Off the wire

FOOTBALL Miami denies claim

Miami Hurricanes trustee Bernie Kosar said the school held back 10 football scholarships last season in response to an ongoing NCAA probe, a claim that was quickly denied by athletic department officials.Kosar, the former Hurricanes and NFL quarterback, made the comment before Miami’s season-opener against Florida Atlantic and said the move hampered the school’s recruiting efforts in South Florida. Shortly after Kosar spoke, Miami spokesman Chris Yandle said the statement was incorrect, though it was not made clear if Kosar erred on the number or if any scholarship sanction was self-imposed at all. “To go the last two years and self-impose the bowl bans, and then not having 10 scholarships last year … when you’re that thin with your number of scholarships and you have that many gifted players in our community, it’s really hard to get out to everyone that you’d really like to have,” Kosar said. Earlier this month, the former Cleveland quarterback angered St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher for criticizing players while working as a commentator for a broadcast of a preseason Browns-Rams game, and Kosar - who was at Miami on Friday with many former teammates as part of the school’s 30th anniversary celebration of the 1983 national championship squad - even quipped Friday night that he had to be careful with his words.

MOTOR SPORTS Larson selected

HAMPTON, Ga. - Kyle Larson has been tapped to replace Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 car at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The announcement was made Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the 21-year-old Larson will compete this weekend in a Nationwide Series race. EGR dumped Montoya after only two wins in eight Sprint Cup seasons. The former Indianapolis 500 winner and Formula One driver is 22nd in the Cup standings. Larson ranks eighth in the Nationwide standings as a rookie. He has never competed in a Cup race, but team owner Chip Ganassi hopes to get the youngster some experience in the final 12 races of the season. Ganassi knows there are questions about Larson’s lack of experience but describes him as the “future of the sport” and a “unique talent.”

IndyCar has installed new rules involving drivers and the safety of pit crew members in the wake of Scott Dixon’s mishap at Sonoma last week. Dixon was on his way to victory when he received a drive through penalty with 15 laps to go for clipping a tire in the left hand of a member of Will Power’s crew. The incident occurred when Dixon’s Honda left his pit directly behind Power’s Chevrolet. The rules instituted Friday define where pit crews should stand during the race. As drivers prepared for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Baltimore, IndyCar added point-of-reference “courtesy zones” to the outside edges of each pit box to aid in monitoring pit stop conduct. In addition, IndyCar added a rule which reinforces its pit stop code of conduct.

NHRA rookie Brittany Force raced to the Top Fuel qualifying lead Friday in the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. Force, the daughter of Funny Car star John Force, powered her 8,000-horsepower dragster to a 3.820-second run at 313.44 mph. “I’m so excited and we’re definitely feeling good right now,” Force said. “My guys have worked so hard and we’ve certainly struggled and a had a lot of ups and downs this year, but to get this first (provisional) No. 1 I’m really excited about it. We’re fighting for our first win and hopefully we can do it at the biggest race of the year.” Bob Tasca III topped the Funny Car field, Allen Johnson had the Pro Stock lead and Matt Smith led in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Tasca had a 4.085 at 312.28, Johnson finished in 6.661 at 207.02, and Smith ran a 7.010 at 192. The event ends the 18-race regular season. The top 10 in each division will qualify for the six-race Countdown to the Championship.

Klaus Graf took the pole Friday for the American Le Mans Series race today at the Grand Prix of Baltimore. Graf had a course-record lap of 1 minute, 25.290 seconds on the street circuit, averaging 86.106 mph in the No. 6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Honda HPD prototype that he co-drives with Lucas Luhr. Indy-Car veteran Ryan Briscoe won the P2 class pole in the No. 551 Honda Prototype with a lap of 1:27.170. Bill Auberlen took the GT class pole in the No. 55 BMW owned by Bobby Rahal, David Letterman and Mike Lanigan with a lap of 1:29.560.

