SPORTS - James, No. 6 Oregon run past No. 3 Stanford 53-30 (AP)

SPORTS - James, No. 6 Oregon run past No. 3 Stanford 53-30 (AP)

AP – Oregon running back LaMichael James (21) celebrates with teammate Rahsaan Vaughn, right, after scoring …

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ, AP Sports Writer Antonio Gonzalez, Ap Sports Writer – 2 hrs 19 mins ago

STANFORD, Calif. – LaMichael James ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns and No. 6 Oregon sprinted past third-ranked Stanford 53-30 on Saturday night, giving Andrew Luck's Heisman Trophy campaign a blemish and taking a giant step toward hosting the inaugural Pac-12 championship.

James ran for scores from 1, 4 and 58 yards and had Stanford (9-1, 7-1) defenders slipping all over a slick field. The Ducks (9-1, 7-0) ended the nation's best winning streak at 17 games — which the Cardinal began after a loss in Eugene more than a year ago — and can clinch the league's North Division crown over Stanford with a win in one of their final two games.

Luck threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions and a fumble. Stanford had five total turnovers.

The Quack Attack just has Luck's number.

Oregon's no-huddle, spread-option ended any hopes of Stanford's first national championship. Instead, the Ducks are suddenly back in the BCS title mix after rolling off their ninth straight victory — and first against a top-five team on the road team — since a season-opening loss against top-ranked LSU.

Darron Thomas threw for 155 yards and three touchdowns to anchor one big-play burst after another. He tossed scores of 59 yards to Josh Huff and 41 yards to De'Anthony Thomas to leave sold-out Stanford Stadium stunned and silent.

The Cardinal did little with the few mistakes Oregon made.

James muffed a punt that and gave Stanford a chance at the Oregon 34. The Ducks quickly stifled Stanford again, and Eric Whitaker missed a 48-yard field badly right.

When the Cardinal got the ball back, Isaac Remington smashed Luck and forced the quarterback to fumble. Oregon recovered and James followed with a 4-yard score on fourth-and-2 to give the Ducks a commanding 36-16 lead in the third quarter.

All the Luck in the world couldn't bring Stanford back.

The two offenses traded scores until Boseko Lokombo intercepted a pass by Luck and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown to give the Ducks a 53-30 lead. Luck dived for the tackle at the goal line and got planted in the grass.

Too late again.

While a pair of the nation's highest-scoring offenses showed imperfections, Oregon pounced on the mistakes and ran away with points each time.

Dewitt Stuckey also intercepted a pass by Luck that setup the Ducks' first score, a 4-yard touchdown pass from Darron Thomas to Lavasier Tuinei that started an avalanche of Oregon offense.

James ran through the middle untouched for a 58-yard touchdown to extend Oregon's lead to 15-6 early in the second quarter. The Ducks threatened to pad their lead again until Delano Howell, with a cast around his right hand, punched the ball loose from Kenjon Barner and Stanford recovered.

Oregon coach Chip Kelly gambled all night and his offense made him look good.

On fourth-and-7 from the Stanford 41, De'Anthony Thomas took a short pass and raced down the sideline for a 41-yard TD that pushed Oregon in front 22-9 late in the first half. With the Ducks again about to make the game a rout, Luck answered in impressive fashion.

He led an eight-play, 84-yard drive capped by a threaded 13-yard TD pass to Whalen for the second time. The crucial score with 24 seconds remaining in the half trimmed Oregon's lead to 22-16.

It was the first time Stanford trailed at the half since at Notre Dame in 2009, when the Cardinal were down 24-20. Stanford rallied for a 45-38 win in South Bend.

No comeback this time.

___

Follow Antonio Gonzalez at: http://www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP

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SPORTS - TCU upsets No. 5 Boise St 36-35 (AP)

SPORTS - TCU upsets No. 5 Boise St 36-35 (AP)

AP – Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore reacts after losing to 36-35 to TCU in an NCAA college football …

By TODD DVORAK, Associated Press Todd Dvorak, Associated Press – Sat Nov 12, 8:42 pm ET

BOISE, Idaho – Casey Pachall threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Carter with 1:05 left, then connected with Josh Boyce on the go-ahead 2-point conversion, and Boise State's Dan Goodale booted a 39-yard field-goal attempt wide right as time expired to give TCU a 36-35 victory against the fifth-ranked Broncos on Saturday.

Pachall threw for 473 yards and tossed long scores of 75, 74 and 69 yards in the first half. But his most important throws came in the final minutes when he rallied the Horned Frogs (8-2, 5-0 Mountain West) to a stunning victory that spoiled any Boise State hopes of playing for a national title.

The loss also snapped Boise State's 35-game home winning streak, which had been the nation's longest.

The Broncos were in control in the final minutes and driving into field goal range when backup running back Drew Wright fumbled at the TCU 27-yard line with 2:26 remaining.

Pachall took over, calmly marching TCU down the field before connecting with Carter, who leaped over a defender to make the grab in the end zone and pull TCU within 36-35 with 1:05 remaining.

TCU coach Gary Patterson made a gutsy call, opting to put the game in Pachall's hands and go for the lead instead of the tie. It worked. Pachall tossed a short pass to Josh Boyce, who fought his way into the end zone, putting TCU up 36-35 and quieting a raucous Bronco Stadium crowd.

Boise State (8-1, 3-1) and Kellen Moore made a final run.

With the help of a pass interference penalty on fourth down, Moore drove the Broncos down the field in the final minute and put the Broncos in position to win with a field goal. But Goodale's kick was way wide.

