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Umpire meeting set Thursday at Fitch

AUSTINTOWN — The OHSAA baseball/softball mandatory state rules interpretation meeting will be held at Fitch High School on Thursday.

The baseball meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and the softball meeting will begin at 7:15 p.m.

The meeting is mandatory for all OHSAA umpires and all schools must have attendance at this meeting.

Call John Mang (330) 502-6665) for more information.

Coaches meet tonight

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley Coaches Association will hold its Winter Social today at the Italian-American Club on Meridian Road.

Mount Union College football coach Larry Kehres will be the speaker.

An open bar begins at 6:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7:30.

For details call (330) 360-8270.

Beach party upcoming

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley Thunder Foundation will have a beach party at the Maronite Center on March 14 at 7 p.m.

The band Fins to the Left will appear at the event.

Tickets are available at Cumulus Media and the Thunder office in Boardman.

nation

US Bank out of Milwaukee PGA event

MILWAUKEE — U.S. Bank will drop its sponsorship of Milwaukee’s PGA tournament after this year instead of picking up a three-year option starting in 2010.

Bill Bertha, president of U.S. Bank’s Wisconsin market, said officials of the Minneapolis-based bank were disappointed with poor ratings on the Golf Channel and sparse attendance at Brown Deer golf course after the tournament dates were changed in 2007. That change put the event opposite the British Open.

U.S. Bank became title sponsor in 2004 of what had been the Greater Milwaukee Open. This year’s tournament is July 13-19 at Brown Deer.

Wie returns home

HONOLULU — Michelle Wie is headed back home to Hawaii, this time as a full-fledged LPGA Tour member.

The 19-year-old Stanford sophomore will kick off the season at the LPGA’s first full-field event, the SBS Open from Feb. 9-12.

“It feels like a clean slate, a new beginning, and I finally feel like I really earned it,” Wie said in a statement Tuesday.

Turtle Bay has provided Wie with a couple of high points in her tumultuous young career.

Johnson to coach US women’s hockey

MILWAUKEE — Mark Johnson’s first Olympic experience began in his father’s garage, years before he became part of the Miracle on Ice team.

His winding career will take him back to the Olympics. On Tuesday, he was appointed coach of the U.S. women’s hockey team for the 2010 Vancouver Games.

“I’ve played in playoff games in the NHL; I’ve had an opportunity to win championships here at Wisconsin. But to me the biggest platform is the Olympics,” Johnson said from Madison during a conference call.

Defending champ back

BOSTON — Kenyan runner Robert Cheruiyot will compete for his fourth consecutive Boston Marathon title in 2009.

Dire Tune of Ethiopia will return to defend her title in the women’s division April 20.

Cheruiyot won his first Boston Marathon title in 2003, then won the race three consecutive years from 2006-2008. His time of 2:07:14 in 2006 established a new course record.

world

Mexican soccer fans turn to voodoo

MEXICO CITY — Mexican soccer fans are turning to voodoo to beat the United States, with help from an American electronics company.

The teams meet Feb. 11 in Columbus, in the first game of the final round of regional qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.

Mexico has not beaten the United States on American soil in 10 years.

An advertisement in the sports newspaper Record on Tuesday invited fans to clip coupons and redeem them at their local Radio Shack store for a voodoo-doll likeness of a U.S. player.

The hope was that a little black magic might help Mexico break its decade of futility.

Cooke suspended two games without pay

TORONTO — Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been suspended two games without pay for a blow to the head of an opposing player.

Cooke was assessed a minor penalty for interference against Carolina forward Scott Walker in the first period of the Hurricanes’ 2-1 win Jan. 20. Walker left the game and did not return.

Cooke will miss games against the New York Rangers on Wednesday and New Jersey on Friday, the NHL announced Tuesday.

He will be eligible to return Saturday at Toronto. Cooke will forfeit $12,903.23.

Vindicator staff/wire reports