Michigan’s Carr steps down after 13 seasons

Lloyd Carr alternately choked up and chuckled for nearly 40 minutes Monday as he announced his 13th season as Michigan football coach will be his last.

“I wanted to be able to walk out of here knowing that to the very last minute, I did my job to the best of my ability,” Carr said with watery eyes. “And I know I’ll be able to do that.”

The best of Carr’s ability brought Michigan a national title and five Big Ten championships. It also included an unsightly loss to Appalachian State to open this season and a fourth consecutive defeat, and sixth in seven years, to Jim Tressel and Ohio State to close it. Carr had a 121-40 record at Michigan.

Carr will coach the Wolverines in their bowl game, likely to be either the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio or the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. Following the bowl game he will become an associate athletic director.

LSU head coach Les Miles is a possible replacement, having played and coached at Michigan.

•Tim Stowers was fired as coach at Rhode Island after producing a single winning season in eight years.

•Alcorn State fired coach Johnny Thomas after he compiled a 48-61 record in 10 seasons.

•Former Washington Redskins linebacker Monte Coleman was introduced as the new coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the same day coach Mo Forte was fired.

Baseball

Cabrera dealt to ChiSox

Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera was traded by the Los Angeles Angels to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Jon Garland in a surprising swap of dependable players.

The 33-year-old Cabrera batted .301 with eight homers, 86 RBIs and a career-high 101 runs for the A.L. West champions this season. He also led A.L. shortstops in fielding percentage (.983) and won his second Gold Glove.

Garland, an 18-game winner in 2005 and 2006, was 10-13 with a 4.23 ERA in 32 starts this year.

•Mariano Rivera told the New York Yankees he is accepting their $45 million, three-year offer.

•World Series MVP Mike Lowell is staying with the Boston Red Sox after reaching a preliminary agreement that would pay the third baseman a reported $37.5 million over three years.

•Veteran pitcher Tom Glavine returned to the Braves after signing a one-year, $8 million deal.

•The San Diego Padres have finalized a $10 million, one-year contract with pitcher Greg Maddux.

•The Mets completed a four-year, $25 million deal with 2B Luis Castillo.

•Backup catcher Jason LaRue and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to an $850,000, one-year contract.

Miscellany

Mathis shipped to L.A.

The New York Red Bulls traded all-time leading scorer Clint Mathis to the Los Angeles Galaxy, getting a third-round pick in the MLS SuperDraft.

The trade sends midfielder Mathis, who turns 31 next week, back to the team where he began his pro career in 1998 and unites him with David Beckham.

Mathis had six goals and two assists in 26 games this season.

•Next year’s MLS championship game is set for Carson, Calif., the third time the MLS Cup showdown will be played at the Home Depot Center.

•The world’s richest golf tourney, offering $10 million in prize money, will be played in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, beginning in 2009.

•Sprinters Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix were named winners of the Jesse Owens Award as the outstanding U.S. track and field athletes of 2007.

•Sales improved 8.6 percent at this year’s Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale over 2006 figures, officials at Lexington, Ky., said.

•Ellen Mueller-Preis, who won Olympic gold in fencing at the 1932 Los Angeles Games, has died in Vienna, Austria, at 95.

•Dr. Phil Astin – a doctor for pro wrestler Chris Benoit, who killed his family and himself – wants a judge to ease his bail conditions so he can work while fighting charges of overprescribing medication.