BYU Football

Cougars get commit from Van Noy

Four-star linebacker Kyle Van Noy says he'll be a Cougar. Total Blue Sports is reporting that Van Noy, a 6-foot-4, 202-pounder from Reno, Nev., has given an oral commitment to BYU. Van Noy helped lead McQueen to a 4A state title this season while playing both linebacker and wide receiver.

He had 79 total tackles (55 solos) and 14 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, six fumbles caused, four fumbles recovered and one interception for a score. As a receiver, Van Noy finished the year with 35 receptions for 731 yards and 13 touchdowns. Van Noy's 11 scholarship offers also included UCLA, Arizona State, Boise State and Colorado.

NBA

Grizzlies ignore threat, sign Miles

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Memphis Grizzlies re-signed forward Darius Miles on Saturday despite a threat of legal action by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Trail Blazers president Larry Miller said Friday he believed other clubs wanted to sign Miles because it would cost Portland money, not because they thought he would help on the court. Miles is coming back from major knee surgery. If he plays two more games, Portland will be on the hook for the $18 million left on his contract. That would count against its salary cap and force the team to pay luxury tax.

Memphis, which waived Miles on Wednesday, signed him to a 10-day contract. General manager Chris Wallace insists Miles can be a plus.

"Darius did everything asked of him in his initial stint with the Grizzlies and was well received by his teammates," he said. "In the last Minnesota game, his length, experience, rebounding, shot blocking and defense on one of the elite post scorers in the league, Al Jefferson, were all impressive. Our young team is short on frontcourt players and can use a veteran with his attributes."

Miller sent an e-mail to fellow NBA executives Thursday night, aware that Miles was to clear waivers the next day. Miller defended his tactics, even after the players' union announced plans to file a grievance against the Trail Blazers.

"Our purpose here was not in any way to keep Darius from being able to play," Miller said. "If he can come back and help a team to win and play at a level on the court that helps the team, we have no problem with that at all."

The union said it will "vigorously defend" Miles' rights.

• Boozer out at least month after surgery: Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer is expected to miss at least four weeks while recovering from knee surgery. Boozer had the operation Friday to remove loose pieces of cartilage from the All-Star's left knee. Boozer, averaging 20.5 points and 11.7 rebounds, has missed 25 games since injuring his lower quad and knee Nov. 19 against Milwaukee.

Golf

Ogilvy seizes control at PGA opener

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Geoff Ogilvy ran off three straight birdies on the back nine and shot an 8-under 65 on Saturday to make the rest of the winners-only field at the Mercedes-Benz Championship feel as though they were playing for second. The wind switched directions, making Kapalua play entirely different. What didn't change was the guy atop the leaderboard.

Leading by one shot to start the third round, Ogilvy played bogey-free for the second time in three rounds and wound up with a six-shot lead over Justin Leonard and D.J. Trahan as he tries to win the PGA Tour's season-opening event.

Leonard made eight birdies over his final 14 holes on his way to a 65, the kind of round that he figured would give him a chance to win. But he never had a good look at the leaderboard until he walked onto the 18th green and saw that Ogilvy was at 19 under.

Trahan was one shot behind Ogilvy and simply couldn't keep up and shot a 70.

• Sorenstam marries: At Orlando, Fla., Annika Sorenstam and Mike McGee were married Saturday, four weeks after the Swedish golf star ended her Hall of Fame career. About 125 guests attended the afternoon ceremony and evening reception at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. McGee, the son of former PGA Tour player Jerry McGee, has served as managing director for her business brand since December 2006.

Skiing

Vonn still looking for first GS win

MARIBOR, Slovenia -- Lindsey Vonn posted the second-fastest time in the final run of a World Cup giant slalom Saturday, but will have to wait for her first win in the discipline.

The defending overall champion climbed from 15th after the opening leg to finish seventh, 1.52 seconds behind Tina Maze of Slovenia, who won the race in front of 10,000 cheering home fans.

"Overall it was pretty good," said Vonn, who needs a giant slalom win to become only the fifth woman to earn World Cup wins in all five disciplines. "The first run wasn't as good as what I hoped for. I had some troubles at the bottom part with the ice. Fortunately, I had a much better second run."

