Palmer finally has home with needy Raiders

Bengals owner Mike Brown was determined to hold his ground. He had no plans to reward disgruntled quarterback Carson Palmer with a trade.

Then rookie Andy Dalton stepped in and played well for surprising Cincinnati, and Oakland came calling with a blockbuster deal.

That was enough to change Brown’s mind, and he dealt Palmer to the Raiders for two high draft picks shortly before the trade deadline on Tuesday.

The Raiders needed a quarterback to replace Jason Campbell, who broke his collarbone in Sunday’s win over Cleveland. Campbell had surgery Monday and was expected to miss at least six weeks, leaving the Raiders with only Kyle Boller and Terrelle Pryor on the roster.

Cincinnati (4-2) will get a 2012 first-round pick and a second-rounder in 2013 for the 31-year-old quarterback.

While Palmer has not played or practiced since last season, he has a history with Jackson, who was his offensive coordinator for two years at Southern California and the wide receivers coach for three seasons in Cincinnati.

• Former Buffalo Bills center dies at 50: Kent Hull, who served as Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly’s center during the Buffalo Bills’ AFC title years in the early 1990s, has died. He was 50. The cause of death was not immediately known.

• Benson gets 1-game suspension: Bengals running back Cedric Benson received a reduced one-game suspension from the NFL for his misdemeanor assault cases settled before the season.

Mediator keeps talks going into wee hours

NBA: NBA labor talks stretched into the wee hours Wednesday morning as players and owners met with a federal mediator, hoping to deliver the progress Commissioner David Stern says is needed to avoid canceling more games.

Both sides met for more than 15 hours, their longest negotiating session since owners locked out players when the old collective bargaining agreement expired June 30.

The talks started about 10 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, the 110th day of the lockout.

Stern sought immediate results in just one day of mediation, saying during interviews last week that proposals could get worse and more games could be lost without a deal.

Rangers break out in big way at Vancouver

Hockey: Henrik Lundqvist made 40 saves, and the visiting New York Rangers broke open a scoreless game with four goals in the third period to beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 for their first victory of the season.

• Caps off to sizzling start: Tomas Vokoun blanked his former team with a 20-save performance, and Washington beat visiting Florida 3-0 to improve to 5-0, the best start in franchise history.

Washington and Detroit are the only NHL teams to win all their games thus far. The Capitals’ four-game winning streak at home to start the season is also a club record.

• Rookie sparks Flyers: Philadelphia rookie Matt Read had a goal and two assists in the opening 20 minutes and visiting Philadelphia built a four-goal lead and went on to beat Ottawa 7-2.

• Fourth straight for Dallas: Jamie Benn had a goal and an assist and visiting Dallas hung on for its fourth straight win, a 3-2 victory over Columbus.

McIlroy, Bradley tied at Grand Slam

Golf: Rory McIlroy made four birdies on the back nine to grab a share of the lead with Keegan Bradley at the PGA Grand Slam in Hamilton, Bermuda. The Grand Slam features the winners of this year’s majors.

The pair finished the first round tied at 4-under 67, well ahead of Charl Schwartzel, The Masters winner who shot a 74, and British Open champion Darren Clarke, who finished with a 77.

Americans win 4 of 5 golds in swimming

Pan Am Games: The rivalry in the pool at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, was a washout as the United States won four of five gold medals to leave Brazil in its wake.

Julia Smit, Arthur Frayler, Sean Mahoney and the women’s 4x200-meter freestyle relay team all won to give the Americans 12 gold medals through four days of swimming.

New climbs, trials for Tour de France

Cycling: Tour de France riders will face steeper mountain climbs and longer time trials, making for a wide-open race aimed to give stars like defending champion Cadel Evans and Alberto Contador plenty of challengers.

At the presentation of the 2012 course, Tour director Christian Prudhomme said “more favorites can potentially be in the mix” in the quest for the leader’s yellow jersey over the 2,162-mile route.

The Tour’s 99th edition starts June 30 in Liege, Belgium. It will feature nearly 62 miles of individual time trials and 25 tough mountain climbs. The super-steep stretch in eastern France will make its Tour debut in Stage 7.