Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — FOOTBALL

Panthers’ Smith breaks arm

Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith will miss the start of training camp with a broken left forearm. Blame it on a mysterious game of flag football. Smith’s agent, Derrick Fox,initially said Monday that the four time Pro Bowl pick was injured when he slipped playing with children at Smith’s annual youth football camp over the weekend in Charlotte, N.C. Later in the day, Fox said he wasn’t sure if it was a flag football game with kids or adults, raising questions if Smith may have violated his contract if he was involved in a game with adults. Smith will be sidelined for at least the first couple of weeks of camp, but is expected to be ready for the season opener Sept. 12 at the New York Giants. Smith had surgery Sunday night to have a small plate and screws inserted in his arm. Fox said while it’s the same arm he broke at the end of last season, it’s in a different spot and not his wrist. Smith suffered no nerve damage, is expected to make a full recovery and could return as soon as midway through the preseason. Fox said he had no knowledge of Smith playing in a flag football league, but was sure the Panthers would not take action against his contract since he’ll be ready for the start of the season.Standard NFL contracts bar playing football outside of team settings. The 31-year-old Smith ranks first in team history with 58 touchdowns and 32 games of 100 or more yards receiving. Smith, who led the NFL in catches, yards receiving and touchdown catches in 2005, had 65 catches for 982 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games last season.

The New Orleans Saints released six-year veteran defensive end Bobby McCray on Monday, abruptly parting ways with a playoff starter who helped New Orleans win its first Super Bowl title. Mc-Cray started all three of the defending champions’ playoff games last season, making six tackles and a memorable block that flattened Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner after an interception. McCray, 28, played in all 32 of the Saints’ regular season games during the past two seasons, starting eight, and was credited with 41 tackles, 7 1 /2 sacks and a forced fumble.

The San Diego Chargers on Monday released safety Kevin Ellison, who had been told by Coach Norv Turner to stay away from minicamp last month after his arrest on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance. Police in Redondo Beach said Ellison was arrested in late May after he was stopped for speeding in a school zone near his former high school. Police said a search of Ellison’s vehicle turned up 100 Vicodin pills. He was booked and released on $10,000 bail. Ellison, who played at Southern California, started nine games at strong safety as a rookie in 2009.

The brother of former NFL star William Perry says the “Fridge” has some hearing loss but is improving from a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks nerves. Fellow NFL standout Michael Dean Perry said Monday his 47-year-old brother has regained most of his strength and is back up to about 330 pounds as he recovers in his South Carolina home. Michael Dean Perry says his brother lost more than 100 pounds since he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome last year. William Perry spent time at a North Carolina rehab center before moving back home. William Perry played 10 seasons in the NFL. The lineman became a national celebrity during his rookie season with Chicago in 1985, helping the Bears to a Super Bowl title.

An Ohio State football recruit was shot and wounded twice in two months, and authorities believe the cases are unrelated. Jamel Turner, 18, was left in critical condition by a shooting early Saturday in Youngstown, Ohio. A 17-year-old girl was killed in the shooting. Police Capt. Rod Foley said Monday the case apparently was unrelated to a drive-by shooting April 16, when Turner was wounded. Foley declined to discuss a possible motive for the latest shooting, but said Turner and Tracy Banks, who was killed, apparently were intended victims of a shooter who fired from outside a house. In the April shooting, Turner was riding in a vehicle with two others on Interstate 680 in Youngstown when a dark car withtinted windows pulled alongside their vehicle and began shooting. Turner sustained a gunshot wound to the lower left ankle and another to the right hip. Turner was a defensive standout for Ursuline High School in his hometown of Youngstown, but was declared academically ineligible last August. He enrolled in Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, but left earlier this year.

BASKETBALL

Rivers: Wallace to retire

Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers says center Rasheed Wallace is probably going to retire. Rivers said on WEEI-AM on Monday that Wallace told him before Game 7 of the NBA Finals that he believed it was the last game of his career. Wallace has two years left on the contract he signed with the Celtics last summer. The 35-year-old would finish with 15,860 points and 7,321 rebounds in a 15-year career. The volatile big man was also the most ejected player of his era, with 30 ejections since such records started being kept in 1992. He played with four teams, winning the NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. The Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals 93-89 on Thursday.

The Portland Trail Blazers are paying the Golden State Warriors to move up 10 spots in the second round of Thursday’s draft. The Warriors announced Monday that they traded the 34th overall pick to Portland for the 44th pick and cash considerations. Golden State also has the sixth pick in the first round. Portland has the 22nd pick in the first round.

Washington Mystics rookie forward Jacinta Monroe is expected to miss six to eight weeks after having surgery to repair a broken left hand. The Mystics said Monday that Monroe was injured during the first half of their overtime victory against the Chicago Sky on Saturday. Monroe was the No. 6 overall draft pick from Florida State. She has played in nine games and is averaging 7.3 minutes and 2.0 points.

Forward LaRon Dendy is transferring from Iowa State to Middle Tennessee after one season with the Cyclones to be closer to his mother in South Carolina. The 6-2, 230-pound Dendy averaged 7.3 points and 3.6 rebounds coming off the bench. The Greenville, S.C., native shot 60 percent from the floor and ranked sixth in the Big 12 in blocked shots. He scored 14 points against then-No. 1 Texas and had 10 points in an upset of then-No. 5 Kansas. Dendy will have to sit out the 2010-11 season and will have one season of eligibility remaining after playing two years at Indian Hills Community College.

GOLF

Goosen wins five skins

Retief Goosen won five skins worth $75,000 Monday, while Canadian Mike Weir was shut out the first day of play at the Telus Skins Game in Victoria, British Columbia. Goosen, fresh from a poor performance at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, made five birdies during his nine-hole performance at the Bear Mountain Resort. Englishman Ian Poulter captured one skin worth $15,000. Camilo Villegas of Colombia and veteran Fred Couples of the United States were also shutout. The five golfers will play another nine holes today for a prize total of $360,000.

Women’s golf has a new No. 1 player in Ai Miyazato of Japan. Miyazato leads the latest world rankings released Monday following her victory Sunday at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway Township, N.J. Miyazato has won four LPGA events this year and this is the first time she is ranked No. 1. She replaces Jiyai Shin of South Korea, who became No. 1 on May 3 following the retirement of longtime topranked player Lorena Ochoa.

ATHLETICS

Moore, Hodge share top award

Connecticut forward Maya Moore and Penn State outside hitter Megan Hodge on Monday were named co-winners of the Honda-Broderick Cup. The two received the award given to the nation’s top female college athlete during a ceremony at UCLA. It was only the second time in the cup’s history that two athletes earned the honor. Moore led the Huskies to their second consecutive NCAA championship and was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player. In four years at Penn State, Hodge amassed a 142-5 record and finished her career with 2,142 kills.

HOCKEY

Coyotes re-sign Pyatt

The Phoenix Coyotes have resigned left wing Taylor Pyatt to a two-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed Monday. Pyatt had 12 goals and 11 assists in 74 regular-season games for Phoenix, plus one goal and one assist in seven playoff games. The 28-year old Pyatt signed with the Coyotes as a free agent last Sept. 2 after previously playing for Buffalo, Vancouver and the New York Islanders.

The San Jose Sharks have traded forward Brad Staubitz to the Minnesota Wild for a fifth-round draft pick. The 25-year-old Staubitz had 3 goals, 3 assists and 110 penalty minutes in 47 games last season for San Jose. The trade gives the Sharks five picks in this week’s draft.