In Brief

MOTOR SPORTS

NASCAR announces changes
to long-standing scoring system

NASCAR is replacing the complicated scoring system it has used since 1975 with a more straightforward format.

None of the changes for the 2011 season announced by chairman Brian France on Wednesday came as much of a surprise. NASCAR officials had been briefing teams for almost two weeks on the changes in an effort to give competitors feedback on the direction being taken.

A race winner will receive 43 points under the new system, and the points will decrease down to 1 for the 43rd-place driver. There will be three bonus points for the winner, one bonus point for every driver who leads a lap and one bonus point to the driver that leads the most laps.

The maximum points available in a race now will be 48.

NASCAR also tweaked the eligibility requirements for the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field.

The top 10 in points after the 26th race of the season will make the Chase field, and the final two spots will be "wild cards" designated for the highest race winners not already eligible. The wild cards will only go to drivers ranked inside the top 20 in points.

If no driver outside the top 10 has any victories, the spots will go to the drivers ranked 11th and 12th.

PRO FOOTBALL

Goodell will cut salary to $1
if NFL can't reach labor deal

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will cut his salary to $1 if there is a work stoppage after the collective bargaining agreement expires in March.

Goodell, who makes about $10 million a year including bonuses, said in a memo to his staff that chief negotiator Jeff Pash will do the same. Pash makes nearly $5 million a year.

Goodell also has asked the league's compensation committee to delay any bonus payments to him until after a deal is reached with the NFL Players Association.

Union chief DeMaurice Smith has predicted the owners will lock out the players after the March 4 expiration of the contract with the league. Smith tweeted in reaction to Goodell's pledge: "NFL executives reducing salaries in the event of a lockout? If we have a deal by Super Bowl, I'll go down to 68 cents."

Also: Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey missed practice with a left ankle injury, and his status is uncertain for the Super Bowl.

Pouncey was injured in the first quarter of Pittsburgh's 24-19 victory over the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

A body pulled from the Mississippi River in Luling, La., has been tentatively identified as the brother of Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, authorities said at a news conference attended by the NFL star.

St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said tattoos on the body recovered late Tuesday appear to match those belonging to 28-year-old Brian Reed, who jumped into the river after an encounter with a sheriff's deputy. An autopsy was planned for today.

Linebacker Nick Barnett, tight end Jermichael Finley and the rest of the Green Bay Packers' injured players will be in the team's Super Bowl photo, after all. A team spokesman said the much-discussed photo has been scheduled for Feb. 4, a timeline that will allow injured players to take part.

The photo originally was expected to happen at Super Bowl media day Tuesday, causing Barnett and Finley to express disappointment through their Twitter accounts that they weren't going to be included. The Packers list 16 players on injured reserve.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

UNLV lands highly touted
running back from California

Running back Elijhaa Penny, rated as one of California's best football players, has committed to UNLV.

"I like the new coaching staff they brought in," Penny said. "The future sounds promising at UNLV."

Penny (6 feet 2 inches, 240 pounds), of Norwalk High School, rushed for 2,065 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. Rivals.com rates him as a three-star recruit, the nation's No. 42 athlete and California's No. 59 prospect. Scout.com gives him two stars and ranks Penny as the nation's No. 17 fullback, though he said he will play running back for UNLV.

The Rebels also received commitments from cornerback Kenneth Spigner (5-11, 190) of College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif.; offensive lineman Patrick Carroll (6-5, 275) of St. Francis High in La Canada, Calif.; offensive lineman Andrew Oberg (6-7, 260) of Islip (N.Y.) High; and defensive lineman Jake Phillips (6-6, 240) of Lakewood (Calif.) High.

Also: The University of Iowa said 13 players had to be hospitalized this week with a muscle disorder after grueling offseason workouts that left them with extreme soreness and discolored urine.

The unidentified players have rhabdomyolysis, a stress-induced syndrome that can damage cells and cause kidney damage and even failure in severe cases, school spokesman Tom Moore said at a news conference two days after players were hospitalized.

School officials said the players were in stable condition and responding well to treatment.

The Mountain West Conference made a scheduling change in favor of incoming Boise State over outgoing Texas Christian. The board of directors voted to hold the lone Mountain West matchup between Boise State and TCU in Boise, Idaho, this fall. The Broncos had been slated to visit Fort Worth, Texas.

MISCELLANEOUS

Michigan State coach Izzo
kicks guard Lucious off team

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo dismissed junior Korie Lucious from the team for the rest of the season. The move, made late Tuesday, came less than 48 hours before playing rival Michigan.

"Unfortunately, Korie Lucious displayed conduct detrimental to the program," Izzo said in a statement.

The Spartans will host the Wolverines tonight without two shooting guards -- Lucious and Chris Allen -- who could have potentially helped win that game and many more this season. Allen wasn't allowed to return for his senior season and transferred.

Also: Tony Mitchell, a prized recruit for Missouri, has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA, and the school plans no further appeals.

The 6-foot-8-inch forward from Dallas was considered one of the top high school prospects in the nation after averaging 20.5 points and 13.2 rebounds last season. No. 11 Missouri had been hopeful Mitchell could join the program for the spring semester.

Johnny Cueto finalized a $27 million, four-year contract that allows the Cincinnati Reds to avoid arbitration with the right-handed starter and locks up another young player.

Cueto, 24, will get $3.4 million this year, $5.4 million in 2012, $7.4 million in 2013 and $10 million in 2014. Cincinnati has a $10 million option for 2015, with an $800,000 buyout. Cueto went 12-7 last season, establishing career highs in wins and innings. He led the staff with 138 strikeouts and made 18 quality starts.

Starting catcher Miguel Montero agreed to a one-year, $3.2 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, avoiding arbitration. Montero, 27, hit .266 with nine homers and 43 RBIs in 85 games. He missed 57 games after having surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee.

Pitcher Bartolo Colon, out of the major leagues since 2009, agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. The 37-year-old right-hander went 21-8 for the Angels in 2005 and won the American League Cy Young Award, but is 14-21 since.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli retired and accepted a position as a special assistant with the team. The 29-year-old spent six of seven major league seasons with the Rays. In 519 career games with Tampa Bay and Boston, he hit .278 with 60 homers and 262 RBIs.

Spanish cycling officials want three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador banned for one year for failing a 2010 Tour doping test. Contador confirmed the proposed sanction in a statement released by his spokesman. He said the Spanish federation's disciplinary committee informed him of the decision.

If banned, Contador would lose the 2010 Tour title -- his third -- because of the positive clenbuterol result he blames on contaminated meat. The Spanish cyclist also would be ineligible to compete in this year's Tour.

Contador has 10 days to challenge the one-year proposal by presenting new evidence or material, according to Spanish federation rules. After that, the four-person disciplinary committee will reconvene to decide whether to uphold or change the proposed sanction.

UNLV swept Mountain West Conference player of the week honors in tennis. Mehdi Bouras went a combined 5-0 in singles and doubles to get the men's award, and Jana Albers went a combined 5-1 to claim the women's award.