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Sports 1B Thursday December 31, 2009 Thursday Boys Bball — Los Molinos, Mercy at Liberty Christian Invite Girls Bball — Los Molinos, Mercy at Liberty Christian Invite Armed Forces Bowl — Air Force vs. Houston, 9 a.m., ESPN Sun Bowl — Oklahoma vs. Stanford, 11 a.m., CBS Texas Bowl — Missouri vs. Navy, 12:30 p.m., ESPN Chick-fil-A Bowl — Tennessee vs. Va. Tech, 4:30 p.m., ESPN Texas Tech fires football coach Leach LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech fired Mike Leach on Wednes- day after the coach took the school to court to try to overturn his suspension for alleged mistreatment of an injured player. ''I'm very sad to say there's only one person to blame for this and it's Mike Leach,'' Texas Tech chancellor Kent Hance told the AP. Jerry Turner, vice chairman of the university system's board of regents, said ''other things'' came to light during an investi- gation of Leach's treat- ment of receiver Adam James. The sophomore alleged the coach twice confined him to a small, dark place after the player was diagnosed with a concussion. Turner declined to elaborate about the other issues. Leach was suspended Monday after he refused to agree to guidelines for dealing with players set forth by his bosses in a Dec. 23 letter. When Leach decided to fight the university in court ''in defiance'' of his suspension, that's why ''we are where we are,'' Turner said. Leach was in San Antonio with his team, which is preparing for the Alamo Bowl against Michigan State on Satur- day. He left the team's hotel while his interim replace- ment, defensive coordina- tor Ruffin McNeill, was holding a news confer- ence. Approached by a reporter, Leach said no comment before being asked a question. Asked how he felt Texas Tech treated him throughout the last two weeks, Leach responded, ''I think that's apparent.'' Texas Tech's official statement said Leach's recent actions made it impossible for him to remain coach of the Red Raiders. ''In a defiant act of insubordination, Coach Leach continually refused to cooperate in a mean- ingful way to help resolve the complaint. He also refused to obey a suspen- sion order and instead sued Texas Tech Univer- sity,'' the statement said. Leach later released a statement to some media outlets. ''Texas Tech's decision to deal in lies and fabri- cate a story which led to my firing includes, but is not limited by, the ani- mosity remaining from last year's contract nego- tiations. I will not tolerate such retaliatory action. Additionally, we will pur- sue all available legal remedies,'' Leach said in the statement, according to media reports. The school on Wednes- day gave a termination letter to Leach's attorney, Ted Liggett, minutes before the two sides were MCT file photo Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach watches the action against Kansas State in an NCAA college football game in Lubbock, Texas Oct. 10 4 Sharks on Canadian Olympic team SAN JOSE (AP) — Patrick Marleau woke up Wednesday morning and quickly received some of the best news of his hock- ey career: He had made the Canadian Olympic team. ''A good wakeup call. A good way to start your day,'' Marleau said. Marleau was far from alone even in his own locker room. Three other Sharks got similar calls and will join Marleau in Vancouver in February when the Canadian Olympic team takes the ice. Marleau will be joined by two of his fre- quent linemates, Joe Thornton and Dany Heat- ley, as well as defenseman Dan Boyle. Thornton headed into Wednesday night's game against Washington lead- ing the NHL with 54 points and 44 assists. Marleau and Heatley are in the top five in goals scored with 25 and 23 respectively, while Boyle is fourth among NHL defensemen with 31 points. ''It's incredible,'' said Thornton, who was also on Canada's 2006 Olympic team. ''You're lucky enough to go to an All-Star game with one other player on your team. Four guys on the same Olympic team is very spe- cial because it's one of the toughest teams to make. It's very exciting for all four of us to be sharing this together.'' Thornton, Marleau and Heatley could very likely be playing on the same line at the Olympics. They have played togeth- er for part of the season and San Jose and also skated together at a Cana- dian Olympic camp over the summer. In a short tourna- ment where build- ing chemistry can sometimes be one of the biggest chal- lenges on a team full of stars, that could prove to be an important