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

Fast Break

The Spokesman-Review

Baseball

Torre rejects Yankees’ offer

Joe Torre is out as manager of the New York Yankees, rejecting a big pay cut after the team failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year.

Torre turned down a $5 million, one-year contract Thursday – $2.5 million less than he made last season.

Rather than put up with the indignity of a salary slap coupled with a performance-based contract, the man who led the Yankees to playoff appearances in all 12 years he managed walked.

Bench coach Don Mattingly is the leading contender to replace Torre, who won four World Series championships with the Yanks but none since 2000. Yankees broadcaster Joe Girardi, the N.L. Manager of the Year with Florida in 2006, is another top contender.

Tony La Russa and Bobby Valentine also could be considered.

Torre, 67, who took over the team to start the 1996 season, made his decision after traveling from New York to the team’s spring training complex in Tampa, Fla., and meeting with Steinbrenner, the owner’s sons and top executives for about an hour.

WNBA

Busy Jackson will return to Seattle

Lauren Jackson has Moscow, Beijing and Seattle on her basketball horizon in the coming year.

Back in Australia for a brief period after winning her second WNBA MVP award with the Seattle Storm, Jackson has resumed training after a seven-week break.

“I’ve taken a long break because I know I’ve got probably a year of flat-out basketball coming up and I just wanted to get away from it,” Jackson said.

She will head to Russia shortly to play for Spartak Moscow, before playing another WNBA season with Seattle and for Australia’s Olympic team at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Asked about her schedule for next year following her stint with Spartak, Jackson said: “I’ll just be back in Seattle probably.”

Hockey

Go time for Chiefs

Beginning tonight, the Spokane Chiefs have the opportunity to gain some ground in the U.S. Division race.

The Chiefs (5-2-1-1, 12 points) host the Saskatoon Blades tonight at the Arena, the first of four games in five nights.

The Chiefs, second place in the division behind the Tri-City Americans, travel to Kelowna on Saturday to take on the Rockets and to Vancouver on Sunday to face the defending Memorial Cup champion Giants.

The Americans (8-3-0-0, 16 points) face Chilliwack and Saskatoon over the weekend.

The Chiefs return to Spokane on Tuesday and will host the Brandon Wheat Kings.