In Brief
BASEBALL
Epstein resigns from Red Sox
to take over operation of Cubs
Theo Epstein is joining the Chicago Cubs as president of baseball operations.
Epstein, 37, resigned from the Boston Red Sox on Friday with a year remaining on his contract as general manager to run a team that has gone 103 years without a World Series championship.
With Epstein at the helm, the Red Sox ended an 86-year World Series championship drought in 2004 and won the title again in 2007.
Cubs fans can only hope he will do the same thing on the North Side. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts fired GM Jim Hendry in July during another disappointing season.
The teams negotiated for more than a week over compensation the Red Sox would receive for letting Epstein out of his contract. In the end, they decided to put off that issue, saying it would be resolved in the near future.
The Red Sox are expected to name assistant GM Ben Cherington as Epstein's replacement. Boston, which collapsed in September and missed the playoffs for a second straight year, must also find a manager to replace Terry Francona.
One of the first chores in Chicago is the future of manager Mike Quade, who led the team to a 71-91 record in his first full season. He has another year left on his deal.
Also: Pitching coach Curt Young is leaving the Boston Red Sox to return to the Oakland Athletics and work under new manager Bob Melvin.
The A's announced that Young had signed a one-year deal to rejoin the club that originally drafted him in 1981. Young left Oakland last year for a stint in Boston after spending 23 years in the A's organization.
Kansas City Royals second baseman Johnny Giavotella underwent arthroscopic surgery to correct a cartilage tear in his right hip.
The surgery was performed Thursday by Dr. Marc Philippon in Vail, Colo. The team said the recovery time is typically 10 to 12 weeks and Giavotella is expected to be available for the start of spring training in February.
The New York Mets gave right-hander Ryota Igarashi his unconditional release. Igarashi was 4-1 with one save and a 4.66 ERA in 45 relief appearances this season, his second with the Mets.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
School chancellor empowered
to move Missouri from Big 12
Missouri took another step toward leaving the Big 12 Conference, and there is interest in the Southeastern Conference in taking the Tigers.
The governing curators at Missouri unanimously gave Chancellor Brady Deaton the authority to move the school out of the Big 12 if he decides that is in the school's best interest. Deaton, who earlier had been given the OK to explore options, gave no timeline for a decision but indicated that a move, if it happens, would not take much longer.
"We're not looking at a long time frame," Deaton said, adding that any move would anticipate playing in another conference beginning next season -- not in 2013 or farther out.
While Deaton avoided saying that he favors leaving the Big 12 or identifying the SEC as a potential landing spot, it was clear the SEC is the target.
Also: The Pac-12 Conference suspended 10 players for their involvment in a fight that occurred during the first half of Arizona's 48-12 football victory over UCLA on Thursday night.
Bruins wide receiver Taylor Embree and Arizona cornerback Shaquille Richardson were penalized by game officials for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejected from the game for fighting with four seconds left in the first half. They will have to sit out an additional game.
UCLA defensive tackle Cassius Marsh was given a two-game ban, and receivers Randall Carroll, Shaq Evans, and Ricky Marvray each received a game. Guard Alberto Cid will have to sit for a half.
Arizona nickleback Jourdan Grandon will miss a game, and cornerback Lyle Brown and safety Mark Watley each will sit a half.
GOLF
Munoz shoots 66, shares lead
with Nordqvist at LPGA Taiwan
Azahara Munoz of Spain shot a 6-under-par 66 to share the lead with Anna Nordqvist of Sweden after the second round of the inaugural LPGA Taiwan Championship in Yang Mei.
Nordqvist had a 68 to finish tied with Munoz at 7-under 137, two shots ahead of top-ranked Yani Tseng (71) and fellow Taiwanese player Candie Kung (68).
Also: Hometown favorite Sergio Garcia shot an 8-under 63 to take a two-shot lead at the Castello Masters in Castellon, Spain.
Playing on a course where he was club champion at age 12, Garcia eagled the par-5 No. 8 and added seven birdies to move to 12-under 130 after two rounds.
Alexander Noren of Sweden also finished with a 63 after an opening 69 and was two shots off the lead.
