Young Makes Himself Eligible for NFL Draft

Vince Young is headed to the NFL.

The Texas quarterback, who led the Longhorns to their first national championship in 36 years, announced Sunday he would make himself eligible for the April draft.

Young maintained during the season that he would return for his senior year, but said his Rose Bowl performance put him “over the top.”

“Hard work has paid off a whole lot,” he said.

Young sparked Texas’ 41-38 Rose Bowl win over USC on Wednesday, and he would have been a leading candidate to win the Heisman Trophy had he decided to return.

Young thanked many people, including his family and Coach Mack Brown, who was at the American Football Coaches Assn. convention and could not attend Sunday’s news conference. Young specifically thanked Brown for “helping me become a better man.”

In a statement, Brown said he met with Young and his family Sunday morning and fully supports Young’s decision.

The only other scholarship quarterback on the Texas roster, freshman Colt McCoy, was a redshirt last season and didn’t take a snap.

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Michigan’s No. 2 quarterback, Matt Gutierrez, said he is leaving the Wolverines and will play for Idaho State in the fall.... Kansas cornerback-receiver Charles Gordon will pass up his senior season for the NFL draft.... Ohio State cornerback Ashton Youboty will pass up his senior season for the NFL draft.

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A leader from the National Organization for Women has asked Joe Paterno to resign over comments the Penn State football coach made last week about an alleged sexual assault.

Joanne Tosti-Vasey, president of NOW in Pennsylvania, said that she was “appalled” by Paterno’s comments.

Paterno’s remarks came when a reporter asked about Florida State linebacker A.J. Nicholson, who was accused of sexual assault and sent home before Tuesday’s Orange Bowl.

Paterno said: “There’s some tough -- there’s so many people gravitating to these kids. He may not have even known what he was getting into, Nicholson. They knock on the door; somebody may knock on the door; a cute girl knocks on the door. What do you do?”

TENNIS

Hingis Is No Match for Henin-Hardenne

Justine Henin-Hardenne beat Martina Hingis, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round at the Sydney International at Sydney, Australia, giving the former No. 1 player a dose of reality in her comeback.

A five-time Grand Slam singles winner who has been off the WTA Tour since 2002 because of foot and heel problems, the Swiss star won three matches on the Gold Coast last week in her first full tournament in three years.

But this was her first match against a top 10 player. Hingis was broken in her opening service game and generally struggled with the pace as Henin-Hardenne attacked the slower second serves.

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Amy Frazier overcame a slow start to beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-0, in the first round of the Hobart International tournament at Hobart, Australia.

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Scottish teenager Andy Murray won his first-round match at the $430,000 Heineken Open at Auckland but stirred controversy by saying he and his opponent had “played like women.”

The 18-year-old Murray made the comment in a courtside interview immediately after his 7-5, 6-2 win over Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark.

Spectators booed loudly when Murray said “we were both playing like women” in a first set in which there were seven breaks of serve.

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Ivan Ljubicic won the Chennai Open at Madras, India, with a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over Carlos Moya.... Florent Serra won the Adelaide International at Adelaide, Australia, defeating Xavier Malisse, 6-3, 6-4.

WINTER SPORTS

Rocca Remains Unbeaten in Slalom

Giorgio Rocca of Italy remained unbeaten in the slalom this season, winning a World Cup race at Adelboden, Switzerland.

Ted Ligety of the U.S. finished a career-best second.

Overall champion Bode Miller veered off course in the first run.

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Austria’s Marlies Schild won her third World Cup slalom in a row, with Kristina Koznick fourth and Lindsey Kildow ninth in a good day for U.S. skiers at Maribor, Slovenia.

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The International Ski Federation wants the U.S. ski team to address the latest controversy surrounding outspoken reigning overall World Cup champion Bode Miller.

Miller, 28, told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that “there have been times when I’ve been in really tough shape at the top of the course. Talk about a hard challenge right there.... If you ever tried to ski when you’re wasted, it’s not easy.” Asked if the risk meant he would never ski drunk again, Miller replied, “No, I’m not saying that.”

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Kikkan Randall rallied from 10 seconds down to tie Liz Stephen for first place in the women’s five-kilometer race at the U.S. Cross-Country Championships at Midway, Utah. In the men’s race, defending champion James Southam made it two consecutive titles.

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Kyle Nissen led Canada to a sweep of the top four spots at a World Cup aerials event at Ste-Adele, Canada, and Swiss skiers Evelyne Leu and Manuela Mueller finished 1-2 among the women.

BASEBALL

Aurilia, Reds Agree to One-Year Deal

Second baseman Rich Aurilia and the Cincinnati Reds agreed to a $1.3-million, one-year contract about three hours before the team would have lost the right to re-sign him until May. Free agents offered arbitration have until Jan. 8 to re-sign with their former teams. After that, they can’t re-sign until May 1. Also letting the deadline pass were infielder Alex Gonzalez and Tampa Bay, and pitcher Pedro Astacio and San Diego.

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Cincinnati utility player Ryan Freel was arrested on an alcohol-related charge at a pool hall at Tampa, Fla. He was released from jail after posting $250 bail.

SOCCER

Pachuca, Monterrey Win InterLiga Matches

Richard Nunez scored the game-winning goal in injury time to lead Pachuca to a 2-1 victory over Morelia, and Reinaldo Navia scored two goals to lead Monterrey to a 2-1 victory over Veracruz in InterLiga matches at Frisco, Texas.

Pachuca evened its record at 1-1; Morelia fell to 0-1-1 in Group A play in the tournament that will determine which two Mexican teams advance to play in the Copa Libertadores. Monterrey, 1-0-1, leads Group A. Veracruz fell to 1-1.

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Burton Albion, a semipro team that includes a trainer and a sports shop assistant, played mighty Manchester United to a 0-0 tie in the FA Cup at London.

United Manager Alex Ferguson rested many of his stars and started virtually a backup team, including U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard.

MISCELLANY

Baldomir Is Not the Undisputed Champion

Boxer Carlos Baldomir, who upset welterweight champion Zab Judah on Saturday night, won only the World Boxing Council version of the title because he never paid the sanctioning fees to the World Boxing Assn. or the International Boxing Federation.

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Former Carolina Panther linebacker Mark Fields was arrested late last month at Phoenix on drunk-driving charges after his car was seen drifting out of his lane of traffic, police said.

Fields was released after signing papers promising to appear in court on the charges.