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Sports news briefs
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NFL

• Former Raider lineman Mo Collins dead at 38: CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The West Charlotte high school athletic director says former Oakland Raiders offensive lineman and the school’s football coach Mo Collins died Sunday. He was 38.

The high school’s athletic director Christopher Satterfield confirmed Collins had passed but the cause of death hasn’t been released.

The West Charlotte athletic department said on Twitter: “Thank you ALL so much for your tweets and condolences for @MoCollins79. He definitely had the boys moving in a positive direction.”

The Raiders drafted Collins in the first round in 1998. He spent six seasons in Oakland, playing in 71 games with 64 starts. He appeared in one Super Bowl.

The NFL team said on its website, “The Oakland Raiders extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Mo Collins who passed away today.”

Collins returned to Charlotte to coach his high school alma mater after retiring from the NFL.

 

NHL

• Sharks F John Scott suspended 2 games: SAN JOSE (AP) — San Jose Sharks forward John Scott has been suspended two games for his role in a fight with Anaheim’s Tim Jackman.

The NHL announced the suspension on Monday.

The altercation came late in the third period Sunday night in San Jose’s 4-1 win over the Ducks.Scott came off the bench on a legal line change and immediately engaged Jackman in a fight. Scottmade no effort to play the puck after coming on the ice and league rules say a player can be disciplined if his purpose for coming onto the ice is to start a fight.

Scott is a repeat offender having been previously suspended for an illegal hit to the head.

Scott will miss games at Colorado and Minnesota this week.

 

NCAA

• Pac-12 passes reforms for athletes: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Pac-12 has passed sweeping changes for athletes in all of the conference’s sports, guaranteeing four-year scholarships, improving health care and liberalizing transfer rules.

The changes announced by the Pac-12’s presidents and chancellors Monday include many of the same proposals outlined in a letter to university leaders in the five major football conferences in May. The conference also said its presidents and chancellors reaffirmed their support for stipends to cover the full cost of attendance for athletes.

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott has said that figure will likely range between $2,000 and $5,000 per athlete depending on the university. The 65 institutions in the five major football conferences and 15 representative athletes will vote on the issue at the group’s inaugural meeting in January.

 

• Emmert calls North Carolina report ‘troubling’: INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — NCAA President Mark Emmert says the findings of a report into alleged academic fraud at the University of North Carolina are “deeply troubling” and “absolutely disturbing.”

The 20-minute interview with The Associated Press marked the first time he has commented publicly since Kenneth Wainstein’s report was released last Wednesday.

Emmert spoke on a wide range of issues including the issue of selling autographs.

While commending Georgia for holding out Heisman Trophy candidate Todd Gurley while it investigated alleged rules violations, Emmert declined to talk about Florida State’s decision to allow Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston to play as the school investigates similar allegations. Emmert acknowledged that if it turns out any school plays someone who is later deemed ineligible, those victories could be vacated.

 

HORSERACING

• Shared Belief is 9-5 favorite for BC Classic: ARCADIA (AP) — Shared Belief was made the early 9-5 favorite in a field of 14 for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, a race featuring a strong contingent of seven 3-year-olds taking on older foes. Shared Belief is 7-0 in his career, with all of his races coming in California.

Shared Belief’s most recent win in the Awesome Again came at Santa Anita last month for co-owner and sports talk host Jim Rome. The colt drew the No. 6 post for the 1 1/4-mile race.

Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome will break from the No. 13 post as the 4-1 second choice. He has lost two straight races.

Tonalist, who ended California Chrome’s Triple Crown bid with a victory in the Belmont, drew the No. 11 post and is the 6-1 third choice for Saturday’s race.

 

MLS

• Chivas USA disbands after 10 troubled years: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chivas USA has ceased operations after 10 years in Major League Soccer, with the league planning a new franchise for Los Angeles that will begin play in 2017 with new ownership and a new soccer-specific stadium.

The league’s Board of Governors unanimously decided to shut down Chivas USA after reviewing a new plan for the Los Angeles market. As a result, the league will have 20 teams in the 2015 season, including new franchises in Orlando and New York City.

Commissioner Don Garber said Monday that MLS will conduct a dispersal draft of the Chivas USA roster before Dec. 1.

The league will re-align its conferences, sending Houston and Sporting Kansas City to the Western Conference to create two 10-team conferences. Each team will play 34 regular-season games.

 

NYC MARATHON

• NBA commissioner, ex-stars in NYC Marathon relay: NEW YORK (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will run the first three miles of the New York City Marathon on Sunday as part of a 24-person relay of basketball luminaries.

Dikembe Mutombo will cross the finish line for the group, which is promoting the benefits of active lifestyles. After crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn, Silver will pass a baton to Chris Mullin, the Brooklyn native who starred at St. John’s in Queens before a Hall of Fame NBA career.

Other current and former NBA and WNBA players taking part are Charles Oakley, Bernard King, Tiny Archibald, Allan Houston, Jason Collins, Swin Cash, Sam Perkins, Darryl Dawkins, Steve Smith, Greg Anthony, Teresa Edwards, Ruth Riley, Katie Smith, Felipe Lopez and Albert King.

Executives from the league, Knicks and Nets will also run, along with broadcaster Mike Breen.

Each celebrity will be joined by a local youngster for his or her one-mile leg.

 

• No runners from Ebola-stricken nations in marathon: NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Marathon organizers say they had no runners signed up for Sunday’s race from the three West African countries stricken by Ebola.

New York Road Runners President Mary Wittenberg said Monday that only a “handful” of entrants, mostly from overseas, had reached out with concerns after a doctor who had treated infected patients in Africa became the first person in the city to be diagnosed with Ebola.

Wittenberg says organizers had long operated under the assumption that New York would have an Ebola case by the time the marathon came around, and they have stayed in close contact with city, state and federal health authorities to ensure proper protocols are followed.

Charities such as UNICEF that already had runners entered in the race to raise money will donate the funds to treat Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.