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2B – Daily News – Wednesday, November 3, 2010 Sports world fills its lineup card on Election Day By FRED LIEF AP Sports Writer One-time pro wrestling executive Linda McMahon was taken down in Connecticut on Tuesday, losing her bid for a U.S. Senate seat in one of some two dozen races across the country involving sports figures. McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Enter- tainment who presented herself as a shrewd business- woman, was beaten by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Throughout the Republican primary and general elec- tion, McMahon was questioned about the WWE’s role in steroids, the health of the wrestlers and the way wrestling portrays women. McMahon and husband Vince McMahon turned what was once a marginal enterprise into a cash-rich empire. She besieged the state with ads and is believed to have spent at least $50 million of her own money on her campaign. In Oregon, in another high-profile contest, former NBA player Chris Dudley was running for governor. The 6-foot- 49ers center Heitmann placed on injured reserve San Francisco 49ers SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Longtime San Francisco 49ers center Eric Heitmann was placed on season-ending injured reserve Tuesday, clearing roster room for the addi- tion of new linebacker Thaddeus Gibson. The Niners (2-6), in their bye week after beating the Den- ver Broncos 24-16 in London on Sunday, claimed Gibson off waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He will get work on special teams initially. Coach Mike Singletary said Tuesday that Heitmann was- n’t recovering quickly enough, and the team didn’t want to push him beyond what he could do to get back on the field. ‘‘We were telling him it was a week-to-week thing, but it’s not making progress as fast as we would like or as fast as he would like,’’ Singletary said. ‘‘After a while you kind of begin to press it a bit and (he) just didn’t get to do that. We wanted to make sure we did what was in the best interest of Eric as well as the team and go ahead and put him on IR so he can not try to speed up and do something that we don’t need him to do right now, and at the same time try and get another guy to help us on special teams.’’ Singletary also said Tuesday he is planning to start Troy Smith at quarterback for a second straight game against the St. Louis Rams on Nov. 14 after the bye week. Regular starter Alex Smith separated his left shoulder in a 23-20 loss at Carolina on Oct. 24. Smith could need two to three more weeks to recover. The 30-year-old Heitmann was listed out with a neck injury, though he hadn’t played all season after breaking the fibula in his left leg early in training camp Aug. 9. He was expected to miss up to two months and returned to practice Sept. 29. David Baas took his place on the starting offensive line. Heitmann, a ninth-year pro out of Stanford, was going to miss at least another four weeks with a neck injury that also happened in training camp. Before his injuries this year, Heitmann had started every game at center each of the past three seasons. He played 14 games there in 2006 before breaking his right leg, needing surgery and missing the final two games. Replacing some- one as essential as the guy who snaps the ball to the quarter- back was a tough task. Baas hadn’t played center regularly since his senior season at Michigan, but played one game there at the end of the ’06 campaign in Heitmann’s place. ‘‘It’s been exceptional,’’ Singletary said of Baas’ work filling in. ‘‘I remember talking to him during training camp when Eric initially was injured and just trying to get a feel for where he was in having not played the position in a while. And then being able to jump in there and do the job, I thought not only did he step up and do the job, but he’s made great strides.’’ Heitmann tried to help in any way to make the transition smoother for Baas, even taking notes for his teammates and attending offensive line meetings. He will be forced to take on such a role again now. Gibson was inactive for the Steelers’ first six games before they cut him Sunday. A fourth-round draft pick this year out of Ohio State, selected 116th overall, the 23-year- old Gibson finished his collegiate career with 82 tackles, 10 sacks, 25 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and an interception in 35 games. He and 49ers offensive tackle Alex Boone were college teammates from 2006-08. Sharks shutout ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Niklas Backstrom stopped 36 shots, Andrew Brunette scored the game’s only goal and the Minnesota Wild shut out the powerful San Jose Sharks 1-0 on Tuesday night. The Sharks held an 18-4 shots advantage midway through the second period, but found themselves trailing after Brunette scored a 5-on-3 goal with 7 minutes left in the period. Harassed by Wild defensemen Brent Burns and Nick Schultz, and denied by Backstrom all night, the Sharks’ dan- gerous top line of Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau was shut down. Backstrom recorded his first shutout since March 3, 2010, at Calgary. The Wild killed five power plays, highlighted by a key stop with 7 minutes remaining in the third. The Sharks entered as the top power-play team in the league at 31.6 per- cent. