Baseball
L.A. LOOKS NORTH: The Los Angeles Dodgers plan to interview San Francisco Giants vice president and assistant general manager Ned Colletti for their vacant GM job. Team spokesman Josh Rawitch confirmed Thursday that Colletti would be interviewed but said he didn't know when. Kim Ng, the Dodgers' assistant GM, interviewed for the position last Saturday.
Boxing
RAHMAN VOTED CHAMP: The WBC voted on Thursday to give its heavyweight title to Hasim Rahman, one day after champion Vitali Klitschko announced his retirement. The council said it had received 20 votes — all in favor of Rahman — out of the 35 total members of the governing body.
Golf
WOODS IS 1-BACK: Tiger Woods bogeyed his last hole after hitting a tee shot into a bunker, costing him a share of the first-round lead Thursday in the $5 million HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Scotland's Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open winner; England's Nick Dougherty and Australia's Peter O'Malley led at 8-under-par 64. Woods was at 65 with England's David Howell, the Netherlands' Robert-Jan Derksen and South Korea's K.J. Choi.
LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP: Sweden's Liselotte Neumann returned from a monthlong layoff and shot a 6-under 66 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the LPGA Tournament of Champions. Juli Inkster and Christina Kim, teammates on the winning U.S. Solheim Cup squad, were one stroke back after opening 67s.
Hockey
PENGUINS ADD FLEURY: Former top draft choice Marc-Andre Fleury was recalled Thursday by the Pittsburgh Penguins because of an injury to goaltender Sebastien Caron.
Football
ASU ON PROBATION: Arizona State was placed on two years' probation by the NCAA on Thursday for providing improper benefits to former football player Loren Wade and other irregularities in the athletic department's operations.
The penalty is the same as one already instituted by the Pac-10 and does not punish any of the school's athletic teams. The infractions initially were uncovered by an internal investigation by the university and were reported to the conference and NCAA.
EX-STEELER DIES: Steve Courson, the former offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers who developed a heart problem after becoming one of the first NFL players to acknowledge using steroids, was killed Thursday when a tree he was cutting fell on him. Courson, 50, was using a chain saw to cut down a dead 44-foot tall tree with a circumference of 5 feet when it fell on him, according to state police. The accident happened around 1 p.m. at his home in Henry Clay Township, Fayette County.