BASEBALL

BELTRAN PASSES PHYSICAL WHILE METS PURSUE DELGADO Carlos Beltran passed his physical without incident and the Mets scheduled a news conference for today to announce his $119 million, seven-year contract. With Randy Johnson due to be introduced by the Yankees the same day, the Mets called their neighbor yesterday and let them know their shindig at Shea Stadium would be at 11 a.m. The Yankees scheduled a 2 p.m. announcement in the Bronx to introduce the Big Unit, who got into a little confrontation with a cameraman on the way to his physical.

While the Mets worked to finalize Beltran’s contract, the 10th deal in baseball history worth $100 million or more, General Manager Omar Minaya spoke with Carlos Delgado’s agent, David Sloane, about possibly meeting with the first baseman this week in Puerto Rico. It’s possible the Mets also may revive talks to acquire Sammy Sosa from the Chicago Cubs .

Also yesterday, the Mets finalized a $900,000, one-year contract with infielder Miguel Cairo and agreed to a $2.1 million, one-year deal with pitcher Victor Zambrano, their last remaining player eligible for salary arbitration.

FOOTBALL

MANNING WINS SECOND STRAIGHT MVP AWARD Peyton Manning’s phenomenal season earned him his second straight Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award – and he came within one vote of being a unanimous choice. He joined the likes of Joe Montana, John Unitas, Steve Young, and Kurt Warner as quarterbacks with two MVP awards. Brett Favre is the only player to win it three times.

The Indianapolis Colts star, who surpassed Dan Marino and Steve Young with his passing prowess in 2004, earned all but one of 48 votes from a national panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Manning tied with Steve McNair for the award last season, but this time only Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick drew a vote.

Manning threw for 49 touchdowns, surpassing Dan Marino’s 20-year-old NFL record. He also shattered Young’s passer rating record with a 121.1 mark, as well as establishing other league and franchise records. Manning is the first Indianapolis player to win MVP. When the Colts were in Baltimore, the award was won by Unitas (1964 and 1967), Gino Marchetti (1958), Earl Morrall (1968), and Bert Jones (1976).

MOSS FACES FINE FOR MOCK MOON Randy Moss is almost sure to be fined for pretending to moon fans in Green Bay during a playoff win, according to NFL rules. The league is looking into the star receiver’s antics in Minnesota’s win over the Packers on Sunday and will announce its ruling later this week.

A fine for the first offense under those guidelines is $5,000. Moss has not previously been fined for such action, but paid a $25,000 penalty in 1999 for squirting an official with a water bottle.

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy said he saw Moss’s action and, “I thought it was kind of humorous. Anyone who has played in the NFC Central knows what that’s about. The fans in Green Bay have a tradition in the parking lot after the game where they moon the visiting team’s bus,” he said. “It’s kind of a unique send-off.”

BASKETBALL

ORLANDO TRADES MOBLEY TO SACRAMENTO FOR CHRISTIE The Orlando Magic acquired Doug Christie from Sacramento for Cuttino Mobley yesterday in a trade of guards intended to improve their defense and passing. The Kings also received forward Michael Bradley, who is on the injured list with a strained right hamstring. The deal was announced at halftime of Orlando’s game with the Boston Celtics.

Mobley, who had started 21 of his 23 games this season for the Magic, did not play yesterday and was replaced in the starting lineup by Stacey Augmon. Christie is averaging 7.3 points, 4.9 assists, and 4 rebounds in 31 games, all starts. Mobley is averaging 16 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. In eight games with the Magic, Bradley is averaging 0.8 points, and 1.8 rebounds in 6.9 minutes per game.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

ILLINOIS, KANSAS CLING TO TOP SPOTS IN AP POLL Illinois and Kansas remained nos. 1-2 in the AP college basketball poll for the sixth straight week yesterday, while Marquette and Oklahoma cracked the Top 25 for the first time this season. The Illini (16-0), who beat Ohio State and Purdue this week, received 58 first-place votes from the national press panel.

The Jayhawks (11-0), winners over Texas A &M and Kentucky, were no. 1 on 13 ballots. North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Duke held third through fifth with the Tar Heels, who beat Maryland 109-75 on Saturday, getting the only other first place vote. Oklahoma State and Syracuse switched places at sixth and seventh, as did Georgia Tech and Kentucky at eighth and ninth. Texas advanced five spots to no. 10. Maryland and West Virginia fell out of the poll.

BOEHEIM BECOMES FIRST COACH TO NOTCH 300 BIG EAST WINS Jim Boeheim became the first coach with 300 Big East victories in the same manner he won many of the first 299 – with Syracuse playing tough defense and coming through in the clutch. Gerry McNamara had 22 points to lead the seventh-ranked Orange to a 70-61 victory over Notre Dame last night, using a 14-0 run in the second half to overcome a six-point deficit.

The Irish led 57-51 when Josh Pace scored six points in a 14-0 run in which Syracuse repeatedly scored inside. Pace, who finished with 16 points, started it with a 10-foot jumper and Hakim Warrick, who was sitting with four fouls when the run began, added four of his 12 points during the spurt, including a dunk on an alley-oop pass from Billy Edelin. It was the ninth straight win for the Orange (16-1). Notre Dame (10-3) was 0-for-7 from the field during the run with one turnover.

In other Top 25 action last night, Taj Gray scored 23 points, Lawrence McKenzie added 18, and no. 25 Oklahoma held off 12th-ranked Connecticut (9-3) for a 77-65 victory. Kevin Bookout scored 11 points and Terrell Everett and Drew Lavender each had 10 for the Sooners (12-2), who beat the defending national champions for the third time in four seasons.

NCAA PASSES LANDMARK ACADEMIC REFORM PLAN The NCAA approved the first phase of a landmark academic reform package yesterday under which about 30% of Division I football teams would have lost scholarships had it been implemented immediately.

The Division I Board of Directors approved the Academic Progress Rate (APR), the standard teams in every sport must reach beginning in the 2005-06 school year to avoid scholarship reductions. Schools will receive warning reports in the next few weeks that let them know which of their teams fall below the APR set by the Division I Committee on Academic Performance. The rate is based roughly on a 50% graduation rate over a five-year period.

University of Hartford president and committee chairman Walter Harrison said the biggest problems were in football (about 30% of teams), baseball (25%) and men’s basketball (20%).

Another phase of the program will be historical penalties, which will be more severe and directed at schools with continued problems.

CYCLING

ARMSTRONG WILL DECIDE ON TOUR DE FRANCE IN APRIL Lance Armstrong is still unsure about his plans for this year’s Tour de France. The Texan said yesterday that he plans to ride in several of the European spring classics before deciding in late April whether to try for a seventh consecutive Tour de France victory in July.

Armstrong, who now rides for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, has promised his team’s new sponsors that he will ride in at least one more Tour de France, but he offered several reasons for possibly waiting until 2006 to fulfill that obligation. If he doesn’t ride the Tour de France, Armstrong said he likely will compete in the Giro d’Italia (May 7-29) or the Tour of Spain (August 27-September 18). He has never competed in the Giro.

– Associated Press