PRESS BOX ROUNDUP: Woods top-paid athlete again, OSU's Gee to remain involved
Tiger Woods is not only at the top of the world golf rankings, he's No. 1 on the annual Forbes list of the world's highest paid athletes.
After a one-year hiatus, Woods regained the spot from Floyd Mayweather Jr. Forbes reported that Woods made $78.1 million during the past year from prizes, endorsements, appearance fees and golf course design work. Of that, $10 million came from appearance fees, mostly overseas.
Woods has bounced back from the personal scandals that rocked his life and career four years ago. He had led the Forbes list from 2001 until Mayweather supplanted him last year.
Second this year is tennis star Roger Federer at $71.5 million ($65 million in endorsements), followed by NBA superstars Kobe Bryant at $61.9 million and LeBron James at $59.8 million.
Mayweather dropped to No. 14 overall at $34 million.
Tennis standout Maria Sharapova is the highest-ranked woman at No. 22.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
After Gordon Gee steps down as Ohio State president on July 1, he plans to remain active at the university in other roles.
Known as a prolific fundraiser, Gee said Wednesday at a news conference confirming his retirement as head of one of the country's largest academic institutions that he will continue to raise money for the university and also might teach at the law school.
Gee announced his retirement on Tuesday in the wake of his comments about Roman Catholics, Notre Dame, Louisville, Southeastern Conference schools and former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema. The remarks were made at an Athletics Council meeting in December but were widely reported for the first time last week.
He insisted again that, at age 69, it was time to do some different and his decision was not based on the backlash or controversy.
---College basketball is merging the John R. Wooden Classic and the Anaheim Classic into the Wooden Legacy tournament that will begin in late November.
The new format will feature eight teams. Participating in the inaugural tournament, to be played Nov. 28 through Dec. 1, will be Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, College of Charleston, Creighton, George Washington, Marquette, Miami and San Diego State. Bracket pairings will be unveiled in the summer.
The first two rounds will be played Titan Gym on the Cal State Fullerton campus, and the semifinals and final will be held in the Honda Center in Anaheim.
The Wooden Classic had been played since 1994 and the Anaheim Classic ince since 2007.
ESPN will broadcast all 12 games.
NBA
The Atlanta Hawks could be in some hot water for referring to Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul and Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard in a recent ticket promotion.
The Hawks may have violated the NBA's tampering policy by mentioning players who are under contract with another team. Atlanta reportedly is interested in pursuing Howard and Paul when they become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Hawks sent a sales letter to potential ticket buyers that named Paul and Howard. Hawks president Bob Williams acknowledged the mistake by a team ticket representative and called it unfortunate.
The collective bargaining agreement stipulates that teams refuse comment on players before the free-agency period begins.
Paul completed his second season with the Clippers and Howard, an Atlanta native, finished his first year with the Lakers. Both have expressed a willingness to listen to offers from other teams.
NHL
Tomas Vokoun was slated to be back in goal as the starter for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Bruins.
Vokoun gave up three goals on 12 shots in the Penguins' 6-1 loss to the Bruins on Monday night and was pulled. His replacement, Marc-Andre Fleury, also allowed three goals.
Vokoun has a 6-3 record with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage in the playoffs. Fleury is 2-2 with a .883 save percentage. Fleury's last postseason start came in Game 4 of a first-round series against the New York Islanders.
