Sylvester Croom went to Mississippi State with much fanfare, deemed by many a pioneer, the first black man hired to be head coach of a Southeastern Conference football team.
After five seasons he is out, gone for the most basic reason: His team didn't win enough. Croom resigned yesterday, less than 24 hours after an embarrassing 45-0 loss to No. 25 Mississippi. Croom was 21-38 at Mississippi State with one winning season.
Pro Basketball Houston guard Tracy McGrady missed the Rockets' game last night against San Antonio because of a sore left knee. McGrady also sat out Wednesday night against Indiana, and will miss the Rockets' game today in Denver.
Orlando Magic guard Mickael Pietrus will be out three to five weeks because of a torn ligament in his right thumb. He hurt the thumb last week against the 76ers.
Pro hockey Brian Burke took over as president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Burke got a six-year deal worth a reported $3 million annually. He replaced Cliff Fletcher , who was hired as interim general manager after the firing of John Ferguson in January.
College Basketball Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody is out indefinitely with pneumonia.
Harangody became ill after scoring 29 points in Notre Dame's 81-80 win over Texas on Tuesday in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.
Golf K.J. Choi overcame the nerves of playing in his first LG Skins Game by using a precise short game and key putts to take the first-day lead in the 26th annual event.
Choi rolled in a three-foot birdie putt worth $75,000 on the third hole, and earned $75,000.
That gave him the lead over Phil Mickelson , who earned $25,000 with a spectacular eagle-3 on the fourth hole. Two-time defending champion Stephen Ames and Rocco Mediate , playing in his first Skins Game, were shut out on the first nine holes.
With the foursome halving the final five holes of the front nine, $900,000 of the event's $1 million purse is alive for today's final nine holes at Indian Wells in California.
Annika Sorenstam isn't quite finished.
Playing her second-to-last event before retiring, the Swedish star holed a 45-foot pitch for eagle on the par-5 18th hole to give herself and Suzann Pettersen a 1-up victory over Inbee Park and Eun Hee Ji in the Lexus Cup.
With the comeback victory in the opening best-ball match at Singapore Island Country Club, Sorenstam and Pettersen helped the International team match two-time defending champion Asia at six points entering the closing 12 singles matches.
Brendan Jones made a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, giving Australia a 9-under-par 63 and a share of the lead with Spain after the third round of the World Cup of Golf at Mission Hills in Shenzhen, China.
Robert Allenby finished with a 5-under 67 for a share of the third-round lead in the Australian Masters with playing partner Michael Sim . Sim shot a 68 to match Allenby at 10-under 206 on the Huntingdale course.
Soccer U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel set a record with his 167th consecutive Premier League appearance in Aston Villa's 0-0 tie with Fulham.
