Fast Break
College football
Grasu’s heroics earn top honors
Washington State placekicker Nico Grasu’s three field goals – one as time ran out to tie and one in each of the overtimes – not only lifted the Cougars to a 16-13 Apple Cup win, they earned the sophomore Pac-10 special team player of the week honors Monday.
Grasu is the second Cougar honored by the conference this season, joining now-injured quarterback Marshall Lobbestael, named offensive player of the week after the Portland State win.
Cal’s Jahvid Best, who ran for 201 yards in the Bears’ 37-16 Big Game victory over Stanford, was the conference offensive player of the week for the second time this year. Oregon State safety Greg Laybourn earned defensive player honors for the third time this season after 11 tackles in a 19-17 road win over Arizona.
College basketball
Cougars face Canisius tonight
The Washington State Cougars conclude a four-game, season-opening homestand with a 7 p.m. contest with Canisius tonight at Beasley Coliseum.
The Golden Griffins (1-2) are making their first trip to Pullman, though the teams have met four times, including a first-round NIT game in 1995. Chris Gadley, a 6-foot-9, 320-pound center, leads Canisius in scoring (17.3 points per game) and rebounds (9.7 per game).
Washington State (3-0) counters with balanced scoring, with a different player leading the Cougars in scoring in each of their first three games. Center Aron Baynes paces WSU with 11.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Golf
GM, Tiger part ways
General Motors is bailing out on Tiger Woods.
Woods, a global icon in sports with his 14 major championships, has been carrying the Buick logo on his golf bag for the past nine years and still had one year left on his contract.
But General Motors Corp. was looking to cut costs and hoard cash while trying to survive the worst sales downturn in a quarter-century. And it said Monday the world’s No. 1 golfer wanted more time for himself, especially with a second child on the way.
“Timing is everything,” said Larry Peck, golf marketing manager for Buick. “We’ve had such a great partnership with Tiger. It’s hard for us to walk away from that. But this frees up time for him. And it sure frees up a lot of money for us.”
The endorsement deal, believed to be worth at least $7 million a year, was to expire at the end of 2009.
Woods has endorsed GM products around the world. Peck said during the launch two years ago of the Enclave that its research showed 78 percent of consumers who bought the SUV previously had not been Buick owners.