linebacker Arist Wright complained to athletic director Lew Perkins that Mangino had poked him in the chest while chewing him out.
None of the players interviewed by the AP had been contacted by the school, but they likely will.
"Lori Williams will talk to whomever she feels she needs to talk to to conduct this review," associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said Thursday. "It will be thorough."
Mangino maintains he has done nothing wrong and is fully focused on getting the Jayhawks (5-5, 1-5 Big 12) ready to play at No. 3 Texas on Saturday.
"I have not done anything that's inappropriate," Mangino said after practice Wednesday night. "I have been in this conference for nearly 20 years, and what I can tell you is that our coaching intensity does not largely differ from the other Big Eight and Big 12 teams that I have observed. We have handled this program in terms of intensity and holding players accountable the same since 2002 to today."
Nevertheless, a rising tide of criticism seems to be threatening Mangino's job just two years after he received a raise and contract extension for going 12-1 in 2007 and beating Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. While some players voiced support for their coach, many former players have bitterly recalled instances where they say his comments went over the line.
Brown and former wide receiver Dexton Fields said a player was having a bad practice one day when Mangino became exasperated. They said they did not want to embarrass the player by naming him.
"He wanted to be a lawyer," Brown said in a telephone interview from his home in St. Louis. "He messed up, and Mangino said to his face, in front of everybody, #You want to be a lawyer? You're going to be an alcoholic just like your dad."'
Fields, speaking from his home in Lawrence, said he was present.
"We all knew his father had a drinking problem," he said.
Mangino also said on the radio interview that some of the problems stemmed from players' parents.
"I can't do the work of some parents, what they should have done before they got to me. And some of those guys are bitter. And some that's the problem. And I can't do anything about that."
After starting 5-0 and rising to No. 16 in the AP poll, the Jayhawks have lost five in a row. Mangino indicated this week that the investigation was related to the losing streak.
"I've seen some instances where he said some pretty mean things to people," Fields said. "Did that motivate guys to play hard? Yes and no. It got you mad. So when you went out onto the field you had to do whatever you needed to do to take your anger out. But I don't think it makes you a better player. The negative outweighed the positive."
Senior quarterback Todd Reesing, a Mangino supporter, noted the program was in shambles when Mangino arrived in 2002.
"He's always been very stern in his resolve," Reesing said. "He came here to a team that was undisciplined and a program that lacked it and he established discipline and got guys to work hard and believe in themselves. He's done a lot of good things. The way he's approached football is the way a lot of coaches approach it."
