Irsay: Colts to pick coach next week (AP)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Colts owner Jim Irsay says the Indianapolis team expects to decide on a new head coach next week. Irsay made the announcement on his Twitter account Saturday. Irsay’s tweet read: “The (hash)1 pick debate will rage on,what a great year to have it..the HC search is wide ranging n thorough,decision by mid 2 late next week.” The Colts fired coach Jim Caldwell on Tuesday after three seasons. The team went to the Super Bowl during Caldwell’s first year, but finished a dismal 2-14 this season. The day after they locked up the No. 1 overall draft pick, Irsay fired team vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, general manager Chris. The Colts played the season without Peyton Manning, who had his third neck surgery in September.
Kyle Busch signs brother Kurt for Nationwide team (AP)
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP)—The Busch Brothers will be teamed together for the first time in more than a decade this season as co-drivers for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Kyle Busch tabbed his older brother, Kurt, to share the No. 54 Toyota this year in the Nationwide Series. The brothers on Thursday introduced Monster Energy as their sponsor for the new team. KBM has fielded a Truck Series team since 2010, but this will be its first year in stock-cars and in NASCAR’s second-tier series. The brothers wasted no time boasting what they can accomplish this year: Kurt Busch said it’s possible for them to sweep the entire 33-race schedule, while Kyle said his team will run for the Nationwide owner’s championship. “We’ve had a lot of talks about how this whole deal is going to work out, what we’re both looking to get out of this and what a great opportunity this is to race in the Nationwide Series,” Kyle Busch said. “Kurt’s never done a full Nationwide deal, he’s always had the itch but never really cared about it. “Now this is something for him to get out there and win some races, help bring some banners over here.” The pairing of the Busch brothers brings together the two most polarizing drivers in NASCAR, and it’s the first time they’ll be teamed together since they drove for their father more than a decade ago. It also marks a turning point in both of their careers. Kyle Busch had to fight hard in November to keep his job when he was suspended by NASCAR for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in a Truck race at Texas. His primary sponsors had been pushed to the edge by Busch, but with the help of Sprint Cup Series owner Joe Gibbs, he kept his program intact. Kurt Busch then lost his job in December when he split with Penske Racing after yet another public meltdown. He’s since put together a Cup deal with fledgling Phoenix Racing and now has this Nationwide package with his brother. Although Richard Petty indicated last week that Kurt Busch is currently untouchable because sponsors are hesitant to associate with him, Kyle Busch said he had no problems selling his brother to Monster. “When his opportunity came about, we collaborated on what we could do together and took it to Monster and they were like `Hell, yeah, let’s do this. Sign him on,”’ Kyle Busch said. “For us now to be able to come together with Monster, everybody seemed like a perfect fit. Both of us seem to have that personable, edgy attitude, we just want to win, and that’s what Monster is all about.” Kurt Busch didn’t view the job from his brother as charity, though, and saw his participation as a way to help Kyle launch his Nationwide team. “I think we are teaming up together, to do this as brothers,” Kurt said. . There are still details to be worked out, though. Kyle Busch, the all-time winningest driver in the Nationwide Series with 51 victories, plans to drive between 15 and 18 races. He’ll drive the first four of the season then turn the wheel over to Kurt at Texas Motor Speedway. Kurt has just 12 career Nationwide starts, with three wins—his last as a fill-in for Brad Keselowski last year at Watkins Glen. Kurt is already committed to driving the Nationwide races at Daytona and Talladega for Phoenix Racing, so the rest of his schedule still has to be hashed out with his new boss, Kyle. “He’ll probably want some of the easier portion of the schedule because he’s the owner, and I’ll give him that respect,” joked Kurt. “But between the two of us, we’re racing all 33 Nationwide races on the schedule.” KBM is the only team Kyle will drive for in the Nationwide Series as he scales back his non-Cup participation. He won’t drive at all for Joe Gibbs Racing in Nationwide, and won’t drive for KBM’s Truck team. Jason Leffler is tabbed to drive KBM’s No. 51 in the Truck Series, and Kyle Busch said he’s talking to a handful of Cup stars about filling out that schedule for him. The brothers also dismissed any notion that their relationship is too volatile to work together. They had a very public falling out when they wrecked each other racing for the $1 million prize in the 2007 All-Star race and did not speak for months. It took their grandmother brokering a peace agreement that Thanksgiving to mend the relationship. Kurt Busch said that’s the only hiccup the two have had, and all other speculation about their relationship “is just a myth.” “The only thing that we had run in our way was dollar signs at the All-Star race that year,” he said. “Anytime somebody is going for a million bucks, you forget who your brother is … I think we’ve always gotten along really well on track, to draft with each other, to yield to each other, it just hasn’t been well documented.”
Murray overcomes slow start in opener (AP)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—Andy Murray overcame a slow start to beat American Ryan Harrison 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and advance to the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday. Murray was a finalist at Melbourne Park the past two years, losing in straight sets to Roger Federer in 2010 and to Novak Djokovic last year. He also did not win a set in his other Grand Slam final—against Federer at the 2008 U.S. Open—and he is attempting to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Two tied for lead at British Open qualifying (AP)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—Australians Neven Basic and Chris Gaunt shot 3-under-par 69s Tuesday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the 36-hole Australasian qualifying tournament for this year’s British Open. At the wind-swept par-72 Kingston Heath Golf Club, eight golfers shot 70, including Australian Kurt Barnes, one of three qualifiers from last year’s tournament. Barnes looked set to lead the tournament after the first round before double bogeys on 16 and 17. Four others were two shots behind after 71s. The final round will be played Wednesday. “It was blowing a gale out there, the holes coming home on the back nine were quite windy so it’s pretty tough,” said Gaunt. The top three golfers in the 45-man field will qualify for this year’s British Open from July 19-22 at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s in northern England. U.S. Champions Tour regular Peter Senior shot 72 and was three off the lead, as was former U.S. PGA Tour player James Nitties. Peter Lonard shot 73, Craig Parry 74 and Matthew Millar, another of last year’s qualifiers from the Kingston Heath tournament, had a 75. Jeong Jin of South Korea, the only player from outside Australia or New Zealand, shot 73. Other international qualifying tournaments for the British Open will be held Jan.18-19 at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington in South Africa, March 1-2 at Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok, May 21 at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas and June 25 at Sunningdale Golf Club outside London.