For the second year in a row, Boise State's run at a perfect season has been done in by a missed field goal. Last year, Broncos' kicker Kyle Brotzman missed twice from short range — once at the end of regulation and again in overtime — in a loss at Nevada.

After Goodale's kick sailed right, TCU players stormed the field to celebrate a win that clears the path for the Horned Frogs to win the Mountain West Conference title in their final year with the league.

TCU has now won a league record 22 straight games against conference foes and set an MWC record with 12 straight conference road wins.

The game — the first and last conference matchup between these two perennial BCS busters — was a back-and-forth battle from the start, with Boise State jumping out in front early and TCU storming back to take a 20-14 lead at the half.

Moore was 28-of-38 passing for 320 yards and two touchdowns. He led a Boise State offense that rolled up 446 total yards, including 125 rushing yards from D.J. Harper.

The Horned Frogs amassed 506 total yards.

Pachall hit Josh Boyce on a 74-yard touchdown on their second possession to tie the game 7-7.

Two possessions later, Pachall fired a 75-yard touchdown to Carter to go up 14-7. The next time TCU got the ball, Pachall struck again, this time tossing a 69-yard strike to Boyce, who had three touchdown catches on the day.

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SPORTS - After week's turmoil Penn State finally plays (AP)

SPORTS - After week's turmoil Penn State finally plays (AP)

AP – Penn State and Nebraska players gather at midfield for a pre-game prayer before an NCAA college football …

By NANCY ARMOUR, AP National Writer Nancy Armour, Ap National Writer – 2 hrs 1 min ago

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Penn State players left the field with their heads bowed, the fans mostly silent.

A lifetime worth of emotions was crammed into the past week. Shock, rage, regret and, now, exhaustion. The child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant Jerry Sandusky cost Joe Paterno his job and, no doubt, scarred Penn State's soul.

A football game on a brilliant autumn afternoon won't erase it.

It was, however, a start.

"We've had better weeks in our lives, obviously," Paterno's son Jay, the quarterbacks coach, said after No. 12 Penn State's 17-14 loss to No. 19 Nebraska on Saturday. "The world's kind of turned upside down, but I think our kids were resilient."

The game was a combination of pep rally, cleansing and tribute, a way to acknowledge the past and take a step into the future. Affection for Penn State and Paterno was abundantly visible from players, fans and, yes, coaches. So was support for abuse victims, the kind of empathy many felt was missing in the days after news of the scandal broke.

Beaver Stadium was awash in blue — the color associated with child-abuse prevention — and public-service announcements flashed on the scoreboard throughout the game. A fund-raising campaign for abuse-prevention charities at the stadium gates raised more than $22,000.

In one of the most poignant moments in a week filled with lurid allegations, Nebraska and Penn State players gathered at midfield and knelt for a moment while Cornhuskers running backs coach Ron Brown offered a prayer.

"It felt like we all banded together. And it wasn't just about football," said Melissa Basinger, a 2005 Penn State grad who made the trip from Charlotte, N.C. "It was about coming together as a school, and showing the country, world or whatever that this does not define who we are."

Sandusky, once considered Paterno's heir apparent, is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year span, with several of the alleged assaults occurring on Penn State property. Two university officials are charged with perjury, and Paterno and president Graham Spanier were fired for not doing enough after Sandusky was accused of molesting a young boy in the showers of the campus football complex in 2002.

The scandal would be damaging enough to anyone who prides himself on integrity. That it involved Paterno, major college football's winningest coach and the man who'd come to symbolize all that was good at Penn State, made it that much worse.

Though he was not at Beaver Stadium for the game — Jay Paterno joked that maybe he was out mowing the lawn — it took a while to get used to not seeing JoePa on the sideline, pacing back and forth, hands jammed in the pockets of his trademark blue windbreaker, watching the game unfold through those Coke-bottle glasses.

Students seemed almost afraid to acknowledge his absence, unsure how to react to having someone else in charge of the team for the first time in 46 seasons. But when Paterno appeared on the scoreboard as part of a video montage for Nittany Lion seniors — it was Senior Day — they let loose with gusto.

"Joe Pa-ter-no!" they chanted, clapping in rhythm.

No one felt the absence of the 84-year-old more keenly than his son, Jay, who choked up during a postgame interview.

"Dad, I wish you were here," he said, walking away from the cameras before the tears began to flow.

When the team arrived at the stadium, the normally low-key son pumped his fist and shouted, "Let's go!" as he followed the starting quarterback off the bus, just as his father always did. The younger Paterno high-fived passers-by on the way into the stadium, and several staffers gave him an encouraging embrace before he entered the locker room.

After the game, he shared a few details of a letter he'd dropped off at his parents' house earlier in the day. In it, he told his larger-than-life father all the things he'd never found the words to say before.

"I said, `You and I, in my life, haven't always seen eye to eye. But generally speaking, it's (because) I had to grow up, to catch up to make eye contact with you,'" Jay Paterno recalled. "There were a lot of lessons that I learned from him."

At Joe Paterno's house nearby, a small clutch of TV cameras and reporters stood outside. Two people walked to the door, rang the bell and left when no one answered. On the lawn was a pair of homemade signs facing the house. One said, "We Love You Joe, Thank You" and the other, "Thanks Joe."

A small American flag was planted nearby.

"There's not going to be closure anytime soon," said Brandon Hewitt, a senior from York, Pa. "I feel horrible what happened to the kids. I feel bad for what happened about Joe. But today was about football, and it was heartwarming to see the university rally around a terrible time."

___

Associated Press reporters Michael Rubinkam and Genaro C. Armas in State College contributed to this report.

