College Football
Winston follows Manziel with the Manning Award
NEW ORLEANS – Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston won the Manning Award, given to the nation’s top quarterback.
As was the case last year with Johnny Manziel, the Manning Award went to the same player who’d won the Heisman Trophy.
Winston passed for 4,057 yards and 40 touchdowns as a freshman this season while leading Florida State to a national championship.
Winston completed 20-of-35 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in the Seminoles’ 34-31 BCS title-game victory over Auburn on Monday night.
Winston led a drive in the last 79 seconds in the title game, completing 6-of-7 passes for 77 yards, including his 2-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds left.
The Manning Award is presented by the Sugar Bowl.
Cycling
UCI sets up a 3-man panel to investigate doping past
LONDON – A three-man independent panel will investigate cycling’s doping past, including allegations the sport’s governing body colluded with Lance Armstrong.
International Cycling Union President Brian Cookson said Wednesday the commission will investigate allegations “that the UCI has been involved in wrongdoing in the past, allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport.”
The UCI and former presidents Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen have been accused of protecting Armstrong and helping cover up his doping. The American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from Olympic sports for life after admitting to doping.
The investigative panel will be based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and will be called the Cycling Independent Reform Commission. The commission will be chaired by Dick Marty, a Swiss politician and former Swiss state prosecutor. The other members are German anti-doping expert Ulrich Haas and Peter Nicholson, a former Australian military officer and war crimes investigator.
Golf
LPGA swings to a points race with a big $1M payoff
The LPGA Tour is going to a points race this year, offering $1 million to the winner of the new “Race to the CME Globe.”
Instead of the four-tournament playoff system on the PGA Tour, the women will earn points for 31 events going into the CME Group Tour Championship that is held Nov. 20-23 in Naples, Fla. The points will be reset for the final event to give an advantage to whoever had the best year, and the winner will receive a $1-million bonus.
MLB
Mattingly gets a 3-year deal as the Dodgers’ manager
LOS ANGELES – Don Mattingly will be back as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers next season with a new three-year contract that will take him through 2016.
Mattingly, last year’s NL runner-up for manager of the year, has a 260-225 record in his first three seasons with the Dodgers, who reached the NL championship series, which automatically triggered an extension of his contract that was set to expire at the end of last season.
Tennis
Nadal and Williams are the top seeds Down Under
MELBOURNE, Australia – As expected, No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams were made the top seeds at the Australian Open, which will begin Monday at Melbourne Park.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic is the No. 2-seeded man, followed by David Ferrer, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is sixth.
On the women’s side, defending champion Victoria Azarenka is No. 2, followed by Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in sixth.
Associated Press
