It's official: Calipari is Kentucky's coach
col. hoops
New Kentucky men's coach John Calipari told the Kentucky faithful he is not the "grand poobah" or the "emperor." He got a king's ransom, however, to leave Memphis. Before the news conference in Lexington, Kentucky's athletic board approved an eight-year, $31.65 million contract that makes Calipari, 50, the nation's highest-paid basketball coach. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart defended the salary, saying the school paid a premium price to get its guy after the Wildcats missed the NCAA tournament this season for the first time since 1991. Calipari, who replaced Billy Gillispie, is coming off leading Memphis to the national final in 2008 and to the Sweet 16 - while winning 27 in a row - this season.
Arizona: : Southern California coach Tim Floyd will be named coach, Phoenix radio station KTAR reported, citing multiple sources.
Sun staff honored in national contest
et cetera
The Baltimore Sun sports staff won three top-five awards and one honorable mention in the 2008 Associated Press Sports Editors national writing contest, the results of which were announced Wednesday. Jeff Barker's series of stories on a youth football coach who had a criminal background that went undetected finished second in the Explanatory category. Kevin Van Valkenburg's pre-Olympic profile on Michael Phelps finished third in the Features category. Candus Thomson's story on how Kimmie Meissner's growth spurt affected her skating tied for fifth in the Explanatory category. The Sun's eight-part series on the 50th anniversary of The Greatest Game Ever Played was a top-10 winner in the Projects category. Mike Klingaman, Rick Maese, Bill Ordine, Van Valkenburg and Childs Walker wrote the series. The Sun competes in the 250,000-and-over circulation category that includes the nation's largest newspapers.
Soccer: : Jozy Altidore, 19, became the youngest American with an international hat trick, and the United States (2-0-1) earned a 3-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago (0-1-2) in Nashville, Tenn., to maintain its lead in the final round of qualifying for next year's World Cup. Altidore eclipsed the U.S. mark for youngest hat trick, set in 2004, when Eddie Johnson, 20, scored three times as a substitute in a 6-0 win over Panama.
