In Brief
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Conference commissioners
pulling in big salaries, benefits
Four of college football's six powerhouse conferences paid their top executives $1 million or more, an Associated Press analysis of tax records shows, far eclipsing the compensation of most university presidents.
A review of 2009 IRS returns, the most recent available, shows that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany was the highest paid, receiving total compensation valued at $1.6 million, followed by Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford ($1.1 million), Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive ($1 million) and Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe ($997,000). The other two commissioners each started in July 2009, so their compensation figures are only for the last six months of the year: Pac-10's Larry Scott ($735,000), and Big East's John Marinatto ($366,000).
Those figures include base salary and benefits such as health insurance, as well as other forms of pay such as retirement and deferred compensation.
Also: A court in Nassau, Bahamas, dismissed a rape case against a Florida International baseball star and two friends who were accused of sexually assaulting two American teens after a night of drinking at an island resort.
Judge Derrence Rolle-Davis dropped the charges against Garrett Wittels and two friends from New York at the request of prosecutors who said they had no case against the men. The judge ordered the $10,000 bond paid by each should be returned. "You are free to go," he told them.
Outside court, Wittels, who had a 56-game hitting streak end earlier this year, shook hands with police and his lawyers. He and his two friends, Robert Rothschild and Jonathan Oberti, declined to speak to reporters.
Former West Virginia coach Bill Stewart will receive $1.65 million as part of a settlement agreement, the school said.
The agreement is dated June 10, the same day Stewart resigned. West Virginia said the payment was for "general and liquidated damages" but didn't indicate whether any of it was for salary owed for the 2011 season.
MISCELLANEOUS
Head blows after concussions
endangering young athletes
A new study highlights the heightened danger to young athletes who suffer concussions and sustain new head blows before they've fully recovered.
The study, published in Pediatrics, dug into the National Registry of Sudden Death in Young Athletes, a database maintained by the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, to focus on deaths from blunt trauma among players 21 and younger. Previous studies from the data focused on deaths from cardiovascular problems.
A key finding, author Dr. Barry Maron said, was a worrisome number of prep football players who died of head and neck blows after they had already sustained concussions a few days to four weeks beforehand. Maron said it comes at a time of growing awareness about concussions, including the dangers of "second-impact syndrome."
Also: Helmets in football and hockey are extremely effective at preventing catastrophic head injuries but their track record for avoiding concussions is spottier, according to sports science professors at the National Athletic Trainers Association convention in New Orleans.
Helmets "certainly help to mitigate forces that are distributed by impact to the skull and the intracranial cavity and the brain," said Kevin Guskiewicz, a professor of sports science at North Carolina. "But the brain is still going to move inside that cranial cavity regardless of whether there's a helmet on or not."
The main suspect in the brutal beating of a San Francisco Giants fan outside Dodger Stadium was sent back to prison for 10 months for a parole violation involving access to a gun.
Giovanni Ramirez, 31, has been in custody since May 22, when police arrested him in connection with the attack on Bryan Stow then held him on the parole issue.
No evidence was presented about the attack on Stow at the closed hearing in Los Angeles.
The owner of energy drink Red Bull plans to leave NASCAR at the end of this season.
Multiple people familiar with the decision said a team official traveled to Michigan Speedway and told industry leaders Sunday of the impending move.
Red Bull is both the owner and sponsor of the two-car NASCAR team with drivers Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers.
Nicklas Lidstrom is coming back for a 20th season with the Detroit Red Wings.
The 41-year-old defenseman, who is a finalist for the Norris Trophy for the 11th time in 13 years, agreed to a one-year deal worth $6.2 million, same as last year.
Tim Thomas saved just about everything during the Stanley Cup Finals, but he's shaving, not saving the beard.
The Bruins goalie had his beard shaved off for charity at Gillette's World Shaving Headquarters in Boston.
He did keep a moustache, however.
