NFL owners, players continue to make progress in labor talks

Noting that “progress has been made,” NFL owners and players wrapped up a round of intensive talks Friday without a full agreement to end the league’s four-month lockout but determined to keep pushing over the weekend.

NFL Players Assn. leader DeMaurice Smith expects to speak with Commissioner Roger Goodell in the next couple of days, possibly in person, while the sides’ legal and financial teams continue working. After about eight hours of negotiations in New York on Friday — tacked onto more than 25 hours across Wednesday and Thursday — the league and players issued a joint statement that said: “The discussions this week have been constructive and progress has been made on a wide range of issues.”

The sides did not reveal any details, citing a gag order imposed by the court-appointed mediator, U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan.

“I wouldn’t dare speculate on where we are,” said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, one of six members of the owners’ labor committee participating Friday.

But people familiar with the discussions told the Associated Press that Friday’s talks moved beyond economic issues to cover other areas where gaps need to be bridged to finish a deal. Included are player health and safety matters such as off-season workout rules.

The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are supposed to be confidential.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Ohio State warned Tressel about violations

Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was told by the school that he did a poor job of self-reporting NCAA violations years before he failed to tell his bosses that players were selling championship rings and other Buckeyes memorabilia, a cover-up that cost him his job.

In an evaluation of Tressel’s job performance from 2005-06, then-athletic director Andy Geiger rated Tressel “unacceptable” in terms of self-reporting rules violations in a timely manner. The coach also was warned in a separate letter that he and his staff needed to do a better job of monitoring the cars the Buckeyes were driving — an issue that would arise again this spring.

The documents were part of a mountain of public records released Friday by Ohio State dealing with Tressel and the ongoing scandal that has sullied one of the nation’s elite football programs.

Tressel received a letter of reprimand from Geiger for giving a recruit a Buckeyes jersey — an NCAA violation — before he coached his first game.

In spite of a 106-22 record, including the 2002 national championship, Tressel was forced to step down May 30 after it became clear that he had knowingly used ineligible players during the 2010 season. Investigators discovered he found out in April 2010 that players were receiving cash and discounted tattoos from the owner of a local tattoo parlor in exchange for Buckeyes football memorabilia, but he did not report them to his superiors or NCAA compliance officers — and he didn’t acknowledge he had known of the problem until confronted in January.

Ohio State, which has vacated the 2010 season including its share of the Big Ten championship, and has issued itself a two-year probation, faces an Aug. 12 meeting before the NCAA’s committee on infractions.

ETC.

UCLA’s Bauer wins Golden Spikes Award

UCLA right-hander Trevor Bauer won the Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation’s top amateur baseball player. Bauer was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the third overall pick in the major league draft last month after going 13-2 with 1.25 earned-run average and 203 strikeouts.

He finished the season with nine consecutive complete games.

The Kings agreed to terms with seven players, giving restricted free-agent center Trevor Lewis a two-year, $1.45-million contract. Lewis had three goals and 13 points in 72 games as a rookie last season and added a goal and four points in the playoffs. The Kings also re-signed forwards Marc-Andre Cliche, Richard Clune and David Meckler, defensemen Andrew Campbell and Patrick Mullen, and goaltender Jeff Zatkoff.

The Ducks signed forward Nick Bonino to a one-year contract when he accepted their qualifying offer. He will earn $693,000 in the NHL or $65,000 in the American Hockey League. In an exchange of minor-league defensemen, the Ducks acquired Mathieu Carle from Montreal for Mark Mitera, their first-round pick and 19th overall in the 2006 draft. Carle played 68 games for Hamilton of the AHL last season and had 11 goals, 29 points and a plus-19 defensive rating.

— Helene Elliott

Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane has a broken left wrist, an injury that is expected to take six to eight weeks to heal. Kane is expected to recover in time for training camp.

Ryan Newman won his 47th career pole, turning a track-record lap of 135.232 mph at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. Tony Stewart was second in qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race Sunday, giving Stewart-Haas Racing its first front-row sweep. Stewart was right behind his employee and teammate at 135.064. They were the only drivers to top 135 mph.

Newman won his first pole of the season in the No. 39 Chevrolet, a far cry from the 20 combined poles he earned in 2003-04. Those pole positions early in his career helped boost his total and he’s now 10th on the career poles list, including a record five poles at New Hampshire.

Troy Matteson and George McNeill were tied for the lead in the PGA Tour’s Viking Classic midway through the second round at Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Miss., when play was suspended because of thunderstorms. Matteson finished his round, but McNeill was on the 18th fairway when play was halted.

Matteson shot a six-under-par 66 for the second consecutive day and was at 12 under.

New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic signed with a Turkish team for next season. Anadolu Efes said the 27-year old Slovenian guard agreed to a one-year deal with an optional second year. It did not say whether Vujacic has an option to return to New Jersey if the NBA lockout is lifted.

Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Marcel Granollers, 6-4, 6-3, in an all-Spanish showdown and reached the semifinals of the clay-court Mercedes Cup at Stuttgart, Germany. Ferrero will play Federico del Bonis of Argentina, who advanced to his first career semifinal on the tour by cruising past fellow qualifier Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-2. Pablo Andujar of Spain and Lukasz Kubot of Poland also advanced to the semifinals. … Top-seeded Flavia Pennetta defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, 6-2, 6-2, reaching the semifinals of the SNAI Open at Palermo, Italy. The 21st-ranked Italian will play Polona Hercog of Slovenia. Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain and Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic also reached the semifinals. … Former top-20 tennis player Alisa Kleybanova is receiving treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer. In a posting on the WTA’s website, Kleybanova, 22, said there is a chance she will be able to play again. She is being treated at a hospital in Italy because she has a training base and close friends there, “so it’s like home.”

Nikki Caldwell, Louisiana State’s new women’s basketball coach, has a five-year contract that guarantees her at least $700,000 a year. The salary could top $1.2 million with bonuses tied to team performance. Caldwell succeeded Van Chancellor in April, She had been UCLA’s coach for three seasons. Caldwell’s contract runs through June 2016 and includes a $170,000 buyout of her deal with the Bruins.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said cyclist Joshua Webster, 38, accepted a two-year suspension after he tested positive for multiple banned stimulants. Webster of San Dimas tested positive in samples taken June 12 at the Tulsa Tough competition in Oklahoma.