advantage for Canada. ''It's one of the biggest things with the interna- tional tournaments,'' said Heatley, who also played on the 2006 team. ''There are all new guys trying to get together. When you have guys who have played together in the past or in this case during the season, it's definitely an advantage.'' The Canadians fin- ished a disappointing sev- enth in Turin, Italy, in 2006, and their legion of die-hard fans has been pointing to the games on their home ice almost since then. While Thornton and Heatley were part of that team, Boyle could only watch as an injury alter- nate. ''I was over there, it was pretty painful,'' he said. ''It was painful to sit through and very frustrat- ing to watch. Let's turn the page.'' Ohio St, Oregon took own paths to Rose Bowl LOS ANGELES (AP) — Green jerseys with silver feathers on the shoulders, topped by white helmets. That appears to be the answer to perhaps the most-asked question of Rose Bowl week: Just what will the fashion-forward Oregon Ducks wear for their first postseason trip to Pasadena in 15 years? ''We expected them to do something wild and crazy for coming back to the Rose Bowl,'' said a vaguely disappointed Ohio State defensive lineman Doug Worthington. ''We'll go out there and look at it for about 30 seconds, and then we'll forget it.'' There's no such mystery around Ohio State, which will wear the lat- est version of the white-and-gray ensemble that has suited the Buck- eyes since well before their last Rose Bowl 13 years ago. ''But we care about this part the most, and I think they do, too,'' Ohio State safety Kurt Coleman said Wednesday, pointing to the Rose Bowl emblem on his jersey's shoulder. Beyond that patch, the ever- evolving Ducks (10-2) and the tra- dition-rich Buckeyes (10-2) seem to have little in common in their approaches to offenses, uniforms and everything in between. Their many contrasts could make for a compelling game Friday in two powerful programs' overdue returns to the Rose Bowl. ''We've all heard about how much being in this particular game means to our fans and our alumni,'' Ohio State receiver Dane Sanzen- bacher said. ''Every- body knows this is your real goal every season when you're a Big Ten or a Pac-10 team. It feels good to be part of that tradition coming back.'' Oregon has its well-deserved reputation as Nike's laboratory, with its innovative fashion sense and impressive facilities. Most of the No. 7 Ducks, who largely hail from California, cite that connec- tion as a reason for choosing the school. ''Our tradition is no tradition,'' Oregon left tackle Bo Thran said. ''We're always changing things up, trying new approaches. We want to make our own, and that's what we're doing this season.'' The approach couldn't be much more different in Columbus. Ohio State places a heavy emphasis on its decades of football tradition enjoy- ing a revival under Jim Tressel, the genteel coach who wears ties on the sideline and shepherds his players' every move. ''Everybody who comes to Ohio State knows what we stand for and what we try to accomplish,'' Cole- man said. ''Coach Tressel has a vision for what he wants to happen in this program, and we respect everything that got us to this point, all the guys who came before us.'' Several Ducks were surprised this week to learn that for all the Buckeyes' success in recent years under Tressel, No. 8 Ohio State has- n't been to the Rose Bowl since 1997. The Buckeyes have played for bigger prizes during that time, win- ning a national championship along the way — but they were in the Granddaddy of Them All only two years more recently than Oregon, which never made it during just- departed coach Mike Bellotti's suc- cessful tenure. With rookie coach Chip Kelly leading a high-scoring offense, the Ducks rebounded from their sea- son-opening loss at Boise State to win the Pac-10 title and a second trip to Pasadena, where they beat UCLA 24-10 in October without injured quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. Kelly claims he never once Idaho team stuns Bowling Green 43-42 in H-Bowl BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Max Komar made a sliding 16- yard touchdown catch with 4 seconds left and Nathan Enderle passed to Preston Davis for the 2-point conversion, lifting Idaho to a dramatic 43-42 victory over Bowling Green in Wednesday night's Humanitarian Bowl. The Falcons took a 42-35 lead with 32 seconds left on a 51-yard pass from Tyler Sheehan to Freddie Barnes, who slipped behind the Idaho