HOOPS: Wolff, Higgins, Blumberg honored
Veteran sports broadcaster Bob Wolff, basketball official Tim Higgins and the late Joel Blumberg, a former radio producer and announcer, will receive this year’s distinguished service awards by the Met Basketball Writers Association. The trio will be honored at the NIT/MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner tonight.
* Temple assistant Matt Langel was hired as the new coach at Colgate. He succeeds Emmett Davis, who was let go after a 7-23 season. . . . Karl Hobbs resigned as coach at George Washington after 10 seasons.
NBA: Rose vows to play tonight
Derrick Rose, hobbled by a sprained ankle, plans to suit up for Game 5 when the Bulls try to close out their first-round series with the Pacers tonight in Chicago. . . . Kobe Bryant has a sprained left ankle, but coach Phil Jackson said he’ll play when the Lakers face the Hornets tonight in Game 5 with the series tied at 2-2.
* Lakers forward Derrick Caracter was arrested Sunday in New Orleans, accused of public drunkenness and shoving a pregnant cashier at a pancake restaurant.
MLB: Schieffer to run Dodgers
Former Texas Rangers president J. Thomas Schieffer was hired by commissioner Bud Selig to run the Dodgers, less than a week after MLB took over operation of the franchise from owner Frank McCourt.
* Former Yankee Ian Kennedy (3-1) threw a three-hitter, outpitching Cliff Lee to lift the Diamondbacks to a 4-0 victory over the Phillies. . . . Omar Infante lined a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning to rally the Marlins to a 5-4 win over the Dodgers. . . . Corey Patterson and Jose Bautista homered on consecutive pitches as the Blue Jays beat the Rangers 6-4. . . . Jered Weaver struck out 10 and won his sixth straight start in the Angels’ 5-0 victory over the A’s.
ETC.: Joe Perry dead at 84
Hall of Fame fullback Joe Perry, the first player with back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons and nicknamed “The Jet” for his sensational speed, died yesterday in Arizona. He was 84. A member of the “Million Dollar Backfield,” the three-time Pro Bowler played 14 years of a 16-year career with the 49ers and two with the Baltimore Colts.
* Zdeno Chara of the Bruins, Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom and Nashville’s Shea Weber are finalists for the Norris Trophy awarded to the NHL’s top all-around defenseman. The winner will be announced June 22.