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SPORTS - Worsham tops Top Fuel field at NHRA Finals (AP)

SPORTS - Worsham tops Top Fuel field at NHRA Finals (AP)

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SPORTS - Stern: 'Greedy' agents hurting chances of NBA deal (AP)

SPORTS - Stern: 'Greedy' agents hurting chances of NBA deal (AP)

AP – National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern speaks during a news conference alongside fellow …

By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney, Ap Basketball Writer – 2 hrs 36 mins ago

NEW YORK – Commissioner David Stern blamed "greedy" NBA agents Saturday for trying to scuttle a new labor deal and believes they are trying to push their clients into a "losing strategy" of decertification.

And Stern says neither the threat of that process nor any request from the union will change the league's negotiating position, repeating that there would be no further discussions about the revised proposal it offered Thursday. If players don't accept it, Stern reiterated that he would move to the harsher proposal that is waiting.

Stern is aware of the numerous comments from players criticizing the proposal, and fears they aren't getting the proper information about its contents because agents worry it will cost themselves money.

"By some combination of mendacity and greed, the agents who are looking out for themselves rather than their clients are trying to scuttle the deal," Stern said in a phone interview. "They're engaged in what appears to be an orchestrated Twitter campaign and a series of interviews that are designed to deny the economic realities of the proposal."

Player representatives will meet Monday and decide if they should put it to a vote. The indication Thursday from union leaders was that they weren't impressed with it, and a number of players have since been quoted saying they would shoot down the deal.

Stern said that's because the agents want them to, not because it's a bad offer.

"No one talks about the rise in compensation under the deal, no one talks about the amount of money being spent," Stern said. "I just think that the players aren't getting the information, the true information from their agents, who are banding together, sort of the coalition of the greedy and the mendacious, to do whatever they can not to have fewer opportunities for the agents to make money."

The revised proposal, though still far short of what the players had in the former collective bargaining agreement, offered some improvements over the one players said Tuesday they would reject. It increased the "mini" midlevel exception for teams over the luxury tax to $3 million annually for three years, allowed taxpayers to take part in sign-and-trades for the first two years, and added another midlevel for teams under the salary cap.

It still may not be good enough, and players are already discussing decertifying the union so they can file an antitrust lawsuit against the league instead. Stern said neither that, nor the union disclaiming as NFL players did, would give the players they leverage they seek.

And because it's a lengthy process, it would likely kill any hopes for a 2011-12 season.

"Yes, I am worried," Stern said, "because they're talking up this thing called decertification which is not a winning strategy on the one hand. On the second hand, it'll take three months to teach them it's not a winning strategy, which would not augur well for the season.

The agents misunderstand it and all it does is delay things. They themselves think that if the players decertify, then the league will change its offer. And that will not happen as a result of decertification. It's a losing strategy for them."

Stern again said there would be no further discussion about the revised proposal. Should players reject it, the next proposal calls for a 53-47 revenue split in favor of the owners, a flex cap with a hard ceiling, and salary rollbacks.

Stern said the proposal was delivered to the union Friday. Union leaders have been criticized for not getting the details of it out to players in time to prepare them for an educated vote.

"They say they are done negotiating. If we really are at that point, the players need to see exactly what is on the table — not the internet, not Twitter — and see exactly in writing, this is the proposal," one agent said.

Should players accept the deal, a 72-game season would start Dec. 15. Stern said he hoped the season could be saved, but added that he wasn't sure what to believe because "the agents are trying to do their best to bring it down."

And if Stern were running the meeting Monday, he knows what he would tell the player reps.

"This is our only shot to get a 72-game season starting on Dec 15. Take the deal, let's go back and play basketball," he said.

___

AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: twitter.com/Briancmahoney

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SPORTS - Smith makes 31 saves, Coyotes beat Sharks 3-0 (AP)

SPORTS - Smith makes 31 saves, Coyotes beat Sharks 3-0 (AP)

• Play Video Olympics Video:Two Fairchild air men receive Bronze Star medals KREM.com Spokane/Coeur d'Alene
• Play Video Olympics Video:Football schools aim to rebuild Cameroon prowess AFP
• Play Video Olympics Video:‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier dies of liver cancer WHAS TV11 Louisville

By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Danica Kirka, Associated Press – Fri Nov 11, 1:05 pm ET

LONDON – The meter is running: Taxi fares may be going up during the Summer Olympics when demand is likely to be at an all-time high.

Drivers of London's black cabs are asking city transportation authorities to let them increase fares by about 20 percent during the Olympics next year.

Transport for London said Friday an association that represents the drivers asked for the increase in order to encourage their members to work during the games. No decision has been made on the request, which will be reviewed by the Transport for London board.

The move comes amid building worries about transportation during the July 27-Aug. 12 games. London's roads are strained at the best of times, and critics worry that adding tens of thousands of tourists will lead to traffic gridlock.

Bob Oddy, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, said that those concerns are prompting black cab drivers to opt to take their vacations during the games. A bit of incentive might lure them back to the streets.

"Our drivers are saying ... 'I'm just going to be stuck in traffic,'" he said.

Oddy noted that British transport authorities have already awarded subway train drivers extra cash for working erratic hours during the Olympics. The city's 3,500 drivers will receive a one-time payment of 500 pounds ($790) for agreeing to have their normal schedules disrupted during the games. They will also receive overtime pay for the extra hours they work.

London transport officials stress that they've been planning for this for years, that they often handle large events and that they are skilled at managing London's daily traffic patterns.

