RACERS NOTCH EXHIBITION WIN
The Murray State Racers tuned up for the 2008-09 season Tuesday with an 82-45 win over Bethel College at the Regional Special Events Center. The Racers placed 11 different players in the scoring column led by 13 points from Ivan Aska and Matt Fraliex, a pair of freshmen. The Racers started the contest on a 10-0 run in the first 5:30 of the game. The Racers ended the half on a 16-5 run in which they held Bethel to only one field goal. Danero Thomas and Tony Easley each scored back-to-back baskets and the Racers took a 37-23 lead into the locker room. MSU had its largest lead with 8:34 left after a three-pointer from Matt Fraliex and a steal and dunk from Long and enjoyed a 71-31 lead. Danero Thomas scored 12 points and Tony Easley added 10 for the Racers. The Racers open the season Saturday night when they host Lyon College at 7pm. After Saturday’s season opener, the Racers play Wednesday, Nov. 19 at Arkansas State and then are back home Nov. 22 against Western Kentucky.

SALUKIS OPEN WITH WIN
SIU opened the season last night and beat California of Pennsylvania 66-to-52. Carlton Fay picked up a double-double on the night with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Salukis. The game was the second half of a double header as part of the 2K Sports Classic which included UMass beating Arkansas-Monticello in the opener 90-to-71. SIU battles UMASS tonight with the winner facing Duke on November 20.

RACER MEN EXPECT THREE; WOMEN TWO
Today begins the November signing period for college basketball. Murray State is expecting to get three commitments today. 6'5" wingman Colin Slotter, 5'11" point guard Isaiah Cannan, and 6'7" power forward Edward Daniel have alreay verbally committed. According to The Racer Insider, Daniel averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds last year. In addition to Murray State he had offers from Southern, Alabama-Birmingham, Marquette, South Alabama and Georgia State...Canaan averaged 20 points and eight assists last season and MagnoliaPreps ranks him as the fourth best player in the state of Mississippi. Canaan chose Murray State over Southern Methodist, Southern Mississippi, Alabama-Birmingham, Tulane, South Alabama, New Orleans and Arkansas State...Slotter chose Murray State over Utah, St. Bonaventure, and Central Florida. The three will round out the recruiting class of 2009 for the Racers, but Billy Kennedy said they are always looking to land a big man inside, meaning they would seize that opportunity if it comes along....On the women's side, Calloway County's Kayla Cunningham and Marshall County's Jessica Holder are also expected to honor verbal commitments and sign with Murray State. The Racer golf team will also get Patrick Newcomb of Marshall County. Newcomb won the boys’ First Region title in September and finished seventh in the boys’ state tournament as an individual.

BROCKMAN SELECTED FOR AWARD
Tom Leach has announced his pick for Outstanding Football Performer for the week ending November 8. Casey Brockman from Calloway County High School was named Tom Leach has announced his pick for Outstanding Football Performer for the week ending November 8, for his game performance against Graves County. To read more about Brockman’s performance as well as other PrimeTime Prep Performers in Kentucky visit tomleachky.com or Kentucky.iHigh.com. TomLeachKy.com is produced by Tom Leach "Voice of the Kentucky Wildcats". Here you will find the outstanding athletic performers of Kentucky in high school sports, along with the latest Big Blue football and basketball coverage and links to all the latest Wildcat news throughout the state. iHigh.com, based in Lexington, Kentucky, provides high schools with a free website that connects sports and activities to the premier high school internet network

RANKINGS OUT
The new AP football rankings are out. Calloway County is ranked fourth, up two spots in the state in 4A, just behind third-ranked Lone Oak. The Lakers play the Lakers of Russell County Friday night at Jack Rose Stadium. Murray High was idle last week and remains ninth in the 2A rankings. The Tigers welcome Hancock County to Ty Holland Stadium for a Friday night playoff game

M'S TALK TO SECRET WEAPON
Cardinal third-base coach Jose Oquendo is scheduled to meet with Seattle brass today about the Mariners vacant managers position. Oquendo is one of seven "finalists" to be interviewed for the job including Brad Mills and DeMarlo Hale from Boston, Joey Cora from the White Sox, Chip Hale from Arizona, Don Wakamatsu from Oakland and Triple A manager Portland Ready. The 45-year-old "Secret Weapon" just completed his ninth season as the Cardinals’ third-base coach.

TITANS PREPARE FOR JAGS
The undefeated Tennessee Titans play on the road again this weekend, with a 3:15 Sunday game against the Jaguars in Jacksonville. A Titans win would probably effectively end the Jaguars playoff hopes. At 4-and-5, Jacksonville is struggling through a season they started with high hopes. The two teams have split their last ten meetings, but the Jags have won two of the last three in Jacksonville. The Titans will be counting on the running game that let them down in Chicago last Sunday, when quarterback Kerry Collins saved them with a 328 yard, two touchdown performance. Airtime is 2pm Sunday for Titans Pre-Game, and 3:15 is kiickoff time on 1340 WNBS.

