Vikings will decide status of Artis Hicks Sunday
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Vikings won't make a decision on whether right tackle Artis Hicks will play until shortly before game time this week. The Vikings host the Chicago Bears on Sunday night to determine first place in the NFC North entering the season's final month. Hicks took over as the starter last week for Ryan Cook, but he hurt his elbow and is listed as questionable for this game.
Hicks did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday and participated only on a limited basis on Friday.
Gamble signs 6-year extension with Panthers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The Panthers have signed cornerback Chris Gamble to a six-year contract extension that will keep him in Carolina through the 2014 season.
Agent Carl Poston would not reveal the financial figures, but said it makes Gamble one of the top five paid cornerbacks in the NFL.
Gamble was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The 2004 first-round pick is having one of his best seasons.
Gamble's 19 interceptions rank second in team history.
Former NHL agent David Frost acquitted
NAPANEE, Ontario (AP) - Former NHL agent David Frost was acquitted Friday of sexual exploitation while coaching in a junior league in Canada.
Frost was charged with four counts of sexual exploitation from his time as a coach of the now-defunct Ontario junior A Quinte Hawks in eastern Ontario in 1996 and 1997. A judge found him not guilty on all four counts.
Women who dated Hawks players as teenagers testified against Frost, accusing him of engaging in sexual acts with the young couples. The former players appeared as witnesses for the defense and denied the acusations.
Frost was the target of a murder-for-hire plot by one of his clients and former junior hockey players, ex-St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton. Danton was sentenced to 71/2 years in prison for his role in the $10,000 plot.
Red Sox hire Tim Bogar as first base coach
BOSTON (AP) - The Boston Red Sox have hired former major leaguer and Tampa Bay Rays coach Tim Bogar as their new first base coach.
Last year, Bogar was an infield and baserunning coach for the 2008 American League champion Rays.
Before joining the Rays, he spent four seasons as a manager in the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros minor league systems.
