Tuesday's Sports in Brief
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
BOSTON (AP) North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he was feeling both thankful to be alive, and proud of how his team responded in the aftermath of a vertigo attack that forced him to watch most of the second half of the Tar Heels' 68-65 ACC win over Boston College from the locker room.
In a huddle on the sideline with about 14 minutes left in the half and his team in danger of suffering its third straight conference loss, Williams said he jerked his head suddenly while discussing a foul call with the referee. He got dizzy and collapsed momentarily before having to be helped to the locker room. The 65-year-old said his condition, known as benign positional vertigo, is triggered by those kinds of sudden head movements. Williams had previous bouts with vertigo in the past and felt dizzy when standing up quickly.
Assistant coach Steve Robinson assumed coaching duties on the sideline for the remainder of the game. Williams received medication in the locker room and remained there until after the game, when he went out to shake Eagles' coach Jim Christian's hand.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Coach Rick Pitino said he is still waiting to be interviewed by the NCAA about an escort's book allegations that a former Louisville staffer hired her and other dancers for sex parties at the team's dormitory.
Pitino has said repeatedly that he did not know about the incidents, and took that a step further, saying that athletic director Tom Jurich does not believe he was aware of the activities. The coach said on ESPN's ''Mike & Mike'' that if Jurich ''thought for one second I had 1 percent knowledge of hearsay in this case, I would have been gone a long time ago.''
The university has announced a self-imposed one-year postseason ban for the men's basketball team after the school's investigation into allegations revealed violations did occur. The coach said he has been kept in the dark about the investigation because he has not been interviewed by the NCAA. The university investigation is ongoing and it's unclear if more self-imposed penalties are possible.
Pitino also has stated that he has no plans to step down, and he indicated his position has not changed.
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PRO FOOTBALL
DENVER (AP) - From the top of a fire truck, Von Miller thrust the Super Bowl trophy into the air again and again as the Denver Broncos convoy made its way through streets lined with blue-and-orange clad fans.
Behind Miller, the Super Bowl MVP, stood Peyton Manning and DeMarcus Ware. Behind them, the architect of this team and Hall of Famer John Elway. Fittingly, the group traveled the route, which was a bit longer than a mile, in fire truck No. 18 - Manning's number. Will he be back with the Broncos? A question for another time. Because Tuesday was parade day and a million fans - according to an estimate from the city's mayor - showed up to cheer on the Super Bowl champions after beating Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers 24-10 on Sunday.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Cam Newton isn't apologizing for acting like a ''sore loser'' after the Super Bowl. The NFL MVP has been widely criticized for walking out of a three-minute press conference after a 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday in which he answered questions with mostly one- and two-word responses while sulking in his chair wearing a black Carolina Panthers hoodie over his head.
''Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser,'' Newton said as players cleaned out their lockers at the team's downtown stadium.
Newton said he believes the situation is being overblown by the media, and added he doesn't plan to change how he reacts to losing just to appease his critics.
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Browns defended their handling of Johnny Manziel's late-season concussion.
The team issued a statement saying Manziel was diagnosed with a concussion on Dec. 30 by an independent neurologist, countering an NFL Network report that they lied about the injury to cover up the troubled quarterback showing up intoxicated for practice. The league's in-house network reported citing an unnamed Browns player that the team ''lied'' to try and protect Manziel, who is being investigated by Dallas police on allegations of domestic violence. Manziel missed the team's season finale against Pittsburgh because of the concussion. He also didn't report to a scheduled medical checkup for his head injury on Jan. 3 amid a report he was spotted partying in Las Vegas. The team did not know his exact whereabouts that day.
ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is planning surgery for what he says is a treatable form of prostate cancer.
Blank said in a statement posted on the team website he was diagnosed with the cancer in December. He says he has visited doctors ''across the country.'' He says ''the overall prognosis is good.'' The 73-year-old Blank, the co-founder of Home Depot, purchased the Falcons in 2002. He also owns the expansion MLS franchise Atlanta United FC, which will begin play in 2017. The soccer team will share the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, currently under construction, with the Falcons.
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PRO BASKETBALL
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Blake Griffin was suspended four games without pay for punching a team staff member, and the Los Angeles Clippers will dock the star forward's pay for an additional game because he broke his shooting hand. In all, Griffin will lose $859,442 from his season salary of $18,907,725.
A team spokesman said the suspension will begin when Griffin is healthy, cleared to play and active. He was expected to be out four-to-six weeks while his hand heals from the Jan. 23 altercation in Toronto. The spokesman said the fine was issued by the Clippers, with the NBA assisting in the investigation of the incident as well as in the disciplinary process. No other punishment from the league is expected.
NEW YORK (AP) - NBA teams need to keep Hack-a-Shaq on the court, not the sideline.
The league sent a memo to teams and referees clarifying that intentionally fouling a player inbounding the ball will be a delay of game violation - and possibly a technical foul. The memo, sent from league executives Kiki Vandeweghe and Mike Bantom and obtained by The Associated Press, comes in response to questions after San Antonio's Danny Green fouled Houston's Clint Capela as Capela was attempting to inbound the ball in a Jan. 28 game.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Grizzlies center Marc Gasol is out indefinitely with a broken bone in his right foot after an MRI exam found the fracture earlier. Memphis said in a statement that Gasol was examined by team physicians Tuesday morning.
The 7-foot-1 Gasol is averaging 16.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in 52 games this season. He left Monday night's overtime loss to Portland in the first quarter after scoring 11 points and did not return. Coach Dave Joerger said after the game that Gasol had a problem with each leg.
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Mississippi's football program was cited by the NCAA in nearly half of the 28 rules violations levied against the school in the Notice of Allegations the university recently received, said a person with knowledge of the investigation.
