Newsmakers
Hired Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun is turning to two old friends as he attempts to steer his program through an NCAA recruiting scandal. The school announced that it hired Glen Miller and Kevin Ollie to fill the vacancies left by the resignations of staff members accused of lying to NCAA investigators.
Retained England will keep Fabio Capello as national soccer coach despite the team’s disappointing performance at the World Cup. Following a 4-1 loss to Germany that knocked the English out of the tournament in South Africa, the Football Association said that its board had unanimously agreed Capello deserved to keep his job.
Signed Former Pro Bowl cornerback Dre’ Bly is returning to Detroit. The Lions said that the unrestricted free agent signed a two-year deal. Bly spent four seasons in Detroit after signing as an unrestricted free agent in 2003. He made the Pro Bowl after the 2003 and 2004 seasons before he was traded to Denver following the 2006-07 season.
• Chris Higgins didn’t need much convincing before joining the Florida Panthers. The Panthers signed Higgins to a $1.6 million, one-year contract, with plans to make him the second-line left wing behind David Booth on the depth chart. Higgins was Montreal’s first-round draft pick in 2002 and had 72 goals for the Canadiens in his first three full NHL seasons.
Charged Cleveland Browns defensive end Robaire Smith has been charged with carrying a gun in his luggage at Bishop Airport in Flint, Mich. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton charged the 32-year-old former Flint Northern High star with possession of a firearm in a sterile area of a commercial airport. The misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail.
Sentenced Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor War Machine has been sentenced to a year in jail for violating probation after he assaulted people at two San Diego bars. War Machine pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assault and to violating probation in a previous assault case. He has a fight scheduled for Friday and will head to jail a week later.