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Bale agrees to 1-year deal with Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Left-hander John Bale and the Kansas City Royals agreed Tuesday to a one-year contract.

Bale was 0-3 with a 4.39 ERA in 2008, appearing in just 13 games while struggling with injuries -- one self-inflicted.

While on the disabled list in May with shoulder tightness, Bale broke his pitching hand by punching a hotel room door while the Royals were in Cleveland. He apologized to Kansas City fans, but the reason for his anger remained unknown.

The six-season veteran came to the Royals in 2007 after stints with Cincinnati, Baltimore and Toronto. The 34-year-old became a free agent on Dec. 12 after he was not offered a contract by the Royals.

Missouri board approves $25M tax breaks for Chiefs

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A state board approves $25 million in tax credits for additional improvements at the Kansas City Chiefs stadium.

Part of the money will be used to build a new Chiefs training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. The indoor facility is expected to open in 2010, ending the Chiefs' tradition of training in River Falls, Wis.

Supporters say the change will help Missouri tourism. Republican Sen. Charlie Shields, of St. Joseph, says the professional football training camp also will transform his city's image.

Democratic Sen. Wes Shoemyer, of Clarence, warned of a potential public and political backlash for providing tax breaks benefiting sports teams in a bad economy.

The Missouri Development Finance Board approved the deal by a 10-0 vote Tuesday.

3-time All-America Laurinaitis heads AP team

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis is an AP All-American for the third consecutive season, joining Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree on the first team.

Alabama put more players on the first team than any school, about 1,000 pounds of linemen. Offensive tackle Andre Smith, listed at 330 pounds, was a unanimous first-team choice, and was joined by center Antoine Caldwell.

Crimson Tide nose guard Terrence Cody, listed at 365 pounds, anchored the top-ranked defense in the Southeastern Conference.

Texas' Colt McCoy, the Heisman runner-up, was the second-team quarterback and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow made the third team.

Oklahoma RB Murray to miss title game with injury

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray will have surgery to repair a hamstring injury and miss the BCS national championship game against Florida.

Murray will undergo surgery on Dec. 22 to repair the tendon in his left leg, Sooners' coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday. The championship game is Jan. 8.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed for DeMarco," Stoops said in a statement. "He has been an important part of our success this year and we will miss his contributions."

Murray was Oklahoma's leading rusher before he was injured in the Big 12 championship game against Missouri on Dec. 6. The injury was first diagnosed as a bruise but an MRI exam revealed the damage.

Murray, now the team's second-leading rusher with 1,002 yards, will be replaced by Mossis Madu. Chris Brown leads the Sooners with 1,010 yards.

"With Chris Brown and Mossis Madu, we still have two very fine backs," Stoops said. "Our team has a lot of confidence in their abilities."

Murray also had 395 receiving yards and was second on the team with 18 touchdowns. He will be able to resume training in about five months, said Oklahoma athletic trainer Scott Anderson.

Madu has rushed for 463 yards and six touchdowns as the third-team back. He filled in for Murray during the Big 12 title game and carried 15 times for 114 yards and three touchdowns.

BCS championship to be available live in 3-D

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- College football live in 3-D is coming soon -- possibly to a theater near you.

Thanks to an impressive -- though not glitch-free -- test broadcast of an NFL game two weeks ago, Burbank, Calif.-based 3Ality Digital said Tuesday it had won the contract to shoot the Jan. 8 BCS National Championship game in 3-D.

The game between Florida and Oklahoma will be broadcast live in 3-D to 80 to 100 movie theaters in about 30 U.S. cities, said 3Ality Chairman David Modell. Tickets are expected to cost $18 to $22, said Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp., which is working with 3Ality to deliver the broadcasts to theaters.

"We will take what we learned from the NFL shoot and apply it to this so this broadcast gets better," said Modell, 47, former president of the Baltimore Ravens.

This month's test 3-D broadcast of an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers went black twice before the half as the satellite signal went down. And some camera moves had people in the audience crossing their eyes and removing their polarized lenses.

But audiences -- test runs were done in Boston, New York and Los Angeles -- generally approved of the technology, which adds depth to the field and gives a sense of being there in person. Shots of cheerleaders were a big hit.

"There's been lots of post-morteming," Modell said. "Mostly it's been warm handshakes, hugs and backslaps for having done a good job."

Modell said the format will be roughly the same as it was during the test screening, which had eight 3-D camera crews beside their 2-D counterparts, and a separate set of commentators.