The person said that 13 allegations involve the football program, and nine of those occurred during current coach Hugh Freeze's tenure. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The violations are a mix of Level I - which the NCAA considers most serious - and Level II and III. Many have already been self-reported by the school.
The school's women's basketball and track and field programs are also involved in the investigation.
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HOCKEY
TORONTO (AP) - The Ottawa Senators acquired defenseman Dion Phaneuf from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a nine-player blockbuster trade weeks before the deadline.
Ottawa gets Phaneuf, forwards Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey and Ryan Rupert, and defensive prospect Cody Donaghey from the Maple Leafs for defenseman Jared Cowen, forwards Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Tobias Lindberg and a second-round pick in the 2017 draft. There is no salary being retained by either team.
Phaneuf, the Maple Leafs' captain for the past six seasons, is the centerpiece of the deal. The 30-year-old has five years left on his contract at a salary-cap hit of $7 million. Phaneuf has three goals and 21 assists this season.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - The New Jersey Devils retired Martin Brodeur's No. 30 jersey during a pregame ceremony.
After serenading the NHL's winningest goalie with chants of ''Mar-ty, Mar-ty, Mar-ty'' and ''Marty is better,'' the sellout crowd at the Prudential Center gave Brodeur a standing ovation that lasted more than 2 minutes and grew louder by the second. Brodeur tried to start his thank you speech only to be drowned out by the roar. He eventually walked away from the podium and waved to the crowd, players from the Edmonton Oilers and Devils, who sat on their benches during the ceremony, and simply soaked it all in. It was fitting for a man who set NHL records for games played, shutouts, playoff shutouts, number of 30- and 40-win seasons and most wins in a season.
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AUTO RACING
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - NASCAR has agreed on a franchise-like system with its team owners, one in which owning a team will now provide actual value.
The new system creates 36 ''charters'' that guarantee revenue and a starting position in what will now be a 40-car field. The charters are designed to give team owners something of value to offer potential investors and buyers. Should an owner no longer want to be in NASCAR, the charter itself can be sold. Currently, owners only have old cars and equipment to sell away if a team closes. The 36 charters went to owners whose cars have attempted every race since 2013. The owners can keep the charters and field a car this year, or sell them to the highest bidder.
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SOCCER
PARIS (AP) - FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman is calling on voters to agree on a single candidate ahead of the election.
Sheikh Salman tells The Associated Press that ''if we go to election, there will be losers and maybe sometimes you need to avoid that result.'' The Bahraini royal and UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino are seen as front-runners among five candidates in the Feb. 26 vote. Sheikh Salman says it's best for FIFA if ''we have a clear indication on who will be elected.''
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COLLEGE ATHLETICS
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A lawsuit filed by a group of women alleges that the University of Tennessee has violated Title IX regulations and created a ''hostile sexual environment'' through a policy of indifference toward assaults by student-athletes.
The federal suit filed in Nashville states Tennessee's policies made students more vulnerable to sexual assault and had a ''clearly unreasonable response'' after incidents that caused the women making complaints to endure additional harassment. The suit also states the university interfered with the disciplinary process to favor male athletes.
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OLYMPICS
PARIS (AP) - Paris ramped up its bid for the 2024 Olympics, securing about $8.9 million in four sponsorship deals and presenting its Eiffel Tower-shaped logo in a ceremony on the Champs Elysees.
The bid committee said each of the four new sponsors - Caisse des Depots, Elior Group, JCDecaux and RATP - will contribute about $2.2 million to the budget. The announcement followed the signing last month of the bid's first sponsorship deal with France's national lottery, Francaise des Jeux, which has also promised 2 million euros in funding for the bid.
Paris, which hosted the Olympics in 1900 and 1924, is competing against Budapest, Rome and Los Angeles for the games. The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city in September 2017.
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TENNIS
LONDON (AP) - Two tennis umpires have been banned and four others are under investigation for corruption, authorities said. The sanctions were confirmed by the International Tennis Federation in response to a story published online by The Guardian.
Kirill Parfenov of Kazakhstan was banned for life in February 2015 for using Facebook to contact another official in an ''attempt to manipulate the scoring of matches,'' the ITF said in a statement. Denis Pitner of Croatia was suspended for a year in August after passing on details on the ''physical well-being of a player to a coach during a tournament and regularly logging on to a betting account from which bets were placed on tennis matches,'' the ITF said.
Four other unidentified officials were suspended while investigations continue into their conduct.
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SPORTS MEDIA
LOS ANGELES (AP) - ESPN, the sports network that drives Disney's profit engine, has hit a soft patch. Subscribers have fallen by about 7.2 million over the last three years, according to Nielsen, and it's coming off a round of layoffs in the latest quarter. As more people cut the cord to watch programming online, its perch on top of the pay TV empire is looking unsteady at best.
Even though ''Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' helped Disney's earnings soar 32 percent to a record $2.9 billion, its television profits slumped by 6 percent, in part due to increases in the cost of sports-broadcast rights. It was Disney's second profit decline in the TV segment in the last four quarters. Shares fell 3 percent to $89.48 in after-hours trading, the lowest level in more than a year.
NEW YORK (AP) - Veteran announcer Marv Albert agreed to a multiyear contract extension with TNT to call NBA games.
Albert will no longer work the NCAA Tournament under the new deal. Turner Sports' NBA broadcasters have been part of the college basketball postseason during the company's partnership with CBS. But Albert says four games a day in the early rounds was too much strain on his voice, forcing him to take off some NBA telecasts to recover.
Albert will call this weekend's NBA All-Star Game in Toronto, his 21st year providing commentary for the event. He'll continue to work regular-season and playoff games for the network. The Hall of Fame broadcaster has been associated with the NBA for nearly 50 years.