NASCAR gives Kyle Busch fine, warning

Kyle Busch, already forced to miss two NASCAR races last weekend in Texas, also was fined $50,000 and given a stern warning by NASCAR on Monday.

The sanctioning body put Busch on probation until Dec. 31 and said that if the driver makes another on-track move in that time deemed “detrimental to stock car racing or to NASCAR” or “disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event,” then Busch “will be suspended indefinitely.”

NASCAR’s top-tier Sprint Cup Series has two more races this season: at Phoenix on Sunday and at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway on Nov. 20.

Busch, 26, got into trouble Friday night after he shoved Ron Hornaday Jr.’s truck into the wall in a retaliatory move at a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. NASCAR then took the rare step of prohibiting Busch from driving in the Nationwide Series race Saturday and the Cup race Sunday.

—Jim Peltz

ETC.

NBA player reps to meet

The latest offer from NBA owners was already rejected by the players’ union, but player representatives from all 30 teams planned to meet Tuesday in New York to mull it over again.

The deal was vetoed by union executives Saturday, though owners gave the players until Wednesday to reconsider a proposal in which players would receive 49% to 51% of annual NBA revenue. Union President Derek Fisher said last week there was “no way in the world” it would ever end up being 51% under the guidelines of the proposal.

If players do not agree to the deal, they can choose to dissolve the union and eventually file an anti-trust lawsuit against the NBA.

—Mike Bresnahan

The Galaxy’s Bruce Arena, David Beckman and Omar Gonzalez are among the finalists for three of Major League Soccer’s top postseason prizes.

Arena, who has led the team to the MLS Cup after it finished with the league’s best regular-season record for the second straight season, was nominated for coach of the year, and Beckham, who finished second in the league with 15 regular-season assists in 26 games, is up for comeback player of the year. Beckham played in only seven games last season. The winners of both awards will be announced Nov. 14.

Gonzalez, a former MLS rookie of the year, is up for the league’s top defender award for the second consecutive season. That winner will be revealed Wednesday.

—Kevin Baxter

Galaxy captain Landon Donovan withdrew from the U.S. national team to remain in Los Angeles and train with his club ahead of the MLS Cup on Nov. 20 at the Home Depot Center.

Donovan was to leave early Monday for Paris, where the U.S. will meet France in an exhibition Friday. But hours after notching a goal and an assist in the Galaxy’s win over Real Salt Lake in the MLS Western Conference final Sunday, he placed a call to national team Coach Juergen Klinsmann, who agreed to release Donovan from his national team responsibilities.

—Kevin Baxter

Kyle Fogg scored 16 points, Jesse Perry had a double-double and No. 16 Arizona pulled away in the second half to open the season with a 73-64 victory over Valparaiso at Tucson.

Arizona had some jittery moments in the first half before running away behind its defense in the second. The Wildcats held Valparaiso without a field goal during an opening 16-3 run, with Jordin Mayes scoring eight points to put Arizona up by 15.

Perry finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Nick Johnson had 14 points.

The Kansas City Royals traded outfielder Melky Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, upgrading their rotation and clearing the way for highly regarded prospect Lorenzo Cain to get a chance in center field.