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Wild against the Sharks and snapped Backstrom out of a funk against San Jose. Before the shutout, Backstrom was 2-7-3 with a 3.19 goals-against average vs. the Sharks. The Fin made several key saves on Sharks power plays, including denying Joe Pavelski in the third on a 5-on-4 advantage. 11 center once played for the Portland Trail Blazers and drew on his NBA connections for support, including that of Commissioner David Stern. Election Day also featured another ex-NBA center — Shawn Bradley, the 7-foot-6 ex-BYU star who is trying to join the Utah Legislature. Heath Shuler, the former quarterback for the Washing- ton Redskins and New Orleans Saints, was re-elected to Congress from North Carolina in an important race for Democrats. Shuler, part of the conservative Blue Dog coali- tion, held off Republican Jeff Miller in a campaign in which the football star tried to show where he broke with his party’s leadership. Republican Jon Runyan, a former Philadelphia Eagles lineman who spent 14 years in the NFL, defeated Democ- rat John Adler in a tight U.S. House race in New Jersey. Republican Jason Chaffetz, who once kicked 10 extra points in a game for BYU, was re-elected to Congress from Utah. Alan Page, the Pro Football Hall of Famer for the Min- nesota Vikings, kept his seat on the Minnesota Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate is losing its headline sports figure with the retirement of Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning of Ken- tucky. Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, owner of the Milwau- kee Bucks, was not up for election. A Virginia congressional featured former Virginia foot- ball player Kenny Golden. The conservative Republican lost while running as an independent. In a U.S. House race in Ohio, former Arena Football owner James Renacci was a winner. The Republican used to own the Columbus Destroyers. Republican Connie Mack, the great grandson of the leg- endary manager, easily won re-election to Congress from Florida. Associated Press writers Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., and Nigel Duara in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report. In the Tennessee Legislature, it was hardly a close call for former American League umpire Dale Ford. He ran unopposed. ——— Brewers to hire Ron Roenicke as manager Milwaukee Brewers MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ron Roenicke showed he can win as a fill-in manager. Now he gets a chance to do it every day. The Milwaukee Brewers hired the Los Angeles Angels’ bench coach to be their new manager, a person with knowledge of the situa- tion told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The per- son requested anonymity because the team had not yet announced the move. The 54-year-old Roenicke has been a mem- ber of the Angels’ coaching staff for 11 seasons, includ- ing the past five as bench coach. He won each time he subbed for Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia, a perfect 7 for 7. Roenicke replaces Ken Macha, who was let go after two disappointing seasons, a tenure that came in the wake of the team’s 2008 playoff appearance — its first since 1982. He inherits a team with pitching problems and a prince — Prince Fielder — facing an uncertain future. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported Roenicke’s hir- ing. Roenicke was seen as a long shot candidate in the Brewers’ search. Other reported candidates includ- ed Chicago White Sox bench coach Joey Cora, for- mer New York Mets manag- er Bobby Valentine and for- mer Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin. All-Star right fielder Corey Hart said Tuesday night he didn’t know any- thing about Roenicke, who becomes the fourth Milwau- kee manager in the last two- plus years. ‘‘I’m sure since he was the guy picked over the rest of the candidates that he’s the right guy to lead us back to the playoffs,’’ Hart said in a text message. ‘‘I look for- ward to getting to know him.’’ Roenicke has never been a full-time major league manager outside of his suc- cessful games filling in for Scioscia. He was the Angels’ third base coach for his first six seasons with club and became bench coach when Joe Maddon left for Tampa Bay. Scioscia’s staff has been fertile ground for manageri- al candidates, with the San Diego Padres also looking there to find Bud Black. Roenicke began his coaching career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and went on to coach in the minor leagues, including five seasons as a manager. He also played for six major league teams over eight seasons. He was a career .238 hitter with 17 homers and 113 RBIs in 527 games. Roenicke reached the postseason in 1984 as a member of the NL champi- on San Diego Padres. He takes over a team that has struggled to find consis- tent pitching and must make a difficult decision on whether to trade Fielder, its burly first baseman. Milwaukee has a young core of All-Stars, with out- fielders Ryan Braun and Corey Hart and staff ace Yovani Gallardo signed to long-term contracts, and has an enthusiastic fan base for a small market. But Fielder is heading into his final year under team control and is expected to seek a budget-busting free-agent contract. Milwaukee made several personnel moves Tuesday, waving goodbye to reliever Trevor Hoffman. The Brewers declined their $7.5 million mutual option on Hoffman and will Obama congratulates Giants San Francisco Giants WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is looking for- ward to congratulating the San Francisco Giants in person at the White House for win- ning their first World Series in more than a half century. The White House says Obama telephoned those in the baseball NCAAFOOTBALL Today’s televised game Rutgers at South Florida, 4 p.m., ESPN2 organization Tuesday and recalled the excite- ment he felt when his beloved White Sox broke their World Series drought. Obama said he enjoyed watching Mon- day night’s winning game and mentioned that he wanted to find out if there really was magic in the beard of closer Brian Wilson. NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Kings Dallas WL OT Pts GF GA 8 3 0 16 34 25 6 4 0 12 32 27 SHARKS 54 1 11 29 26 Phoenix 3 4 3 9 23 29 Ducks Central Division ODDS Glantz-Culver Line For Nov.3 NCAAFootball Today at South Florida 10 (42) at Ohio Thursday 15 (45) NFL Sunday Chicago-x San Diego 3 (40.5) 1.5 (50) New Orleans 7 (42.5) at Minnesota 9 (40.5) at Atlanta N.Y.Jets at Baltimore Buffalo at Houston at Carolina Arizona 8.5 (44.5) Tampa Bay 4 (41.5) 5.5 (40.5) New England 4.5 (44) at Cleveland N.Y.Giants at Oakland 5.5 (41.5) at Philadelphia 3 (46.5) at Green Bay 8 (45.5) Monday 4.5(41.5) Pittsburgh x-at Toronto NBA Today at Atlanta at New Jersey 1 at Orlando 11 16 at Philadelphia 1.5 at Boston at Houston at Denver at Utah 6.5 5 4 11 San Antonio 1.5 at Golden State 5 6.5 NHL Today Boston -145 at Washington-220 at Carolina -160 at Florida -130 at Chicago -190 at Dallas -120 Detroit -120 at Phoenix -135 at Anaheim -120 at Buffalo +125 Toronto+180 N.Y.Islanders +140 Atlanta +110 NewJersey +165 Pittsburgh+100 at Calgary+100 Nashville +115 TampaBay +100 Detroit Charlotte Minnesota Indiana Milwaukee NewOrleans Dallas Toronto atPhoenix Memphis Oklahoma City 7.5 a tL.A.Clippers L.A.Lakers atSacramento at Seattle 2.5 (40.5) KansasCity Indianapolis Dallas at Cincinnati at Detroit Miami Rutgers Buffalo at Virginia Tech 13 (56) GeorgiaTech 4 7 1 9 29 42 WL OT Pts GF GA Chicago 7 6 1 15 41 40 St. Louis 6 1 2 14 26 17 Columbus 7 4 0 14 27 29 Detroit 6 2 1 13 30 24 Nashville 5 2 3 13 23 25 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 6 3 2 14 31 27 Colorado 6 4 1 13 39 39 Calgary 6 5 0 12 33 34 Minnesota 5 4 2 12 27 27 Edmonton 3 5 2 8 31 37 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 7 4 1 15 37 29 N.Y. Rangers 6 4 1 13 34 32 Pittsburgh 6 5 1 13 35 28 N.Y. Islanders4 5 2 10 31 37 New Jersey 3 9 1 7 20 42 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Montreal 7 4 1 15 29 28 Boston Toronto 5 5 1 11 25 26 Ottawa Buffalo 3 7 2 8 30 38 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 7 2 1 15 35 30 Washington 7 4 0 14 34 25 Atlanta Carolina 5 6 0 10 27 33 Florida ————————————————— Tuesday’s results Minnesota 1,San Jose 0 Columbus 3, Montreal 0 Ottawa 3, Toronto 2 Vancouver 4, Edmonton 3 Today’s games Boston at Buffalo, 4 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Carolina, 4 p.m. Toronto at Washington, 4 p.m., NHLN Atlanta at Florida, 4:30 p.m. New Jersey at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Pittsburgh at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Detroit at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Nashville at Phoenix, 7 p.m. Tampa Bay at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Monday’s late result Vancouver 3, New Jersey 0 5 4 2 12 36 40 4 5 0 8 24 21 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. 