IN BRIEF

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Penn State dismisses two defensive tackles

Penn State defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor, who were involved in off-field fights last year, have been kicked off the team by coach Joe Paterno.

Team spokesman Jeff Nelson said Wednesday no information was available on why they were dismissed.

Baker and Taylor were disciplined by the school and Paterno for the fights last year.

Also: Kentucky quarterback Curtis Pulley has pleaded guilty to a speeding charge in Elizabethtown, Ky., stemming from a traffic stop last week.

Pulley was arrested by state police in Hardin County on July 22 and charged with speeding, driving on a suspended or revoked license and having expired or no plates or registration papers.

The arrest was Pulley's second run-in with police in two months. He was cited for marijuana possession in Louisville in June.

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks declined to comment on Pulley's arrest. Pulley was expected to compete with Mike Hartline for the starting job when preseason practice opens next week.

Connecticut defensive tackle Jarrell Miller, one of the highest-rated recruits the Huskies' have ever landed, has left the school.

The redshirt freshman out of Richmond, Va., was expected to compete for a starting job this season after being moved from linebacker in the offseason.

If Florida Atlantic opens its long-planned new football stadium in 2010, Howard Schnellenberger will be on the sideline.

The 74-year-old coach had his contract extended through 2010, a reward from the Boca Raton, Fla., school's board of trustees after leading the Owls to their first Sun Belt Conference championship last year.

HORSE RACING

Ankle woes bring end to Lava Man's career

Lava Man was retired as thoroughbred racing's richest claiming horse after X-rays revealed changes in the horse's front ankles.

The 7-year-old gelding was claimed for $50,000 at Del Mar in 2004 and finished his career with earnings of $5,268,706, notching 17 wins in 46 starts.

In 2006, Lava Man became the first horse to win the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic in the same year. He won three consecutive Gold Cups, from 2005 to 2007, matching Native Diver's feat. He also won the Santa Anita Handicap in 2007.

MISCELLANEOUS

IRL schedule won't include Las Vegas stop

The 2009 schedule for the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series was announced, without a date for Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

An IRL official said it was only interested in returning to the speedway for the first time since 2000 if a race could be held with 30,000 to 50,000 temporary seats erected at the speedway's road course, located outside the 160,000-seat, 1.5-mile oval.

Speedway president Chris Powell said that proposal was not feasible.

The 18-race schedule opens April 5 in St. Petersburg, Fla., and closes Oct. 11 at Homestead, Fla.

Also: UNLV golfer Seung-su Han and longtime Las Vegas amateur stalwart Brady Exber earned spots in the U.S. Amateur at a qualifier at the Paiute Resort Golf Club.

Han shot a second straight 71 for a winning 142 total, and Exber (74) finished second at 147 to claim the two spots available in the 45-player field.

The Detroit Red Wings signed 24-year-old forward Valtteri Filppula to a five-year, $15 million contract. Filppula, a restricted free agent who avoided arbitration with the deal, had career highs with 19 goals and 36 points last season.

Japanese fighter Daisuke Naito (33-2, 21 knockouts) retained his WBC flyweight title with a 10th-round technical knockout of Tomonobu Shimizu (33-4) in Tokyo.