Without concessions, Oddy said Londoners may find it hard to hail a cab.

Unwilling to let the London Olympics go down in history as a transport disaster, city transport officials have been working to bolster the burdened transport system to withstand the strain of the games. Authorities have invested around 6.5 billion pounds ($10.2 billion) in upgrading and extending transport links ahead of the games, including important additions to rail lines.

But even that investment can do little to change the streets themselves, which are laid out in a pattern relatively unchanged since medieval times. London has only a handful of thoroughfares, and even those are nothing like the great boulevards that traverse cities like New York and Paris.

Mindful of troubles that dogged previous games — particularly the Atlanta Olympics — transport officials have earmarked some lanes of traffic specifically for Olympic use. The lanes are intended to make certain that athletes, officials and other VIPs make it to the games on time.

London's famous cabbies depend on those roads for a living and have been agitating for greater access to the lanes.

London's black cab drivers charge between 5.20 pounds and 8.20 pounds ($8.20 and $13) for a single mile journey during business hours.

London ranks in the top tier of most expensive cab rides in the world, according to a survey conducted by the "price of travel" website, which put Zurich at the top among 72 big cities.

A cab ride from London's Heathrow Airport to the city center can cost as much as 80 pounds ($127).

London's Evening Standard was quick to argue in an editorial Friday that cabbies already made enough money — and that the demands amounted to "ransom."

"To add to the cost of fares so heftily during the games will hardly help London's image as a tourist destination." the newspaper said.

In addition to black cabs — which pedestrians can flag down — London also has dial-a-cabs.

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SPORTS - Column: One star who never made it to the stadium (AP)

SPORTS - Column: One star who never made it to the stadium (AP)

AP – People place a sign outside the home of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno after the Nittany …

By JIM LITKE, AP Sports Columnist Jim Litke, Ap Sports Columnist – Sat Nov 12, 7:46 pm ET

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Games are supposed to be about the guys who show up.

Not this one.

Penn State didn't lose 17-14 Saturday to Nebraska just because Joe Paterno wasn't there. Or because the Nittany Lions were emotionally exhausted or lacking effort after one of the most trying weeks any football team has had to withstand.

They lost this particular game because they were offensively inept, something that was a problem even when Joe was around. Penn State won eight of its previous 10 games mostly because of a stout defense and good luck than almost anything he did. It won because of a few rugged goal-line stands late and the occasional game-tying field goal clanking off the upright.

Paterno set the tone for the team, but he's been more a CEO than head coach for several seasons. Now he's out of a job, pushed aside after 46 seasons in the wake of a scandal that erupted a week ago, when former longtime assistant and one-time heir apparent Jerry Sandusky was charged with serial child sex-abuse.

The team decided to mark his absence by leaving the first seat on the bus empty for the ride to Beaver Stadium. Asked where its usual occupant would be spending the day, Jay Paterno, Joe's son and Penn State's quarterbacks coach, replied, "Who knows?

"Maybe he's out cutting the grass," Jay added, then thought about it some more. "I doubt it. He can't now. There are 800 media cameras."

From a practical standpoint, the Nittany Lions probably missed receivers coach Mike McQueary even more. Most weeks, McQueary is down on the field, signaling the plays he gets over his headset from offensive coordinator Galen Hall and Jay Paterno up in the press box, then making sure the personnel group in the huddle matches the call.

This Saturday, McQueary was at an undisclosed location because he had received threats, yet one more unforeseen consequence of the events of the past week. McQueary was a 28-year-old grad assistant in March, 2002, when he walked into the team's locker room one night to grab some game film, heard noises coming from the shower and headed in that direction. He would later tell a grand jury that he saw Sandusky assaulting a boy of about 10.

Like Joe Paterno, McQueary has been vilified for not doing more to stop an alleged sexual predator though, so far, he's been placed on administrative leave and not fired. Unsettling as it must have been for his fellow coaches and players to find out Friday night — via a conference call — that McQueary wasn't going to be with them, they missed him even more on the very first play.

Interim head coach Tom Bradley scrambled to come up with something simple to open the game — a fullback dive, Joe's bread-and-butter play — and who knows how many fans assumed it was some kind of tribute. It wasn't.

"We had a little bit on confusion early," conceded Bradley, who didn't begin preparing for his new job until he received a call from new school president Rod Erickson late Wednesday night.

Jay Paterno assumed McQueary's duties on the sideline, in addition to his regular role calling the pass plays. After that rocky start, he settled down by remembering something his father said.

"Joe was always telling us about `the blue line of practice.' When you cross the blue line, the only thing you can control is what you're doing right there," Jay recalled." So we just had to imagine there was a blue line coming into this stadium and once we were here, we were focused on the task at hand. Just a little short."

Afterward, he talked about dropping a letter off at his parents' house earlier in the day, including a line that read, "Dad, I wish you were here."

So did plenty of others by day's end.

Joe Paterno's real value to Penn State football hasn't been as a strategist or taskmaster for some time now. Instead, he's been its institutional memory. An illustration of that came earlier in the week, when Paterno's future became the focal point of a debate and former Nittany Lion and current Chicago Bears defender Anthony Adams weighed in.

He told the story of being one minute late for practice one day and having Paterno lecture him. The coach explained that Adams might have only been a minute late, but because there were 120 players on the team, he actually wasted 120 minutes. The point was it's not just things that determine success or failure; sometimes you have to sweat the small stuff, too.

"At the time you're just going, `Why you keep naggin' and naggin'?' " Adams said. "But, I mean, you don't realize the type of impact they have on your life until you leave."

