STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Jim Calhoun retired as Connecticut's basketball coach Thursday, closing a 26-year career at the school with three national titles, an upcoming NCAA tournament ban and no apologies.
''I never, ever, ever said that I was mistake free,'' Calhoun said. ''But I always tried to do the right thing.''
The retirement of the 70-year-old Hall of Famer was announced on the court in Storrs where Calhoun racked up many of his 873 total wins. He thanked everyone associated with the Huskies program - administrators, players, fans and his family - for his team's success, and played down both his health problems and troubles with the NCAA.
PRO HOCKEY
NEW YORK (AP) - NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman maintains the league will lock out players Sunday if a new labor deal isn't reached, and star player Sidney Crosby isn't optimistic the season will start on time.
With both sides far apart and little time before the current deal expires at midnight EDT Saturday, the league's board of governors met in New York as a group of more than 280 players gathered at a hotel a short distance away.
Following lockouts last year by basketball and football owners, Bettman says hockey management is determined to come away with economic gains, even if it forces the NHL's fourth work stoppage since 1992.
PRO FOOTBALL
NEW YORK (AP) - NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will meet Monday with Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma to discuss Vilma's suspension that was temporarily lifted last week.
A person familiar with the plans told The Associated Press that Vilma will be in New York to present his case in the Saints' bounties scandal for which he was suspended for the 2012 season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting has not been announced.
Vilma and three other players were suspended, but an appeals panel ruled last Friday that Goodell must clarify his earlier rulings to ensure no part of his decisions was based on salary cap violations. Goodell still could reinstate the suspensions to Vilma, New Orleans defensive end Will Smith, Browns linebacker Scott Fujita and free agent defensive end Anthony Hargrove for participating in a pay-for-injure program that violates the league's detrimental conduct policy.
Smith, Fujita and Hargrove are expected to meet with Goodell on Tuesday.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Larry Fitzgerald, world traveler and star wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, is adding another line to his resume.
Next Thursday, he will be the conductor for the performance of the national anthem on opening night for the Phoenix Symphony.
Fitzgerald tweeted that he was going to be conducting the symphony and asked ''Anybody have any tips for me?''
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) - The New York Jets will make a decision on the availability of Darrelle Revis before the team travels to Pittsburgh on Saturday for their game against the Steelers.
Coach Rex Ryan said that the status of the star cornerback, who's recovering from a concussion, remains unchanged: Revis is cleared for physical activity, but not contact.
BASEBALL
BOSTON (AP) - Derek Jeter didn't let an injury stop him from tying Willie Mays for 10th place on the career hits list or helping the New York Yankees stay tied for the AL East lead.
An aching left ankle limited Jeter to the designated hitter's role on Thursday night. But his RBI single in the seventh inning provided a cushion for Phil Hughes and helped the Yankees win consecutive games for the first time in a month with a 2-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Jeter's 3,283rd hit put alongside Mays.
''It's kind of hard to think about it now because you're trying to win games, especially this time of year,'' Jeter said, ''but I'd be lying to you if I didn't think it was special.''
Jeter was 0 for 3 then blooped the single to center field. With 19 games left, he has a chance to move into ninth place. He is 30 behind Eddie Collins' 3,313.
BOXING
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Boxing great Muhammad Ali was honored with the Liberty Medal for his longtime role outside the ring as a fighter for humanitarian causes, civil rights and religious freedom.
Hundreds of people gathered on the lawn of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to watch the three-time heavyweight title holder receive an honor that his wife, Lonnie Ali, called ''overwhelming.''
''It is especially humbling for Muhammad, who has said on many occasions, 'All I did was to stand up for what I believe,''' Lonnie Ali said.
The 70-year-old retired champ, hobbled by a 30-year battle with Parkinson's disease, did not speak. But he stood with assistance to receive the medal from his daughter Laila Ali.
PENN STATE
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Nearly three months after Penn State said it wanted to settle ''privately, expeditiously and fairly'' with the boys Jerry Sandusky sexually abused, lawyers for the victims from his criminal case and other potential claimants say the school has not followed up with concrete action.
The attorneys told The Associated Press in recent days that they had very limited contact with the university and, if that continues, more lawsuits may follow the four now under way.
PRO BASKETBALL
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dwight Howard won't finish his rehabilitation from back surgery in time for the start of the Los Angeles Lakers' training camp or their first preseason game next month.
The Lakers provided an update on the newly acquired center's condition on their website, confirming their long-anticipated decision to take it easy in Howard's return from spinal surgery.
The team doesn't intend to announce a timetable for Howard's recovery, but says he won't participate in the start of training camp on Oct. 2, or the preseason opener in Fresno five days later.
The six-time All-Star has said he hopes to be ready for the start of the regular season Oct. 30, but the team isn't speculating.
SOCCER
LONDON (AP) - The English Football Association apologized to the city of Liverpool and the families of 96 fans who died in the Hillsborough stadium tragedy in 1989, Britain's worst sports disaster.
Secret papers disclosed Wednesday from an independent panel said Hillsborough, the home of Sheffield Wednesday, didn't have a valid safety certificate when it hosted the fateful FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
Nearly 800 others were injured when police officers herded about 2,000 Liverpool fans into caged-in enclosures that were already full.
The report said crowd-safety dangers at the stadium were well known and ''foreseeable,'' and Sheffield Wednesday's ''primary consideration was cost'' rather than safety.
