BRIEFS

Saban named

Coach of the Year

Alabama's Nick Saban is The Associated Press college football coach of the year.

This is the second time Saban has won the award. He also was coach of the year with LSU in 2003.

Saban easily outdistanced Texas Tech's Mike Leach, Utah's Kyle Whittingham and Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson in balloting by an AP media panel that votes in the weekly poll.

He received 32 votes, while Leach was second with nine. Whittingham received six votes and Johnson five. Seven other coaches also got votes.

Saban led Alabama to a 12-1 season, the only loss coming to Florida in the SEC title game. The Crimson Tide faces Utah in the Sugar Bowl for only its second Bowl Championship Series game.

Jets' Ellis fined for

snowball incident

New York Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis was fined $10,000 by the NFL for throwing snow at fans following the team's loss at Seattle on Sunday.

Several fans threw snowballs at New York players and staff as they walked off the field after the Seahawks' 13-3 victory. As he approached the walkway leading to the locker room, Ellis reached into a pile of snow, picked up a large chunk and tossed it into the stands at Qwest Field, appearing to hit at least a few fans. No one was believed to have been injured.

Ellis said Tuesday that he wasn't angry at the time, and there was no malicious intent on his part.

"It was all in fun," he said.

Video of the incident originated on YouTube after a fan captured it on film and posted it on the site. As of early Tuesday afternoon, the 53-second clip had been viewed nearly 340,000 times. Several other Web sites have also posted links to the video.

25-cent bleacher

seats for Yankee

Stadium openers

In these days of hard times, it will be like old times at baseball's billion-dollar palace in waiting — a 25-cent bleacher ticket, before the real season starts and real prices kick in.

The Yankees said Tuesday that bleacher seats for the games against the Chicago Cubs on April 3 and 4 will go for two bits while grandstand tickets will be $1.10. That matches the prices for the opener of the original Yankee Stadium against Boston on April 18, 1923.

Field level seats at the 52,325- seat ballpark will cost $45-$50, main level $20-$45 and terrace level $20-$35. Full season-ticket holders will get the seats for free, and those who bought partial season tickets will be given a presale.

The regular-season opener is April 16 against Cleveland. Tickets cost up to $2,500 a game during the regular season.

Lady Saints begin season ranked No. 4

The Limestone College women's lacrosse team is ranked No. 4 in Lacrosse Magazine's preseason poll released this week.

The Lady Saints are coming off a terrific 2008 season that saw the team claim the Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament titles, and advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II tournament.

Defending national champion West Chester tops the poll, followed by C.W. Post. Adelphi is No. 3 while Lock Haven rounds out the top five.

Irish, Weis look to end bowl losing streak

Notre Dame looks to end a 9-game bowl losing streak as they take on Hawaii in the Hawai'i Bowl.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 8 p.m.