Sports digest 12/5/01

Kansas names Mangino head football coach

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Mark Mangino, who helped mold Oklahoma's national championship team last year, was named Tuesday as head coach at Kansas.

Mangino, the Sooners' offensive coordinator, will take over for Terry Allen, who was fired with three games left in his fifth straight losing season. The Jayhawks have had six losing years in a row and have been wholly ineffective in the rugged Big 12.

Before joining head coach Bob Stoops at Oklahoma three years ago, Mangino was an assistant coach for eight years at Kansas State. Known as a standout recruiter, he was the Sooners' offensive coordinator the past two years.

The Jayhawks finished the 2001 season with a 3-8 record.

A year ago, Mangino won the Frank Broyles award as the nation's best assistant football coach.

World Series shares remain in decline

NEW YORK -- Despite higher ticket prices, World Series shares declined for the third straight year.

A full share for the World Series-champion Arizona Diamondbacks was worth $279,260.41, the commissioner's office said Tuesday. That's down from the winning shares for the New York Yankees of $294,783.41 last year, $307,808.70 for 1999 and $312,042.41 for 1998.

The total player pool -- from 60 percent of the ticket money from the first three games of each division series, the first four games of each league championship series and the first four games of the World Series -- was $42,171,126.77, down from $43,011,843.00 last year.

The price of box seats for World Series games was $175, up $15 from last year.

Yankees, Karsay close to deal

NEW YORK -- In what is likely to be their first move of the offseason, the New York Yankees closed in Monday on a four-year contract with reliever Steve Karsay worth about $21 million.

Karsay, a 29-year-old right-hander, began last season with Cleveland, then was traded to Atlanta on June 22 along with Steve Reed for John Rocker.

Karsay was 0-1 with one save and a 1.25 ERA in 31 games for Cleveland, striking out 44 in 43 2-3 innings. He then went 3-4 with a 3.43 ERA in 43 games for Atlanta, striking out 49 in 44 2-3 innings.

-- From wire reports