Sports briefs 12/15/03

Baseball

Brian Cashman got a promise of more job security Sunday. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner decided to exercise his general manager's 2005 option, Steinbrenner spokesman Howard Rubenstein said. In an outburst during Game 2 of the first round of the AL playoffs, Steinbrenner said he was going to nullify the option and told Cashman he could seek the New York Mets' GM job, which then was open. Cashman said then he interpreted Steinbrenner's remarks as emotion, not permission to talk to other teams. Cashman, 36, took over as New York's general manager from Bob Watson in February 1998. Since then, the Yankees have won three World Series and five AL pennants.

College

Grand Valley State returned home early Sunday after capturing its second straight NCAA Division II football championship. The team and some fans who made the trip to the title game Saturday at Florence, Ala., flew into Grand Rapids shortly before 2 a.m.. Led by a police escort, the team arrived at its home field, Lubbers Stadium, just after 2:30 a.m. Grand Valley (14-1), which made its third straight appearance in the national title game, defeated North Dakota 10-3.

Golf

Davis Love III had a seven-shot lead that looked unbeatable until a couple of par putts lipped out and turned everything around. Tiger Woods, 10 shots behind with 10 holes to play, unleashed six birdies in seven holes to cut the lead to one. But Love pulled himself together with a 45-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, and finished with a two-shot victory in the Target World Challenge. He closed with an even-par 72 and earned $1.2 million, the biggest check of his career. Woods finished with three pars for a 65.

Hockey

A sports promoter wants to dispense with such details as a hockey game and get right to it: a pay-per-view hockey-fighting tournament. Promoter Darryl Wolski told The Winnipeg Sun he plans to round up 50 to 100 fighters for the Hockey Gladiators show. The brawls will last one to two minutes and judges will designate winners. The master enforcer will take home $50,000. Wolski wants to hold the tournament next summer in Grand Forks, N.D. Officials there confirmed discussions have taken place.

Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov will have shoulder surgery this week and could be out up to four months. Volchenkov partially dislocated his right shoulder in the second period of Monday's 2-2 tie with Boston. In his second season with the Senators, Volchenkov has a goal and two assists.

-- From wire reports