Sports digest 

Sports digest

Jeff Reardon, one of the top relief pitchers in history, was charged with robbing a jewelry store, then blamed his arrest on medication he was taking for depression.

The 50-year-old Reardon, retired since 1994 and sixth in career saves, walked into Hamilton Jewelers at the Gardens Mall on Monday and handed an employee a note saying he had a gun and the store was being robbed, police said Tuesday.

Reardfled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police found him at a nearby restaurant, recovered the stolen money and charged him with armed robbery.

Lt. David O'Neill said Reardon did not have a gun and offered no resistance when handcuffed.

Reardon briefly appeared in court Tuesday and was to be released on $5,000 bail.

The four-time All-Star was 73-77 with 367 saves and a 3.16 ERA in 16 seasons with the New York Mets, Montreal, Minnesota, Boston, the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees.

TOKYO - New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui has decided against joining Japan's squad at the 16-nation World Baseball Classic next March, a Japanese baseball official said Tuesday.

Kyodo News agency quoted the slugger as saying he wanted to concentrate on his role in the Yankees.

Matsui last month agreed to a four-year, $52 million contract with the Yankees and has repeatedly said he wants to improve on his statistics from last season, when he batted .305 with 23 homers and 116 RBIs.



Pro football

DENVER - Linebacker Al Wilson, defensive lineman Courtney Brown, cornerback Darrent Williams and running back Mike Anderson will all sit out of Denver's regular-season finale in San Diego this weekend to nurse injuries.

Wilson had surgery Monday to repair a broken right thumb. Brown has a sore knee and sore shoulder. Williams has missed the last two weeks with an injured groin.

Anderson sprained his ankle last Saturday against the Raiders.

Denver (12-3) has secured the second seed in the AFC and can't move up. San Diego (9-6) has been eliminated from playoff contention.



College football

GREELEY, Colo. - Northern Colorado chose Nebraska assistant Scott Downing as its new head coach Tuesday.

Downing has coached tight ends and kickers at Nebraska since 2002 after arriving from Purdue, where he helped coach Joe Tiller for six years. He also worked with Tiller for six years at Wyoming.

Coach O. Kay Dalton was fired Dec. 2 after six seasons at UNC, where he compiled a 38-31 overall record, including a 4-7 record - 0-5 in the Great West Conference - this season.

SAN DIEGO - Jim Harbaugh agreed Tuesday to a four-year contract to remain as coach at the University of San Diego, a non-scholarship Division I-AA school that had the most exciting football team in town this fall.

Harbaugh was courted by three Division I-A schools in recent weeks, but chose to stay at the small Catholic university.

In his second season as head coach, Harbaugh led the Toreros to a school-best 11-1 record and their first Pioneer Football League title.

The Toreros also won the Sports Network Cup after finishing ranked No. 1 in the I-AA Mid-Major poll.

Harbaugh was an early candidate for the San Diego State job after Tom Craft was fired, but withdrew his name from consideration. Chuck Long was eventually hired at San Diego State.

Harbaugh was also a candidate for the head coaching jobs at Rice and Temple.



College basketball

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Hall of Famer Pat Summitt and her Tennessee Volunteers have reached another memorable number.

Tennessee (10-0) and Summitt on Monday became the first coach and program to earn 100 appearances in the No. 1 spot of the weekly Associated Press women's basketball rankings.

The Volunteers will play at Temple on Wednesday night.

In the 30-year history of the rankings, the Vols, coached by Summitt (892-172) for the entire time, have missed only 14 appearances out of 506 rankings.

Twenty schools have reached the top spot in the AP rankings, with Connecticut in the runner-up spot for appearances with 94, followed by Louisiana Tech (83), Texas (47), Old Dominion (34), Virginia (24), Duke (23), Southern Cal (16), Louisiana State (15), and Auburn (11).



Hockey

TORONTO - Maple Leafs forward Darcy Tucker was fined $2,500 by the NHL on Tuesday for pulling off the helmet of New Jersey's Cam Janssen during a wild fight and twice hitting the winger on the head with it.

Tucker escaped further punishment from the league after his ejection from Monday night's game was reviewed by NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell.

"We did not feel it was Tucker's intent to hurt Janssen with the helmet," Campbell said Tuesday. "He was trying to get the helmet off and I don't think he was trying to use it as a weapon."

Tucker said after the game that his actions came "in the heat of the moment."

"I didn't really know what the penalty was for until I got to the dressing room," he added.

The Maple Leafs won 2-1, giving Toronto consecutive victories for the first time since Nov. 26-28.



Women's hockey

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Olympic veterans Jenny Potter, Katie King, Tricia Dunn-Luomam and Angela Ruggiero were selected Tuesday for the U.S. women's hockey team that will compete at the Turin Games.

The four players will be competing in their third Olympics. Krissy Wendell, a silver medalist in 2002, will captain the 20-player squad coached by Ben Smith.

"We have had an arduous four months where we've been tested under fire and we're looking forward to bringing this group of 20 athletes together to make the final push," Smith said.

Also chosen by USA Hockey were 2002 Olympic forwards Julie Chu and Natalie Darwitz. Kathleen Kauth, Kristin King, Kim Insalaco, Sarah Parsons and Kelly Stephens will make their Olympic debuts.

On defense, the squad has three returning Olympians in Ruggiero, Courtney Kennedy and Lyndsay Wall. Helen Resor, Caitlin Cahow, Jamie Hagerman and Molly Engstrom will play in their first games.

Also new to the Olympics are goaltenders Chanda Gunn and Pam Dreyer.

Cammi Granato, who had played in the previous two Olympics for the U.S. team, was cut during training camp.

Seventeen of the 20 players on the roster were on the gold medalist U.S. team at the 2005 women's world championship in April.

The U.S. women play Canada in an exhibition on Friday in St. Paul.