National Sports Briefs

Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 16, 2011

Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL ó North Carolina reserve guard Leslie McDonald has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and could miss the coming season.
The school said Friday that McDonald was injured during a summer league game in Durham on Thursday night.
McDonald averaged seven points per game off the bench and was second on the team with 51 3-pointers.
Surgery has yet to be scheduled and the rising junior is out indefinitely.
McDonaldís injury could be a blow to North Carolinaís depth, though the Tar Heels return all five starters from a team that reached the NCAA tournamentís round of eight.
GOLF
MADISON, Miss. ó As the birdies mounted during Saturday’s third round of the Viking Classic, it looked as if Chris Kirk could do just about anything he wanted at Annandale Golf Club.
Golf isn’t supposed to be this easy. But the 26-year-old PGA Tour rookie sure made it look that way.
“I would never call it easy,” Kirk said. “But the conditions ó there hasn’t been a whole lot of wind and the greens are just absolutely perfect. If you hit your putt on line, it’s going to go in and that makes things a lot easier.”
Kirk fired an 8-under 64 to take a one stroke lead going into the final round of the Viking Classic, just ahead of Sunghoon Kang, D.J. Trahan, George McNeill and Peter Lonard.
STATELINE, Nev. ó Actor Jack Wagner extended his lead with four birdies and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had one of the best rounds of the day to move into second place Saturday at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe.
Wagner became the only non-professional athlete to win the 54-hole tournament five years ago.
CYCLING
PLATEAU DE BEILLE, France ó Alberto Contador is clinging to his Tour de France title hopes.
Despite the defending champion’s less-than-dominating form, none of his rivals was able to knock him out of contention while he rode with a sore knee during three grueling stages in the Pyrenees.
Although Andy Schleck padded his advantage over Contador by two seconds during Saturday’s 14th stage up to Plateau de Beille, his brother Frank and Australia’s Cadel Evans did not ó finishing in the same time as the Spaniard behind stage winner Jelle Vanendert of Belgium. Thomas Voeckler retained the overall lead.
NFL
People familiar with negotiations to end the NFL’s four-month-long lockout tell The Associated Press there are still issues that need to be resolved, even now that owners and players have agreed to many of the main elements of a deal.
Among the items that are not yet agreed upon, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are supposed to remain confidential:
whether the NFL Players Association will reconstitute itself as a union;
exactly what it will take for the nine NFL players who are named plaintiffs in the pending antitrust suit to agree to settle that case.
Among the parts mostly squared away:
how the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues will be divided;
a rookie salary system;
free agency rules.
MINNEAPOLIS ó Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf spoke with Gov. Mark Dayton on Friday, telling him that now is the time to discuss a new stadium since the outlines of a state budget deal are finally in place.
Vikings vice president Lester Bagley says Wilf told Dayton in a phone conversation that the team wants a stadium bill to be considered in the special session that is expected to begin next week.
The Vikings are in the final year of their lease at Mall of America Field. They have a $1 billion plan to build a stadium in suburban Arden Hills.
NBA
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ó New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams says on Twitter that he has officially signed with Turkey’s Besiktas.
The All-Star guard has posted a picture of Friday’s agreement with Besiktas bearing his signature on his Twitter account.
Williams says on Twitter: “just made it official, headed to Turkey…signed with Besiktas.”
Williams averaged 20.1 points and 10.3 assists for the Nets and the Utah Jazz last season.
CARL LEWIS
TRENTON, N.J. ó The political wrangling could continue until fall for Carl Lewis, the nine-time Olympic gold medalist who wants to compete as a Democrat for a seat in the New Jersey Legislature.
Republicans have challenged his bid for office, saying he lost the qualifying heat by failing to meet the state’s four-year residency requirement. Lewis, a New Jersey native, owns homes in his home state and California.
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, a Republican, disqualified Lewis.