Newsmakers
Extended The Minnesota Vikings have signed coach Brad Childress to a contract extension. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but ESPN.com reported Thursday the extension would keep Childress in Minnesota through the 2013 season. Childress was hired in 2006 by owner Zygi Wilf and is in the fourth year of a five-year, $10 million deal. The Vikings have improved each year under his watch. They went 6-10 in 2006, 8-8 in 2007 and 10-6 with an NFC North title last season.
Awarded Sprinters Tyson Gay and Sanya Richards have both won the Jesse Owens Award for a second time. Gay also earned USA Track & Field’s highest honor in 2007, and Richards won it in 2006. They will receive their awards Dec. 5.
Honored Long considered the best player in the U.S., Landon Donovan is now the best player in Major League Soccer. The Los Angeles Galaxy forward and six-time national player of the year was named the MLS most valuable player for the first time in his career.
Filed The Yankees’ Andy Pettitte and the Mets’ Fernando Tatis have become the final players to file for free agency this year. The pair filed on the final day of the 15-day window following the World Series. A total of 171 players filed for free agency.
Acquired Reliever Aaron Heilman was acquired by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Chicago Cubs for 24-year-old left-hander Scott Maine and 23-year-old infielder Ryne White.
Resigned San Diego State athletic director Jeff Schemmel resigned after a university investigation of his travel expenses. The school investigated Schemmel’s travel expense records after the San Diego Union-Tribune inquired about an attempt to subpoena the records as part of an Alabama man’s divorce proceedings. According to the newspaper, John David Lineberger’s wife, Carolyn, testified in a deposition that she met Schemmel for multiple trysts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and Point Clear, Ala.
Died Breast cancer advocate Stefanie Spielman, the wife of NFL and Ohio State star Chris Spielman who led a public fight against breast cancer, died Thursday near Columbus, Ohio, after a lengthy battle with the disease. She was 42.