6 2 0 12 24 11 5 6 1 11 29 37 Wilson has a black lum- berjack beard and he’s been credited with help- ing the Giants return to the playoffs after a six- year absence. The Giants also invit- ed Obama to a home game. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Lakers WL Pct GB 4 0 1.000— KINGS 31 .750 1 WARRIORS 21 .667 1.5 Phoenix 1 2 .333 2.5 Clippers 0 4 .000 4 Southwest Division WL Pct GB New Orleans3 0 1.000— Dallas 2 1 .667 1 San Antonio 2 1 .667 1 Memphis 2 2 .500 1.5 Houston 0 3 .000 3 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Portland 4 1 .800 — Denver 2 1 .667 1 Okla. City 2 1 .667 1 Utah 1 2 .333 2 Minnesota 1 3 .250 2.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB Boston 3 1 .750 — New Jersey 2 1 .667 .5 New York 1 2 .333 1.5 Toronto 1 2 .333 1.5 Philadelphia 0 4 .000 3 Southeast Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 4 0 1.000— Miami 4 1 .800 .5 Orlando 1 1 .500 2 Washington 1 2 .333 2.5 Charlotte 0 3 .000 3.5 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 2 1 .667 — Indiana 2 1 .667 — Cleveland 1 3 .250 1.5 Milwaukee 1 3 .250 1.5 Detroit 0 4 .000 2.5 ————————————————— Tuesday’s results Atlanta 100, Cleveland 88 Boston 109, Detroit 86 L.A. Lakers 124, Memphis 105 Miami 129, Minnesota 97 Orlando at New York, ppd. Portland 90, Milwaukee 76 Washington 116, Philadelphia 115, OT Today’s games Memphis at Golden State,7:30 p.m.,CSNB Lakers at Sacramento,7:30 p.m.,CSNC Detroit at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Charlotte at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Minnesota at Orlando, 4 p.m. Indiana at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at Boston, 5 p.m., ESPN New Orleans at Houston, 5:30 p.m. Dallas at Denver, 6 p.m. Toronto at Utah, 6 p.m. San Antonio at Phoenix, 7 p.m. Oklahoma City at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m. Monday’s late results Sacramento 111,Toronto 108 San Antonio 97, L.A. Clippers 88 FOOTBALL California — North (8-man) League Overall WL W L Hayfork Dunsmuir 5 0 8 0 4 1 8 1 Butte Valley 4 1 7 1 WARRIORS 23 4 3 Happy Camp 2 3 3 5 Big Valley 1 4 4 5 Liberty Christian 0 6 1 7 ————————————————— Friday’s games Big Valley at Hayfork, 7 p.m. Champion Christian at Liberty Christian, 7 p.m. Dunsmuir at Butte Valley, 6 p.m. Saturday’s game Happy Camp at Mercy, Noon Oct. 30 result Mercy 2, Liberty Christian 0, forfeit Oct. 29 results Butte Valley 32, Happy Camp 16 Dunsmuir 64, Big Valley 42 Hayfork 42, Greenville 6 pay the career saves leader a $750,000 buyout. The move was expected after the 43- year-old struggled and lost his closer’s role to rookie John Axford, who converted 24 of 27 save chances. Hoffman went out on a high note, getting his 600th save on Sept. 7 and finishing the season with 10 to raise his total to 601. He had a 5.89 ERA this year. Milwaukee also declined a $6.5 million option on left- hander Doug Davis and a $2.25 million option on catcher Gregg Zaun — both of whom were injured for most of the season. Davis gets a $1 million buyout and Zaun $250,000. Zaun said via e-mail that his injury rehabilitation is going well and he intends to play next season. Right-hander Dave Bush, left-hander Chris Capuano and infielder Craig Counsell became free agents. The Brewers claimed right-hander Justin James off waivers from Oakland and selected the contract of catcher Martin Maldonado from Triple-A Nashville. FOOTBALL Eastern Athletic — South League Overall WL W L Paradise Lassen 3 0 8 1 2 1 7 2 Las Plumas 1 2 1 8 SPARTANS 12 1 8 Oroville 0 3 0 9 ————————————————— Friday’s games Red Bluff at Las Plumas, 7:30 p.m. Lassen at Enterprise, 7:30 p.m. Oroville at Paradise, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 results Red Bluff 27, Oroville 7 Lassen 56, Las Plumas 6 Paradise 20, Shasta 13 FOOTBALL Northern Athletic League Overall WL W L West Valley 3 0 6 3 CARDINALS 31 7 2 Anderson Central Valley 1 2 5 4 Yreka 1 2 3 6 0 3 4 5 ————————————————— Friday’s games Corning at Winters, 7:30 p.m. West Valley at Central Valley, 7:30 p.m. Yreka at Anderson, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 results Corning 44, Central Valley 12 West Valley 14, Anderson 10 Yreka 21, Orland 20 FOOTBALL Mountain Valley League Overall WL W L Maxwell Biggs Chester 5 0 8 1 3 2 3 6 2 3 5 4 BULLDOGS 05 2 7 ————————————————— Friday’s games Los Molinos at Chester, 7:30 p.m. Maxwell at Biggs, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 results Biggs 35, Los Molinos 6 Maxwell 20, Chester 8