MLB’s labor talks resume in earnest
Locked-out Major League Baseball players removed the first of three major obstacles to a labor contract, withdrawing their proposal for more liberalized free agency when the sides met face-to-face Monday for the first time since the management lockout began Dec. 1.
During a bargaining session that lasted a little more than two hours at the Midtown Manhattan office of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, the union also modified its revenue-sharing proposal, asking the amount shifted from big markets to smaller ones be cut by what it said was $30 million, a figure management disputed. Players earlier asked for a $100 million reduction.
Management is adamant not to decrease revenue sharing. Clubs also maintain they will not budge on salary arbitration eligibility, which players want to restore to its pre-1987 level when it was two years of major league service.
Another meeting in the contentious talks is scheduled for Tuesday, the first consecutive sessions since the bargaining collapse last fall that led to baseball’s ninth work stoppage, its first since 1995.
Men’s basketball AUBURN FLIES TO NO. 1 IN AP TOP 25 »
War Eagle is flying high over men’s college basketball for the first time in history.
A barely ranked afterthought to begin the season, Auburn climbed past Gonzaga to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll. The Tigers beat Kentucky over the weekend for their 15th consecutive win, then scooped up 45 of 61 first-place votes to become the nation’s topranked team for the first time since the poll began with the 1948-49 season.
The Bulldogs dropped to No. 2 with 15 first-place votes. Arizona remained third and earned the other No. 1 vote.
Women’s basketball OLE MISS ENTERS AP WOMEN’S POLL FOR 1ST TIME IN 15 YEAR »
Unbeaten on the road this season, Mississippi
entered The Associated Press women’s basketball poll for the first time in 15 years, coming in at No. 24. That unblemished mark will be put to the test Thursday when the Rebels visit No. 1 South Carolina in a rescheduled game. The Gamecocks received 29 of the 30 first-place votes from a national media panel to remain the top team in the poll.
Stanford, North Carolina State, Tennessee and Louisville round out the top five.
Olympics
US NAMES 222 TO OLYMPIC TEAM » The 222-person U.S. Olympic roster includes four athletes making their fifth trip to the Games: Shaun White and Lindsey Jacobellis in snowboarding, Katie Uhlaender in skeleton and John Shuster in curling.
There are 115 men and 107 women on the roster, which ties for the secondbiggest contingent the U.S. has ever sent to the Games. The opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics is Feb. 4, with some of the curling action beginning on Feb. 2.
Most athletes had already been nominated by their respective sports for the Olympic team. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s announcement makes spots official.
Mikaela Shiffrin comes into Beijing with two gold medals. If she wins one more, she’ll snap a tie with Ted Ligety and Andrea Mead-Lawrence for the most of all American Alpine skiers.
Soccer
6 REPORTED KILLED IN STAMPEDE AT AFRICAN CUP SOCCER GAME » At least six people have died in a stampede outside a stadium hosting an African Cup of Nations soccer game in Cameroon, an official said.
Naseri Paul Biya, governor of the central region of Cameroon, said there could be more casualties.
The stampede happened as crowds struggled to get access to Olembe Stadium in the Cameroon capital of Yaounde to watch the host country play Comoros in a last 16 knockout game in Africa’s top soccer tournament.