HORSE RACING ‘Watch’ takes Stakes

Midnight Watch beat Teen Pauline by 1½ lengths Friday inthe $100,000 Riskaverse Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course at Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and trained by Keiren McLaughlin, Midnight Watch ran a mile on the turf course in 1:35.29 and paid $6.20, $3.70 and $3.10. She earned $60,000 for Darley Stable. Teen Pauline returned $4.80 and $3.30, and Unbelievable Dream, third of nine, paid $7 to show.

BASEBALL Balentien hits 52nd

Former major leaguer Wladimir Balentien hit his 52nd home run of the season on Friday to move within three of Japanese baseball’s season record. Balentien’s Yakult Swallows have 30 games remaining in the regular season for him to equal the record of 55 set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964 and matched by ex-major leaguers Tuffy Rhodes in 2001 and Alex Cabrera in 2002. Balentien’s solo homer in the bottom of the fourth inning at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo helped the Swallows beat the Yokohama DeNa BayStars 8-2. Balentien played for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds before signing with the Swallows in 2011. He hit 31 homers in each of his first two seasons in Japan. The 29-year-old player, who was born in Curacao, missed the first 12 games of the season after injuring his leg while playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. Rhodes and Cabrera drew more walks as they attempted to break Oh’s record. Randy Bass hit 54 home runs for the Hanshin Tigers in 1985 but was intentionally walked in the last game of the season by the pitcher on the Yomiuri Giants, then managed by Oh.

Tampa Bay starter David Price is certainly regretting his choice to take a taxi to the Oakland Coliseum on Friday. With the Bay Bridge closed all weekend, the alternate route ran him a whopping $202 - and he posted live updates of his frustrating adventure on Twitter during the long journey. Manager Joe Maddon took the team bus, leaving at 2 p.m. and arriving at the ballpark at 3:45. But Maddon had bargained on a 1-hour trip and left his headphones behind. While he had a fully charged cellphone and iPad, he opted to use the time planning a cross-country off season RV trip. Maddon said he plans to ride BART public transit before tonight’s game.

SOCCER Impact fined

Major League Soccer has fined the Montreal Impact and coach Marco Schallibaum for the team’s skirmish with the Houston Dynamo. Schallibaum was not at the Aug. 24 game because he was already serving a two-game suspension. He left the bench area and got into a shouting match in the previous game. He was fined nevertheless because this was the second time the Impact violated league rules regarding “mass confrontation.” The Dynamo were not fined but can be if they violate the rule again. The amounts of the fines were not disclosed. MLS also fined Toronto FC forward Robert Earnshaw and Philadelphia Union defender Sheanon Williams for making contact with opponent’s heads. Columbus Crew forward Federico Higuain was fined for failing to leave the field promptly after a red card.

BASKETBALL Melo waived

The Memphis Grizzlies have waived Fab Melo two weeks after sending forward Donte Greene to the Boston Celtics to acquire the Brazilian center. The Grizzlies announced the move Friday. The 7-foot, 255-pound Melo was the 22nd pick overall in 2012 after playing two seasons at Syracuse. Melo played in only six games for Boston, averaging 1.2 points and 6 minutes per game. He played in 33 games for the Maine Red Claws in the NBA D-League.

Basketball star Lamar Odom was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence early Friday after a California Highway Patrol officer saw his white Mercedes-Benz traveling erratically on a San Fernando Valley Freeway. The husband of reality TV star Khloe Kardashian was stopped shortly before 4 a.m. and was arrested after a field sobriety test. The CHP said Odom’s car was observed traveling in a “serpentine manner” before he pulled off the freeway. Authorities said he later declined to take a chemical test. Odom, 33, was booked for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and jailed on $15,000 bail. He was released Friday morning after posting bond. The 6-foot-10-inch forward has played for the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks. After spending the 2012 season with the Dallas Mavericks, he returned to the Clippers last year. He became a free agent at the end of the season.