Football
Kelly returning to Irish — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly will be back for a fourth season after leading the Fighting Irish to the national title game this past season. Kelly issued a statement Saturday that after interviewing with the Philadelphia Eagles, he will remain as coach of the Irish. Kelly said he has had thoughts about coaching in the NFL, but after much reflection and conversations with those closest to him he decided to stay with the Irish. Kelly led the Irish to a 12-1 record this past season and has an overall record of 28-11 in three seasons with Notre Dame.
No NFL issues with RG3 — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he doesn’t have a problem with the way the Washington Redskins medical staff handled Robert Griffin III’s knee injury. Nevertheless, he’s anticipating changes in the way injuries not affecting the head are evaluated on the sideline. Goodell was in Denver for Saturday’s Ravens-Broncos playoff game. Griffin had reconstructive ACL surgery Wednesday after reinjuring his right knee in last Sunday’s playoff loss to Seattle. He also strained a ligament in the knee last month against Baltimore. That raised questions whether Redskins coach Mike Shanahan should have left Griffin in either game after it was clear the quarterback was hurt. Goodell said it was a “medical decision" and noted Griffin had no problem with it, either.
Cycling
Lance to answer ‘honestly’ — Lance Armstrong said he will answer questions “directly, honestly and candidly" during an interview with Oprah Winfrey next week. He will also apologize and make a limited confession to using performance-enhancing drugs, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Armstrong spent more than a decade denying that he doped to win the Tour de France seven times. Without saying whether he would confess or apologize during the taping, Armstrong told The Associated Press in a text message early Saturday, “I told her (Winfrey) to go wherever she wants and I’ll answer the questions directly, honestly and candidly. That’s all I can say."
Skiing
Ligety wins GS — Ted Ligety won a duel with Marcel Hirscher in a World Cup giant slalom Saturday in Adelboden, Switzerland, for his fourth victory of the season in his specialist event. The 28-year-old American skied cleanly in the fast-fading light to take the victory after first-run leader Hirscher made a mistake on the dark slope. Ligety was second after the first run, but got his fourth win in five GS races this season by finishing 1.15 seconds ahead of runner-up Fritz Dopfer of Germany, in a combined time of 2 minutes 28.67 seconds. Hirscher dropped to 16th but retained his lead in the overall World Cup standings. Ligety, who got his 15th career World Cup victory, is third overall. Bend’s Tommy Ford did not finish the first run.
Tennis
Tomic wins first ATP title — Bernard Tomic of Australia won his first ATP title on Saturday, beating South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in the Sydney International final in Australia. The win was the 20-year-old Tomic’s eighth straight and completed a remarkable Australian Open preparation. In addition to his win over Novak Djokovic at the Hopman Cup, he later beat Tommy Haas and Andreas Seppi in Perth before victories against higher-ranked players Marinko Matosevic (47), Florian Mayer (26), Andreas Seppi and Anderson (36) in Sydney.
Soccer
Wambach to N.Y. team — FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Abby Wambach has been assigned to her hometown Western New York Flash of the new National Women’s Soccer League along with gold medal-winning American teammate Carli Lloyd. The U.S. Soccer Federation announced Friday the allocation of 55 national team players to eight clubs in the league, which starts play this spring. Canadian star Christine Sinclair, who starred at the University of Portland, was assigned to the Portland Thorns along with fellow Canadian Karina LeBlanc and Americans Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath and Rachel Buehler.
—From wire reports
