Off the wire

Compiled from Democrat-Gazette Press Services

Kansas St. lands coach Kansas State hired Chris Klieman of North Dakota State to lead its football program, passing the reins from retired Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder to someone with three Football Championship Subdivision titles but little Big 12 experience. Klieman was hired Monday to lead the Wildcats by Kansas State Athletic Director Gene Taylor. Klieman agreed to a six-year contract with a base salary of $2.3 million next season, increasing by $200,000 each subsequent season. The deal includes a number of other incentives. Taylor initially targeted North Texas Coach Seth Littrell, but he announced last week that he would remain with the Mean Green. Attention quickly shifted to Klieman, who has the Bison in the FCS semifinals and seeking a fourth title in five seasons.

Raiders oust GM

The Oakland Raiders fired General Manager Reggie McKenzie less than two years after he was named the NFL’s executive of the year. McKenzie was let go Monday from the position he had held for almost seven seasons. The NFL Network first reported the firing. McKenzie’s status was in doubt ever since Coach Jon Gruden was given a 10-year contract in January to take charge of the football operation for the Raiders. McKenzie’s influence had waned since then, with the Raiders cutting ties with several of the players he had acquired, most notably edge rusher Khalil Mack and receiver Amari Cooper. McKenzie was the first major hire made by owner Mark Davis after he took over the team after the death of his father, Al, in 2011. McKenzie modernized the franchise, got the team out of salary cap purgatory and built a roster that won 12 games in 2016, earning him honors as the league’s top executive.

Jaguars: Slurs hurled Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Doug Marrone said running back Leonard Fournette was responding to racial slurs while yelling at a fan in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday night. Fournette declined to address the accusation in the locker room Monday on the advice of his agent. Teammate and fellow running back T.J. Yeldon, however, said several fans directed racial slurs at Jacksonville players. “Did I hear it? Yeah,” Yeldon said. “All the running backs and people on the offensive side were hearing the exchange. They were heckling at us all game, at him and all of us all game. All night. All night. All day they was calling us racial slurs, all game.” Fournette was shown in a video released by TMZ telling someone in the stands he was going to “beat your a**” before two teammates pulled him away. Another clip shows Fournette near the bench yelling into the stands while Yeldon looks on.

SOCCER

ESPN hires Champion

Jon Champion is leaving England to become ESPN’s lead announcer for Major League Soccer. The 53-year-old has been broadcasting British matches since 1988 and is heard around the world calling games for Premier League Productions. He has been working part-time for ESPN during international fixture breaks and starts an exclusive contract with the network Feb. 1. He plans to move to the Boston area, within commuting distance from ESPN’s campus in Bristol, Conn. Champion will pair with former U.S. forward Taylor Twellman as ESPN’s lead crew for MLS. Ian Darke, another English announcer, is ESPN’s lead soccer broadcaster and usually pairs with Twellman on U.S. national team matches.

Warriors earn recognition The three-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors are the fourth team to be honored as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year. The Warriors join the 1980 U.S. hockey team, the 1999 U.S. Women’s World Cup soccer squad and the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the other team honorees. Sports Illustrated announced the winner Monday, and editor-in-chief Chris Stone said they have been thinking of some way to honor the Warriors during their run of three titles in four years. He also acknowledged that there were a couple of years where Stephen Curry has been in the conversation. Alexander Ovechkin, who led the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup title, Tiger Woods and LeBron James also received consideration, but Stone said the Warriors felt like the favorite when they repeated as NBA champions. The Warriors will receive the award during a ceremony in Los Angeles today.

Nuggets sign Young

The banged-up Denver Nuggets signed veteran guard Nick Young under the injury hardship relief exception granted by the NBA. Young spent last season with Golden State, where he appeared in 80 games and averaged 7.3 points. He’s also played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia and Washington over his 11-year career. Young was the 16th overall pick by the Wizards in 2007. Denver on Monday was without Gary Harris (hip), Paul Millsap (broken toe) and Will Barton (hip/core muscle surgery). On Monday, the team also waived guard Brandon Goodwin. He was signed Nov. 29 under the injury hardship relief exception. Goodwin didn’t appear in a game for Denver.

Molinari top European Francesco Molinari was voted as the European Tour golfer of the year for 2018, capping a year in which he won his first major title and produced a historical performance at the Ryder Cup. Molinari became the first Italian to win the British Open after his triumph at Carnoustie, and he finished the season as the Race to Dubai champion for the first time. At the Ryder Cup outside Paris, he became the first European to win all five points from his five matches against the United States. A panel of members of the golfing media voted for the 36-yearold Molinari. Molinari said “so many great names have earned this honor and I feel very proud to join them. It is an award that means a lot to me and is a nice way to end a very special year.”

OLYMPICS

Report leads to firing

The U.S. Olympic Committee fired chief of sport performance Alan Ashley in the wake of an independent report released Monday that said neither he nor former CEO Scott Blackmun elevated concerns about the Larry Nassar sexual-abuse allegations when they were first reported to them. The 233-page independent report detailed an overall lack of response when the USOC leaders first heard about the Nassar allegations from the then-president of USA Gymnastics, Steve Penny. Blackmun resigned in February because of health concerns. The report says the USOC took no action between first hearing of the allegations in July 2015 and September 2016, when the Indianapolis Star published an account of Nassar’s sex abuse. The report concludes that lack of action allowed Nassar to abuse dozens more girls over the 14 months of silence.