Earnhardt Jr., family safe after plane crash

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is “safe” and in a hospital for evaluation after his plane crashed in east Tennessee, the NASCAR television analyst and retired driver’s sister tweeted.

Earnhardt’s sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, tweeted that the driver’s wife, Amy, and 15month-old daughter, Isla, also were on the plane along with two pilots.

“Everyone is safe and has been taken to the hospital for further evaluation,” she tweeted. “We will have no further information at this time.”

The Clippers and Patrick Patterson agreed to a one-year contract worth slightly more than $2.3 million, two people with knowledge of the deal confirmed.

The deal is worth the veteran’s minimum given the experience of Patterson, who is entering his 10th NBA season, and comes two weeks after the 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward secured a buyout for the final year of his contract from Oklahoma City and became a free agent after clearing waivers. — Andrew Greif

A pair of handmade Nike track shoes from the 1972 Olympic trials sold for $50,000. Dave Russell ,of Sacramento, sold the shoes last month to the Graduate Eugene hotel, a Nike-themed property in Eugene, Ore. “They wanted something that would say, ’This is Nike town,’” Russell said. “And here are these shoes that were a prototype before Nike was even a public shoe.”

Men’s tennis coach Brett Masi, a former USC assistant who went on to coach at Texas Tech and San Diego State, was hired as the Trojans’ new head coach, the school said.