Jack Ham, the perennial NFL All-Pro linebacker who retired from the Steelers in 1982, has been gone from Penn State for a lot longer. On his way out of Saturday's game, he stopped to confirm that message.

"I'll get around to calling Joe soon, but he's gone through a lot lately," he said. "I'm pretty sure when I do, though, one thing I'll hear is how much he wishes everybody would quit saying they're going to miss him."

___

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org. Follow him at http://Twitter.com/JimLitke.

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SPORTS - Fares aren't fair, London cabbies say (AP)

SPORTS - Fares aren't fair, London cabbies say (AP)

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SPORTS - Pacquiao edges Marquez on tight decision (Reuters)

SPORTS - Pacquiao edges Marquez on tight decision (Reuters)

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SPORTS - Munoz stops Leben in UFC 138 (AP)

SPORTS - Munoz stops Leben in UFC 138 (AP)

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SPORTS - Chalmers wins Australian Open; Woods in 3rd (AP)

SPORTS - Chalmers wins Australian Open; Woods in 3rd (AP)

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SPORTS - Landis convicted in France over doping lab hacking (AP)

SPORTS - Landis convicted in France over doping lab hacking (AP)

AP – Phoenix Coyotes goalie Mike Smith (41) stops a San Jose Sharks's shot during the second period of an …

– 32 mins ago

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Mike Smith made 31 saves in his 12th NHL shutout, and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the San Jose Sharks 3-0 on Saturday night.

Radim Vrbata, Boyd Gordon and Patrick O'Sullivan all scored for Phoenix. Smith won for the sixth time in seven games and posted his first shutout since April 3, 2011.

Smith handled the Sharks constant pressure in the third period and made 15 saves.

Phoenix won in San Jose for the first time since April 9, 2009, a span of six games. The Sharks fell to 8-2-1 in their last 11 games.

Vrbata put Phoenix ahead 1-0 with 5:39 left in the first period when he took Ray Whitney's missed shot when it bounced off the endboards and put a shot past goalie Thomas Greiss for his sixth goal of the season.

The Coyotes made it 2-0 with 42 seconds left in the first period when Gordon slipped a shot under Greiss' right pad.

Since Phoenix hired Dave Tippett as coach for the 2009-10 season, the Coyotes are 73-8-12 in games in which they score first.

O'Sullivan made 3-0 when he stuffed in a shot from the low slot.

Greiss made his first appearance since setting a modern NHL record for the longest relief win — going 62 minutes, 52 seconds against Pittsburgh on Nov. 3.

NOTES: The teams are 49-49-7-6 against each other. ... Coming into the game, San Jose LW Ryan Clowe led the Sharks with 53 shots. ... Phoenix's Shane Doan has the most goals (300) of any active player without a hat trick. He has 38 two-goal games. ... San Jose F Joe Pavelski is tied with three other players for the most multipoint games in the NHL with eight. ... The Sharks sent LW Frazer McLaren on a conditioning assignment to Worcester of the AHL. McLaren is recovering from hip surgery last May. ... Phoenix leads the NHL in the fewest penalties per game, averaging 8.5 minutes.

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SPORTS - St. Bonaventure shocks No. 25 St. John's 64-58 (AP)

SPORTS - St. Bonaventure shocks No. 25 St. John's 64-58 (AP)

AP – FILE - In this July 23, 2006 file photo, Tour de France winner Floyd Landis of the U.S. holds his trophy …

By PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD, Associated Press Pierre-antoine Souchard, Associated Press – Thu Nov 10, 1:58 pm ET

NANTERRE, France – Disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis was convicted by a French court Thursday for his role in hacking into the computers of the anti-doping lab that caught him cheating at the 2006 Tour de France.

The court in Nanterre, west of Paris, handed Landis and former coach Arnie Baker 12-month suspended sentences for benefiting from information culled from computers at the Chatenay-Malabry lab.

State prosecutors had sought an 18-month suspended sentence against both men, who were tried in absentia.

Landis was stripped of the 2006 Tour title after the WADA-accredited lab south of Paris found unusually high testosterone levels in his samples.

The case centered on alleged use of a Trojan horse spy program in late 2006 to poke into the lab's computers to extract information about Landis' file — months after he tested positive — to use in his defense.

After years of denials, Landis admitted last year to doping during his career.

Investigators in the case against Landis, Baker and three other defendants said their probe was unable to turn up who ordered the hacking, and blamed that in part on a lack of cooperation from U.S. authorities.

In its ruling, the court said Landis' role "was limited to the knowledge that he had about the fraudulent origin" of the lab information that he and his defense team used in their unsuccessful appeal to sports authorities — an attempt to show he was clean and that the lab work was faulty.

"The defendant knew very well that these (lab) results were accurate, because he would admit four years later that he had been involved in doping since 2002," the court verdict said.

Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer for Landis, said he would advise the rider to appeal.

"If he doesn't appeal, it amounts to an admission that he lied about his knowledge of the fraudulent origin of these documents that he used for his defense," the lawyer said.

Landis did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment. Baker, in a statement emailed to the AP, lashed out at the French trial and insisted "the charges were not true."

"I had nothing to do with any hacking and as far as I knew, the lab documents I received while serving as an expert consultant to the legal team for Floyd Landis were obtained legally," Baker wrote.

"This case against me appears to be a deeply flawed process from start to finish, designed to protect a national French institution and cover up its apparent sloppy work and incompetence," he added, referring to the lab.

Baker said "I appreciate" that the court found him not guilty of any hacking, but acknowledged: "The court has convicted me of having knowingly received hacked documents..."