NATIONAL SPORTS REPORT

Tuesday's Results
-----------------

National Basketball Association
-------------------------------
Pau Gasol had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and converted a critical three-point
play with 23.1 seconds remaining, helping the Lakers remain unbeaten with a
106-99 win over the reeling Dallas Mavericks. Kobe Bryant scored 27 points and
Andrew Bynum contributed 11 points and 10 boards for the Lakers, who at 6-0
are off to their best start since 2001-02 when they began that season with
seven consecutive victories. Their best start is 11-0, in 1997-98.

Elsewhere in the NBA:
---------------------
Denver Nuggets 88, Charlotte Bobcats 80
Cleveland Cavaliers 99, Milwaukee Bucks 93
Utah Jazz 93, Philadelphia 76ers 80
Atlanta Hawks 113, Chicago Bulls 108
San Antonio Spurs 92, New York Knicks 80
Detroit Pistons 100, Sacramento Kings 92
Golden State Warriors 113, Minnesota Timberwolves 110 (OT)


National Hockey League
----------------------
Jordan Staal used a natural hat trick to ignite a Pittsburgh rally in the
third period and then set up Ruslan Fedotenko's goal 3:49 into overtime, as
the Penguins overcame a three-goal deficit and captured a dramatic 7-6 victory
over the Detroit Red Wings in a rematch of last season's Stanley Cup Finals at
Joe Louis Arena.

Elsewhere in the NHL:
---------------------
Philadelphia Flyers 3, New York Islanders 1
Montreal Canadiens 4, Ottawa Senators 0
Calgary Flames 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3
Los Angeles Kings 3, Dallas Stars 2 (SO)
Nashville Predators 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (OT)


Top-25 College Football
-----------------------
MiQuale Lewis was one yard short of matching his career high as his 165 yards
on the ground and two touchdowns powered 14th-ranked Ball State to a 31-16
victory over Miami-Ohio to keep the Cardinals' dream season alive. Nate Davis
threw for 289 yards with a touchdown and interception on 17-of-24 efficiency
for Ball State (10-0,6-0 MAC), which is off to the best start in the program's
history and remained one of five unbeaten teams at the Football Bowl
Subdivision level.


Top-25 College Basketball
-------------------------
Kyle Singler scored 19 points for the second straight game and pulled down
eight rebounds as No. 8 Duke ripped Georgia Southern, 97-54, in the second
round of the 2008 2K Sports Classic Tuesday night. Singler scored 19 and had
10 boards in Duke's 80-49 thrashing of Presbyterian on Monday, and nearly
equaled those numbers on Tuesday. Nolan Smith scored 13 points, while Gerald
Henderson and Greg Paulus each scored 11 points for the Blue Devils (2-0), who 
advance to the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic. Duke will play either
Massachusetts or Southern Illinois next Thursday at Madison Square Garden in
New York. The Minuteman and Salukis square off on Wednesday.

=== MLB ===

San Francisco Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum has been named the 2008
National League Cy Young Award winner by members of the Baseball Writers'
Association of America. Lincecum placed first on 23 of the 32 ballots cast by
two writers from each NL city to become just the second hurler in Giants
history to win the award and the first since lefty Mike McCormick in 1967.
Arizona's Brandon Webb, the 2006 winner of this award, finished second for
the second straight year with 73 points, placing first on four ballots,
second on 15 and third on eight others. New York's Johan Santana received
four first- place votes and was third with 55 points. Lincecum was dominant
in just his second big league season, going 18-5 for the 72-win Giants. He
led the majors with 265 strikeouts, was second in the NL with a 2.62 earned
run average and had the highest winning percentage in the Senior Circuit
(.783). The 24-year-old held opponents to a league best.221 batting average
against. Amazingly, Lincecum held both righties and lefties to a .221 clip.
Lincecum, the 10th overall pick by the Giants in the 2006 draft, had already
collected both the Players Choice and Sporting News NL pitcher-of-the-year
awards earlier this offseason. He joins Dwight Gooden (1985) and Fernando
Valenzuela (1981) as the only pitchers to win the NL Cy Young Award in their
second season. Brett Saberhagen (1985) also did it in the AL.

