The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Newsmakers

Retired Vanderbilt football coach Bobby Johnson retired abruptly Wednesday. Vice Chancellor David Williams announced the news in a post on the university’s athletic website just before a news conference. Minutes later, the 59-year-old Johnson stepped up to a podium and said he was retiring from college football. Johnson called it a very difficult decision but one not prompted by health concerns for either himself or his wife. He said he began seriously considering retirement a month ago, and he informed Williams in a meeting Monday.

Resigned Michigan’s director of football operations Brad Labadie has resigned, saying the move is unrelated to an ongoing NCAA investigation into the storied program. Labadie and coach Rich Rodriguez were among the seven people who received a letter of reprimand from the school for playing a role in what the NCAA says were major rules violations. Labadie was blamed for failing to correctly and promptly file forms tracking hours players spent with the team.

Signed The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Olympic forward Marcel Mueller to a two-year entry-level contract, after a successful season in the German Elite League. The team announced the signing of the 22-year-old after he had 24 goals and 32 assists in 53 games last season for the Cologne Sharks.

Offer The Argentine Football Association says it will offer Diego Maradona a new four-year contract that would keep him in charge of the national team through the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Ernesto Cherquis Bialo, a spokesman for the association, told reporters that AFA president Julio Grondona would meet next week with Maradona to discuss the offer. This is the strongest indication that Maradona is likely to continue as the coach.

Honored Guard Brandon Knight, headed to Kentucky in the fall, and power forward Chiney Ogwumike, who will join her sister at Stanford, were honored as national high school athletes of the year. It was the fourth time in eight years that the male and female Gatorade-sponsored awards went to a pair of basketball players.