Falcons hire former Idaho coach Cable

The Atlanta Falcons have hired UCLA offensive coordinator Tom Cable as offensive line coach, coach Jim Mora confirmed Thursday.

Cable also served as UCLA’s offensive line coach.

Cable replaces Jeff Jagodzinski, who last month was named offensive coordinator for Green Bay.

Cable is regarded as one of the top college offensive line coaches in the nation. He previously worked as an offensive coordinator at Colorado and head coach at Idaho.

Meanwhile at UCLA, Chuck Bullough, who earlier spent five years as a Chicago assistant, was brought in to coach linebackers.

Mike Martz backed out of Detroit’s offensive coordinator position, and the ex-St. Louis coach appears content to sit out next season.

A Minnetonka, Minn., judge set trial dates for the four Minnesota Vikings charged with misdemeanors in a boat party scandal. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper and running back Moe Williams agreed to be tried together starting April 18. Defensive back Fred Smoot is due to stand trial May 2, and offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie’s date is May 22.

The NFL Players’ Association is preparing to take the league to court if there is no immediate progress on a new contract. NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw set March 9 as the date he will begin consulting players on legal action if no deal has been reached to extend the collective bargaining agreement.

Jacksonville receiver Reggie Williams will perform community service to settle charges filed after police found a small amount of marijuana in his car earlier this month, authorities said.

The University of California hired Northwestern offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar to fill the same position on coach Jeff Tedford’s staff.

Northern Arizona University signed coach Jerome Souers to a three-year contract extension.

Baseball

Kim loses arbitration

Pitcher Sunny Kim lost to Colorado in the first salary arbitration case of the year and will earn $600,000 rather than the $800,000 he asked for.

Arbitrators Stephen Goldberg, Gil Vernon and John Sands, who heard the case a day earlier in St. Petersburg, Fla., made the decision.

Five players agreed to one-year contracts, leaving 19 players left in arbitration.

Jake Wade, 93, who broke into the majors with Detroit and played for five other teams in the 1930s and ‘40s, died Wednesday at his home in Wildwood, N.C., his family said.

Miscellany

Woods opens with 67

Tiger Woods, fresh off winning the Buick Invitational in San Diego, fired a 5-under-par 67 in the first round of the Dubai (United Arab Emirates) Desert Classic, putting him three strokes off the lead shared by Retief Goosen, Richard Green and Jamie Donaldson.

Steve Lowery shot a 6-under 65 in the morning and Alex Cejka matched it later to share the first-round lead at the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Pat Rupp, 63, goaltender for the 1964 and 1968 U.S. Olympic teams who also played one game for the Detroit Red Wings, died in Dayton, Ohio, after a long battle with cancer.