In Brief

pro BASKETBALL

NBA lockout officially reaches
scheduled start of season

No KD vs. Kobe, and no championship banner in Dallas.

The original start date to the NBA season arrived Tuesday with progress still stalled in the negotiations to end the lockout. No further talks have been scheduled, and games have been canceled through the end of November by commissioner David Stern.

Players and owners made progress on a number of issues related to the salary cap system over two days last week. But the negotiations fell apart again on the third day, when the sides decided to revisit the revenue-sharing split.

Owners are insistent on a 50-50 split, and players have proposed reducing their guarantee from 57 percent to 52.5 percent, which they say would transfer more than $1.5 billion to owners over six years.

Three games had been scheduled for Tuesday. The Dallas Mavericks would have opened the defense of their first NBA title at home against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. Houston was at Utah, and Kevin Durant's Oklahoma City Thunder were to face Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers. Most of the rest of the league would have started today.

Also: Kevin Durant was still finding ways to compete and challenge fellow basketball stars.

Durant tweeted on Monday that he was interested in playing flag football. When fans at Oklahoma State offered an invitation, he showed up in Stillwater that night to play. He tweeted later that he threw four touchdown passes and had three interceptions on defense in a victory.

Then LeBron James sent a tweet to the Thunder star that he was interested in setting up a flag football showdown between Durant's team and his own squad in Akron, Ohio. Durant answered that his team was ready and James should set it up.

Prosecutors in Pontiac, Mich., dropped a felony gun charge against Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of drunken driving and possessing a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.

Wallace had no prior record and was cooperative with police when his Cadillac Escalade was stopped Sept. 24 in Oakland County's Bloomfield Township, assistant prosecutor Robert Novy said in explaining the reasons for the plea deal.

A breath test showed Wallace's blood-alcohol level was 0.14 percent, above Michigan's legal limit of 0.08 percent. Police found an unloaded pistol registered to his wife in a backpack.

BASEBALL

Three Dodgers, three Red Sox
claim Gold Glove awards

Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier became the first trio of Los Angeles Dodgers to win National League Gold Gloves in the same year, and Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury became the first three Red Sox in 32 seasons to win the American League honor together.

Kershaw became a first-time winner at pitcher. Ethier earned his first Gold Glove in the outfield, and Kemp regained the NL outfield award he also earned in 2009.

Gonzalez (first base) earned his first AL Gold Glove to go with two he won in the NL while with San Diego, Pedroia won at second base for the first time since 2008, and Ellsbury (outfielder) picked up his first Gold Glove.

The previous three Red Sox to win in the same year were shortstop Rick Burleson along with outfielders Dwight Evans and Fred Lynn in 1979.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle was the lone AL holdover, winning for the third straight year. Baltimore's Matt Wieters won at catcher, the Angels' Erick Aybar at shortstop, Texas' Adrian Beltre at third, and Kansas City's Alex Gordon and Baltimore's Nick Markakis in the outfield.

The St. Louis Cardinals' Yadier Molina became the first NL catcher to win in four straight years since Charles Johnson from 1995 to 1998.

Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto and second baseman Brandon Phillips also won, along with Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, Philadelphia third baseman Placido Polanco and Arizona outfielder Gerardo Parra. Phillips and Tulowitzki joined Molina as NL holdovers.

Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki's streak of Gold Gloves ended at 10. The right fielder, who had won in every one of his big league seasons, had tied the AL record for Gold Gloves by an outfielder shared by Ken Griffey Jr. and Al Kaline.

Also: Brian Cashman signed a three-year contract with the New York Yankees, a day after his previous deal as general manager expired. Cashman has been GM since February 1998, when he succeeded Bob Watson. The only general manager to serve longer with the Yankees was Ed Barrow from 1920 to 1945.

Under Cashman, the team has won four World Series titles and six AL pennants, finishing first in the AL East 11 times and advancing to the playoffs in 13 of 14 seasons.

Jed Hoyer was introduced as the Chicago Cubs' general manager, joining Theo Epstein in a partnership they hope can bring a World Series championship to a team without one since 1908.

