Oregon’s Roper has torn knee ligament

University of Oregon quarterback Justin Roper will be out two to four weeks because of a partially torn ligament in his left knee.

Coach Mike Bellotti said that Roper injured the knee late in the Ducks’ 32-26 overtime victory at Purdue on Saturday and that preliminary reports indicated a partial tear of Roper’s medial collateral ligament.

Roper was selected to start for Oregon (3-0) the week before the team’s opener against Washington when projected starter Nate Costa injured his left knee in practice. Costa had surgery and is expected to sit out the season.

The No. 17-ranked Ducks play host to Boise State on Saturday. They are expected to use Jeremiah Masoli and freshman Chris Harper at quarterback.

East Carolina starting linebacker Quentin Cotton is probably out for the season after injuring his right knee during the 15th-ranked Pirates’ 28-24 win at Tulane on Saturday.

Cotton was injured in the second quarter during a goal-line stand. He had started 15 games over the last two seasons and all three games this year, tallying two interceptions and 1.5 sacks.

MISCELLANY

Gretzky won’t run Team Canada

Wayne Gretzky will not manage Canada’s hockey team at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, although he is expected to be involved in some capacity.

Gretzky was the executive director for the team that won the gold medal at Salt Lake City in 2002 and failed to medal at Turin, Italy, in 2006.

Gretzky played in the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, where NHL players made their Olympic debut and Canada lost in a semifinal game.

Bob Nicholson, Hockey Canada president, said the move was made because Gretzky’s focus is on coaching the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes.

Nicholson wants to solidify Gretzky’s role with the 2010 team by the end of October, when he also intends to say who will be running the squad.

Gretzky could play a role in selecting the next general manager, Nicholson said.

North Carolina Asheville center Kenny George, at 7 feet 7 the nation’s tallest college basketball player, might not play this season because of a foot injury.

George had two surgical procedures on an infected right foot and remains in a Chicago hospital, the school said. The senior is not expected to return to school this semester.

George was the Big South Conference defensive player of the year after helping the Bulldogs win a school-record 23 games and reach the National Invitation Tournament last season. George averaged 12.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 blocks.

Richard Brodsky, a New York state assemblyman, said he will issue a report today finding that New York City manipulated the assessed value of Yankee Stadium to get an Internal Revenue Service tax exemption.

Brodsky has questioned the Yankees’ request to subsidize the stadium with $336 million in public funds issued by the city’s Industrial Development Agency.

Racing regulators in Kentucky are preparing to impose new restrictions this month on the use of whips in harness racing, and changes could follow at thoroughbred meets after a Kentucky track finishes an experiment on different types of whips.

A safety and welfare panel voted to outlaw certain kinds of whips and riding crops that have a snapper -- strands of material at the end that can leave welts on horses. It also recommended restrictions on the way in which a driver can hit a horse.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission could approve the new rules at its next meeting in six days.

Abner Rogers was hired as coach of the Los Angeles franchise in the Women’s Professional Soccer League set to debut in April.

The team will share the Home Depot Center with the Galaxy and Chivas USA.

The London-born Rogers has served as president and director of coaching at the Laguna Hills Soccer Club Eclipse, a nationally ranked girls’ club, since 2001. He will continue as its president.