BASEBALL
Frank McCourt will keep Dodgers after settlement
LOS ANGELES — Frank and Jamie McCourt have reached a divorce settlement that gives him control of the Los Angeles Dodgers and her about $130 million, making it one of California’s costliest divorces, according to a report published Monday.
The McCourts have been embroiled in a costly and nasty battle in which the main prize has been the baseball team. What will happen to the Dodgers has been put on hold until a bankruptcy court in Delaware sorts out the details.
PRO BASKETBALL
NBA owners, players ready to try mediation
NEW YORK — The NBA and players’ association are ready to try mediation, and Commissioner David Stern wants results quickly.
Stern said last week that without a deal Tuesday, when the sides meet with federal mediator George Cohen, his “gut” was that there wouldn’t be NBA basketball on Christmas.
Owners are opening two days of board meetings Wednesday, and Stern wants to be able to bring a deal to them.
But can a mediator swoop in and smooth out two years of bickering in one day? Attorney Jay Krupin, chair of EpsteinBeckerGreen’s national labor practice in Washington, doesn’t think so - unless the players are prepared to concede on some issues.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Appeals court rules against Smith, Minnesota
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld a $1 million civil verdict against the University of Minnesota and men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith, denying their request for a new trial.
The ruling Monday said the school must pay $1 million to Jimmy Williams, a former Oklahoma State assistant coach who quit in 2007 because he believed Smith had offered him an assistant coaching job. The offer apparently was withdrawn after the university’s athletic director discovered Williams had NCAA recruiting violations in his past.
HOCKEY
Kesler’s return figures to spark Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Vancouver Canucks center Ryan Kesler, who scored 41 goals and won the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward last season, is ready to return almost three months after surgery to repair a torn hip labrum.
He will play his first game of the season on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers. Kesler has averaged 74 points the past two seasons as the Canucks’ second-line center, and set a new career best for goals last year.
• Jeff Carter, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ major offseason acquisition, has a hairline crack on the top of his right foot and may be held out of Tuesday’s home game against Dallas. He is listed as day to day.
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