IN BRIEF

MOTOR SPORTS

Formula One's Massa showing improvement

Felipe Massa's doctor said the Formula One driver is increasingly alert and answering questions in three languages.

Massa, 28, was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a tire barrier at 120 mph during qualifying Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.

He is recuperating from surgery on multiple skull fractures, and doctors say he could be released from the hospital next week.

Also: Matt Kenseth's sponsorship search lasted less than a week. Roush Fenway Racing said it will move Crown Royal to the former NASCAR champion's car next season.

Kenseth lost his longtime sponsor last week when Dewalt Power Tools said it would not return in 2010.

HOCKEY

Zamboni inventor gets 2009 Hall of Fame nod

Former NHL stars Tony Amonte, Tom Barrasso, John LeClair and the 1998 U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

The 2009 Hall of Fame class announced by USA Hockey includes the late Frank Zamboni, inventor of the storied ice resurfacing machine.

Amonte scored the winning goal against Canada in the deciding game of the first World Cup of Hockey in 1996.

Barrasso won two Stanley Cups as a goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and LeClair was the first American-born player with three straight 50-goal seasons.

The 1998 U.S. Olympic women's team won the gold medal at the Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

Also: The Carolina Hurricanes parted ways with the player who scored the goal that won them the Stanley Cup against Edmonton in 2006.

The Hurricanes bought out the remaining year on the contract of defenseman Frantisek Kaberle.

MISCELLANEOUS

Sports leagues fighting Delaware on betting

The four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA are asking a federal judge for a preliminary injunction to prevent Delaware from implementing sports betting.

The motion was filed in federal court in Delaware. Last week, the leagues filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that the state's plan for sports betting violated federal law.

Congress banned sports betting in 1992 while allowing it in four states -- Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon -- that already had been offering it.

The lawsuit argues that Delaware's plan to allow single-game betting would violate the legislation because Delaware has never offered single-game betting before.

Also: Horse racing fans eager to see filly Rachel Alexandra run in the Breeders' Cup will have to wait until next year.

Owner Jess Jackson said during a conference call he's "firm" in his decision to keep the Preakness winner from this fall's Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita.

Jackson cited concerns about the synthetic surface at Santa Anita as the main reason for skipping the event, but he remains hopeful Rachel Alexandra will be able to run in the 2010 Breeders' Cup on the dirt at Churchill Downs.

Police said they have found no evidence that WBC middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik and his trainer assaulted a man in a nightclub last weekend in Pavlik's hometown of Youngstown, Ohio.

No charges have been filed.

The University of Alabama formally asked the NCAA to restore 21 vacated wins to the football program in a 29-page appeal, claiming the penalty was "so excessive as to constitute an abuse of discretion."

The Committee on Infractions' levied the penalty stemming from 201 student-athletes in 16 sports obtaining textbooks they weren't entitled to under their scholarships.