CUSA, Mountain West looking at all-sports merger
With the Mountain West and Conference USA losing at least five members to the Big East, those two leagues are now looking at an all-sports merger instead of a full-scale football expansion as originally planned, sources said Wednesday.
Conference USA and the Mountain West initially planned to combine into a separate football-only league with between 20 and 24 members. However, that plan has lost steam by the loss of Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, SMU and Central Florida to the Big East. (From news services)
Ex-junior hockey coach pleads guilty to sexual assault — Former junior hockey coach and convicted sex offender Graham James pleaded guilty to sexual assaults involving two of his former players, including NHL star Theoren Fleury.
The disgraced coach originally was facing nine charges of sexual assault involving three players spanning 1979 to 1994, but only pleaded guilty to charges involving two. The names of the two other players are protected under a court-ordered publication ban.
James, who has been out on bail for almost a year and living in Montreal, will appear in Winnipeg in February to be sentenced.
He already has served a 3 1/2-year prison sentence for abusing other former players he coached, including former NHL player Sheldon Kennedy. (AP)
FC Basel knocks Manchester United out of Champions League — Three-time European champion Manchester United went out of the Champions League after a 2-1 loss to FC Basel in Switzerland.
United needed just a draw to advance from its group to the knockout rounds, but Basel captain Marco Streller scored in the ninth minute and Alex Frei struck in the 84th. United's Phil Jones scored in the 89th minute.
Swiss champion Basel joins group winner Benfica among Europe's elite in the last-16 draw next week. United, a winner and twice runner-up in the past four seasons, finished third in the group. It will play in the second-tier Europa League in February. (AP)
Vonn wins World Cup super-G — American Lindsey Vonn captured her first World Cup win on U.S. slopes by taking a super-G in Beaver Creek, Colo., finishing in a time of 1 minute, 10.68 seconds. (AP)
Area soccer players named to national All-Star team — A pair of local standouts, DeSmet's Louie Berra and Ursuline's Maddie Friedmann, were named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-America soccer team. Berra recently helped the Spartans capture the Missouri Class 3 championship, finishing with 19 goals and 13 assists. He will play next year at Ohio State. Friedmann, a Mississippi recruit, had seven goals and two assists in the Bears' run to the Class 3 title match last spring.
Area players earning NSCAA All-Midwest honors were Brian Hail (DeSmet), Aris Nukic (Mehlville), Jeff Cameron (Hazelwood West), Zach Hollstrom (Fort Zumwalt West), Justin Bilyeu (CBC), Sean Clancy (Summit) and Tyler Collico (O'Fallon) on the boys side and Michelle Auer (Notre Dame), Kailey Utley (Pattonville), Mel Donaldson (Incarnate Word) and Kelsey Dinges (Althoff) for the girls. (Joe Lyons)
