Texans, Astros postpone games

The effects of Hurricane Ike are causing several sports scheduling changes this weekend.

The Houston Texans’ NFL game against the Baltimore Ravens was moved to Monday night at 5:30 PDT. The game was originally scheduled for Sunday.

The first two games of this weekend’s series between the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros have been postponed, and Sunday’s game might be postponed too. One of the scenarios under consideration was to play a doubleheader Monday, and make up the third game Sept. 29 if it’s needed to decide a playoff berth.

Other changes: The Washington State-Baylor football game was moved from Saturday to tonight. . . . The McNeese State-Cal Poly San Luis Obispo football game was canceled. . . . Tonight’s WNBA game between the Houston Comets and Sacramento Monarchs was postponed.

NBA

Shaq: Two more years

Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal told News 13 television in Orlando, Fla., that he will play the final two years of his contract and then retire from the NBA.

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Minnesota Timberwolves center Jason Collins had surgery to repair a ruptured triceps tendon in his right elbow. Collins, who was injured in a freak golf accident when his cart tipped over, is expected to sit out all of training camp.

PRO FOOTBALL

Young denies depression

Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young spoke publicly for the first time since the team expressed concerns over his emotional well-being. “I was never depressed,” Young said. “Football, this is my life.”

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Running back Ricky Williams negotiated his own contract extension with the Miami Dolphins, and he said the deal upset agent Leigh Steinberg. “He’s mad because I didn’t talk to him about it,” Williams said.

GOLF

Feng, Rawson share lead

China’s Shanshan Feng shot a five-under-par 67 for a share of the first-round lead with fellow tour rookie Anna Rawson, a USC graduate, in the Bell Micro LPGA Classic at Mobile, Ala.

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Joan Higgins of Glendora won the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, Mich. At 52, Higgins is the oldest winner of the match-play event for amateurs at least 25 years old.

Higgins defeated Lynn Simmons of Phoenix, 1-up, in the final. The oldest previous winner was Carol Semple Thompson, who won in 1997 at 48.

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Steve Wilson, 38, of Ocean Springs, Miss., defeated Todd Mitchell, 5-and-4, in the 36-hole finale of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at River Hills, Wis., to earn a probable invitation to next year’s Masters.

HOCKEY

Staal signs seven-year deal

The Carolina Hurricanes signed center Eric Staal, who led the team with 38 goals last season, to a seven-year contract worth $57.8 million.

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The Ducks will open training camp for the 2008-09 season on Sept. 20 at Anaheim Ice.

MISCELLANY

Fees awarded in Bush case

A San Diego judge has tentatively awarded $24,570 to the attorneys representing a would-be sports marketer who is suing New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush.

The attorneys for Lloyd Lake asked for the additional fees after successfully arguing against a motion by Bush’s attorneys to have the case settled by confidential arbitration. Bush’s attorneys, who could not be reached for comment, can contest the ruling at a hearing Tuesday.

-- David Wharton

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Ron Hornaday Jr., the defending NASCAR Craftsman Trucks champion who is second in this year’s standings, admitted using testosterone for more than a year before it was added to the sport’s banned list. Hornaday, 50, told ESPN he used the testosterone to treat a medical condition that turned out to be a hyperactive thyroid.