BASEBALL

SHEFFIELD TO UNDERGO SHOULDER SURGERY

Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield will have arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder today.

Sheffield, who finished second to Anaheim’s Vladimir Guerrero in AL MVP voting, was examined November 3 by Dr. James Andrews, who advised him to follow a rehabilitation routine for two weeks. The 36-year-old could not raise his left arm for much of the season and was forced to catch balls at his side.

EXPOS BECOME WASHINGTON NATIONALS

The Montreal Expos were rechristened the Washington Nationals yesterday, with team unveiling a new name, logo, and cap. The team also announced that its home opener at RFK Stadium, the club’s temporary home until a new ballpark is built, has been moved up to April 14, so as not to compete for attention with a Jackie Robinson event at Dodger Stadium the following day.

Selling his baseball plan to Washington residents has not been easy for Mayor Anthony Williams. The opposition was visible just before the news conference began when a member of the D.C. Statehood Green Party jumped on stage with a sign reading “Stop the $614 million stadium giveaway.” The protester, Adam Eidinger, managed to say, “This is a bad deal, people” before being engaged in a tussle that nearly knocked over the lectern. Others joined the fray, and Eidinger was eventually led away by security to cheers from the crowd. He was detained for about 15 minutes and released.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

USC, OKLAHOMA HOLD BCS TOP SPOTS

USC and Oklahoma held the top two spots in the Bowl Championship Series standings yesterday, leaving little doubt that the Trojans and Sooners are in control of their national title hopes.

Unbeaten Auburn is stuck in third place behind the first-place Trojans and second-place Sooners. The Tigers look like they’ll be the team left out of the Orange Bowl no matter how they do in the Southeastern Conference championship game on December 4.

Only an unexpected loss or a dramatic shift in the polls, where USC is a solid no. 1 and Oklahoma holds a slight advantage over Auburn for second, could derail the Trojans and Sooners. USC was idle last week while Oklahoma was shutting out Baylor 35-0 on Saturday. Auburn trailed at the half before beating Alabama 21-13.

Utah (11-0) finished its season on Saturday with a 52-21 win over Mountain West Conference rival BYU, all but ensuring themselves of being the first team from a non-BCS conference to play in a BCS game.

HOLTZ ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

South Carolina coach Lou Holtz walked away from coaching yesterday, ending a 33-year career that was one of the most successful and colorful in college football history.

The 67-year-old coach told the team and his staff on Thursday, although he’s said little publicly about his departure or about reports Steve Spurrier will succeed him. Holtz did not identify his successor, but said he was a well-known proven winner whom he plays golf with.

Holtz is eighth in career victories with 249. He took six schools – William & Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, and South Carolina – to bowl games by his second year. He won a national championship with the Fighting Irish in 1988.

Holtz finished his six-year stint with the Gamecocks 33-37.

COLORADO ATHLETIC DIRECTOR RESIGNS

University of Colorado athletic director Dick Tharp resigned yesterday, ending a nine-year tenure sullied by accusations of recruiting violations and fiscal mismanagement.

The resignation came just months after the school’s football program was rocked by allegations that sex and alcohol were used to entice recruits, and lawsuits accused players or recruits of sexual assault. New allegations about fund-raising problems surfaced this month. The school told the NCAA last week that a small booster club that had not been audited under university auspices bought equipment for the athletic department, an NCAA violation. Tharp said his resignation was not an admission of wrongdoing.

FOX BUYS RIGHTS TO BCS

The Fox Network and the Bowl Championship Series announced a four-year,$80 million deal yesterday that gives Fox the broadcast rights to the Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar bowls from 2007-10 and the national title game from 2007-09.ABC has held the broadcast rights to the BCS since college football’s major conferences implemented the system to crown a national champion in 1998.

ILLINOIS FIRES TURNER

Ron Turner was fired by Illinois on yesterday after three straight losing seasons, a sharp turnaround from early success that included the school’s first Big 10 football title in a decade. Illinois went 3-8 this season and has just one conference victory the past two years. Turner went 35-57 record with two bowl trips in eight seasons at Illinois.

FOOTBALL

SEAHAWKS’ ROBINSON SUSPENDED

Seattle Seahawks receiver Koren Robinson was suspended without pay yesterday for the next four games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Robinson has slumped in his fourth NFL season, catching 31 passes for 495 yards with two touchdowns. He also has been plagued by dropped passes.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

IOWA UPSETS NO. 12 LOUISVILLE

Jeff Horner scored 11 points in a 4 1 /2 -minute span of the second half, part of a nine-minute stretch when Iowa held no. 12 Louisville without a field goal in the Hawkeyes’ 76-71 victory last night in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.

Iowa (2-0) will play no. 15 Texas in the semifinals today. The Longhorns (2-0) beat Chaminade 84-62

– Associated Press