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Sports News Brief
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OLAZABAL ARRIVES AT MEDINAH WITH A GOLD PRIZE: MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — Jose Maria Olazabal stepped off the plane carrying the Ryder Cup, a familiar sight considering that Europe has won six of the past eight times.

It was who followed the captain off the plane that showed how much the dynamics of this event have changed over the years.

Olazabal flew over from London with only three of his 12 players — Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari and Ryder Cup rookie Nicolas Colsaerts.

Everyone else was already here.

Five of the Europeans — Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Peter Hanson, Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia — have homes at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla.

Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, among four players who were in Atlanta on Sunday for the Tour Championship, are moving to south Florida. Luke Donald lives about 45 minutes away on the north side of Chicago.

FOOTBALL

NFL SEEKING TO BLOCK VILMA'S REQUEST FOR EVIDENCE: NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The NFL on Monday asked a federal judge to block Jonathan Vilma's demands for evidence in the league's bounty probe of the Saints, and a magistrate has ordered lawyers in the case to convene in New Orleans on Thursday to discuss the matter.

The league's latest move was to counter Vilma's attempt to initiate discovery in his defamation lawsuit against Roger Goodell, which alleges the commissioner lacked sufficient evidence when he publicly prejudged the Saints linebacker as the ring-leader of New Orleans' pay-for-injury bounty system.

The NFL's motion argues that discovery is premature because another motion to dismiss Vilma's lawsuit is still pending.

HALL OF FAMER JERRY RICE HELPS NFL FIGHT OBESITY: NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Rice still runs "The Hill."

He wouldn't mind having, oh, a million or so youngsters accompanying him on his grueling workouts.

The greatest receiver in football history, Rice is helping the NFL and Xbox 360 fight childhood obesity through a program that hopes to encourage 1 million youngsters to become more active.

The "60 Million Minutes Challenge" asks kids of all ages to pledge to be active for 60 minutes every day. It's part of the NFL's PLAY 60 program, a new initiative launched Monday.

AUTO RACING:

FURNITURE ROW HIRES KURT BUSCH FOR '13: DENVER (AP) — Kurt Busch is ready for yet another new ride.

Furniture Row Racing hired Busch on Monday to drive for the Colorado-based team in 2013. Busch will replace Regan Smith in the No. 78 Chevrolet.

Busch was the 2004 NASCAR champion, but he split with Penske Racing at the end of last season because of his many off-track incidents. He spent this season driving for Phoenix Racing in the Sprint Cup series and his brother's Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Nationwide Series, where he won twice.

CYCLING

USADA HEAD TRAVIS TYGART RECEIVED DEATH THREATS: PARIS (AP) — The head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency tightened security at his organization after receiving several death threats during his investigation of Lance Armstrong.

"The Armstrong affair has prompted death threats against me. I received three of them, individual initiatives, in my opinion. Once again, the FBI dealt with that," Tygart said in an interview published Monday in French sports daily L'Equipe from USADA offices in Colorado Springs, Colo.

In August, Armstrong dropped any further challenges to USADA's allegations that he took performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France from 1999-2005. A day later, USADA stripped Armstrong of his Tour titles and banned him for life. Armstrong, who has always denied doping and points to hundreds of tests that he has passed, has claimed Tygart has a vendetta against him.