secondary for his 17th catch of the game and No. 155 in his record-setting season. But Idaho answered with a 50-yard heave from Enderle to Davis that got the ball to the Bowling Green 16. After an incompletion with 8 seconds left, Enderle found Komar — who had dropped a number of passes — in the middle of the field, and he slid to cradle the low pass. Coach Robb Akey then decided to go for the 2-point conversion and Enderle threw to Davis alone in the back of the end zone. When the Falcons were tackled on the ensuing kickoff, Vandals fans poured onto the blue turf of their rivals to cel- ebrate the second bowl win in school history. Idaho's hopes of capping its turnaround from two victo- ries in 2008 to a bowl win in 2009 seemed finished when Barnes struck again in his banner senior season. Needing just five receptions to set an NCAA Bowl Subdivision record, Barnes finished with 17 grabs for 219 yards and three touchdowns, the final one putting Bowling Green in prime position for its fifth victory in its last six postseason trips. But Komar gave the Vandals decent field position with See SHARKS, page 2B See LEACH, page 2B See ROSE, page 2B See IDAHO, page 2B Davis goes for NFL TDs record by tight end SANTA CLARA (AP) — Vernon Davis knows that regardless of whether he catches another touchdown pass in San Francisco's season finale Sunday to tie an NFL record, he has produced a year to remember. A breakout season to say the least. He's a Pro Bowler for the first time in his career, a month shy of his 26th birthday. And he will be a starter for the NFC squad in the Jan. 31 game at Miami. All the accolades aside, Davis acknowledges he'd get a real kick out of fin- ishing with more touchdown catches than New England star Randy Moss, who has 13. ''Just try to get another one, maybe two, stay ahead of him,'' Davis said with a grin. ''That'd be nice.'' With 12 TD receptions, Davis is one away from tying Antonio Gates' NFL record by a tight end. It would seem he should get some chances to do it Sunday at St. Louis. Davis scored one touchdown in the season's first meeting with the Rams, a 35-0 victory by the 49ers back on Oct. 4 at Candlestick Park. ''It's been a tremendous season for me,'' Davis said. ''I've been getting a lot of opportunities, playing hard, doing everything I've got to do to be successful and just making plays and helping my team win.'' He has said all along he could have this type of year as long as he got the opportunities. It sure has helped his cause being a key figure in offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye's tight-end friendly offense. Davis has made huge strides this season both in his play and how he's handled himself on the field. He even earned a captain tag from coach Mike Singletary. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Davis was known as much for his volatile nature as his lack of production during his first three NFL seasons. Raiders get payoff for offseason investments ALAMEDA (AP) — Even as his peers recognized him as one of the top defensive players in the NFL, Oakland Raiders defensive back Nnamdi Asomugha wasn't convinced he'd be making a return trip to the Pro Bowl. Having been passed over in the voting process several times before and with his team barrel- ing toward a seventh consecutive season with double-digit losses, the Raiders' veteran cornerback knew the odds might be against him. Asomugha shouldn't have worried. He and punter Shane Lechler were the only two Oakland players named to the AFC team when the Pro Bowl voting results were announced. It is Lech- ler's fifth such honor while Asomugha was chosen as a starter for the second straight year. ''I don't take anything for granted, just based off of things that have happened in the past,'' Asomugha said Wednesday. ''In 2007, I had pretty much the same numbers I had in '08 and '09 but wasn't in there, so I didn't know what was going to happen. I wasn't worried at all but I was like, 'Let me wait and see before I make plans for anything.''' Raiders owner Al Davis shelled out nearly $60 million to keep Asomugha and Lechler off the free agent market this past offseason, a move meant to keep the core of the team's talent pool in place. Asomugha, whose three-year $45.3 million deal made him the highest-paid defensive back in league history, hasn't put up big numbers but his presence on the field has been enough to convince opposing quar- terbacks and offensive coordinators to direct their game plans away from him.