Newsmakers

Apologized Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl apologized on Saturday to fans and fellow coach Pat Summitt for the arrests of four members of the 14th-ranked men’s basketball team. Senior forward Tyler Smith, sophomore guard Cameron Tatum, junior center Brian Williams and junior point guard Melvin Goins are facing misdemeanor drug, gun and alcohol charges. Knoxville, Tenn., police arrested the four Friday after stopping the car they were in for speeding.

Fired The worst home record in the NHL led to the end of Andy Murray’s tenure as St. Louis Blues coach. The franchise replaced the 58-year-old Murray, and Davis Payne – coach of the Blues’ AHL affiliate in Peoria – was appointed interim head coach. The Blues entered Saturday 6-13-3 at home and had lost four games in a row.

Injured American snowboarder Kevin Pearce was in critical condition at a Utah hospital after suffering a “severe, traumatic brain injury” in a training accident, one of his doctors said. Pearce is in the University of Utah Hospital’s intensive care unit in Salt Lake City. Dr. Holly Ledyard said Pearce is stable condition and has not yet needed to undergo surgery. Pearce was preparing for next week’s Olympic qualifying events at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., when he hit his head during a training run Thursday in Park City.

Out Denver forward Carmelo Anthony missed his first game of the season with a right knee contusion. The Nuggets were also without point guard Chauncey Billups against the Utah Jazz. Billups did not dress and sat out for the fifth time in six games with a left groin strain. Anthony is second in the league in scoring at 30 points per game. He had started all 32 games before going being put on the inactive list.

Burned Toronto Blue Jays infielder Edwin Encarnacion is recuperating after he was burned in the face by fireworks while celebrating the new year in his native Dominican Republic. His fiancee Jennifer Pena tells The AP that Encarnacion was released from the hospital and is resting at home. His injuries do not require surgery. He received first- and second-degree burns when his brother released a firework that hit him in the right side of the face and exploded near his body.