College athletics
ILLINOIS LOSES APPEAL: Illinois lost its appeal of the ban on the university mascot Friday and will remain on a list of schools prohibited from hosting NCAA postseason events after February.
The NCAA will allow Illinois to keep its "Illini" and "Fighting Illini" nicknames. The university contended those nicknames derived from the name of the state.
The governing body, however, said Chief Illiniwek remains a "hostile and abusive" image of American Indians. The mascot is a student dressed in buckskins and headdress who dances at halftimes of home football, basketball and volleyball games. The tradition began in 1926.
"The NCAA staff review committee found no new information relative to the mascot known as Chief Illiniwek or the logo mark used by some athletics teams that depicts a Native American in feathered headdress, to remove the university from the list," said Bernard Franklin, the NCAA's senior vice president for governance and membership.
NMSU AWARDED TOURNEY: New Mexico State was awarded the 2007 and 2008 Western Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments, the league announced Friday.
All games will be played at New Mexico State's 13,071-seat Pan American Center, which is undergoing a $23 million renovation that will be completed next November.
After the renovation, "It will be the best basketball arena in the WAC," commissioner Karl Benson said at a news conference.
Baseball
SOX INTERVIEW ANOTHER: Jim Beattie, former executive vice president of the Baltimore Orioles, met Friday at Fenway Park with Red Sox president Larry Lucchino. He's the fourth candidate interviewed since the departure of Theo Epstein last month.
Washington general manager Jim Bowden, Minnesota assistant GM Wayne Krivsky and Atlanta assistant GM Dayton Moore interviewed with Lucchino and Red Sox chairman Tom Warner on Wednesday at a hotel near the general managers' meetings in California.
Boston wants to hire a replacement by the winter meetings, scheduled for Dec. 5-8.
VAZQUEZ DEMANDS TRADE: Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Javier Vazquez filed a formal trade demand, giving the team until March 15 to deal him.
Vazquez had the right to file the demand during the 15 days after the World Series because he was a veteran player traded during a multiyear contract. His agent, Sam Levinson, said Friday that the demand was submitted.
If the Diamondbacks don't deal Vazquez by March 15 and he doesn't withdraw the trade demand, he would become a free agent. However, he also would give up the final $24 million he is owed from the $45 million, four-year contract he agreed to with the New York Yankees in January 2004. That deal calls for salaries of $11.5 million in 2006 and $12.5 million in 2007.
Golf
WOODS 2 OFF LEAD: At Shanghai, China, Tiger Woods saved par on the last hole after hitting a 5-wood into the water Friday to finish with a 3-under 69, two shots behind co-leaders David Howell and Nick Dougherty after two rounds of the HSBC Champions tournament.
Howell shot a bogey-free round with five birdies for a 67 and Dougherty had a 4-under 68 to head into the weekend at 12 under.
Woods and Australia's Nick O'Hern (67) tied at 10 under, ahead of a group of five at 9 under.