Badgers face Gophers
MADISON -- The 20th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers have a six-game winning streak in the annual college football battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe against the Minnesota Gophers in a rivalry that resumes today at Camp Randall Stadium.
The Badgers (4-1, 0-1 Big Ten) have won 13 of the last 15 meetings and every matchup in Madison since 1994. In four of the last five matchups, Wisconsin has won by seven points or less.
Adam Weber of the Gophers (1-4, 0-1) will become the most experienced active quarterback in the country when he starts for the 44th time today. He's never touched the Axe.
Wild fall in shootout
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HELSINKI -- Rookie Jeff Skinner scored the only goal of the shootout and Cam Ward was strong in goal, leading the Carolina Hurricanes past the Minnesota Wild 2-1 Friday for a sweep of the two season-opening NHL games in Finland.
Skinner, an 18-year-old forward, also set up Carolina's first goal from Tuomo Ruutu, which tied the game two minutes into the second period. The Wild opened the scoring 17 minutes into the first period on Andrew Brunette's goal.
Ward made 41 saves for Carolina, stopping Mikko Koivu, Brent Burns and Antti Miettinen in the shootout to preserve the victory.
The game was played before a sellout crowd of 13,465 and was more confrontational than Thursday night's 4-3 victory by Carolina. There were two early fights and a nasty one between the Wild's Eric Nystrom and Tom Kostopoulos of the Hurricanes.
Phillies take 2-0 lead
PHILADELPHIA -- Reds right fielder Jay Bruce missed a line drive in the seventh inning, allowing two runs to score, and the Philadelphia Phillies took advantage of Cincinnati's shoddy defense to earn a 7-4 win Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five NL division series.
Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips hit a leadoff homer on Roy Oswalt's fourth pitch and the Reds built a 4-0 lead before their defense and bullpen unraveled.
The Phillies rallied against hard-throwing rookie Aroldis Chapman and his triple-digit fastball after soft-tossing starter Bronson Arroyo kept Philadelphia's hitters off balance.
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UConn admits violations
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The University of Connecticut has admitted its men's basketball program committed major NCAA recruiting violations and has imposed its own sanctions, including two years' probation and a loss of one scholarship for the next two seasons.
But the university said the evidence does not support the NCAA allegation that coach Jim Calhoun -- who has won two national titles with the Huskies -- failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance.
A hearing is set for Oct. 15 before the NCAA infractions committee, which could accept UConn's decision or impose additional penalties.
McMurray earns pole
FONTANA, Calif. -- Jamie McMurray and Elliott Sadler will start up front in California after a rough day of qualifying for several NASCAR Chase contenders.
McMurray had a fast lap of 185.285 mph at Auto Club Speedway's two-mile oval Friday, just ahead of Sadler, another non-
qualifier in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. It's McMurray's fourth pole this season.
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Points leader Jimmie Johnson will start eighth Sunday, while fellow Chasers Matt Kenseth (third) and Greg Biffle (seventh) also made it into the top 10.
Bowling turns to replay
MILWAUKEE -- While baseball refuses to embrace replay despite blown calls in the playoffs, bowling is moving ahead. The Professional Bowlers Association says it has decided to use video replay to resolve disputed calls.
PBA officials say there are only a handful of situations in recent memory that would have warranted a replay review, but having that ability will help ensure that the right call gets made.
Rubio goes scoreless
BARCELONA, Spain -- Ricky Rubio has accomplished a lot in his young career, he just hasn't shown he's ready to make the jump to the NBA. The 19-year-old point guard has already played in an Olympic gold-medal game, won a European Championship with Spain and led his club team to the Euroleague title.
But the Spaniard went scoreless in an exhibition game between his FC Barcelona team and the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, falling flat in his first big opportunity to silence critics after his disappointing performance in the world championships.
He looked nervous early on, drawing three fouls in the first half. He missed all five of his field goal attempts in 17 minutes of play and had four turnovers while handing out only three assists.
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Despite his poor shooting Thursday, Rubio showed some of what prompted the Minnesota Timberwolves to select him with their first pick in the 2009 draft.
"This my third time playing against him, and he is definitely ready to play in the NBA," said Kobe Bryant of the Lakers. "The kid can play. I felt like in the Olympics he played very well and showed a lot of poise and he reads a lot of things that average players don't."