He didn't indicate whether he planned to appeal but said "this saga is over" now.

___

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.

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SPORTS - Baseball managers go to bat for flooded Vt. farms (AP)

SPORTS - Baseball managers go to bat for flooded Vt. farms (AP)

AP – Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington, right, speaks while Chicago Cubs President of Baseball …

– Sat Nov 12, 10:20 pm ET

RANDOLPH, Vt. – New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman thinks baseball needs more instant replay, new Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein says nobody could party like the 2004 Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington wishes he had never traded Jason Bay.

Those were some of the soul-bearing thoughts the three men shared with a few hundred people during a candid 90-minute discussion held Saturday night at Vermont Technical College in Randolph. But the juicy question-and-answer session took a backseat to the event itself.

The gathering was part of a fundraising effort to benefit Vermont farms damaged by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene. The event was organized by ESPN baseball writer Buster Olney, who grew up in the area.

The discussion was followed by an online auction of baseball memorabilia donated by players and teams. The funds raised will go to the Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund, set up by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and The Vermont Community Foundation. The organization already had raised $1.8 million for flood-damaged Vermont farms before Saturday's event.

Much of the spotlight fell on Epstein, the former Red Sox general manager who bolted Boston last month to become president of the Cubs. The Massachusetts native spoke openly about the difficulty of leaving Boston after leading the Red Sox to two World Series titles in his nine years as its GM.

"It's a part of me, it will always be part of me. I'm not going to try and fake it," Epstein said. "I think we're all allowed one (American League) team to pull for."

Epstein talked about his former team's historic September collapse, in which it went from having the best record in the AL to missing the playoffs altogether.

"How do you describe a death spiral?" he said. "We knew we had issues going into September (even though) we were on pace for 100 wins. We just couldn't stop bleeding. A lot of things happened at the same time. We lost a few key guys to injury, a few guys had a significant downturn in their performance, and all of a sudden we looked up and we didn't have enough pitching."

Epstein also addressed reports of Red Sox starting pitchers drinking beer, eating fried chicken and playing video games in the clubhouse during the team's disastrous September.

"There weren't players getting drunk during games. And it wasn't widespread — it might have been one, two, three guys," Epstein said.

He acknowledged that some of the Red Sox players "didn't respond to adversity well," but said reports of the team's clubhouse debauchery were exaggerated.

"If you compare the 2011 team to the (World Series champion) 2004 team, they were a bunch of choir boys. The difference is we won the last game in '04."

Epstein wasn't the only panelist who had to answer questions about a new contract. Cashman just signed a new three-year deal to remain the Yankees general manager — known as one of the most demanding jobs in sports.

He was asked what persuaded him to remain in the Bronx.

"I'm working on that with my therapist," Cashman joked. "I stayed because I love the game, I love baseball. If they keep saying `yes', if I have the energy, I'll keep going."

Cashman said he expects this offseason to be relatively quiet for the Yankees — a rarity for baseball's biggest spenders.

"We've gotten better at adding patience into the franchise," he said. "I'm pretty happy with our offense. I don't feel any need to make changes there. But I'm not satisfied with where we are pitching-wise. We're the Yankees. We're going to get connected to every (free agent) out there. But it will probably be a conservative winter."

Now that Epstein is no longer with the Red Sox, Cashman said he looks forward to potentially making deals with the new Cubs team president in the future.

"We don't really deal with the Red Sox, they don't deal with us. You don't see Yankees and Red Sox doing business too easily," Cashman said. "Unless it's for something like this."

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SPORTS - Stagnating QBs plague some teams (AP)

SPORTS - Stagnating QBs plague some teams (AP)

AP – Buffalo Bills' Alex Carrington (92) sacks New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) during the first …

By BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner, Ap Pro Football Writer – Sat Nov 12, 12:03 am ET

Mark Sanchez was supposed to take the next step this year in his development as a quarterback. If he's done so, it's been a move laterally, if not backward.

Same for Josh Freeman, Colt McCoy and Kevin Kolb. Some might even have added Joe Flacco before his star turn in prime time last weekend at Pittsburgh.

Not to spotlight just the younger quarterbacks — Philip Rivers, Tony Romo, Kyle Orton, Matt Cassel and Donovan McNabb haven't exactly lit up the league this season — but halfway through the schedule, the struggles have been mighty for some young guns.

Their problems have been exacerbated by the success of Cam Newton and Andy Dalton, two rookies whose performances outshine the work of those other quarterbacks.

Freeman's regression is the least explainable. The Buccaneers went 10-6 in 2010 as Freeman emerged in his second pro season and first full year as a starter. He threw for 3,451 yards, 25 touchdowns with only six interceptions, had a 95.9 rating and nearly got the Bucs into the playoffs.

This year: pfft.

"Obviously he's not playing his best football," coach Raheem Morris said. "But at the halfway point, he's got a chance to help his team go and win eight more games. All his guys believe in him. I know this whole organization does. We just want him to be great, and we're going to help him get there."

Freeman appeared to be headed to stardom as a comeback king, having led the Buccaneers to come-from-behind victories in the fourth quarter and overtime in eight of his 17 wins as a starter. Perhaps the Bucs have become too dependent on him producing in the clutch, but he's also struggling to live up to past achievements. And expectations.

"Last year, he simply did a better job of going through his progressions," Morris added. "Right now, he has a little bit too much confidence in what he's doing with his arm and forcing some things in there."

One of Freeman's great traits, though is how quickly he learns and how well he absorbs the lessons of a young NFL quarterback. He thinks he has spotted his problems and knows how to fix them.

"The turnovers the first half of the season, obviously that's something you never would have anticipated," he said of throwing 10 picks. "But at the same time, it's happened and we're doing things to correct it.

"Looking back earlier in the season, some of those errant throws may have been from pressing, trying to make something happen when there's nothing there."

The same issue has plagued McCoy, Sanchez and Kolb — not to mention Rivers, Romo, Cassel and Orton.

For Kolb, the trade to Arizona was going to be his ticket to the big time. He now had his own starting job — no more being the youngster sitting behind a veteran, either Donovan McNabb or Michael Vick, in Philadelphia. He had a coach, Ken Whisenhunt, with a good feel for developing quarterbacks. He had a lucrative new contract.

And he had Larry Fitzgerald to throw to.

Arizona is 2-6 and just broke a five-game slide while Kolb was sidelined by a turf toe in his right foot. He's looked like anything but a franchise QB even when healthy, and the switch to the Cardinals' style of offense has been difficult.

"I'm not going to lie. It's a tough deal," he said before he was injured, "especially after getting trained a certain way for four years. I wish I had the offseason and I didn't."

No one did, yet quarterbacks such as San Francisco's Alex Smith, Detroit's Matthew Stafford and Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick have taken nice steps forward.

As for Sanchez, few if any quarterbacks in the league are required to be game managers more than the third-year pro out of Southern California. So when he makes several critical errors, such as in a rout at Baltimore in Week 4, it severely sets back the Jets, a team built to win with the running game, defense and special teams.

Sanchez certainly has the weapons at his disposal to make the passing game more effective, even dynamic.

"We do have some targets," coach Rex Ryan admitted. "We have some weapons. Obviously, you have Santonio (Holmes), you have Plaxico (Burress), you have Dustin (Keller), you have some good receivers out of the backfield. So certainly that'll be something that we'll try to do. But I also like our ability to run the football."

Which also means not putting matters of winning directly on Sanchez's arm.

To his credit, Sanchez has gone from so-so regular seasons in his first two years as a pro to a 4-2 postseason record, all in road games.

Still, it's easy to understand why Jets fans get nervous when he has to be the main man. Sanchez recognizes his shortcomings, and like with Freeman, that's a big part of the battle to get better.

"You can't give away some cheap ones, and really, you look at the seven interceptions, I think (that's what the number) is, and there are some dumb ones," he said. "So, we get rid of those and we're really playing well."

No one is playing particularly well in Cleveland. McCoy clearly has regressed, but he's also working under a new coaching staff with a young and battered team. The Browns can't protect him when he's in the pocket, and he's made some bad decisions.

"Sometimes," McCoy said, "growing pains aren't that fun."

___

AP Sports Writers Fred Goodall in Tampa and Dennis Waszak Jr., in New York contributed to this story.

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SPORTS - Manny Pacquiao escapes with a decision (AP)

SPORTS - Manny Pacquiao escapes with a decision (AP)

AP – Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines celebrates after his victory over Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez during …

By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Boxing Writer Tim Dahlberg, Ap Boxing Writer – 45 mins ago

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao was taken to the limit Saturday night before escaping with a majority decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez in their welterweight title fight.

Pacquiao won on two scorecards, while the third ringside judge had it a draw. It was a narrow escape for the Filipino congressman, who took as much punishment as he got over 12 rounds.

The third fight between the two was as close as the previous two, and by the time they finished 12 arounds the outcome was still in doubt. Pacquiao won some rounds with sheer agression, while Marquez won others with brilliant counterpunching, keeping Pacquiao from getting inside.

Marquez was a 7-1 underdog, but it was clear early he would be in this fight. He picked Pacquiao apart with right hands almost every time he tried to get inside, and landed good hard flurries throughout the fight.

Pacquiao was the aggressor throughout, and landed some sharp punches of his own. But when the decision was announced, the crowd booed roundly and, once again Marquez had lost a close fight.

One ringside judge had it a 114-114 draw, while two others favored Pacquiao by 115-113 and 116-112. The Associated Press had it 114-114.

The sellout crowd at the MGM Grand arena threw bottles and cans toward ringside after the decision was announced, with one full can hitting a ringside writer. Marquez, who had been bitter about the scoring in the first two fights, stormed out of the ring.

Pacquiao continued his remarkable run with the win, but it didn't come easy. He had trouble all night finding his range and, when he did get inside, Marquez often moved to the side and landed a counter right hand.

It was the third close fight between the two men, though this one was fought at 144 pounds instead of 125 as was their first fight seven years ago. That fight was a draw, while Pacquiao won a split decision in the second bout in 2008 at 130 pounds.

"My fans are very happy because they thought I won," Pacquiao said when asked about the crowd reaction.

Marquez fought going backward all night, and that might have been his undoing. While he landed well at times, Pacquiao was in his face most of the night.

"I got robbed," Marquez said. "I don't know what else I can do to win."

Pacquiao earned a minimum $22 million for the fight, while Marquez got $5 million

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SPORTS - No. 12 Penn St falls to No. 19 Nebraska 17-14 (AP)

SPORTS - No. 12 Penn St falls to No. 19 Nebraska 17-14 (AP)

AP – Penn State tight end Andrew Szczerba takes a knee after their 17-14 loss to Nebraska in an NCAA college …

By GENARO C. ARMAS, AP Sports Writer Genaro C. Armas, Ap Sports Writer – Sat Nov 12, 6:46 pm ET

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – If they didn't know better, fans in Happy Valley would have thought they were watching Joe Paterno's team.

