Miller, U.S. men come up empty in worlds
Bode Miller and the U.S. men are left with a blank look at the world championships in Are, Sweden.
After straining his knee during the first run of Saturday’s slalom, Miller will leave this frigid resort without a medal. He also failed to crack the top three at last year’s Turin Olympics.
“It’s an alarming trend for a guy that should be having big results,” U.S. men’s head coach Phil McNichol told the Associated Press. “He came up short again at a big championship. But I don’t think Torino and this event are a good comparison.
“Bode came in here much more prepared than at the Olympics. He worked hard and we trained hard.”
Austria’s Mario Matt won the slalom in a combined time of 1 minute, 57.33 seconds.
NFL
Chargers court Zimmer
The San Diego Chargers interviewed Mike Zimmer as they continued to search for a replacement for the fired Marty Schottenheimer.
Zimmer was hired recently as Atlanta’s defensive coordinator after doing the same job for Bill Parcells in Dallas.
•The Arizona Cardinals told Leonard Davis that they won’t name him a franchise or transition player, clearing the offensive tackle to become an unrestricted free agent.
If the Cardinals had made Davis a franchise player, he would have received a guaranteed one-year contract of about $11 million.
Tennis
Mauresmo makes final
Amelie Mauresmo moved within one victory of winning a $1.3 million diamond-studded racket trophy, beating Anna Chakvetadze 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the final of the Diamond Games tournament in Antwerp, Belgium.
Top-seeded Mauresmo will face home favorite Kim Clijsters, who defeated French teenager Tatiana Golovin 6-4, 6-3.
•Andy Murray upset top-seeded Andy Roddick 7-6 (8), 6-4 at the SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., to advance to the finals against Ivo Karlovic, a 7-6 (5), 7-5 winner over Benjamin Becker.
Baseball
Cabrera beats Marlins
Miguel Cabrera became the first player to win in salary arbitration this year when the Florida Marlins All-Star third baseman was awarded a $7.4 million salary instead of the team’s offer of $6.7 million.
•Pitcher Erik Bedard avoided arbitration with the Baltimore Orioles, agreeing to a $3.4 million, one-year contract.
The left-hander went 15-11 with a 3.76 ERA in 33 starts last season.
Track and field
Bekele sets record
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia set a world record for the indoor 2,000 meters of 4 minutes, 49.99 seconds at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham, England, beating a 9-year-old mark of Haile Gebrselassie.
After winning the men’s 400, American Xavier Carter was disqualified for stepping out of his lane before overtaking Robert Tobin of Britain just ahead of the line. Tobin won with 46.07.
American Reese Hoffa won the shot put after throwing 69-3 1/2, beating Dan Taylor of the United States.