FOOTBALL

NFL COMMITTEE APPROVES JETS’ BID FOR SUPER BOWL

New York moved a step closer to getting the 2010 Super Bowl yesterday when an NFL committee approved the Jets’ bid to get the game – contingent on the construction of a new stadium on the West Side of Manhattan.

The approval by the league’s Super Bowl advisory committee came a day after the Jets upped their bid for the rights to build on the land to $720 million, surpassing the $700 million from an energy company and the $600 million from Cablevision, which owns Madison Square Garden. The Dolan family, which owns Cablevision, has been in a bitter fight to block construction of the stadium.

The Jets initiated the move to get the 2010 game at this meeting, hoping it would help their chances of building the stadium. But whether it will be built is still a major question – the city and state support it, but numerous political groups in New York oppose it.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who has supported a Super Bowl in New York since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, backed the bid. League owners are expected to approve it today, contingent on the stadium being built.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

UTAH’S BOGUT LEADS ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Andrew Bogut didn’t even garner an honorable mention in the preseason All-America balloting. All that has changed now for the 7 foot sophomore from Australia. The Utah center was the leading vote-getter on the Associated Press’s All-America team announced yesterday.

Bogut, who averaged 20.4 points and was second in the country in rebounding at 12.4, was joined on the first team by senior forwards Wayne Simien of Kansas and Hakim Warrick of Syracuse, junior guard J.J. Redick of Duke, and sophomore guard Chris Paul of Wake Forest.

The second team had Illinois guards Dee Brown and Luther Head, Sean May of North Carolina, Salim Stoudamire of Arizona, and Ike Diogu of Arizona State.

The third team was Deron Williams of Illinois, Shelden Williams of Duke, Nate Robinson of Washington, Raymond Felton of North Carolina, and Joey Graham of Oklahoma State.

Redick is one of the best shooters in the game from long range – 40.5% on 3-pointers – and the free throw line – 93.7%. Redick averaged 22.1 points and played 37.3 minutes per game for the short-handed Blue Devils. Paul had one of the most impressive stat lines in college basketball. He averaged 15.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 2.4 steals. Despite missing much of the season with another in a long line of injuries, Simien averaged 20.3 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 55.2% from the field and 81.6% at the free throw line. Warrick, one of the key players in Syracuse’s 2003 national championship run, averaged 21.4 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 54.8% from the field.

INDIANA STANDS BEHIND COACH DAVIS

Indiana Mike Davis will remain Indiana’s basketball coach, resolving doubts that persisted throughout the Hoosiers’ disappointing season. A written statement from athletic director Rick Greenspan included a warning that IU’s 29-29 record over the past two seasons needs to improve. The Hoosiers went 15-14 this season, which ended with a 67-60 loss to Vanderbilt in the first round of the NIT.

Davis, who has three years left on his contract, has a record of 96-67 in five seasons since he took over for Bob Knight.

Davis led the Hoosiers to the 2002 national championship game during his second season, but his teams have missed the NCAA tournament the last two years. Indiana’s 14-15 record during the 2003-04 season was the school’s first losing season since 1969-70.

VILLANUEVA CONSIDERING JUMP TO NBA

Connecticut sophomore Charlie Villanueva, who led the Huskies to an unprecedented ninth regular-season Big East title, is considering a jump to the NBA but has not made a final decision, a team official said yesterday.

Villanueva, a 6-foot-11 forward from Brooklyn, N.Y., played his best basketball in the second half of the season. He averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds a game, emerging as the Huskies’ leading scorer.

Villanueva nearly went pro two years ago right out of high school. He participated in a few NBA workouts before opting for UConn. He missed the first six games of his freshman year while the NCAA determined his eligibility because of those workouts.

BASEBALL

RED SOX PLANNING TO STAY IN FENWAY PARK

The Boston Red Sox have decided to stay at Fenway Park, ending years of speculation about whether the team would leave baseball’s oldest and smallest stadium.

The Red Sox plan to announce today that they will remain at Fenway, an industry source with knowledge of the team’s plans told the Associated Press on yesterday. The source spoke on condition of anonymity.

Since buying the Red Sox in 2002, the team’s owners have refused to say whether they had made a final decision on staying long term at Fenway despite several recent stadium upgrades and seat additions.

FEHR SAYS PLAYERS WILL RATIFY DRUG AGREEMENT

Baseball union head Donald Fehr believes public exposure of steroid users will be the most important deterrent, and expects players will soon ratify a new agreement on performance-enhancing drugs.

Fehr made his first public comments since last Thursday’s testimony before a congressional committee investigating steroid use in baseball.

After criticism by lawmakers, lawyers for players and owners agreed to drop language giving the commissioner the power to fine players instead of suspending them. Fehr said players’ approval of the new wording was “a done deal. … I don’t think there’ll be any problem with ratification of the new agreement.”

Fehr doesn’t think government intervention will be necessary, and said existing testing policies already have proven effective.

CUBS’ BOROWSKI OUT SIX WEEKS WITH BROKEN ARM

Chicago Cubs reliever Joe Borowski will miss at least six weeks with a broken bone in his arm, another loss for a pitching staff already with injuries to Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Borowski sustained a non-displaced fracture in his right ulna when he was hit by a line drive in Monday’s loss to Kansas City. In 2003, Borowski saved 33 games for the Cubs and he appeared to be on the way to regaining his job as closer this spring.

– Associated Press