Baseball to offer Bud Selig contract extension

Baseball owners say Commissioner Bud Selig will be offered a contract extension at this week’s meetings in Phoenix.

ESPN.com first reported that Selig will be offered an additional term when owners meet Wednesday and Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz. Two owners, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that a new term will be proposed. Owners also intend to approve the completion of the sale of the San Diego Padres from John Moores to Jeff Moorad.

Selig, 77, has been commissioner since September 1992 and would surpass Kenesaw Mountain Landis for longest tenure in September 2016. Selig repeatedly has said he intends to retire in December but also admits almost no one believes him.

ETC.

Heisman winner Griffin to enter draft

Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III has decided to enter the NFL draft. The exciting dual-threat quarterback is bypassing his senior season at Baylor and is projected to be one of the top picks in April.

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Josh Shaw, a defensive back who played last season at Florida, will transfer to USC, according to several reports. Shaw, a former Palmdale High standout, made 22 tackles in 10 games last season as a redshirt freshman. He plans to apply for a hardship waiver because of a family situation. If granted, he would be eligible for the 2012 season.

— Gary Klein

A person familiar with the search said Florida has hired Boise State’s Brent Pease as its offensive coordinator.

Jay Paterno is leaving Penn State’s coaching staff after spending 17 years as an assistant under his father, Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno.

His departure was expected after the school last week named New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien as head coach. Joe Paterno was fired Nov. 9.

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Notre Dame football Coach Brian Kelly received a two-year contract extension to stay with the Fighting Irish through the 2016 season.

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Dodgers reliever Blake Hawksworth is scheduled to undergo a minor surgical procedure Wednesday to remove scar tissue and shave down a bone spur in his right elbow. Hawksworth, who felt discomfort when he started his off-season throwing program last month, is likely to be sidelined four to six weeks.

— Dylan Hernandez

Courtney Force, 23, the youngest daughter of drag-racing legend John Force, said she’s joining her father as a driver in the sport’s top series starting with the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona on Feb. 9-12.

— Jim Peltz

Jockey Garrett Gomez is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday after his left heel was separated and cracked Sunday when the horse he was riding reared and unseated him before the eighth race at Santa Anita, his agent, Tony Matos, said. Matos said a plate would be inserted to help the healing process. He said Gomez would be sidelined four to six weeks.

Gomez had won six stakes races in the first 10 days of the Santa Anita meeting. — Eric Sondheimer

Passings

Lloyd Arnold, former owner of Los Alamitos Race Course who helped revive harness racing in Southern California, died Sunday in La Quinta. Obituary, AA5.

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Trainer Lewis Cenicola, who served as exercise rider for Hall of Fame gelding John Henry in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, died Sunday at 66 after a long battle with cancer, Santa Anita Park said. Cenicola won 279 races as a trainer, and before that he was a jockey for more than a decade. ... Former St. Louis Blues General Manager Ron Caron died Monday in Montreal at 82. Caron was a longtime assistant GM for the Canadiens and helped build the Montreal teams that won Stanley Cups in 1971 and 1973 and four titles from 1976 to 1979. Caron was hired as GM in St. Louis in 1983 and spent more than a decade in the position. ... Former Tulane football coach Vince Gibson died Tuesday. He was 78. Gibson, who also coached at Kansas State and Louisville.