Hoyer left the San Diego Padres after two years as their GM. Also coming to the Cubs from the Padres was assistant GM Jason McLeod, who worked with Hoyer and Epstein in Boston, where they helped the Red Sox win championships in 2004 and 2007.

Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said it is highly unlikely free agents Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen will be back next season.

Dombrowski said he would like to add a second or third baseman by signing a veteran or trading for one. A right-handed catcher will be on the roster to give Alex Avila a break and make designated hitter Victor Martinez a third option behind the plate.

Arizona Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall will undergo surgery for prostate cancer next week.

Hall, 42, disclosed in late September that the disease was caught in the early stages and that he expects a full recovery.

MISCELLANEOUS

Hendrick suffers broken rib,
shoulder in plane accident

NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick returned home to Charlotte, N.C., a day after he broke a rib and shoulder when his plane ran off the runway in Key West, Fla.

Hendrick Motorsports said the brakes failed when the Gulfstream G150 landed at Key West International Airport on Monday night. The plane is co-owned by Jimmie Johnson and normally shuttles the five-time defending Sprint Cup champion and his family to and from races.

"As everybody is aware, there was a brake issue with the airplane landing," Johnson said. "All four on board are OK and are home back in Charlotte. We are just beyond thankful that everything turned out well with the crash and there weren't any major injuries down there. It certainly was a scary event -- I can only imagine."

Hendrick, his wife, Linda, and the two pilots were released from Lower Keys Medical Center and returned to Charlotte. Linda Hendrick sustained minor cuts and bruises. The two pilots were not injured.

Also: Brittney Griner of Baylor was a unanimous choice on The Associated Press Preseason All-America team in women's basketball.

The 6-foot-8-inch junior received all 40 votes from a national media panel, becoming the eighth player to be on every ballot.

Griner was joined on the preseason squad by Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins, Stanford's Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Miami's Shenise Johnson and Tennessee's Shekinna Stricklen.

A Democratic congressman compared the NCAA to the mafia over how it controls the lives of student athletes.

The congressman, Bobby Rush of Illinois, made the accusations at a congressional forum on college sports in Washington, D.C., called to look at the impact of "back-room deals, payoffs and scandals" in college sports.

Said Rush: "I think you would compare the NCAA to Al Capone and to the mafia."

Rush spoke after hearing from a couple of mothers of student athletes who complained of ill treatment by schools after their sons suffered injuries.

The NCAA didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The UNLV women's golf team carded a 14-over-par 302 to remain in sixth place after the second round of the 15-team Betsy Rawls Invitational in Austin, Texas.

The Rebels were at 21-over 597, 16 strokes behind host and 20th-ranked Texas (5-over 581) entering today's final round.

UNLV's Charlotte Brooks shot 73 -- one day after opening with a 72 -- to stand in a five-way tie for sixth at 1-over 145, four strokes behind individual leader Mia Piccio of Florida (141).

The UNLV women's soccer team placed three players on the All-Mountain West Conference team. Forward Katherine Orellana (six goals, 16 points) made the first team. Defender Caitlin Allen, on a unit that posted six shutouts, was a second-team choice, as was midfielder Macy Jo Harrison (two goals, seven points in MWC play).

Fourth-seeded UNLV opens the MWC tournament today against No. 5 seed Boise State in Albuquerque, N.M.

Novak Djokovic made his tennis return after missing six weeks with a back injury and defeated Xavier Malisse 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland.

The top-ranked Serb improved his season record to 65-3.

Sean Avery cleared re-entry waivers and might be back in the New York Rangers' lineup Thursday.

Avery could have been claimed by any of the other 29 NHL teams after he was placed on waivers Monday by the Rangers, but they passed on the noted agitator before the 24-hour period expired. That cleared the way for Avery to be recalled by New York from the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League.

Wranglers forward Eric Lampe was named ECHL player of the week after totaling six goals and three assists in three games, two of them wins. He leads the ECHL in points (13) and goals (eight) in 10 games.