Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/51972
2B Daily News – Thursday, January 5, 2012 Torre quits MLB to pursue L.A. Dodgers ownership NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Torre resigned Wednesday as Major League Baseball's executive vice president for baseball operations to join a group trying to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers. Torre managed the Dodgers from 2008-10, then retired and was hired by MLB last February as a top aide to Commissioner Bud Selig. He is part of a group headed by real estate developer Rick Caruso. ''In Rick I found a partner who understands consumers and fully appreciates that the Dodgers are a treasured LA institution,'' Torre said in a statement. ''Since mov- ing to Los Angeles, I have seen firsthand Rick's dedication to business and the people of Los Angeles.' The Dodgers were put up for sale by owner Frank McCourt in November, five months after the team filed for bankruptcy. Follow- ing months of bickering and accu- sations of mismanagement, an agreement between McCourt and MLB said the team is to be sold by April 30, which coincides with the deadline for McCourt to pay for- mer wife Jamie a $131 million divorce settlement. Initial bids for the team are due by Jan. 23 with the Blackstone Group, Frank McCourt's invest- ment banker. The price likely will break the record for a baseball franchise, topping the $845 mil- lion paid by the Ricketts family for the Chicago Cubs in 2009. ''Joe has a proven track record of fielding winning teams and I am looking forward to our group ben- efiting from his unique experi- ence,'' Caruso said in a statement. ''I am a lifelong Angeleno; I love this city and have dedicated my career to creating world-class des- tinations that support this commu- nity and foster great customer experiences. Joe and I believe in the Dodgers and Dodger fans and know that together we will foster a winning culture.'' He is president of Caruso Affil- iated, which developed The Grove, a 20-acre retail, dining and enter- tainment site adjacent to the Farm- ers Market in Los Angeles. Former Goldman Sachs vice chairman Byron Trott is the group's banker and O'Melveny & Myers is its law firm. Torre, the 1971 National League MVP, was a nine-time All- Star during a playing career from 1960-77, then managed the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals. After working as a broadcaster for the Angels, he managed the New York Yankees from 1996-07 and guided them to four World Series titles. With MLB, the 71-year-old Torre delegated much of the day- to-day work to three senior vice presidents he appointed in March: former Arizona GM Joe Garagiola Jr., former Dodgers assistant GM Kim Ng and former Arizona assis- tant GM Peter Woodfork. ''Joe has been an invaluable resource for me and all of us at Major League Baseball this year,'' Selig said in a statement. ''I under- stand his desire to pursue an opportunity in Los Angeles. Joe has been a lifelong friend and I know that will continue in the future.'' Other potential bidders for the Dodgers include: —Steven Cohen of the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors. —a group that includes former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson, former Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals presi- dent Stan Kasten and Guggenheim Partners chief executive officer Mark Walter. —a group that includes former agent and current Chicago White Sox special assistant Dennis Gilbert, talk show host Larry King and Jason Reese of Imperial Capi- tal. —a group that includes former Dodgers general manager Fred Claire, former Oakland Athletics president Andy Dolich and former Dodgers batboy Ben Hwang, who brought in the financial backers —former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley. —a group that includes former Dodgers stars Orel Hershiser and Steve Garvey, and Joey Herrick of Natural Balance Pet Foods. —Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Winners of six World Series titles but none since 1988, the Dodgers have been in turmoil since October 2009, when the McCourts separated and Frank fired Jamie as the team's chief executive officer. Selig installed former Texas Rangers president Tom Schieffer as the Dodgers' financial monitor in April, ruling he must approve any expense of $5,000 or more. The