NBA:
In the NBA, New York topped Boston 120-114, Indiana bested Phoenix 116-97, San Antonio beat Detroit 109-99, Milwaukee defeated Chicago 106-101, Houston won against Memphis 107-91, Oklahoma City trumped Minnesota 101-96, Cleveland beat Dallas in overtime 110-107, and it was the Lakers over New Orleans 95-91.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Islanders beat Columbus 5-2, Buffalo skated past Minnesota 3-2, St. Louis won against New Jersey 5-2, San Jose topped Winnipeg 4-1, Chicago edged Nashville 3-2, Arizona defeated Edmonton in overtime 4-3, Tampa Bay blanked Colorado 4-0, and it was Carolina over Pittsburgh in overtime 3-2.
FIFA:
Jerome Valcke has been dismissed as secretary general of soccer's scandal-scarred governing body. FIFA says its emergency committee fired Valcke with immediate effect and terminated his contract. FIFA says Valcke "is therefore no longer the secretary general of FIFA." Valcke, who had served as FIFA President Sepp Blatter's top aide, was provisionally suspended by FIFA on Sept. 17.
Last week, FIFA ethics judges formally opened a case against Valcke, who had faced a nine-year ban from soccer. FIFA says Markus Kattner will continue to serve as acting secretary general. Valcke was charged with several violations of the FIFA code of ethics while serving as Blatter's right hand man since 2007. The charges include accepting gifts and conflicts of interest.
NCAA:
In men’s college basketball, No. 11 West Virginia upset No. 1 Kansas 74-63, Michigan slid past No. 3 Maryland 70-67.
UAlbany beat New Hampshire 80-75 last night. Evan Singletary scored 21 points, including eight in overtime, for Albany. Tanner Leissner scored 21 points, Jaleen Smith added 14, Daniel Dion had 13 and Joe Bramanti 11 for New Hampshire.
George Washington defeated Massachusetts 81-70 last night. Tyler Cavanaugh scored 26 points for George Washington. Donte Clark scored 19 points, Trey Davis had 13 and Antwan Space and Jabarie Hinds added 10 apiece for Massachusetts.
Harvard beat Ryerson 73-57 last night. Corbin Miller scored a season-high 18, on a career-high six 3-pointers, Zena Edosomwan added 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Evan Cummins scored 12 points, Weisner Perez grabbed 13 rebounds and Agunwa Okolie had 10 boards for the Crimson, who outrebounded Ryerson 58-32.
Former Butler basketball star Andrew Smith has died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 25. The 6-foot-11 Smith played in two national championship games for the Bulldogs. He was diagnosed with and aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma late in 2014. His body rejected a bone marrow transplant last November.
Alabama has been picked the No. 1 team in the final The Associated Press college football poll, just hours after beating Clemson 45-40 for the national championship. It's the 10th time The Crimson Tide has won the AP's national championship, which goes back decades before there was a playoff. The Tigers , who were ranked No. 1 going into the title game, finished second in the poll with Stanford third, Ohio State fourth and Oklahoma fifth.
NFL:
NFL owners voted to allow the St. Louis Rams to move to a new stadium just outside Los Angeles, and the San Diego Chargers will have an option to share the facility. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the Oakland Raiders, who also wanted to move, were left out of the deal, but could move to Los Angeles if San Diego doesn't.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger says he has torn ligaments and a sprain in his right shoulder as the Steelers prepare to face Denver Sunday. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says Big Ben is listed as day to day.
The Arizona Cardinals say they've lost two defensive starters for Saturday's playoff game against Green Bay. Outside linebacker Alex Okafor has been placed on the non-football injury list with a toe injury, while defensive tackle Cory Redding has been placed on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.
Bill Belichick has a black eye, and the New England Patriots coach isn't saying how he got it. His players don't know, either. Backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo told reporters that they have a better chance of getting an answer than he does. The Patriots are preparing for their playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
MLB:
Hartford's minor league baseball team will play at least its first 17 games on the road, because the city's stadium won't be ready for opening day. The Double-A Eastern League announced the decision yesterday as the city decides how to deal with cost overruns and construction delays.
Baseball Hall of Famer Monte Irvin has died at the age of 96 of natural causes at his Houston home. Irvin starred in the big leagues after playing in the Negro League because of baseball's exclusion of black players. The Hall of Fame says Irvin died Monday night of natural causes at his Houston home.
Free agent outfielder Gerardo Parra has posted on Instagram that he is "super excited to join the Rockies." A person close to the negotiations says Parra has agreed to a three-year, $27.5 million deal with the team. The person confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it has yet to be announced. Parra hit .291 with 14 homers last season for Milwaukee and Baltimore, which obtained him in a trade deadline deal.
In other baseball:
— The man who put together the successful 2015 Toronto Blue Jays has secured a new job. Alex Anthopoulos, who spent the last six seasons with the Jays as their GM, has been hired by the Dodgers as vice president of baseball operations.
— The Dodgers have acquired minor league infielder Erick Mejia from the Mariners for pitcher Joe Wieland. Mejia has a .273 career batting average with 49 stolen bases, a home run and 42 RBIs in 133 minor league games in the Seattle organization.
IAAF Doping:
The World Anti-Doping Agency says it is concerned by new findings, reported by The Associated Press, that track and field officials contemplated ways to hide the full extent of Russian doping before the 2012 Olympics.
The AP reported Tuesday that IAAF officials were already so concerned about Russia's doping crisis as far back as 2009 that they feared athletes could die from blood-boosting drugs and transfusions.
In a statement to AP, WADA described the findings as "most concerning" and said they warranted investigation.
The IAAF said the proposed hush-up of Russian doping bans, which would have violated WADA rules, wasn't put into practice.
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