PRO FOOTBALL OWENS LIKELY OUT FOR SEASON Philadelphia Eagles star receiver Terrell Owens will miss the rest of the regular season and possibly the playoffs and Super Bowl with torn ligaments in his right ankle and a broken leg bone. Eagles trainer Rick Burkholder said Owens will have surgery to have a screw installed to stabilize the ankle joint and will stay off the leg for three weeks. Owens will be tested in three weeks and possibly could run on the leg in five weeks.

Owens was hurt on the second play of the third quarter of Philadelphia’s win over Dallas on Sunday when he was dragged down from behind by Roy Williams on a 20-yard reception. Owens left the field on his own power, but then needed help to make it into the locker room. He has 77 catches for 1,120 yards and a team-record 14 touchdowns.

GIANTS PLACE GREEN, UPSHAW ON INJURED RESERVE The Giants placed linebacker Barrett Green and defensive end Regan Upshaw on injured reserve yesterday. Green, who had 38 tackles and two fumble recoveries in 10 games, injured his knee at Minnesota on October 31, and missed three games before returning on November 28 against Philadelphia. He aggravated the injury against Baltimore on December 12 and underwent surgery last Friday.

Upshaw was signed as a free agent on November 30 and played in three games before suffering a broken left hand.

BASEBALL

D.C. COUNCIL NEARS AGREEMENT FOR STADIUM District of Columbia leaders announced an agreement last night that they said would bring the deal to move the Montreal Expos to Washington back from the brink of collapse. The compromise plan for the 41,000-seat ballpark along the Anacostia River, south of the Capitol, allows private financing and splitting the liability for cost overruns and missed construction deadlines evenly between the city and major league baseball, Williams spokesman Chris Bender said.

Baseball officials were optimistic that the plan would meet their expectations. If a financing law is in place by December 31 and baseball commissioner Bud Selig declares that arrangements are satisfactory to have the team play at RFK Stadium in 2005, the franchise would move to Washington and be renamed the Nationals.

CAMERON TO MISS BEGINNING OF SEASON Mets center fielder Mike Cameron will miss the start of the season and possibly all of April following surgery to repair damaged cartilage in his left wrist. Cameron hurt his hand swinging on September 21 against Montreal’s Livan Hernandez, an injury originally diagnosed as a strained tendon. Cameron was examined in New York last week and had arthroscopic surgery Friday. Cameron hit just .231 last season but had 30 homers and 76 RBI. He struck out 143 times.

As of early evening, Mets’ GM Omar Minaya wouldn’t say whether the Mets would offer contracts to pitchers Victor Zambrano, Orber Moreno, and Scott Strickland, and catcher Vance Wilson. Players not offered contracts by midnight become free agents today.

ANGELS INK CABRERA TO $32M DEAL Orlando Cabrera agreed last night to a $32 million, four-year contract with the Anaheim Angels, who made room by cutting spunky shortstop David Eckstein. Cabrera, a 2001 Gold Glove winner, was traded from the Montreal Expos to the Boston Red Sox in late July. He replaced Nomar Garciaparra at shortstop and helped the Red Sox win their first World Series title since 1918.

The 30-year-old hit .264 with 10 homers for the Expos and Red Sox. He was replaced in Boston by Edgar Renteria, who agreed to a $40 million, four-year contract with the Red Sox.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

OKLAHOMA STATE JUMPS TO NO. 3 IN POLLS Oklahoma State received its highest ranking in over 12 years, moving up to no. 3 in The Associated Press college basketball poll while Illinois and Kansas were the top two teams for the third straight week.

The Cowboys (8-0) replaced Georgia Tech, which dropped to ninth following its first loss of the season. North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse, and Kentucky all moved up one place from last week and were ranked fourth through eighth. Georgia Tech, which lost 85-73 to Gonzaga at Las Vegas, had the week’s biggest drop, falling six spots.

MAJERUS APOLOGIZES TO USC FOR ‘MISTAKE’ Rick Majerus apologized yesterday for backing out of the USC coaching job less than a week after accepting it, saying he realized his health wasn’t up to working 18-hour days. Majerus, 56, decided he could not coach up to his standards because of what he called “my fitness problem.” He has had heart problems and fought an ongoing battle with his weight. He retired as Utah’s coach last January after 15 seasons, citing health concerns.

Last week, when it was announced that he was taking over the Trojans’ basketball team as of April, Majerus said his health was good. Yesterday, Majerus said that he doesn’t believe it is strong enough to work the long hours he did in his previous coaching jobs. “I made a mistake,” he said. “I apologize to USC for any inconvenience or embarrassment.”

SOCCER

RONALDINHO IS FIFA’S WORLD PLAYER OF YEAR Brazilian striker Ronaldinho won FIFA’s World Player of the Year award yesterday, beating out France’s Thierry Henry and Ukrainian Andrei Shevchenko.

Germany’s Birgit Prinz won the women’s award, ahead of Mia Hamm and Brazilian youngster Marta. Prinz was a repeat winner. Brazil was chosen team of the year.

Ronaldinho has helped Barcelona team reach the top of its league. Henry was runner-up for the second year in a row; the striker’s 30 goals for Arsenal led the English Premier League. Shevchenko, voted European player of the year last week, was the leading scorer in Italy’s Serie A last season for AC Milan.

– Associated Press