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Ohio State honors Hubbard’s Lane

COLUMBUS — Ohio State senior defensive back Shaun Lane was named the Buckeyes’ special teams player of the week for his performance on Saturday against Northwestern.

Lane, a Hubbard High graduate, had four tackles (one solo) in a 45-10 over the Wildcats.

Pirates add Ferrone

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have hired Joe Ferrone as a special assistant to general manager Neal Huntington.

Ferrone worked for the Pirates as a scout in 2003. He was a Detroit Tigers regional scouting cross-checker the last five seasons.

Ferrone began his scouting career with the Expos in 1993-94, when Huntington also worked for Montreal. Ferrone worked in the Dodgers’ scouting department from 1995-2002.

nation

Texas Hold ’em title

LAS VEGAS — Two previously unknown 20-somethings who emerged from online cardrooms are set to fight for a gold bracelet, $9.15 million and Texas Hold ’em history at the World Series of Poker.

Peter Eastgate and Ivan Demidov were to meet to finish a no-limit Texas Hold ’em tournament that began July 3 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

The winner gets the crown, and the loser settles for $5.8 million.

New A’s ballpark

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff remains optimistic about building a state-of-the-art ballpark in Fremont despite challenges and a shaky economic situation.

“I think we can get it done, but the frustration of the process sometimes gets to me,” Wolff said Monday at a regional luncheon of the Associated Press Sports Editors. “Right now we’re playing in a football stadium. It’s not good for baseball.”

In November 2006, the A’s unveiled plans to move south and build the long-awaited ballpark they hope would transform the small-market club into a bigger spender and a more popular choice for fans in the Bay Area.

Baseball TV deal

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball reached an agreement with Verizon to carry the MLB Network on FiOS, expanding the channel’s launch to 50 million homes.

FiOS, available in more than eight million households in 14 states, will also carry the out-of-market Extra Innings package, MLB said Monday.

The MLB Network is set to launch Jan. 1. It will carry news, highlights and taped programming, and likely will have a live game either on Thursday or Saturday nights.

world

Australian race cut

BRISBANE, Australia — Negotiations to get the Indy 300 race on Australia’s Gold Coast back onto the Indy Racing League calendar broke down after local backers and series organizers failed to agree on the timing of the event.

The Indy 300, which has been held at Surfers Paradise every October since 1991, is expected to be replaced by a round of the A1 Grand Prix on the same street circuit.

Queensland state Sports Minister Judy Spence said her government, which had financially backed the Gold Coast race, opposed the IRL’s request to move the event to March.

Nadal to miss cup

BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal will miss Spain’s Davis Cup final against Argentina because of a knee injury.

The top-ranked Nadal said Monday he was still struggling with tendinitis in his right knee following a week of treatment.

“The knee said no,” the 22-year-old said.

Spain team doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said Nadal would need three to six weeks to recover.

“These are very difficult moments, but I have done all that I could to be ready for the final,” he said. “It was a huge objective, and I’m used to playing with pain.”

Vendee Globe race

LES SABLES D’OLONNE, France — Michel Desjoyeaux turned back to port Monday with electrical problems, the third skipper to experience problems with his yacht just two days into the Vendee Globe solo around-the-world yacht race.

The Frenchman told organizers Monday that a leak caused problems in one of the ballast tanks, and that repairs are needed on his Foncia yacht if he hopes to rejoin the race at a later stage.

He made the decision to turn back after about 200 nautical miles, and Desjoyeaux’s shore crew at Les Sables d’Olonne on France’s west coast expect him to return late Monday evening, according to the race Web site.

Vindicator staff/wire reports