LOCAL
LOCAL
Candywood offer
VIENNA -- Candywood Golf Club is offering a free round of golf for a turkey on Nov. 9.
Any golfer who brings a turkey, 10 pounds or larger, will get a free round of golf with riding cart from the course.
Candywood will then donate all of the turkeys to the St. Vincent DePaul Trumbull County Deanery.
Cash donations of $20 or more will also be accepted. Candywood asks that golfers call for tee times.
John Hirschbeckis crew chief
NEW YORK -- Hired back by baseball after losing his job in 1999, Joe West was picked Monday as a crew chief for the first round of the playoffs.
West was among the 22 umpires who lost their jobs in September 1999 when a mass resignation backfired. He was rehired in February 2002 and worked home plate for this year's All-Star game at Detroit.
West will be the crew chief for the series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels and would work the plate if there is a Game 5.
Gary Darling, Jerry Meals, Derryl Cousins, Alfonso Marquez and Jim Reynolds also are on that crew, with Cousins scheduled to call balls and strikes in Game 3, when temperamental Randy Johnson most likely will pitch for New York.
Ed Montague, Joe Brinkman and John Hirschbeck will be the other crew chiefs and will work the plate in their series openers.
Hirschbeck, of Poland, will be at the series between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox and be joined by Larry Vanover, Mark Wegner, Bill Miller, Mike Everitt and Dan Iassogna.
Brinkman has the series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves and will be joined by Marvin Hudson, Jeff Nelson, Gary Cederstrom, Eric Cooper and Sam Holbrook.
Montague will umpire the series between the San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals and will work with Bill Hohn, Bruce Dreckman, Jerry Layne, Angel Hernandez and Tim Timmons .
REGION
Penn State's Poslusnyearns Big Ten honor
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Iowa linebacker Abdul Hodge and Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny have been named the co-defensive players of the week in the Big Ten.
Hodge had a career-high 18 tackles in the Hawkeyes' victory over Illinois. He had 11 solo tackles and two tackles for a loss in the 35-7 win. His previous best was 16 tackles, a figure he reached twice in 2003.
For the season, Hodge is second in the Big Ten with an average of 11.6 tackles a game. Teammate Chad Greenway leads with a 13.8 average.
Posluszny led a Nittany Lion unit that held Minnesota's offense, eighth nationally in scoring with 46.25 ppg entering Saturday's contest, to 14 points on the day. Running back Laurence Maroney, who entered the game as the nation's leading rusher with a 174.5 yards per game average, was held to 48 yards on 16 carries.
Posluszny leads the Nittany Lions and is third in the Big Ten with 57 tackles.
NATION/WORLD
Report: Lions' Rogers to be suspended
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions receiver Charles Rogers will be suspended for four games for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, ESPN reported Monday night.
Unless Rogers appeals, the suspension could be announced this week, ESPN reported, citing sources.
"A player's status in the National Football League substance abuse program is strictly confidential unless the NFL announces a player's suspension," the Lions said in a statement. "Any questions regarding the policy should be directed to the NFL."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had no comment. A message seeking comment from Rogers' agent, Kevin Poston, was left Monday night.
In three games this season, Rogers has caught just five passes for 77 yards.
After a loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday in which he wasn't thrown a pass until the fourth quarter, Rogers said he was confused about his current role in the offense.
He chose not to elaborate Monday.
"Today wouldn't be a good day for me to talk. I don't want to get into all that," Rogers said, speaking before reports of his suspension surfaced.
Rogers' first two receptions in his rookie season were touchdowns, and he led Detroit with 22 receptions for 243 yards and three scores in five games before breaking his right collarbone in practice and missing the rest of his rookie season.
In the first quarter of the last year's opener, Rogers broke the same bone and had season-ending surgery.
Han wins Office Depot
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- Hee-Won Han opened with two consecutive birdies Monday en route to a 3-under 68 and a wire-to-wire, two-stroke victory in the 54-hole Office Depot Championship.
Han earned her fourth career LPGA title and first this year with a 201 total in the tour's first non-playoff Monday finish since 1999.
Vindicator staff/wire reports