Vonn, a speed specialist, had her best result in a giant slalom in November when she finished fourth in Aspen, Colo. The 24-year-old American captured her first slalom win earlier this season. In the overall standings, Vonn closed in on leader Maria Riesch of Germany, who finished 12th. Riesch has 629 points, Tanja Poutiainen of Finland has 584 and Vonn has 566.

A slalom is scheduled today.

Julia Mancuso had two runs without obvious errors but finished 27th.

• Raich wins giant slalom, with Ligety 9th: At Adelboden, Switzerland, Ted Ligety had something to show for his day's work. Not Bode Miller, who failed to complete a race for the eighth time in 16 events.

Benjamin Raich of Austria won a World Cup giant slalom Saturday, his third win in four years at Adelboden. His two-run time of 2 minutes, 24.95 seconds gave the reigning Olympic GS champion his 33rd World Cup win and the lead in the discipline and overall standings. Italy's Massimiliano Blardone, the 2005 champion on this course, was 0.24 seconds behind. Norway's Kjetil Jansrud was third, 0.72 seconds back.

Ligety, the defending World Cup champion in GS, finished ninth on the famously steep Kuonisbaergli course while Miller skied out on the first run. Ligety remained second in the discipline standings. Raich moved to the top of the GS and overall points races.

Ligety barely made the top-30 cut in the morning. He was taken way wide after approaching a gate too straight halfway down the first run.

"This has never been a hill that's favored me, but I'm only 45 points shy of Benni for the GS title, so it could have been a lot worse."

The Park City skier had the second-fastest run of the afternoon and finished 1.40 seconds shy of Raich.

Tennis

Murray beats Roddick to win Open

DOHA, Qatar-- Andy Murray downplayed talk that he's the favorite heading into the Australian Open after his successful defense of the Qatar Open title. The fourth-ranked Murray defeated No. 8 Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-2 Saturday to win his first ATP title of the year, and ninth overall.

En route to the title, the Scotsman beat Roger Federer in the semifinals. He also defeated Federer and top-ranked Rafael Nadal last week in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

With the Australian Open starting in Melbourne on Jan. 19, Murray heads into the first major of 2009 in fine form.

"I feel good going into the Australian Open but after what happened last year, I don't want to get too carried away," Murray said. "I am one of the top guys, but I don't know if I am the favorite at the Australian Open. There is Roger, Rafa and Novak (Djokovic), who won last year."

A year ago, Murray lost in the first round to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who eventually reached the final.

He travels to Australia after a convincing win against Roddick.

Murray broke Roddick to go up 3-2 in the opening set, and used two more breaks in the second to take a 4-1 lead. Roddick's only break-point chance came with Murray serving for the match, but the Scotsman saved it with an ace and clinched the title with a backhand winner down the line.

"He's in top form right now," Roddick said. "I think he is capable of winning the big ones."

Baseball

Boston bolsters bullpen with Saito

BOSTON -- Takashi Saito agreed to a one-year deal with Boston on Saturday, giving the Red Sox another veteran arm in their bullpen.

Saito, who had 18 saves and a 2.49 ERA last season despite being limited by an elbow injury, became a free agent when the Los Angeles Dodgers failed to offer him a contract by the Dec. 12 deadline. The right-hander would have been eligible for salary arbitration and a raise from $2 million if he was tendered a contract.

The active Red Sox announced a deal with Rocco Baldelli on Thursday night, finalized a $5 million, one-year deal with right-hander Brad Penny on Friday and are expected to complete a $5.5 million, one-year contract with John Smoltz in the next few days.

The 38-year-old Saito is 12-7 with 81 saves and a 1.95 ERA in three major league seasons, all with Los Angeles.

Boxing

Balszay wins WBO super middleweight title

MAGDEBURG, Germany-- Karoly Balszay of Hungary won a unanimous decision over Russia's Denis Inkin to win the WBO Super Middleweight Championship on Saturday.

Balszay improved to 20-0 with 14 knockouts, beating Inkin (34-1 24 KOs) in his first title defense. The judges scored the fight 115-113, 116-112, 116-112 in favor of the 29-year-old Hungarian.

Balszay was more aggressive throughout the match, but sealed his victory toward the end of the 10th round, when he landed a left hook to the 31-year-old Inkin's head.

"I thought he was very tough guy," Balszay said after the fight, "but our preparation was perfect."