Off the wire

FOOTBALL

Chizik resigning

North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik is resigning after two seasons with the Tar Heels. In a letter to North Carolina fans, Chizik said he was stepping away from football to focus on his family. Chizik's wife and three children still live in Auburn, Ala., where he was head coach of the Tigers from 2009-12. The 55-year-old has twin daughters and a son. Linebacker coach John Papuchis is being promoted to defensive coordinator. Before joining North Carolina in 2015, Papuchis spent seven seasons as an assistant with Nebraska, including three seasons as defensive coordinator. Chizik joined North Carolina in 2015 and helped turn around a defense that was one of the worst in the country the season before. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award given to college football's top assistant coach. Before joining North Carolina, Chizik was head coach at Auburn for four seasons. He led the Tigers to the 2010 national championship, but was fired after a winless SEC season in 2012.

MSU players suspended

Three Michigan State University football players have been suspended from team activities and removed from on-campus housing as part of a sexual assault investigation. The school said in a release Thursday that a staff member associated with the football program also has been suspended. Police are expected to forward reports in the case to prosecutors for possible criminal charges. The school said the complaint was made late last month. Names of the players were not released, but the school said it is retaining a law firm to conduct an investigation into "football program staff members' compliance with university policy in connection with the allegations." A Title IX consultant also has been retained to conduct a separate investigation. That investigation will address whether MSU's Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct policy was violated.

Seahawks sign Walsh

The Seattle Seahawks have signed former Minnesota kicker Blair Walsh. Walsh spent five seasons with the Vikings before being released midway through last season. Walsh is infamously remembered for missing a 27-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds of a 2015 NFC wild-card game against Seattle that could have given Minnesota the victory. Walsh was 12 of 16 on field goals and 15 of 19 on extra points last season before being released. The signing of Walsh could signal a kicking change for the Seahawks. Steven Hauschka is a free agent and had his own struggles last season. Hauschka has been Seattle's kicker for the past six seasons, but was 33 of 37 on field goals and 29 of 35 on extra points during the 2016 regular season.

TENNIS

Tsonga, Medvedev advance

Second seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France needed only 45 minutes to reach the quarterfinals of the Open de Sud de France, swatting aside countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday. It proved to be a total mismatch as Tsonga hit seven aces, won 95 percent of points on first serve -- losing only one point on it all match -- and broke Herbert's serve four times while not facing a single break point. Tsonga next faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who beat eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3. Frenchmen Benoit Paire and Richard Gasquet -- the two-time defending champion -- also reached the last eight. The third-seeded Gasquet broke Tunisian Malek Jaziri's serve five times in a 7-5, 6-2 victory, while Paire downed fifth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-4, 7-6 (5). Paire next faces Germany's Dustin Brown and Gasquet meets countryman Kenny De Schepper. Alexander Zverev also advanced to the last eight after beating Britain's Aljaz Bedene 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 and he next faces Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

SOCCER

U.S. falls to 29th

The United State dropped one spot to 29th in the FIFA rankings following its first two games under Coach Bruce Arena, and African champion Cameroon moved up 29 places to 33rd. Arena replaced Jurgen Klinsmann in November and opened with a 0-0 tie against Serbia and a 1-0 victory over Jamaica in a pair of exhibitions. Argentina leads an unchanged top five following a month when no high-ranked teams played. Brazil is No. 2, followed by World Cup champion Germany, Chile and Belgium. France climbed over Colombia to reach No. 6. Mexico leads CONCACAF at No. 17, and Costa Rica fell two to No. 19. Africa's top-ranked team is No. 25 Egypt, which lost to Cameroon in last weekend's final. Previous leader Senegal climbed two to No. 31. Iran leads Asian confederation teams at No. 32, while World Cup host Russia fell five to No. 61.

BASEBALL

Sources: Marlins sale in the works

The Miami Marlins have a “handshake agreement” to sell the team for $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.

The publication, citing two unnamed sources, said Marlins President David Samson has said the team has an agreement to sell the franchise. When contacted by the Miami Herald, Samson said he had “no comment at all.”

There has been increased speculation within baseball circles that owner Jeffrey Loria intends to sell the team after hosting the All-Star Game at Marlins Park this summer. The Marlins haven’t enjoyed a winning season since 2009 and last reached the playoffs in 2003 when they won the World Series. Their playoff drought is the second-longest in Major League Baseball.

“He’s going to sell it, no doubt about it,” said one team official, who spoke only under the condition he not be identified.

Loria paid $158 million for the team in 2002. According to Forbes, the $1.6 billion handshake agreement is with a real estate developer based in New York. But the article said “the potential buyer is not liquid, meaning he does not have the cash to buy the Marlins because his net worth is tied up in real estate. Thus, for the real estate developer to purchase the Marlins would likely require more debt than MLB would be comfortable with.”

Bloomberg News reported Thursday that the Kushner family, relatives by marriage to President Donald Trump, is the potential buyer, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Kushner Cos., which was founded by Charles Kushner in 1985, focuses on Manhattan real estate. His son, Jared, is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka and is a senior advisor to the president.

Charles Kushner has a criminal record — in 2005 he was convicted of witness tampering, illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion — which would probably keep him from being approved as a principal owner of a Major League Baseball team. Jared’s position in the White House would likely keep him from buying the team as well. Charles’ other son, Joshua, runs a private equity firm.

The sources did not say how the deal would be structured or which member of the Kushner family, if any, would be named as the owner of the team, if an agreement is reached.

Sports on 02/10/2017

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