No. 12 Penn State played tough defense and basic offense. The Nittany Lions fought back when they were down, trying to rally from a 17-point deficit against No. 19 Nebraska on Saturday.

But on a day when the outcome was secondary, Penn State began the journey forward from a devastating scandal and the firing of Paterno with a draining loss, 17-14 to the Cornhuskers.

The game closed a tumultuous week that began with the arrest of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on shocking child sexual abuse charges. Major college football's winningest coach was pushed out in the aftermath.

"I was awful proud," said interim coach Tom Bradley, who took over for the 84-year-old Paterno. "They got down 17-0. They didn't quit. They hung tough."

No one would have blamed the Nittany Lions (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) if they decided to pack it in. But they didn't.

Time expired after a fourth-down pass by Matt McGloin fell harmlessly to the ground. McGloin and his teammates soon turned toward the tunnel to file back to the locker room. Most were silent. Some had blank stares.

Afterward, linebacker Nate Stupar was heartened the team ended up following Paterno's advice.

"(Bradley) kept saying, `Beat Nebraska. Do what JoePa said,'" said Stupar, who had a team-high 13 tackles. "Be a team and you'll be teammates for life and just keep that goal in mind. No matter what, stick together. That's what we did today."

Rex Burkhead ran for 121 yards and a touchdown for Nebraska (8-2, 4-2) before the Nittany Lions scored 14 points on two second-half touchdown runs by Stephfon Green. But a key drive ended when Silas Redd was stopped on the fourth down with 1:49 left at the Penn State 38.

School president Rod Erickson met the Nittany Lions in the locker room afterward and praised, "how much courage, how much heart, and how much character" the players had, he said.

Most Penn State fans heeded calls for a "blueout," wearing the school's familiar dark blue in support of victims of child sexual abuse. Fans formed the outline of a blue ribbon in the student section.

"We are ... Penn State," roared the crowd through the afternoon, the signature State College cheer.

But this school's identity has forever changed.

"I think today it just made the healing process start to begin," Bradley said.

Sandusky, architect of the "Linebacker U." defenses, was charged last weekend with sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years. The athletic director and a university vice president were charged with perjury and failure to report a 2002 allegation to police, and Paterno was fired following mounting fury he did not do more about the charge — that Sandusky assaulted a boy in the Penn State football showers — than pass it along to his bosses. President Graham Spanier also was ousted for similar reasons.

The last time Penn State played a game at Beaver Stadium, on Oct. 29, Paterno was feted by Spanier for his 409th career victory, the most in Division I history.

On Saturday, he was nowhere to be found — save for a few fleeting images on the video boards overhead. That was enough to get spontaneous cheers of "Joe Paterno!" ringing through the stands.

"In my opinion and a lot of others' opinion he's still going to be the best football coach who ever coached in college," receiver Derek Moye said "It was an honor for me to play for him."

Paterno started as an assistant in 1950, then took over as head coach in 1966. It was Penn State's first game without Paterno on staff since Nov. 19, 1949, a 19-0 loss at Pittsburgh.

But in many respects, it was like any other fall Saturday in Happy Valley. Massive 6-foot-5 defensive tackle Devon Still hit ball carriers with typical ferocity and the Nittany Lions played another close, low-scoring game — as they have all year.

Penn State's first play from scrimmage was a fullback run up the middle — a Paterno favorite.

But the Nittany Lions' conservative offense struggled again. In the late-game sequence that ended with Redd getting smothered on fourth down, Penn State called four straight running plays.

Meanwhile, someone named "Paterno" wore a path on the sideline wearing jet black Nike sneakers.

Just not that Paterno.

Paterno's son, quarterback coach Jay Paterno, moved down from his usual spot in the press box to relay plays from the sideline — a job once held by assistant coach Mike McQueary.

Where was Joe? It's uncertain, though he pulled into the garage at his home a couple of hours after the final gun.

"He wanted to make sure that the guys he coached and the guys he felt very close to would understand that he was part of us," Jay Paterno said. "He still wanted to be part of this and he was pulling for them and cheering for them."

McQueary was among the missing after being placed on indefinite paid leave Friday by the school. His name surfaced as a grand jury witness to the 2002 abuse charge. Sandusky, who retired in 1999 but lives in the area and had access to school facilities, maintains his innocence.

McQueary, Joe Paterno says, told him that Sandusky had behaved inappropriately, but not to the extent of the detailed testimony. Paterno then passed the information on to Curley, but the report was not given to police.

News of the scandal elicited threats to McQueary, the school said, and brought heightened security.

But there were no visible problems during the game.

"I'll be honest with you, going into this football game, I didn't think the game should have been played — for a lot of different reasons," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. "I look at my job as a football coach is to educate, and to prepare the kids that come into the program for life."

By the second half, most Penn State fans seemed most concerned about whether the Nittany Lions could get back into the game.

The Corhuskers had surged early, with Burkhead gashing Penn State's staunch D on 25 carries. He motored 14 yards into the end zone with 8:51 left in the third quarter for a 17-0 lead.

Then came the second-half push from Green on Senior Day — his last game at Beaver Stadium.

The senior scored from 5 yards out with 5:07 in the third quarter, then added a 6-yard run at 5:42 of the fourth to get Penn State within three. Green finished with 71 yards on 17 carries.

But the offense faltered on two late drives, including the fourth-and-1 stop of Redd. Out of timeouts with 49 seconds left, the Nittany Lions got the ball back but could get no farther than their own 46 before McGloin's final incompletion as time expired.

The fans cheered anyway, and greeted the Nittany Lions with one more chorus of "We are ... Penn State."

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