Dodgers finished third in the NL West at 82-79, had just three sellouts and fell short of 3 million in home attendance in a full season for the first time since 1992. Vegas: Packers have best shot to win Super Bowl LAS VEGAS (AP) — Casinos in Las Vegas think Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have a better shot at winning the Super Bowl than Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos have of getting past the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend. Oddsmakers at Can- tor Gaming have the Packers as 9-5 favorites to win the Super Bowl on Feb. 5, and the Bron- cos as 120-1 underdogs to win the NFL title. But the Packers (15- 1) are weak enough on defense to make it more likely that another team will prevent them from repeating as champions, Cantor Race & Sports Director Mike Colbert said. ''Offense seems to rule the day right now in the NFL, but I'm not sure that defense will be able to hold up long enough to win it all,'' Colbert said. Sports gambling expert RJ Bell of Pregame.com says that after adjusting for fees, sports books think the Packers, the top seed in the NFC, have a 32 per- cent chance of winning the Super Bowl. ''That, to me is the story: Not how prohibi- tive of a favorite they are, but the fact that they're being given less than a one in three chance,'' Bell said. ''The Patriots and Saints combined have a better chance than the Packers.'' The Patriots, the top seed in the AFC, are being given an 18 per- cent shot, while the Saints are being given a 15 percent chance, Bell said. Cantor lines give the 49ers 12-1 title odds and the Giants a 20-1 shot, both contenders in the NFC. Longtime oddsmaker Kenny White said the Packers are still gener- ally considered a domi- nant team that bettors will like. ''I think they're the same as the Patriot team that went 16-0'' during the 2007 regular season, said White, an analyst on cable sports betting show ''The Linemak- ers.'' ''This year, with the Packers' dominance, they should be that big of a favorite,'' he said. Bell said he thinks the long odds on Denver are an invitation to Tebow fans to back the popular Broncos quar- terback more despite his struggles. ''You're going to have a naturally biased betting group that are going to want to bet the Broncos,'' he said. Colbert said that while he expects plenty of Broncos bettors, they'll likely be disap- pointed if they expect Tebow to deliver a title. ''No chance — absolutely no chance,'' Colbert said. ''The Tim Tebow factor is a big deal — no matter how he plays or whether he wins or loses.'' Tide and Tigers roll into New Orleans NEW ORLEANS (AP) — No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama had just gotten into town, and already it felt a little like a home game for the Tigers. ''If we can't play this game in Tiger Stadium, the only place we'd rather play it is here,'' LSU offensive guard Will Blackwell said. The Southeastern Conference rivals both arrived in New Orleans on Wednesday to pre- pare for the first BCS title game ever to fea- ture teams from the same league. For Alabama, it was a short flight, and a brass band greeted the Crimson Tide (11-1) as they got off the plane, while somebody shout- ed ''Roll Tide!'' as coach Nick Saban talked to reporters. That was low key, though, compared to the band plus 100-or-so revved up fans and the big stuffed tiger that met LSU at a downtown hotel, sticking around even though they had to wait an extra 40 min- utes because one of the Tigers' buses developed a problem on the way down from Baton Rouge and couldn't break 60 mph. ''The attachment to this city is one this team really feels,'' coach Les Miles said. ''You think (a greeting like this) is going to subside but this is going to continue for the week.'' He wasn't worried about it all going to his players' heads. After all, LSU (13-0) has already won the SEC championship and beat- en Alabama on its home field. ''I think they know how to remove distrac- tions,'' Miles said. A trip to New Orleans was Alabama's goal all season, too. ''This is a special place, it's a special city, it's a special opportuni- ty for our team to play against an outstanding LSU team,'' Saban said. ''In the spirit of com- petition, this is about as good as it gets.'' The regular-season meeting between the SEC West rivals was in Tuscaloosa, Ala., a bare-knuckled