UNLV
Women's soccer team wins,
moves into conference lead
The UNLV women's soccer team moved into first place in the Mountain West Conference with a 1-0 victory over Air Force at Air Force Academy, Colo.
The Rebels (7-8-2, 3-1 MWC) won for the fourth time in their past five matches, getting their goal in the 47th minute when Katherine Orellana slipped behind the Falcons defense, received a pass and scored from 12 yards.
UNLV goalkeeper Kylie Wassel finished with five saves.
Also: The UNLV men's soccer team took a 1-0 first-half lead on 22nd-ranked Cal State Bakersfield, but the Rebels surrendered two second-half goals en route to a 2-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation loss in Bakersfield, Calif.
Robert Garcia connected on a crossing pass by Rory Emslie in the 40th minute for UNLV (2-11, 1-5 MPSF).
The UNLV volleyball team lost to host San Diego State 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20) in a Mountain West Conference match.
Sekola Falemaka had 14 kills to lead the Rebels (10-11, 3-5 MWC), and Makenzie Moea'i and Madeline Westman had 12 and 11.
The UNLV men's and women's swimming and diving teams dropped dual meets to Arizona in Tucson. The Rebels men (1-1) lost 208.5-84.5, and the women (0-2) fell, 206.5-88.5.
The Rebels won five events -- three on the men's side and two on the women's.
Matt Roe captured the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9 minutes, 35.05 seconds, Balint Batka claimed the 200 butterfly in 1:51.06, and Tyler Bush tied for first in the 200 free in 1:43.01.
On the women's side, Katelyne Herrington tied for first in the 100 butterfly in :56.71, and Mariah Skeen captured the 1-meter diving with a score of 287.70.
UNLV's remaining main-draw men's doubles team and two consolation singles entries were ousted from the USTA/ITA Mountain Regional at the Darling Tennis Center.
The fourth-seeded doubles team of Alex Bull and Rene Ruegamer lost 8-5 in the third round to Brigham Young's 10th-seeded pairing of Francis Sargeant and Spencer Smith.
In the singles back draw, Willie Sublette fell 6-1, 6-7, 6-1 to Sargeant, and Charlie Alvarado lost to Kieren Thompson of Arizona, 6-2, retired.
MISCELLANEOUS
Kyle Busch to add Nationwide
team to motor sports stable
Kyle Busch Motorsports will field a Nationwide Series team in 2012.
Busch said the Nationwide car will be in addition to the Truck Series entries he already runs.
Busch said he has secured sponsorship, but did not reveal where the funding is coming from. He also didn't announce the primary driver, but said he'll run some of the Nationwide races in 2012.
Busch's announcement comes at a time when some team owners in the series are scaling back because of the tough economy.
Also: Green Valley High School product Connor Fields led a 1-2 finish for the United States in men's BMX cycling at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The 19-year-old Fields, the world's top-ranked rider, was only third in his group at the start of the event but came on strong in the final. American teammate Nicholas Long was second.
Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien of the Winnipeg Jets pleaded not guilty to four counts stemming from a boating incident in Minnesota.
Byfuglien is accused of boating while intoxicated and refusing to take a blood or urine test, and other charges. The criminal complaint said his boat was stopped on Lake Minnetonka on Aug. 31 because the navigational lights weren't on.
Authorities said they thought "Byfuglien was under the influence of a controlled substance and was unable to safely operate a watercraft."
Fox outbid incumbent ESPN and NBC to win the English-language U.S. TV rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Telemundo was awarded the Spanish-language rights for soccer's showpiece tournament.
ESPN holds the English-language rights for the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic led the field after the men's short program at Skate America in Ontario, Calif.
Brezina successfully completed a triple flip-triple toeloop combination as part of a clean program. He totaled 79.08 points to lead after the short program for the first time in a Grand Prix competition.
World champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White led the field after the ice dancing short dance. The Americans skated a spirited Latin-inspired routine and earned 70.33 points.
Jim Courier claimed his second Champions Series tennis title in two nights, beating Todd Martin 8-7 (5) in the Champions Challenge in St. Louis.
Courier, a winner over Andre Agassi on Thursday in Chicago, is second behind Pete Sampras in the series standings entering the season finale tonight in Buffalo, N.Y.
