Oregon’s Jeremiah Masoli faces burglary charge
Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli faces a burglary charge in connection with a theft at a campus fraternity house in late January in Eugene.
The Lane Country district attorney’s office says Masoli and former Oregon receiver Garrett Embry have each been charged with one count of burglary in the second degree.
Masoli and Embry are to be arraigned in Lane County Circuit Court on Friday.
A fraternity member reported that Masoli and Embry stole two computers and a guitar from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house Jan. 25.
Masoli passed for 2,147 yards and 15 touchdowns last season as a junior. He also rushed for 668 yards and 13 touchdowns in leading the Ducks to the Pacific 10 Conference title.
Oregon running back LaMichael James, who set a conference freshman record with more than 1,500 yards rushing last season, is scheduled to appear Friday at a change-of-plea hearing on domestic-violence charges. James previously pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of menacing, strangulation and assault.
A woman who says she is James’ girlfriend says he grabbed her neck and pushed her to the ground during an argument outside his apartment Feb. 15.
BASEBALL
Nomar retires with Red Sox
Nomar Garciaparra rejoined the Red Sox for one day and then retired, ending a 14-year career in which he won two batting titles with Boston and was once a beloved player in the city.
The shortstop signed a one-day contract with his former team Wednesday before announcing he’s leaving baseball at 36 to become an ESPN analyst.
Garciaparra played parts of nine seasons in Boston. He also played for the Chicago Cubs, Dodgers and Oakland Athletics.
HOCKEY
GMs move to curb hits to head
NHL general managers will recommend a rule change on blindside hits to the head, looking to protect players and punish those responsible in a game that has become faster and rougher.
The unanimous decision came at the end of three days of meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., in which the predominant issue was player head injuries.
The GMs will recommend to the competition committee that referees call a minor or major penalty for any hit where the primary point of contact is the head. Such a violation would be reviewed for possibly further discipline.
Sidney Crosby’s missing Olympic stick and glove have been found. Hockey Canada said that Crosby’s missing equipment was misplaced rather than stolen after the frenzy following Crosby’s overtime goal against the United States in the gold-medal game Feb. 28 in Vancouver, Canada.
Crosby’s stick was located in Toronto as part of a shipment heading to the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in St. Petersburg, Russia.
ETC.
Marion Jones joins WNBA
Former sprinter Marion Jones, 34, signed with the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock, hoping to launch a new career after losing five Olympic medals for using steroids and doing jail time for lying to federal prosecutors. Jones was the starting point guard on North Carolina’s national championship team in 1994.
Maria Riesch beat Lindsey Vonn in the final downhill of the season in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, to keep the race for the overall title alive. Vonn could have clinched her third straight overall title but is up 225 points going into the final three races. A win is worth 100 points.
Riesch claimed an emphatic victory on her home course, beating Vonn by nearly half a second. Vonn had already clinched the downhill title.
Times sportswriter Lance Pugmire has been honored in two writing categories for papers over 250,000 circulation in the annual contest judging by the Associated Press Sports Editors. Pugmire’s account of the drug test that resulted in Manny Ramirez’s suspension last season was selected in the breaking news category, and his work with staff writer Gary Klein on the investigation of USC running back Joe McKnight was top 10 in investigative.
Other top-10 writing finishers for The Times were Kevin Baxter in explanatory journalism, Bill Shaikin in breaking news and Bill Plaschke in columns.
The Times Sports section was also selected among the top 10 dailies and received honorable mention for Sundays. The Sports site on latimes.com was selected top 10 in earlier judging.