Off the wire

BASKETBALL

Spoelstra signs extension

Erik Spoelstra has signed a multiyear extension to remain as coach of the Miami Heat. Team officials confirmed the signing Sunday afternoon. Spoelstra has led the Heat to the past two NBA championships and is 260-134 in his first five seasons in Miami. He had one year left on his existing contract, a deal that the sides agreed to in 2011. Heat President Pat Riley said last season that the team had no intention of letting Spoelstra go, saying it was his hope that his one-time protege would be with the team “for a long, long time.” Spoelstra is one of only 12 men in NBA history with multiple championships as a coach, and only seven others have collected rings in back-to-back years.

FOOTBALL Cincinnati player suspended

A University of Cincinnati football player has been suspended from the team after being charged with aggravated menacing and inducing panic. Cincinnati police say 22-year-old Braxton Lane was charged in connection with an incident Sunday morning. A team spokesman says Lane has been suspended from team activities. Assistant athletic director Ryan Koslen says no weapons were involved in the incident. It was not clear if Lane had an attorney. The freshman defensive back from Tyrone, Ga., redshirted last year after spending three seasons playing professional baseball.

California has kicked defensive end Chris McCain off the squad for conduct detrimental to the team. Coach Sonny Dykes announced the move Sunday, a day the Golden Bears lost 55-16 to Oregon to fall to 1-3 on the season. McCain was supposed to be one of Cal’s best defenders this season. But he and his teammates have struggled so far in Dykes’ first year, allowing 181 points in the first four games of the season. McCain has 11 tackles, one quarterback hurry and one forced fumble this season.

BASEBALL

Rodriguez hearing to start

Alex Rodriguez gets to start arguing his case today. In a hearing room before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, lawyers for the New York Yankees third baseman will argue why the 211-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball on Aug. 5 should be overturned. A three-time AL MVP, Rodriguez is fourth on the career home run list with 654. The Major League Baseball Players Association says the penalty imposed by baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is excessive. Unless there is a settlement, a decision isn’t expected until the winter. A veteran of baseball salary arbitration, the 64-year-old Horowitz took over as the sport’s grievance arbitrator in June 2012 from Shyam Das, fired a month earlier by management after almost 13 years. Das had overturned a 50-game suspension of Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun in February after the players’ association argued the urine sample was not handled properly. After the hearing days conclude, the sides will be given several weeks to submit final briefs. Horowitz will then take timeto make his decision. While technically chairman of a three-person panel, Horowitz is the independent member joined by one representative of each side.

The father of a Los Angeles Dodgers fan stabbed to death after a Giants game last week is making a public plea for independent witnesses to contact authorities. Robert Freece spoke in front of AT&T Park’s iconic Willie Mays statue Sunday and said he believes bystanders used mobile devices to record a fight that ended with the death of 24-year-old Jonathan Denver. A 21-year-old Lodi man suspected of fatally stabbing Freece’s son Wednesday was released from jail two days later. San Francisco’s district attorney says police haven’t collected enough evidence to charge Michael Montgomery with murder. The district attorney said Friday that police hadn’t interviewed any independent witnesses who don’t have any connection to those involved in the altercation. The suspect’s father said his son was acting in self-defense.

Right-hander Mat Latos has a bone chip that’s causing pain in his elbow and will be unavailable for the Cincinnati Reds’ wild card playoff game Tuesday in Pittsburgh. The Reds are hopeful that with a couple of days of treatment, Latos’ elbow might improve enough that he could pitch in the division series if Cincinnati advances. Manager Dusty Baker had been leaning toward starting Latos in the wildcard game until the right-hander told him Saturday that the elbow was bothering him. Latos volunteered to pitch in relief if needed Tuesday, but Baker doesn’t like that idea. “I don’t think we’re going to take a chance,” Baker said Sunday morning. “We haven’t discussed it in-depth.

Mike Piazza has been inducted into the New York Mets’ Hall of Fame. The team honored its former slugger Sunday during a 30-minute ceremony at Citi Field before the season finale against Milwaukee. Piazza becomes the 27th member of the club’s Hall of Fame, joining baseball luminaries like Tom Seaver, Casey Stengel and Gary Carter. Piazza hit 220 of his 427 home runs for the Mets from 1998-05 and led them to a pair of playoff appearances, including the 2000 World Series. His 396 homers as a catcher are the most inmajor league history. Piazza wiped away tears after he was introduced to a near-capacity crowd. He got choked up at the podium in shallow center field while addressing his father and other family members seated nearby.

HOCKEY Ducks get Perreault

The Anaheim Ducks have acquired center Mathieu Perreault from the Washington Capitals in exchange for minor leaguer John Mitchell and a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft. The teams announced the deal Sunday. Perreault has played in 159 games with the Capitals, scoring 70 points with a plus-17 rating. He has won 51.2 percent of his faceoffs. Perreault began his career in Washington playing for Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau, who also coached Perreault in the AHL. Perreault will be a restricted free agent after the season, but could find a solid role in Anaheim. He will compete for playing time at center with Nick Bonino, Peter Holland and Saku Koivu. Mitchell is a left wing who spent last season with the Ducks’ AHL affiliate in Norfolk.

Forward Jannik Hansen and the Vancouver Canucks have agreed to a four-year contract extension. The 27-year-old from Denmark had 10 goals and 17 assists in 47 games for Vancouver last season. Hansen has 50 goals and 81 assists in 318 career games, all of them with the Canucks. He was selected by Vancouver in the seventh round of the 2004 draft. He has also appeared in 58 career playoff games, with 5 goals and 9 assists.

FOOTBALL Former Steelers DE Greenwood dies at 67

PITTSBURGH - L.C. Greenwood, the relentless defensive end who made up one quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ “Steel Curtain” defense of the 1970s, has died. He was 67.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said Greenwood died Sunday from undisclosed causes just before noon at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.

A six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, Greenwood played for the Steelers from 1969-81, helping Pittsburgh win anunprecedented four Super Bowls in a six-year span. Greenwood, Joe Greene, Ernie Holmes and Dwight White formed the bedrock of the defense that helped turn a perennial loser into a dynasty.

“L.C. was one of the most beloved Steelers during the most successful period in team history and he will be missed by the entire organization,” Chairman Dan Rooney said in a statement. “He will forever be remembered for what he meant to the Steelers both on and off the field.”

Greenwood was taken in the10th round of the 1969 NFL draft - nine rounds after Greene - out of Arkansas A&M (now Arkansas Pine-Bluff). He blossomed into a tenacious pass rusher who used his superior speed to blow past offensive tackles and into the backfield. Though sacks did not become an official statistic until after his retirement,Greenwood posted 73½ during his 13-year career.

Despite support from his teammates - including Greene - Greenwood has not been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a finalist six times, the last coming in 2006.

He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.