In Brief

BASEBALL

Astros' sale likely forerunner
to team moving from NL to AL

Houston general manager Ed Wade knows uncertainty is part of baseball.

The proposed sale of the Astros from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane is expected to be approved when major league owners vote Thursday, a move that could have Houston switch from the National League to the American League.

Wade, a former GM of the Philadelphia Phillies, said he's just been working on what he needs to get done in the offseason, as usual, and not fretting about his future with new ownership on the horizon.

Wade and other baseball GMs held meetings Tuesday in Milwaukee and will get together again today.

In other news from the meetings, Los Angeles Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said details are being finalized on a new deal for Matt Kemp, reported to be eight years for $160 million. Colletti said it could be wrapped up before Thanksgiving.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Mississippi suspends starting
QB, top rusher for LSU game

Mississippi coach Houston Nutt suspended starting quarterback Randall Mackey and leading rusher Jeff Scott for Saturday's game against No. 1 Louisiana State for violating team rules.

Nutt did not say what the violations were, but said the suspensions could also include the season finale against Mississippi State.

Mackey, who has started the past six games, has thrown for 1,112 yards and seven touchdowns this season, with five interceptions. Backup Zack Stoudt has thrown for 542 yards and two TDs, with seven interceptions.

Scott has rushed for 529 yards and six touchdowns this season. Rarely-used running back Korvic Neat was also suspended.

Also: The Black Coaches and Administrators organization found encouraging progress in the coaching searches for Division I football in its annual Hiring Report Card.

In the 2010-11 cycle, coaches of color were hired in 10 of 29 searches in the Football Bowl and Football Championship subdivisions, bringing the number of minority head coaches in Division I to a record 28 (not including historically black colleges and universities). FBS now has 19 minority coaches, compared with only five in 2007.

At the top Football Bowl Subdivision level, 14 of 21 schools earned an A grade for the inclusivity of their hiring process, including eight in the automatic BCS qualifier conferences: Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Miami, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Stanford and Vanderbilt. Only one, San Diego State, received an F.

MISCELLANEOUS

UFC takes New York to court
to have sport deemed legal

The Ultimate Fighting Championship sued New York State in federal court to overturn a law that makes the group's mixed martial arts events illegal.

In a 105-page complaint assigned to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood, UFC claims a 1997 New York law violates the First Amendment and equal-protection, due-process and commerce clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

The group sued New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

"MMA is now as safe as or even safer than many other sports and activities sanctioned in New York like boxing, for example, because it allows fighters to honorably tap out and involves far fewer hits," UFC chief executive officer Lorenzo Fertitta said in a statement. "All the disciplines that go into mixed martial arts are performed live in New York; it is only their combination that is illegal."

Also: A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking $2.5 million from former NBA standout Allen Iverson over a 2009 bar fight in Detroit.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds found no evidence that Iverson punched an Ohio man or that the man who struck him was linked to the player, The Detroit News reported.

Guy Walker, who claims he was assaulted by an Iverson security guard, plans to appeal, his lawyer Gregory Lattimer said.

The U.S. men's soccer team won for just the second time since Jurgen Klinsmann took over as coach, beating Slovenia 3-2 after Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore scored in a three-minute spell late in the first half in a match in Ljubljana.

Klinsmann, the former German star and coach, switched to a more attack-oriented 4-4-2 and was rewarded when Edson Buddle hit the opening goal for the 34th-ranked Americans.

However, Tim Matavz scored twice for Slovenia, once before and once after the goals from Dempsey and Altidore.

Six-time NHRA champion Kenny Bernstein is retiring after 30 years of racing.

The 67-year-old said in a statement that he's retiring to pursue other interests with his wife, Sheryl.

Bernstein was the first NHRA driver to eclipse the 300 mph barrier, in Gainesville, Fla., in 1992, and won four straight Funny Car titles from 1985 to 1988. He followed with Top Fuel titles in 1996 and 2001.