Off the wire

BASKETBALL NBA admits blown call

The NBA said Thursday that its referees made a mistake when they ejected Los Angeles forward Blake Griffin in the Clippers’ 105-103 loss at Golden State on Wednesday night. Griffin was ejected for his second technical with 10:43 left after scuffling with Andrew Bogut, following Warriors forward Draymond Green to the showers after they got into it at the end of the third. “After a league review of the Clippers-Warriors game, we have come to the conclusion that Blake Griffin should not have been ejected from the game,” said Rod Thorn, the NBA’s president of basketball operations. “A common foul should have been called on Griffin for initially attempting to dislodge the Warriors’ Andrew Bogut and a technical foul should have been assessed to Bogut for grabbing Griffin by the shirt and wrestling with him.” With Griffin gone, the Clippers missed several key chances in the waning moments. “If you look at it, I didn’t do anything and I got thrown out of the game,” Griffin said after the game. “It all boils down to they [referees] fell for it.” The NBA also fined Green $15,000 on Thursday for failing to leave the court in a timely manner after his ejection.

BASEBALL Tanaka picks agent

Masahiro Tanaka, the 25-year old pitching ace from Japan, is officially up for grabs for Major League Baseball teams but they will have to go through Casey Close, the prominent baseball agent at Excel Sports Management who also represents Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees and pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The window to negotiate for Tanaka’s rights will close Jan. 24. Tanaka, who went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA during the regular season for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, was under contract, but the team relented this week and decided to let him leave for the majors. Close, 50, has handled several of the sport’s top players. He previously worked at IMG and CAA, representing Ryan Howard, Ben Sheets, Kenny Lofton and others. He joined Excel in 2011.

Paul Blair, the eight-time Gold Glove center fielder who helped the Baltimore Orioles win World Series titles in 1966 and 1970, has died. He was 69. Blair died Thursday night at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, according to a hospital spokesman. Blair was with the Orioles from 1964-76. He then played for the New York Yankees, winning World Series in 1977 and 1978, and the Cincinnati Reds. In 17 seasons in the majors, he hit .250 with 134 home runs, 620 RBI and 171 stolen bases. Blair appeared in six World Series, two All-Star games and won Gold Gloves in 1967 and 1969-75.

FOOTBALL

Bowden’s grandson dies

Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden’s grandson was one of two men killed when their car flipped into a small ditch off a central Florida road, officials said Thursday. Taylor Jeffrey Bowden, 23, and driver Rafael Fernandes De Aguiar Valim, 25, died in the crash, according to a news release from the Polk County Sheriff ’s Office. A third man in the crash, 22-year-old Robert Lewis Edwards, was rescued after spending hours in water up to his neck. “Our whole family had just celebrated Christmas together in Panama City, as well as celebrated T.J.’s graduation from Florida State just threeweeks ago,” Bobby Bowden said in a statement released by the University of Akron, where son Terry is the football coach. “We will cherish those last memories together with T.J. forever.” T.J. Bowden was the son of Jeff Bowden. Details of the crash were being investigated. In September 2004, Bobby Bowden’s grandson, 15-year-old Bowden Madden, and former son-in-law John Allen Madden were killed when their car was hit a by a utility truck that was helping to restore power outages caused by Hurricane Frances.

Former All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha will retire after 11 years in the NFL. The Raiders said Asomugha will announce his retirement officially at a news conference at team headquarters today.Asomugha had his greatest success in the NFL with the Raiders after being drafted in the first round out of California in 2003. He earned three Pro Bowl selections in eight seasons in Oakland and was a first-team All-Pro in 2008 and 2010. Asomugha struggled after joining Philadelphia as a high-profile free agent in 2011. After two seasons with the Eagles, Asomugha played three games with San Francisco this season before being cut last month.

Dallas receiver Dez Bryant said Thursday he will play in a winner-take-all finale against Philadelphia on Sunday despite missing practice because of a persistent back problem. Bryant was downgraded on the practice report Thursday, a day after being a limited participant when the back flared up. He said he aggravated his back in the 24-23 victory over Washington. The Cowboys (8-7) play the Eagles (9-6) on Sunday night in their third consecutive regular-season finale with the NFC East title and a playoff berth on the line.HOCKEY

U.S. tops Czech Republic

Providence’s Jon Gillies made 23 saves Thursday to help the United States open its world junior title defense with a 5-1 victory over the Czech Republic in Malmo, Sweden.AP ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

James named top male athlete

MIAMI - The only thing that keeps LeBron James up worrying at night is basketball, which makes perfect sense and no sense.

On one hand, he’s the game’s best player. On the other, he is rarely impressed with himself.

Even after a year like 2013 - when a spectacular wedding, a second NBA championship and a fourth MVP award were among the many highlights enjoyed by the Miami Heat star - he still is striving for greatness even though his enormous list of accomplishments just keeps growing.

James was announced Thursday as The Associated Press’ 2013 Male Athlete of the Year, becoming just the third basketball player to capture the award that has been given annually since 1931. James received 31 of 96 votes cast in a poll of news organizations, beating Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (20) and NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson (7).

“I’m chasing something, and it’s bigger than me as a basketball player,” James told The AP. “I believe my calling is much higher than being a basketball player. I can inspire people. Youth is huge to me. If I can get kids to look at me as a role model, as a leader, a superhero … those things mean so much, and that’s what I think I was built for.”

Past winners include Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Carl Lewis, Joe Montana, Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps. Serena Williams was the AP Female Athlete of the Year, announced Wednesday.

James joins Michael Jordan and Larry Bird as NBA players to win the award.

James has appeared in 98 games in 2013, and the Heat have won 78 of them. None of those was bigger than the four Miami won in the NBA Finals against San Antonio. James was at his best in Game 7 when he scored 37 points, including the jump shot with 27.9 seconds left that essentially was the clincher.

“He always rises to the occasion when it matters the most,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said.