Sports briefs 11/30/05

Baseball

• Reliever Bobby Howry and the Chicago Cubs finalized their $12 million, three-year contract Tuesday The 32-year-old right-hander, who was to appear at a Wrigley Field news conference, was 7-4 with a 2.47 in 79 relief appearances with the Cleveland Indians last season and held batters to a .191 average. He became the second free agent reliever added to the Cubs' bullpen, joining left-hander Scott Eyre. Both are former members of the Chicago White Sox.

* Vic Power, a flashy fielding All-Star and the last major leaguer to steal home twice in a game, died Tuesday. He was 78.

Power died of cancer in a hospital in a suburb of San Juan.

A four-time All-Star who won seven Gold Gloves at first base from 1958-64, Power was known for his showy, one-handed snags. He hit .284 with 126 home runs and 658 RBIs in a 12-year career, mostly with the Athletics, Cleveland and Minnesota.

Basketball

• Unhappy forward Tim Thomas and the Chicago Bulls have parted ways, even though he will remain on the roster while the team explores trade possibilities.

General manager John Paxson said Thomas will remain with his family in New York but won't be released. Acquired from New York in the trade that sent Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis to the Knicks, Thomas has a contract that calls for nearly $14 million this season.

He appeared in just three of the Bulls' first 11 games, averaged four points and earlier complained about his lack of playing time, saying if he wasn't going to play he would be better off being traded.

College basketball

• Illinois coach Bruce Weber didn't let an appendectomy keep him from coaching his team last season, so a broken ankle should hardly slow him down.

The coach broke his right ankle Monday while working in his back yard in Champaign, just before the 12th-ranked Illini were to depart for Tuesday's game at North Carolina. But Weber made the plane and was at the team's two-hour evening practice, sports information director Kent Brown said. Weber will wear a protective boot for the next 10 days to two weeks, Brown said.

College football

• Southern California tailback Reggie Bush won the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year award for the second straight season, and was joined by eight Trojans teammates on the all-conference team.

Bush, one of the leading contenders to win the Heisman Trophy, leads the nation in all-purpose yards with an average of 212.5 per game, including 127.1 yards per game on the ground. He has scored 16 touchdowns for the top-ranked Trojans (11-0), who have won 33 straight games.

Football

• A man arrested for running onto the field during the Philadelphia Eagles' game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday told Philadelphia police he was spreading his late mother's ashes.

Christopher Noteboom, of Tempe, Ariz., ran onto the field holding a plastic bag, leaving a cloud of fine powder behind.

As he reached the 30-yard line, he dropped to his knees, made the sign of the cross and laid down on his stomach. Security personnel reached him moments later and he offered no resistance as he was escorted from the field.

Hockey

• The St. Louis Blues claimed forward Simon Gamache on waivers from the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, the club said.

Gamache, 24, played in 11 games this season with the Nashville Predators. He also skated in five games with the Predators' AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, where he had one goal and three assists and two penalty minutes.

Gamache, 5-10, 186 pounds, finished fifth in the AHL in scoring in 2004-05 while playing with Milwaukee with 86 points (29 goals, 57 assists) in 80 games played.

The Blues also assigned defenseman Jeff Woywitka to the team's AHL affiliate in Peoria.

Motorsports

• Tony Stewart was unanimously chosen by his fellow drivers as the Sporting News NASCAR Nextel Cup Driver of the Year, the magazine said Tuesday. Stewart had his second NASCAR Cup championship in four years. He had five victories, three poles and 17 top five finishes.

Tennis

• Martina Hingis is returning to professional tennis -- again.

The former top-ranked player, who retired from the WTA Tour three years ago because of an ankle injury, won five Grand Slam singles titles in her career and was the youngest player to be ranked No. 1.

The Swiss player made a brief comeback in February, losing in the first round of the Volvo Women's Open in Thailand.

-- From wire reports