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■ BASEBALL

Matsui to miss World Classic

New York Yankees star Hideki Matsui won’t play for Japan in the World Baseball Classic in March as he continues to recover from surgery to repair ligament damage in his left knee. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said the 34-year-old Matsui won’t be ready to participate in the 16-team international tournament, MLB.com reported. Matsui sat out 69 games last season and underwent surgery in September. Japan won the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox are among the MLB players who may play for the defending champions next year.



■ SKIING

Ex-NFL man mulls return

Out of the NFL, Jeremy Bloom is returning to the US ski team to possibly revive his freestyle skiing career in time for the Vancouver Olympics. The 26-year-old Bloom announced on Monday he’s returning to the American team this week for its annual fall camp, where he’ll evaluate how he feels. Bloom traveled to Switzerland last month, where he was on skis for the first time since ending his freestyle career after the Turin Olympics. He said things felt pretty good, and it made him decide to reconnect with the US team. “I’m open to wherever that decision may take me,” Bloom said. “There are some questions to be answered, for sure. I haven’t said this is a full-blown, 2010 comeback, but it could very well lead to that. That’s a question to be answered in a little bit of time.” A star receiver and kick returner at Colorado in college, Bloom had to give up football after being told skiing endorsements made him ineligible to compete in the NCAA. He competed at the 2006 Olympics, where he finished sixth in the moguls. He then went on to the NFL. A fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, he fought injuries and never caught on. His NFL career ended this summer when he was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers.



■ SOCCER

Camara clicks as Wigan win

Henri Camara’s goal gave Wigan a much-needed 1-0 win over Everton on Monday in their English Premier League clash and lifted them out of the relegation zone. The 31-year-old — a hero for Senegal in the 2002 World Cup when they reached the quarter-finals after his golden goal beat Sweden in the round of 16 — struck in the 51st minute to give his side a welcome three points. His goal means that Wigan gain a bit of breathing space in the relegation battle and that Premier League giants Newcastle descend back into the bottom three. However, despite the victory Wigan manager Steve Bruce was not happy. “It was arguably one of our worst performances this season — we have played better and lost,” he said. His Everton counterpart David Moyes held his hands up for a really dreadful performance by his side. “I was hoping for more from us but it was a poor performance,” the ever frank Scot said.



■ BASKETBALL

Wizards sack coach Jordan

The Washington Wizards fired Eddie Jordan on Monday after a 1-10 start to the season and appointed director of player development Ed Tapscott as interim head coach. “At 1-10 it was an unacceptable record obviously and we felt a change needed to be made,” president Ernie Grunfeld told a news conference. “We need to do things a little bit different. These things are always very difficult especially since Eddie and I have become very good friends over the last five years.”


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