Sports Briefs: ACC sets times for three Deacons football games

The ACC yesterday set the game times for Wake Forest's first three football games this fall.

The Deacons are scheduled to open the 2009 season at home against Baylor on Sept. 5. That game has been set for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff and will be televised by ABC/ESPN2.

Wake Forest will host Stanford on Sept. 12 in a game scheduled for a noon kickoff. That game will be televised by Raycom.

Wake Forest will play Elon at BB&T Field on Sept. 19, with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff scheduled. There is no television scheduled at this point.

The season opener against Baylor will be regionally televised on ABC, but will also be shown to most of the rest of the country on ESPN2.

After the first three weeks of the season, game times and TV will be announced by the ACC each week with ESPN/ABC and Raycom Sports making their choices with a 12-day advance notice beginning on Sept. 14 (for games on Sept. 26)

More football

■ Seventeen ACC football games will be televised during the first three weeks of the season, including five that will have national exposure during an opening, seven-day span, Commissioner John Swofford announced yesterday.

N.C. State will start the national run when it plays South Carolina at 7 p.m. Sept. 3 on ESPN. On Sept. 5, Virginia Tech will play Alabama at 8 p.m. on ABC, and Maryland will play California at 10 p.m. on ESPN2. Also scheduled for national coverage are Miami at Florida State (8 p.m., Sept. 7, ESPN) and Clemson at Georgia Tech (7:30, Sept. 10, ESPN).

North Carolina's home game against East Carolina on Sept. 19 is scheduled for a noon start with coverage on ESPN or ESPN2, and Baylor at Wake Forest at 3:30 on Sept. 5 will be regionally televised by ABC and shown to most of the rest of the country on ESPN2. Wake Forest also announced starting times for home games against Stanford (noon, Sept. 12) and Elon (6:30, Sept. 19).

■ Guard Tyson Clabo, who started all 16 games last season for the first time in his career, has signed his restricted free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Clabo, an All-ACC selection as a senior at Wake Forest in 2003, was part of an offensive line that helped the Falcons finish second in the NFL last season with an average of 152.7 yards a game.

■ Aaron Stahl, one of North Carolina's top veteran offensive linemen, has decided to forego his senior season and has graduated.

Stahl, a redshirt junior, made his decision after missing all of spring practice because of shoulder surgery in January. He got a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science in May.

Stahl didn't cite any specific reason for leaving football in a statement released late yesterday afternoon by the university. He had played both guard and center.

Stahl will be the fifth offensive lineman and second top reserve the Tar Heels have lost off their two-deep roster for the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl. His decision opens a big hole at right guard, where he and senior Calvin Darity were listed at the position.

-- Bill Cole

■ The NFL Players Association has reached a $26 million settlement with retired players who had successfully sued the union for cutting them out of lucrative marketing deals.

NFLPA official George Atallah told The Associated Press yesterday that the settlement has been reached, ending an appeal filed by the union in the case.

Retired player Bob Grant described the deal as an "encouraging" step for the NFLPA to begin healing its long-standing rift with former players.

The settlement is $2.1 million less than what the NFLPA was ordered to pay after a federal jury ruled in favor of the players. The jury determined the union failed to include retired NFL players in deals with Electronic Arts Inc., the maker of the "Madden NFL" video game, and other companies.

■ The Jacksonville Jaguars signed veteran safety Marlon McCree yesterday and waived safety Kevin Patterson, and defensive tackle Nader Abdallah. Patterson, who played at Wake Forest, and Abdallah signed as free agents in April. McCree, who probably will be the primary backup at safety, was drafted by Jacksonville in 2001 and started 27 games before he was waived in 2003. He also has played for Houston, Carolina, San Diego and Denver.

■ The Arizona Cardinals have signed safety Adrian Wilson to a five-year contract that runs through the 2013 season. Wilson, 29, is the leader of the Cardinals' defense and was a Pro Bowl selection in 2006. His old contract was scheduled to expire after the 2009 season, and re-signing him was the team's top offseason priority. Wilson, who played at High Point Andrews and N.C. State, has career totals of 18 interceptions and 18½ sacks.

■ The San Francisco 49ers signed left tackle Joe Staley to a six-year contract extension yesterday, securing their durable young lineman through 2017.

Staley, a first-round pick in 2007 from Central Michigan, has played every offensive snap in his first two seasons with San Francisco. He started every game at right tackle as a rookie before moving to the other end of the line last year, replacing injury-prone Jonas Jennings.

■ Athletics trainer Joe Sheehan is leaving the Arkansas Razorbacks to take a similar job with the Cleveland Browns.

Sheehan arrived at Arkansas last July and helped the Razorbacks develop a new athletics-training program. He spent 11 years with the Jacksonville Jaguars before coming to Arkansas.

Basketball

■ Robbie Laing, the men's basketball coach at Campbell, yesterday added Marlon Sears to his staff as an assistant coach. Sears, 32, spent last season as an assistant at High Point and also has been an assistant at Wagner and Binghamton.

Sears was an NAIA second-team All-America after his senior season at Newman University in Wichita, Kan., and also played professionally in Europe for tree seasons.

■ The attorney for a woman accused of trying to extort millions of dollars from Louisville coach Rick Pitino has asked a federal judge to delay her trial.

Karen Cunagin Sypher's attorney, Thomas Clay, said in a motion yesterday that he doesn't have all the documents prosecutors were supposed to turn over in time to go to trial as scheduled on June 29.

Prosecutors have until June 17 to respond to the delay request.

Sypher, 49, of Louisville, pleaded not guilty last month to charges of trying to extort money from Pitino and lying to the FBI. A criminal complaint claimed her demands included college tuition for her children, two cars, her house to be paid off and $3,000 per month.

■ The owner of the New Jersey Nets has replaced the architect of an expensive planned arena in Brooklyn.

The arena is a centerpiece of the $4 billion Atlantic Yards development of office towers and apartments. The project has been delayed by the economic downturn, years of opposition lawsuits and the near $1 billion price of the Frank Gehry-designed arena.

Developer Bruce Ratner said yesterday that Gehry's design has been scrapped for a cheaper design of the arena, named the Barclays Center.

Ratner says "the economic climate is not right" for Gehry's design.

Miscellaneous

■ The Colorado Avalanche hired Joe Sacco of the AHL as its coach yesterday, a day after firing Tony Granato and shaking up its front office.

Sacco inherits a team coming off its worst finish since moving to Denver in 1995. He was promoted from the Avalanche's American Hockey League affiliate, where he coached the Lake Erie Monsters the past two seasons.

■ Maria Hernandez, who helped Purdue win three Big Ten team championships, has been chosen the nation's top college golfer.

Hernandez, a senior, won the Honda Sports Award yesterday, given annually to female athletes in 12 NCAA sports.

Hernandez, of Pamplona, Spain, is the most decorated golfer in Purdue history. She won six tournaments this season, and birdied two of her final three holes to win the NCAA individual title. She had a low round of 67 and a 72.8 stroke average.

She was selected the school's first National Player of the Year and is eligible for the Honda-Broderick Cup, which will be announced June 22 in New York City.