Off the wire

BASEBALL Twins GM has cancer

Minnesota Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said Monday he has been diagnosed with cancer and he will not be with the team for the start of spring training so he can focus on treatment and recovery. The Twins released a statement from Ryan, 60, that described the recent discovery of a lump in his neck by the team physician during a routine annual physical. The subsequent biopsy revealed squamous cell carcinoma, which is a form of skin cancer. “Thankfully, incremental tests indicate the cancer appears to be confined to my neck and has not spread to other regions of my body,” Ryan said, adding in his statement: “I’ve been assured this form of cancer is treatable and remain optimistic about my return to good health in the near future.” He began informing the Twins of the situation last week, assistant general manager Rob Antony said. Ryan has begun treatment at two area centers: the Mayo Clinic and Minnesota Oncology, at Dr. Vijay Eyunni’s direction. He said he’s “highly confident in the proven leadership” of the team’s baseball operations department, including Antony, vice president of player personnel Mike Radcliff and Manager Ron Gardenhire. Ryan also thanked the doctors for their work and friends and colleagues for their support. Ryan initially became general manager in 1994, stepping down 13 years later, citing burnout. After serving as a special assistant to general manager Bill Smith for four seasons, Smith was reassigned, and Ryan reassumed the job in 2011.

FOOTBALL Redskins hire Williams

Doug Williams is coming back to the Washington Redskins to work in the front office. The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Williams quarterbacked the Redskins in 1986-1989 and has worked in the front office with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including one season as director of pro personnel in 2009. Williams has also had two stints coaching his alma mater, Grambling State. He was fired last year two games into the season despite a 61-34 record at the school. Williams’ dismissal upset the players, and they refused to travel to Jackson State for a game later in the season after another coaching change.

Seven more Tennessee football players have received citations in connection with a party that led to the arrests of two current players and one former Volunteer. A police report filed by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office states that linebackers Curt Maggitt, Jakob Johnson and Jalen Reeves-Maybin were cited for providing alcohol to underage people. Offensive lineman Dontavius Blair, defensive lineman Malik Brown, cornerback Justin Coleman and defensive end Dimarya Mixon were cited for underage consumption. Linebacker A.J. Johnson and former linebacker Dontavis Sapp were arrested on charges of purchasing alcohol for a person underage and resisting arrest. Nose tackle Danny O’Brien was charged with criminal impersonation, resisting arrest and underage consumption of alcohol. Johnson and Sapp are 22 years old. O’Brien is 20. The arrests of A.J. Johnson, Sapp and O’Brien were announced Sunday morning. The citations of the other players were revealed when the police report was released late Sunday evening.

Duke has promoted receivers coach Scottie Montgomery to offensive coordinator. Coach David Cutcliffe announced Montgomery’s promotion Monday. Montgomery had been considered the favorite to replace Kurt Roper after he left in December for a similar job at Florida. Cutcliffe said Montgomery will also work with Duke’s quarterbacks and will call the offensive plays. The promotion leaves a vacancy on the staff for a receivers coach and Cutcliffe says graduate assistant Jeff Faris is working with the wideouts during spring practice. Montgomery was Duke’s leading receiver three times during his four-year playing career in 1996-1999. He was on the Blue Devils’ staff in 2006-2009 before the Pittsburgh Steelers hired him to coach their receivers in 2010-2012.

Mississippi State has hired Utah assistant Brian Johnson to be its quarterbacks coach. Johnson, 26, has a long relationship with Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen, who used to be an assistant coach at Utah. Mullen recruited Johnson to play quarterback at Utah in 2004 and Johnson went on to become a successful three-year starter. Johnson had several titles during his four-year coaching tenure at Utah,including offensive coordinator and co-offensive coordinator, but he was demoted to quarterbacks coach in December after a disappointing season. Johnson replaces offensive coordinator Les Koenning, who took a job at Texas. Mississippi State has also restructured its offensive coaching staff. Billy Gonzalez and John Hevesy are now the co-offensive coordinators, and Greg Knox will be in charge of special teams and running backs.

BASKETBALL Adelman misses game

Minnesota Timberwolves Coach Rick Adelman missed Monday night’s game against the Houston Rockets because of personal reasons. While Adelman is away from the team, forward Kevin Love said he will be back in the lineup after missing one game with a bruised left quadriceps. Adelman is expected to be back on the sideline for Wednesday’s game with Denver. Assistant Terry Porter will serve as the acting coach for the game against the Rockets. Love missed Saturday’s 117-110 loss to Portland after he was kneed in the fourth quarter of Friday’s loss in New Orleans. The All-Star is averaging 31.5 points and 15.5 rebounds in his last six games.

TENNIS Venus wins in Doha

Venus Williams eased past Croatian qualifier Petra Martic 6-2, 6-2 to line up a second-round match with former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the Qatar Open in Doha. Williams was broken only once, when she led Martic 4-0. She has an up and down record so far this season, reaching the final in Auckland and losing in the first round at the Australian Open. Williams has won only one of her three matches against Kvitova, the third seed who has a first-round bye, but all three have gone the distance. Also, China’s Peng Shuai beat 2006 champion Nadia Petrova 7-6 (5), 7-5 to even their matchups at 4-4. Petrova almost pulled off the victory despite nine double faults. Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria defeated Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-3, 6-3 for the first time in four matches, while Annika Beck beat Mona Barthel in their all-German match 7-6 (5), 6-2 for the first time in three matches. Taiwanese qualifier Hsieh Suwei won for the first time against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-3, and Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska beat American Sloane Stephens 7-5, 6-1. Stephens, who’d beaten Cetkovska at the last two Wimbledons, rallied to level at 5-5, but could win only one more game as she lost her serve five times. The field features seven of the top 10, led by Australian Open champ Li Na who, regardless of her result this week, will move to a career-best No. 2 ranking next week, above Victoria Azarenka, the two-time reigning Doha champ who was absent with a foot injury.

Sports, Pages 14 on 02/11/2014

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