*NHL: Brian Burke is the new general manager and president of the Maple Leafs. Sources confirmed to ESPN.com that a six-year contract was agreed on Thursday and that a news conference is expected Saturday. Burke, 53, has been linked to the Leafs job for more than a year, but the speculation intensified once he parted ways with Anaheim on Nov. 13. He would replace Cliff Fletcher, who has been interim general manager since January. … Coyotes center Olli Jokinen will be sidelined for at least two weeks by a shoulder injury, ending his consecutive-games streak at 397. … The Panthers obtained forward Nick Tarnasky from the Predators for right wing Wade Belak. … The Bruins reassigned defenseman Matt Lashoff to AHL Providence.
*COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Heisman Trophy candidate Colt McCoy hit 23 of 28 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns as No. 4 Texas manhandled Texas A&M 49-9 in Austin. The victory was No. 31 in the career of McCoy, passing Vince Young to set a Texas record for quarterbacks. … Despite reports that Tennessee has made an offer to fired Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, Vols athletic director Mike Hamilton says he has not offered the coaching job to anyone yet. … Georgia will unveil a statue honoring former Bulldogs coach and athletic director Vince Dooley before Saturday’s rivalry game with Georgia Tech.
*BASEBALL: The agent for free-agent closer Francisco Rodriguez said he doesn’t expect the marketplace to get busy until the winter meetings begin Dec. 8 in Las Vegas. Only two of the 171 free agents have reached agreements: Ryan Dempster with the Cubs and Jeremy Affeldt with the Giants. … Blue Jays CEO Paul Beeston said with the economy tight, his team will not be a player in free agency. Beeston said he hasn’t given up on re-signing pitcher A.J. Burnett, who opted out of the final two seasons (and $24 million) of his five-year contract with the Jays.
*WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Connecticut center Heather Buck will meet with team doctors Friday as she continues to recover from mononucleosis, but she will remain on the sidelines for the top-ranked Huskies; game against No. 4 Oklahoma. … Rachel Allison scored 18 points as No. 6 Baylor beat Central Florida 79-67 in the Paradise Jam. … A three-pointer by Alyssa Karel helped Wisconsin hold off Villanova 47-45.
*GOLF: South Africa’s Tim Clark waited out a three-hour suspension because of a severe thunderstorm to shoot a 5-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the Australian Masters with Aussie Scott Hend. American John Daly shot 76. “It was just so brutal,” Daly said. “It was hard to have a lot of confidence out there. It was more a guessing game.” … Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka combined for a 10-under 62, giving Germany a one-shot lead over Australia’s Richard Green and Brendan Jones at the World Cup of Golf. The U.S. team of Ben Curtis and Brandt Snedeker is two shots behind.
*DOPING: Former hurdles champion Fani Halkia has been suspended for two years for doping, Greek sports officials said. The 400-meter hurdles gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Games was expelled from the Beijing Games after testing positive for the steroid methyltrienolone. … The IAAF appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport requesting doping bans given to seven leading female Russian athletes be extended beyond the normal two-year period because of the circumstances surrounding the case.
*SOCCER: AC Milan took until stoppage time to salvage a draw at Portsmouth in the UEFA Cup as the Italians missed a chance to join Manchester City, CSKA Moscow and St. Etienne in qualifying for the knockout phase. … American-owned soccer club Liverpool is cutting ticket prices by $1.50 to help fans feeling the pinch of the global financial crisis.
*ALSO: Olympian Martin Fagan won the Manchester Road Race, covering the 4.75 miles in 21:41. Teyba Naser of Bahrain won the women’s race in 25:00. Joan Benoit Samuelson, the first women’s marathon Olympic gold medalist in 1984, ran this race for the first time and finished in 27:28. … Due to a lane breakdown, the start of the second block of qualifying for the round of 64 of the CLR Carmen Salvino Scorpion Championship in Vernon Hills was delayed several hours. … The Sports Museum of Los Angeles — featuring 32,000 square feet of American sports history, with an emphasis on baseball, football, basketball, golf, cycling, bowling and rowing — opens Friday.
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EDITED BY LEE C. GORDON FROM TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES
