The New York Knicks contend Larry Brown broke Madison Square Garden policy with his roadside interviews, a decision the team believes could wind up saving them millions. The Knicks fired Brown on Thursday after one season as their coach. Brown has four years and a reported $40 million left on his contract. Madison Square Garden policy specifies that any interviews must be done with a public relations official present.
– The Florida Panthers acquired forward Todd Bertuzzi in exchange for goaltender Roberto Luongo as part of a five-player trade with Vancouver. The Canucks also sent goaltender Alex Auld and defenseman Bryan Allen to the Panthers for Lukas Krajicek and a sixth-round pick in Saturday’s draft. . . . The Carolina Hurricanes agreed to terms with Rod Brind’Amour for a new five-year contract worth $18 million.
– Kurt Busch turned a lap of 93.055 m.p.h. to earn his second pole of the season and the first road course pole of his career Friday in Sonoma, Calif. He goes into Sunday’s Dodge/Save Mart 350 12th in the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings, just 12 points behind 10th-place Greg Biffle.
– Sebastien Bourdais won the provisional pole at the Grand Prix of Cleveland on his final lap, leapfrogging A.J. Allmendinger and Paul Tracy. Bourdais posted a lap of 56.851 seconds, guaranteeing himself a start on the front row of Sunday’s race.
– Gene Haas, the 54-year-old owner of Oxnard-based Haas Automation and NASCAR’s Haas CNC Racing, was arrested Monday for investigation of conspiracy, filing false tax returns and witness intimidation. Charges filed by the U.S. attorney’s office accuse him of orchestrating a plan to list $50 million in bogus expenses that could be written off as business costs and save the company $20 million in taxes.
– Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Kim Clijsters 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 to reach the final of the Hastings Direct grass-court tournament in Eastbourne, England. Henin-Hardenne will face Anastasia Myskina in the final.
