In Brief

BASEBALL

Tigers' Martinez needs
second knee surgery

Victor Martinez had knee surgery and will need a second operation, and the Detroit Tigers announced Monday that he was expected to be out for the 2012 season.

The Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee.

"We knew it was a possibility," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said of the need for a second procedure.

Martinez is projected to have anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery on the same knee in six to eight weeks.

Also: Texas manager Ron Washington signed a two-year contract extension after leading the Rangers to the World Series for the second straight season.

The deal Monday puts Washington under contract through the 2014 season.

Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson remains hospitalized in Florida with a shoulder injury following a freak fall from a stage.

Robinson, 74, fractured his scapula in the fall, which occurred on Friday during a player reception in Hollywood, Fla., before the annual Joe DiMaggio Legends Game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NCAA president Emmert
backs four-team playoff

NCAA president Mark Emmert reiterated his support for a two-round, four-team BCS championship playoff.

Emmert said there are ongoing discussions about what he described as a Final Four model, a scenario that would have matched Louisiana State against Stanford and Alabama versus Oklahoma State this season, with the winners advancing to the title game.

Alabama defeated LSU 21-0 to avenge its lone loss and win the championship.

Also: Rutgers turned to assistant Kyle Flood to replace Greg Schiano as coach, hours after Florida International's Mario Cristobal passed on a chance to take over the Scarlet Knights. Schiano left Rutgers last week to become coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Defensive end/tight end Jeremiah Valoaga of Channel Islands High School in Oxnard, Calif., chose to play football at UNLV after reneging on a commitment to Utah.

He said he didn't want to grayshirt at Utah, which would've meant joining the Utes in 2013.

Valoaga (6 feet 7 inches, 215 pounds) also was offered scholarships by Hawaii and Idaho. He visited UNLV, Utah and Idaho. The Rebels will bring him in at defensive end.

MISCELLANEOUS

Women's soccer league
suspends 2012 season

Women's Professional Soccer won't play the 2012 season amid a costly legal dispute with an ousted owner. The league's Board of Governors voted to suspend the season with hopes of resuming in 2013, WPS announced.

In October, it terminated its South Florida franchise after clashing with owner Dan Borislow all season. A Florida judge ruled this month that the league failed to follow its own dispute procedures when it terminated the franchise, and another court hearing is set for Wednesday.

WPS CEO Jennifer O'Sullivan said owners chose to cancel the season over possibly working with Borislow again.

Also: Ashley Salerno passed for 142 yards and three touchdowns Sunday as the Los Angeles Temptation earned a berth in Lingerie Bowl IX with a 27-18 victory over the Las Vegas Sin in the Lingerie Football League's Western Conference finals at Ontario, Calif.

The Temptation (4-1) will meet the Philadelphia Passion (5-0) in the league's title game at 7 p.m. Sunday at Orleans Arena.