Hoosiers make short drive\nThe IU men's golf team will compete in the NCAA Central Regionals this weekend at Kampen Golf Course in West Lafayette.\nThe Hoosiers are one of 26 teams competing at the Regionals, and are familiar with the Kampen course. \n"We've been working real hard this week preparing for the NCAA tournament," IU coach Mike Mayer said. "Obviously it is an outstanding field, and we will have to play a solid tournament to have a chance to advance to the NCAA finals."\nThe Hoosiers, who finished in fifth place at the Big Ten Championships, boast Big Ten Golfer of the Year junior Jeff Overton and second team All-Big Ten junior Heath Peters. \nMayer will bring the same lineup he has used for the past three tournaments as junior Mike Birkenfeld, sophomore Scott Seibert and freshman David Butwell will join Overton and Peters to round out the Hoosier fivesome. \nThe tournament is a three-day, 54-hole event with play beginning each day at 7:12 a.m. Teams will tee off from No. 1 and No. 10 tee all three days.\nScoring for the event will be five players, with the low four scores from each team for each round determining a team's score.\nThe top 10 teams and top two individuals at the regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships. The championships will take place in Hot Springs, Va., June 1-4.
Sosa on the shelf following sneeze\nCHICAGO -- Turns out, Sammy Sosa's injury is nothing to sneeze at.\nThe Chicago Cubs' star has a sprained ligament in his lower back and is probably headed to the disabled list after two violent sneezes brought on back spasms and he missed Sunday's game in San Diego.\nSosa was examined by Dr. Michael Schaefer, the Cubs' orthopedic specialist, before Tuesday's game against the Giants, and tests revealed the sprained ligament.\n"He's going to receive an epidural tonight to calm down some of the inflammation and lower back pain," general manager Jim Hendry said. "It's pretty certain he'll be missing a couple of weeks. So it looks like it's a (disabled list) situation."\nSosa's injury is the latest setback for the Cubs, who are already without right-hander Mark Prior, reliever Mike Remlinger, second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Kerry Wood missed his scheduled start Sunday because of tightness in his triceps.\n"There's no sense hanging your head. You've got to deal with it," Hendry said. "We'll work our way through it. Hopefully, by early June, we'll be healthy once and for all."\nThis isn't the first time Sosa has had back problems. He missed nine games in late 2002 with a strained back after colliding with teammate Mark Bellhorn while chasing a popup.\nAnd as hard as Sosa swings, it's bound to put stress on his back.\n"It's a very unnatural movement to swing a bat the way that we swing bats," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "We're made to go up and down, we're not made to torque the way guys do side to side. I'm surprised in baseball we don't have more back problems."
NHL agrees to two-year deal with NBC\nNEW YORK -- NBC is back on ice after 29 years.\nThe network will broadcast NHL games the next two seasons under a revenue-sharing deal, replacing ABC as the league's broadcast partner.\nThe deal, announced Wednesday, will call for NBC to broadcast seven regular-season games beginning in January and six playoff games in regular Saturday afternoon time slots. The network also will televise Games 3-7 of the Stanley Cup finals in prime time. NBC last regularly broadcast NHL games 29 years ago. The network televised the league's All-Star game from 1991-94.\n"This is the right deal at the right time with the right parties," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.\nThe two-year agreement, in which the league and the network share advertising revenue and NBC pays no rights fee, may be renewed for an additional two years at NBC's option. The deal is subject to approval by the league's board.\nThe NHL is bracing for an offseason that will feature labor talks to head off a potential lockout that could disrupt next season after the collective bargaining agreement expires Sept. 15.\nBettman hopes that NBC's strong prime-time lineup Thursday and Friday and its presence with viewers in the 18-49 demographic will draw a larger audience to the Saturday afternoon games. The network plans to do most of the advertising for the games during prime-time shows Thursday and Friday.\nFor NBC, the deal represents a move back into televising major professional team sports. In recent years, the network has focused on events like the Olympics, NASCAR, Triple Crown horse racing and Notre Dame football while competitors had the NFL, NHL, NBA and major league baseball.\nThe current deal with ESPN, which includes ABC, is in the fifth year of a $600 million TV rights package. The cable network is expected to only pay about half that for a new deal, following several seasons of declining ratings for the league.