brawl of a game the Tigers won 9-6 in overtime. ''The big thing that we've tried to focus on in terms of what we learned in that game is the technical aspects of things that that we LSU could have done better, maybe from a schematic standpoint, maybe from an execution stand- point,'' Saban said. ''We did learn a lot from that game in terms of the things we can do better.'' While some have questioned whether Alabama deserved a second chance at LSU and whether it's fair to the Tigers that they have to beat the Crim- son Tide again to win a national championship, neither team feels that this game is anything other than winner take all. ''It's a one-game sea- son right here and we know they're going to bring their all and they know we're going to bring our all,'' Alabama running back and Heis- man Trophy finalist Trent Richardson said. Few cities can throw a party like New Orleans and it's always been a hub of sorts for the SEC. The French Quarter should be awash in Alabama crim- son and LSU purple and gold by the weekend. It'll be fun — for the fans. ''Everybody's got their heads on right, so we're not expecting anybody to get into trouble,'' Richardson said. ''It's strictly busi- ness for us.'' Miles said he met with his team leaders and they suggested an early curfew. ''We have a very, very early curfew com- paratively to other bowls that we've attended,'' he said, but did not go into details. ''I think the celebration may be put off for a while.'' Alabama is looking for its second BCS title in the last three seasons. LSU is shooting for BCS championship No. 3. The previous two (2003 and 2007) were won in the Superdome. Blackwell was a red- shirt freshman on that '07 team, which beat Ohio State to win the title. LSU fans clearly out- numbered Buckeyes fans back then. Alaba- ma fans might not be so easy to drown out on Monday night. ''I would imagine it would be about as close to even as it could be,'' Blackwell said. ''But Tiger fans are loud so we'll have to see during the game who the advantage really goes to.'' West Virginia routs Clemson in Orange Bowl MIAMI (AP) — Geno Smith tied a record for any bowl game with six touch- down passes, including four to Tavon Austin, and No. 23 West Vir- ginia set a bowl scoring record by beating No. 14 Clemson 70-33 on Wednesday in the Orange Bowl. Darwin Cook's 99- yard fumble return for a touchdown was one of the Mountaineers' five TDs in the second quar- ter, including three in the final 2:29 for a 49- 20 lead. It was the highest- scoring half by a team in a bowl game. Austin's four TD receptions tied a record for any bowl game. Smith broke Tom Brady's Orange Bowl record with 401 yards passing. West Virginia's point total broke the bowl record established six nights earlier when Baylor beat Washington 67-56 in the Alamo Bowl. USA's Tim Howard scores for Everton LONDON (AP) — Tim Howard became the fourth goalkeeper to score in the Premier League when the American put in a wind-blown clearance from about 100 yards dur- ing Everton's 2-1 loss to Bolton on Wednesday night. The American, playing his 250th Premier League match, gave Everton a 63rd-minute lead at Goodison Park. His right-footed kick from about 5 yards inside his own penalty area bounced about 30 yards from the Bolton goal and was blown by the wind over leaping Bolton keep- er Adam Bogdan, who was standing by his 6- yard box. Howard hardly reacted. ''I was delighted that we were in the lead and would hopefully go on to get three points, but it's not a nice feeling for a keeper. It's really awful actually,'' Howard told Sky Sports. ''For the back four and the goalkeepers at both ends, there was an awful wind swirling. You could see everybody was mist- iming balls. Defenders were missing clearances that normally they would put up the field. I think the wind is the hardest condi- tion to play in. Snow, rain, sun doesn't matter, but the wind really does play tricks on you.'' NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA 19 14 7 45 87 92 Kings SHARKS 20 11 4 44 102 85 Dallas 21 16 1 43 104 112 Phoenix 19 17 4 42 103 107 Ducks 10 21 6 26 87 124 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Chicago 24 11 4 52 128 111 Detroit 25 13 1 51 128 88 St. Louis 22 12 5 49 99 86 Nashville 21 14 4 46 105 108 Columbus 10 23 5 25 93 128 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 