===

The Baseball Writers' Association of America will continue to hand out their
postseason awards on Wednesday, as the Manager of the Year in both the
American and National Leagues will be announced. Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon
figures to be the favorite in the American League after leading the Rays to a
franchise-best 97 wins en route to the first AL East title in team history,
just one year removed from losing a league-high 96 games. Maddon's team
advanced all the way to the World Series, where they were eventually upended
by the Philadelphia Phillies in five games. Should Maddon win the award on
Wednesday he would become the first Rays skipper to do so. Over in the Senior
Circuit it figures to be a two-man race between a pair of former winners in
Los Angeles' Joe Torre and Chicago's Lou Piniella.

===

The Washington Nationals acquired left fielder Josh Willingham and left-handed
pitcher Scott Olsen from the Florida Marlins on Tuesday. Washington is sending
second baseman Emilio Bonifacio, minor league pitcher P.J. Dean and minor
league second baseman Jake Smolinski to Florida. Willingham hit .254 with 15
homers and 51 RBI last season, while Olsen went 8-11 with a 4.20 earned run
average in 33 starts in 2008. Bonifacio had five triples and 12 RBI in 41
games with the Nationals last season. He also played in eight games for
Arizona.

===

Veteran hurler Kenny Rogers was the only player to file for free agency on
Tuesday. The 20-year journeyman went 9-13 last season in 30 starts for the
Detroit Tigers, his third year with the club. His 5.70 earned run average was
his highest since 2001, when he was tagged with a 6.19 ERA in 20 outings with
the Texas Rangers. The 44-year-old lefty has appeared in 762 games -- 474
career starts -- with Texas, Oakland, Minnesota, Detroit and both New York
franchises, compiling a 219-156 record with a 4.27 ERA. The filing period for
potential free agents runs through Thursday, November 13.


=== NFL ===

The New York Jets made it official on Tuesday, signing free agent cornerback
Ty Law. Jets head coach Eric Mangini said in a press conference to announce
the signing that there is a good chance Law will be in uniform for Thursday
night's matchup with the New England Patriots. Law won three Super Bowls, all
with New England, for which the 34-year-old played in his first 10 seasons.
Law grabbed a career-high 10 interceptions for New York three years ago while
starting all 16 games. He went on to start all 16 games for Kansas City in
both 2006 and 2007. The Michigan product has 52 interceptions and seven
touchdowns in 189 games over 13 seasons.

===

The Denver Broncos have come to terms on a contract with running back Tatum
Bell to help fill their depleted backfield. Bell signed Tuesday afternoon
after auditioning for the club at a morning workout. Bell is expected to be in
uniform for the Broncos when they travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons on
Sunday. The 27-year-old Bell was released by the Lions prior to the start of
this season. Denver's second-round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2004, Bell
rushed for 921 yards and eight touchdowns in 2005, and followed that up by
gaining 1,025 yards in 2006. The Broncos dealt him to Detroit prior to the
2007 season in exchange for cornerback Dre' Bly, but Bell was beat out by
Kevin Jones for the starting job, and only appeared in five games for the
Lions, rushing for 182 yards. Bell will help fill the void created by the
losses of Michael Pittman, Andre Hall, and Ryan Torain to season-ending
injuries.

===

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker, who was been out five of the
last six games due to a shoulder injury, is likely to play this weekend in a
home game versus San Diego. Parker played in a win over Washington on November
3, but sat out this past Sunday's 24-20 loss to Indianapolis with what's
described as a shoulder subluxation by head coach Mike Tomlin. The head coach
is hopeful Parker will be able to practice on Wednesday and play Sunday while
wearing a harness to protect the shoulder. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is
day-to-day with a shoulder injury, but he's likely to start Sunday. The
Steelers added a veteran presence to their secondary on Tuesday by signing
cornerback Fernando Bryant.

===

The Baltimore Ravens placed cornerback Chris McAlister and strong safety Dawan
Landry on injured reserve on Tuesday, ending their seasons. McAlister
underwent surgery this week to repair posterior cruciate ligament damage and
cartilage issues in his right knee. McAlister started the first five games for
the Ravens and was leading the team with three interceptions. In his 10th
year, all with the Ravens, McAlister has notched 26 picks, with five going
back for touchdowns, 428 tackles and seven fumble recoveries in 134 games.
Landry has not recovered since suffering a spinal cord concussion against the
Cleveland Browns in the third game of the season.


=== COLLEGE FOOTBALL ===

MiQuale Lewis was one yard short of matching his career high as his 165 yards
on the ground and two touchdowns powered 14th-ranked Ball State to a 31-16
victory over Miami-Ohio to keep the Cardinals' dream season alive. Nate Davis
threw for 289 yards with a touchdown and interception on 17-of-24 efficiency
for Ball State (10-0,6-0 MAC), which is off to the best start in the program's
history and remained one of five unbeaten teams at the Football Bowl
Subdivision level.