Newsmakers

Dismissed Nevada running back Mike Ball has been kicked off the team. Coach Chris Ault said in a statement Tuesday that the Wolf Pack’s leading rusher violated team rules and protocol so there was no choice but to dismiss him. Ault declined to provide any details. Ball had rushed for 704 yards and three touchdowns while starting five of nine games this season. Nevada plays at Utah State on Saturday and finishes at home against the Idaho Vandals on Dec. 3.

• University of Arkansas football player Garrett Uekman died over the weekend of a condition that caused an irregular heartbeat, Washington County coroner Roger Morris said. He said the condition, which thickens the walls of the heart, affects a lot of young men. Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long has said the university wasn’t aware of any pre-existing medical condition for Uekman.

Hired NASCAR team owner Chip Ganassi lured Chris Heroy, a top engineer, away from Hendrick Motorsports to be Juan Pablo Montoya’s crew chief next season. Heroy had been in the Hendrick organization since 2004, most recently as the lead engineer for both Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. He’s also been a crew chief for Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson in Nationwide Series races last year.

Quit NASCAR driver Kurt Busch lost his second crew chief in three seasons. Penske Racing said crew chief Steve Addington left the organization. He joined Penske before the 2010 season after spending two seasons working with Busch’s younger brother, Kyle. Addington guided the 2004 NASCAR champion to four victories and spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup the last two years.

Replaced ESPN President George Bodenheimer will relinquish his day-to-day responsibilities Jan. 1, with John Skipper taking over the role. The Walt Disney Co., which owns the sports network, said it was part of a company-wide emphasis on succession plans. Skipper, 55, has been ESPN’s executive vice president for content since October 2005.

Cleared Former Olympic champion Jeannie Longo was cleared of breaching anti-doping rules by the French Cycling Federation in an embarrassing reversal for the French Anti-Doping Agency. The 53-year-old Longo had faced a ban from three months to two years, a sanction that would effectively have ended the career of one of France’s favorite athletes. Now she has a chance to ride at the London Olympics if she qualifies. Longo first competed at the Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles, and she won the gold medal in the road race at the 1996 Atlanta Games. She has nine road world championship golds, claimed four titles at the world track championships and has been French champion 58 times.