Associated Press
WINSTON-SALEM ó Former New York Knicks assistant and executive Jeff Nix is Wake Forestís new director of basketball operations.
Coach Jeff Bzdelik announced the hiring Thursday. Nix spent 15 years in the Knicksí organization from 1992-2007, including eight years as an assistant, five years as the assistant general manager and two years as the director of scouting.
He replaces Walt Corbean, who was promoted to assistant coach after Mark Pope took a position on BYUís coaching staff.
Bzdelik says the Demon Deacons ěhit a home runî in landing Nix. The two worked together in 1994-95 when Bzdelik was the Knicksí lead scout and Nix was one of Pat Rileyís assistants.
NHL
LAS VEGAS ó Corey Perry crashed the Sedinsí NHL MVP party.
The Anaheim Ducks forward, who scored a league-best 50 goals, won the Hart Trophy on Wednesday night. His surprise win came at the expense of scoring champion Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, who was trying to complete an unprecedented MVP double dip after his twin brother and teammate Henrik took the honors last year.
Perryís win capped the two-hour NHL Awards ceremony. Even he said he didnít expect to take home the trophy. Tampa Bayís Martin St. Louis, who won the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly and excellent play, was the third MVP finalist.
LAS VEGAS ó Carolina Hurricanes 19-year-old sensation Jeff Skinner is the NHL rookie of the year.
The Hurricanes forward won the Calder Trophy on Wednesday, beating out San Joseís Logan Couture and Michael Grabner of the New York Islanders at the leagueís award ceremony at the Palms Casino Resort.
Skinner, an NHL All-Star in his first season, finished first in Calder voting by members of the Professional Hockey Writersí Association. He led rookies with 63 points.
GOLF
PITTSFORD, N.Y. ó Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot a 6-under 66 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead over Paula Creamer in the first round of the LPGA Championship.
Angela Stanford, Meena Lee, Diana DíAlessio and Stacy Prammanasudh were 4 under, and Morgan Pressel, Stacy Lewis, Ryann OíToole, Amy Hung, Minea Blomqvist and Hee Young Park were 3 under.
Defending champion Cristie Kerr, who was ailing with a light case of the flu, shot an even-par 72.
Tseng made five birdies on the front nine and three more on the back to go with a pair of bogeys. She recovered from a bad tee shot at the par-4 18th hole that landed in the thick right rough, hit her second shot to 4 feet, and drained the birdie putt for sole possession of the lead.
Tseng won the LPGA State Farm Classic on June 12 for her second victory of the year.
Play was halted for just over 2 hours in early evening by a severe thunderstorm and six players failed to finish the round.
Travelers Championship
CROMWELL, Conn. ó Michael Bradley had a one-stroke lead when first-round play in the Travelers Championship was suspended for the day.
Bradley was 6 under with two holes left when play was stopped at 11:30 a.m. at TPC River Highlands.
Officials reopened the driving range late in the afternoon and hoped to resume play at 5:45 p.m., but another shower forced more delays and officials eventually decided not to restart play before 7 a.m. Friday.
Vijay Singh was in a group of seven players a shot back. Only two groups finished the round.
BMW International Open
MUNICH, Germany ó Swedenís Henrik Stenson shot an 8-under 64 in rainy conditions to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the BMW International Open.
Englandís Gary Boyd was second.
ORLANDO, Fla. ó Tiger Woods will miss another golf tournament as he recovers from injuries to his left leg, saying Wednesday he will not play in the AT&T National next week outside Philadelphia.
ěDoctorís orders,î Woods posted on Twitter.
He said he would be at Aronomink to support the tournament, which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundations. Woods said he is ěfeeling stronger,î but is still not 100 percent.
SOCCER
GENEVA ó FIFA had ěcompellingî evidence that Mohamed bin Hammam and Jack Warner conspired to bribe voters in the organizationís presidential election before it suspended them from world soccerís governing body.
FIFAís ethics committee concluded that the allegations bin Hammam offered $40,000 cash payments to Caribbean officials ěconstitute prima facie an act of bribery.î
HORSE RACING
LOUISVILLE, Ky. ó The famed Churchill Downs horse race track, longtime home to the running of the Kentucky Derby, was hit by a possible tornado Wednesday, knocking down barns and chasing out horses.