Off the wire

— BASKETBALL Lakers’ Artest injured Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest suffered a concussion and injured his left elbow after falling at his home. Artest didn’t travel with the Lakers to Saturday’s game at Sacramento after tripping overa box and falling down a flight of stairs at his home on Christmas night, the team said in a news release. He was treated at UCLA Medical Center, undergoing a CT scan and receiving stitches in the back of his headand his elbow. A neurologist examined him Saturday and confirmed he had a concussion, the team said. Artest is day to day. Artest scored 13 points and fouled out while guarding LeBron James in the Lakers’ 102-87 loss to Cleveland earlier Friday. Artest is averaging 12.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in his first season with Los Angeles after signing as a free agent. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson allowed his players to stay home with their families Christmas night, apparently getting permission from the NBA to fly to Sacramento on Saturday morning.

HOCKEY

U.S. juniors top Slovakia

St. Cloud State goalie Mike Lee made 13 saves to help the United States open the world junior championship with a 7-3 victory over Slovakia on Saturday in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. John Carlson, Jeremy Morin, Derek Stepan, Matt Donovan, Danny Kristo, Jordan Schroeder and Jerry D’Amigo scored for the Americans. After American Tyler Johnson was given a major penalty and game misconduct for high-sticking 2 minutes into the game, Slovakia’s JakubGasparovic and Martin Bakos scored power-play goals to make it 2-0. Richard Panik also scored for Slovakia. Today, the United States will play Switzerland. In the opening Group B game in Saskatoon, Gabriel Bourque had three goals and four assists and five-time defending champion Canada romped to a 16-0 victory over Latvia. “That’s the biggest game of my career,” said Bourque, a Nashville prospect who plays for the Moncton Wildcats. “I’m so excited. I can’t do better than that.” Nazem Kadri, Jordan Eberle, Patrice Cormier, Brandon Kozun and Luke Adam each scored twice, and Travis Hamonic, Adam Henrique and Brandon McMillan added goals. Jake Allen made 10 saves, while Canada had 66 shots on goal. In Group B in Regina, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson had a goal and four assists in Sweden’s 10-1 victory over the Czech Republic. Anton Lander scored twice, and Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves for Sweden. In the night game, Yevgeni Kuznetsov scored two goals in Russia’s 6-2 victory over Austria.SPEEDSKATING

Two claim Olympic spots

Lauren Cholewinski and Mitchell Whitmore won spots on the American Olympic team in the 500 meters Saturday at the U.S. Speedskating Championships in Kearns, Utah. Whitmore led the 500 after the first heat and won with a combined time of 70.6 seconds. He joins Tucker Fredricks, Shani Davis and Nick Pearson, who had already qualified in the 500 for the U.S. team headed to the Vancouver Games. Cholewinski won the women’s title with a combined time of 72.21 seconds. She trailed Heather Richardson and two-time Olympian Jennifer Rodriguez after the first heat, but they had already qualified for Vancouver and did not skate in the second at the Utah Olympic Oval. The U.S. women’s 500meter skaters will be Richardson, Rodriguez, Elli Ochowicz and Cholewinski.

BASEBALL Source: Escobar, Mets agree

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that injury-plagued pitcher Kelvim Escobar, 33, and the New York Mets have reached a preliminary agreement on a $1.25 million, oneyear-contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because no announcement had been made. The deal could be announced by today. Escobar, an 18-game winner in 2007, has missed nearly all of the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Angels because of shoulder trouble. If healthy, the right-hander would likely work out of the bullpen for the Mets, who are looking for setup help for All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez following a 70-92 season. Escobar, 33, has experience as a reliever, saving 38 games for Toronto in 2002.

FOOTBALL

Person of interest named

Police in Charlotte, N.C., say a man wanted for cyberstalking may be the same person pretending to be Carolina Panthers left tackle Travelle Wharton. A misdemeanor cyberstalking warrant has been issued for Christon Brewer, who has lived in Charlotte and Monroe. The Panthers announced last week that a Wharton impostor defrauded a handful of people out of about $25,000 in bogus investment scams over the past year. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Sgt. Walter Bowling said Saturday that Brewer used an alias of Travelle Wharton and is a “person of interest” relating to the impersonation investigation of the Panthers player. No arrests have been made.

Notre Dame freshman linebacker Manti Te’o says he will delay taking a Mormon mission and return next season. Te’o, who started the last eight games for the Irish andwas fourth on the team with 63 tackles, said Saturday he will delay his mission trip for at least one year and possibly until later in his life. The 63 tackles by Te’o are the third most ever for a Notre Dame freshman. Linebacker Bob Golic finished with 82 in 1975 and defensive end Ross Browner had 68 in 1973. The 6-2, 244-pound Hawaiian arrived on campus as the most highly rated defensive recruit for Notre Dame in years. He had 10 tackles in the season finale against Stanford and also against Washington.

Quarterback Marc Bulger has become the 13th St. Louis Rams player to be placed on injured reserve. The 1-13 Rams have had little hope for weeks that Bulger could return from a broken left shin bone before the end of the season, and Bulger was still working his way off crutches during the practice week heading into Sunday’s gameat Arizona. The Rams placed Bulger on IR on Saturday and will go with either rookie Keith Null or Kyle Boller against the Cardinals. Null has started the last two games. Wide receiver Cord Parks was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad.

MOTOR SPORTS H1N1 blamed for death

A crew member for Richard Childress Racing has died of complications from the H1N1 virus. Donald “DJ” Richardson died late Friday after a lengthy hospitalization for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Richardson contracted H1N1 during a Thanksgiving visit to his home state of Massachusetts, and team officials say he had been hospitalized at Health Alliance Hospital in Leominster the entire time. Richardson, 37, spent last season as a tire changer on Kevin Harvick’s crew. He began his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career with Andy Petree Racing in 1999 and had previously worked for Penske Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Braun Racing.

Sports, Pages 26 on 12/27/2009

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