In Brief

hockey

NHL players, owners swap new
proposals as deadline nears

While the NHL and its players now agree on what qualifies as hockey-related revenue, the two sides still haven't figured out how to split up the money the sport generates.

With only three days remaining to work out a new deal before NHL commissioner Gary Bettman follows through on a vow to lock out the players for the second time in eight years, league executives returned to the bargaining table with the union in New York on Wednesday and traded new proposals.

The owners weren't particularly pleased with the new offer they received - with Bettman saying it wasn't much different from earlier proposals - and they ended up countering with one the commissioner said was drafted on the fly Wednesday.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, speaking for the second time Wednesday before a meeting with several hundred players, wasn't overly impressed with what he was given, either.

"We did not make a proposal which mirrored the owners' proposal," Fehr said. "We did not say let's go back to when we didn't have a salary cap. We said, 'Look, there is a meaningful disparity in revenue between the teams, and in recognition of that, there is a way we think we can fix the system so we don't end up in the same problem all over again."

Also: The ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers signed left wing Andrew Sarauer, 27, and defenseman Nolan Julseth-White, 24, for the 2012-13 season.

mixed martial arts

Silva will move up in weight,
take on Bonnar at UFC 153

Anderson Silva has agreed to move up a weight class to compete in the main event of an Ultimate Fighting Championship card in his native Brazil on Oct. 13.

Silva, the middleweight champion, will fight Las Vegan Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro. Silva and Bonnar agreed to take the bout on short notice after the card lost a main event and co-main event because of injuries Tuesday.

Silva has fought before at 205 pounds in the UFC, earning a first-round knockout of James Irvin in 2008 and another first-round knockout of Forrest Griffin in 2009. Bonnar has won three fights in a row after dropping three straight and five of seven.

Also, Fabio Maldonado has agreed to step in for Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to face Glover Teixeira in a light heavyweight bout, and heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will fight Dave Herman to complete the changes to the card.

miscellaneous

SportsCenter to air 50,000th
show, 33 years after launch

Former ESPN anchor George Grande says that when he signed to host the first SportsCenter in 1979, he had a feeling there might be a market for more than just the three minutes of sports people were used to seeing on the local news.

He was right. Today, ESPN will air its 50,000th SportsCenter, the network's flagship show of highlights, news and analysis that has had a major impact on the nation's sports culture.

"It's changed the expectation of every sports fan in the United States," said Dennis Deninger, a former ESPN executive who now runs the sports communications graduate program at Syracuse University. "We now expect to see highlights from every game, wherever it is played. If there is something odd or strange anywhere - a triple play - we expect to be able to see it, and see it immediately. That's what this show has done."

When SportsCenter first aired, about 1.4 million homes had access to ESPN, according to the network. That figure is about 98.3 million today.

Also: Oklahoma launched its response to rival Texas' $300 million Longhorn Network, announcing a 10-year partnership with Fox Sports to air games live along with original content in a Sooner Sports TV programming package.

Instead of a round-the-clock dedicated channel similar to the Longhorn Network, Oklahoma will broadcast occasional blocks of programming on Fox's regional sports networks and nationally on Fox College Sports.

The arrangement does not include Oklahoma football games, some of which air on Fox under the Big 12 TV contract.

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt still isn't naming a starting quarterback for Sunday's game at New England. John Skelton, out with a sprained right ankle, did not practice Wednesday, but Whisenhunt would not rule him out for the game. Kevin Kolb said he practiced with the first unit but has not been told whether he will start against the Patriots.

UNLV singles players Lucia Batta and Aleksandra Josifoska were included in the preseason Campbell's ITA College Tennis Rankings. Batta is ranked 43rd and Josifoska 89th. The doubles team of Josifoska and Nives Pavlovic is ranked 26th.