Football’s Heath Shuler and Sam Wyche scored victories of a different sort Tuesday while basketball’s Kevin Johnson and boxing’s Joe Mesi were looking to win elections.
Craig Robinson wasn’t listed on any ballot, but the first-year Oregon State basketball coach could soon be a frequent White House visitor. Robinson was in Chicago to watch election results with his family, which includes brother-in-law Barack Obama, the president-elect.
Shuler, a Heisman Trophy runner-up at Tennessee and North Carolina Democrat, won in his first bid for re-election to Congress.
Wyche, who coached in the NFL with Cincinnati and Tampa Bay, ran as a Republican and won a seat on the Pickens County Council in South Carolina.
Johnson, a former NBA all-star, was running to become the first black mayor of Sacramento, Calif. The Democrat was facing two-term incumbent Heather Fargo.
Mesi, who has never been beaten in the ring, was running as a Democrat for the state Senate in New York. Joey Browner, a former Pro Bowl safety with the Minnesota Vikings, was running as a write-in and was almost certain to lose his bid for a place on the City Council in Eagan, Minn. Former Denver Bears slugger Randy Bass was bidding for the Oklahoma Legislature.
Burnett opts out of deal with Jays.
A.J. Burnett told the Toronto Blue Jays he will opt out of the remaining two seasons of his $55 million, five-year contract. The pitcher will forfeit $24 million and can file for free agency.
• The New York Yankees declined their 2009 options on first baseman Jason Giambi, who will receive a $5 million buyout rather than a $22 million salary next season.
• St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter had surgery to transpose a nerve in his right elbow. An immediate prognosis was not available.
• The Brewers hired Dale Sveum as hitting coach, bringing back the interim manager who led Milwaukee to its first playoff berth in 26 years.
• Former slugger Jose Canseco pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of trying to bring a fertility drug across the Mexican border. He was sentenced to 12 months of unsupervised probation.
Footnotes.
Augusta National will be shorter for the Masters next year — but only by 10 yards on the scorecard, with the option to trim off a few more yards depending on the weather.
• Diego Maradona became Argentina’s new soccer coach, taking over the team he led to the World Cup championship in 1986.
• Rafael Nadal has tendinitis in his right knee and could be in doubt for Spain’s Davis Cup final against Argentina from Nov. 21-23.
• Lennart Bergelin, who coached Bjorn Borg for 12 years and captained Sweden to its first Davis Cup title, died of heart failure in Stockholm, Sweden. He was 83.
• World Boxing Council light heavyweight champ Adrian Diaconu postponed his first title defense because of a hand injury. Diaconu (25-0) was scheduled to faced Silvio Branco (57-9-3) on Nov. 15.
• Veteran NHL player Martin Gelinas signed with Swiss club Bern to bolster its European Champions Hockey League campaign.
The Associated Press
