12/03/2008 - Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery issued an apology Wednesday for derogatory comments made the previous day about his ex-girlfriends dating other players in the league.
The comments led to an indefinite suspension by the National Hockey League, pending Avery's hearing with commissioner Gary Bettman. That is expected to come Thursday.
"I would like to sincerely apologize for my off-color remarks to the press yesterday from Calgary," Avery said in a statement obtained by SportingNews.com. "I should not have made those comments, and I recognize that they were inappropriate. It was a bad attempt to build excitement for the game, but I am now acutely aware of how hurtful my actions were. I caused unnecessary embarrassment to my peers, as well as people I have been close with in the past.
"I apologize for offending the great fans of the NHL, the commissioner, my teammates, my coaching staff and the Dallas Stars management and ownership. As many of you know, I like to mix it up on and off the ice from time to time, but understand that this time I took it too far."
Avery made his comments following a skating session in Calgary Tuesday morning, ahead of a night game with the Flames.
"I'm really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada," Avery said before television cameras. "I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my (former girlfriends). I don't know what that's about, but enjoy the game tonight."
Avery was linked romantically to model Rachel Hunter; and his ex-girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert, best known for her role on the Fox show "24", is dating Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf.
After Calgary lost to Dallas, 3-1, on Tuesday, Phaneuf called Avery's comments "disrespectful" and said he agreed with the way the league took action.
Avery, 28, who inked a four-year contract worth $15.5 million over the summer after spending the past one-plus seasons with the New York Rangers, has posted three goals and seven assists in 23 games this season.
In 402 career games with the Red Wings, Kings, Rangers and Stars, Avery has collected 68 goals, 177 points and 1,144 minutes in penalties.
The comments Avery made Tuesday were just the latest in a line of deplorable acts for the veteran left wing. During a playoff series this past April, he used a controversial tactic to screen the opposing goaltender, namely facing New Jersey's Martin Brodeur and waving his hands and stick in front of the netminder in an attempt to distract him and block his view.
The following day, the NHL issued an interpretation of the league's unsportsmanlike conduct rule to cover Avery's actions.
<< Cards sign lefty reliever Miller
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals signed left-handed
reliever Trever Miller to a one-year contract on Wednesday. Financial
terms of the deal were not released.
The 35-year-old Miller appeared in 68 games
<< Around FCS: Take Two
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran Villanova coach Andy Talley was in
a contemplative mood as he considered a rematch with James Madison, following
the Wildcats' 55-28 playoff victory over Colgate on Saturday.
"Very rarely in life d
<< Trio leads PGA Tour Q School
La Quinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major Manning, Craig Kanada and Joey Lamielle
each fired rounds of seven-under 65 on Wednesday to share the opening-round
lead of the Final Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School.
Mark Brooks, the 1996 PGA Ch
<< Southern Miss accepts bid to New Orleans Bowl
Hattiesburg, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Southern Mississippi
accepted a bid to the New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday.
The Golden Eagles, who finished the season with a 6-6 record, will face the
Sun Belt champion -- either
Tuberville era ends at Auburn >>
Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Tuberville has resigned as head football
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Tuberville guided the Tigers, who entered the season ranked 10th in the
nation, to a paltry 5-7 record. It concluded with a 36-0 drub
Blair paces Pitt to rout of Duquesne >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeJuan Blair had his way in the paint with
14 points and 17 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end, as the No. 3
Pittsburgh Panthers came away with a 78-51 victory in the 77th meeting with
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Smith's triple-double carries Volunteers to rout of UNC-Asheville >>
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Smith recorded the first triple-double
in Tennessee history with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, leading the
10th-ranked Volunteers past the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs, 87-69, and helping
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Flynn leads No. 16 Syracuse past Cornell >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonny Flynn scored 24 points and added six
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notch an 88-78 win over Cornell.
Paul Harris added 21 points and nine rebounds fo
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
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The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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