Associated Press
ATLANTA ó The Hawks and Philips Arena will be sold to California developer and pizza chain owner Alex Meruelo, but the NBA team will remain in Atlanta.
The Hawks ownership group, led by Michael Gearon Jr. and Bruce Levenson, also recently sold the NHL Atlanta Thrashers to a group that has moved the team to Winnipeg. The Thrashers deal was for a reported $170 million.
The Hawks made the playoffs the past four seasons, including three straight second-round appearances.
While the owners were criticized for failing to keep the Thrashersí stars, including Ilya Kovalchuk, in Atlanta, the group was aggressive in re-signing Hawks stars Johnson, Josh Smith and Al Horford.
TEL AVIV, Israel ó Jordan Farmar became the latest New Jersey Nets player to head for the European leagues when he signed with Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The 6-foot-2 guard will play for Tel Aviv as long as the NBA lockout continues.
SWIMMING
STANFORD, Calif. ó The future of American sprinting may well lie in Texas, where Jimmy Feigen is the latest in a long line of speedsters to come out of the Longhornsí program.
Olympian Garrett Weber-Gale won the 100-meter freestyle in 48.87 seconds at the U.S. national championships, defeating Texas training partner Feigen, who took second at 48.99.
Feigen led after the first lap before Weber-Gale surged from third to first down the stretch.
DODGERS
DOVER, Del. ó The Los Angeles Dodgers and Major League Baseball agreed on a bankruptcy financing plan for the team.
A court filing in Delaware outlines a plan for the league to provide unsecured financing of up to $150 million.
Last month, a judge rejected the Dodgersí financing arrangement with a hedge fund and ordered the club to negotiate with the league.
NHL
CHICAGO ó Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman doesn’t consider forward Patrick Sharp to be a good player.
Bowman ranks Sharp, who led the Blackhawks with 34 goals last season, as a “prominent player.” So Bowman made it a priority to sign Sharp to a five-year contract extension.
The 29-year-old Sharp tied for eighth in the league in goals last season and was third on the club with a career-high 71 points. He added three goals and two assists in the playoffs as the Blackhawks lost to Vancouver in the first round following a run to the Stanley Cup title the previous year.