24 13 3 51 131 99 Minnesota 21 13 6 48 95 95 Colorado 22 18 1 45 110 116 Calgary 18 18 5 41 100 114 Edmonton 16 20 3 35 107 111 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA N.Y.Rangers 24 9 4 52 110 79 Philadelphia22 11 4 48 125 109 Pittsburgh 21 13 4 46 121 100 New Jersey 21 16 2 44 106 114 N.Y. Islanders14 17 6 34 88 116 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 25 10 1 51 129 69 Ottawa 20 15 5 45 123 135 Toronto 19 15 5 43 125 128 Buffalo 18 17 4 40 104 115 Montreal 15 18 7 37 106 113 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Florida 20 12 7 47 103 107 Washington 21 15 2 44 114 110 Winnipeg 19 15 5 43 107 114 Tampa Bay 17 18 3 37 107 129 Carolina 13 21 7 33 106 139 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. —————————————————— Wednesday's results San Jose at Anaheim, late Boston 6, New Jersey 1 Montreal 7, Winnipeg 3 Minnesota at Vancouver, late Today's games Columbus at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Calgary at Boston, 4 p.m. Chicago at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Florida at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. Winnipeg at Toronto, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at Nashville, 5 p.m. Edmonton at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Phoenix at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Friday's games Buffalo at Carolina, 4 p.m. Florida at New Jersey, 4 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Colorado at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Howard spoke with Bogdan after the match. ''I let him know that I was feeling for him,'' Howard said. ''It's not a nice place to be. I've been there before, a long, long time ago, and that was why I didn't cel- ebrate.'' Bolton rallied on goals by David Ngog in the 67th and Gary Cahill in the 78th. The only other goal- keepers to score in the Premier League are Peter Schmeichel, American Brad Friedel and Paul Robinson. Friedel scored for Blackburn following a corner kick at Charlton in the 90th minute on Feb. 21, 2004, but Claus Jensen scored seconds later to give Charlton a 3- 2 win. Schmeichel's goal also was in a losing effort, for Aston Villa in a 3-2 defeat at Everton on Oct. 20, 2001. Robinson scored in a 3-1 home win over Wat- ford on March 17. The game marked the return to Everton of American midfielder Lan- don Donovan. NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Lakers Clippers Phoenix WL Pct GB 4 3 .571 — 2 2 .500 .5 2 4 .333 1.5 WARRIORS 24 .333 1.5 KINGS 25 .286 2 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 4 2 .667 — Memphis Dallas Houston Portland Denver 3 3 .500 1 3 4 .429 1.5 2 3 .400 1.5 New Orleans 2 4 .333 2 Northwest Division WL Pct GB 4 1 .800 — 5 2 .714 — Oklahoma City 5 2 .714 — Utah Minnesota 3 3 .500 1.5 2 4 .333 2.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Philadelphia 3 2 .600 — Boston Toronto New York Miami WL Pct GB 4 3 .571 — 3 3 .500 .5 2 4 .333 1.5 New Jersey 1 6 .143 3 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 6 1 .857 — 5 2 .714 1 4 2 .667 1.5 2 4 .333 3.5 Orlando Atlanta Charlotte Washington 0 6 .000 5.5 Central Division Chicago Indiana Cleveland WL Pct GB 6 1 .857 — 4 2 .667 1.5 3 3 .500 2.5 Milwaukee 2 3 .400 3 Detroit 2 4 .333 3.5 —————————————————— Wednesday's results Denver 110, Sacramento 83 San Antonio 101, Golden State 95 Boston 89, New Jersey 70 Charlotte 118, New York 110 Chicago 99, Detroit 83 Dallas 98, Phoenix 89 Memphis 90, Minnesota 86 Miami 118, Indiana 83 Orlando 103, Washington 85 Philadelphia 101, New Orleans 93 Toronto 92, Cleveland 77 Houston at L.A. Clippers, late Today's games Milwaukee at Sacramento, 7 p.m. Miami at Atlanta, 5 p.m. Dallas at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Portland, 7:30 p.m. Friday's games Golden State at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Atlanta at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Detroit at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. New Jersey at Toronto, 4 p.m. New York at Washington, 4 p.m. Indiana at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Chicago at Orlando, 5 p.m. Cleveland at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Denver at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Houston at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. Memphis at Utah, 6 p.m.