Geoffrey Mutai, Firehiwot Dado win at NYC Marathon

Geoffrey Mutai shattered the course record in the New York City Marathon on Sunday, no surprise after he ran the fastest marathon ever earlier this year.

Firehiwot Dado wasn't a favorite coming into the women's race and victory seemed impossible with even a few miles left. But the Ethiopian made a stunning comeback for her first major marathon title

Mutai finished in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds, crushing the previous mark of 2:07:43 set by Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia a decade earlier.

The 30-year-old has established himself as the favorite at next summer's Olympics after two landmark performances this year.

In April, he ran the fastest 26.2 miles in history: 2:03:02 in Boston. It didn't count as a world record because the course is considered too straight and too downhill.

The second- and third-place finishers Sunday also broke the old course record. Fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai (no relation), the London Marathon champ, was 1:22 back. Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia was third.

Dado trailed London Marathon champ Mary Keitany by nearly 2 1/2 minutes at the 15-mile mark but passed her with about a mile left. The 27-year-old Dado won in 2:23:15 - almost a minute better than her previous personal best.

Fellow Ethiopian Buzunesh Deba, who lives in the Bronx, was second for her first podium finish at a major marathon, four seconds back. It was the second-closest women's finish in the race's history.

"I didn't really think we would catch her," Dado said through a translator in a post-race interview. "When we caught up to her, I was very surprised."

Keitany was third, 23 seconds back. The Kenyan was well under course-record pace for much of the race but faded badly over the final miles.

A record 47,107 runners started the race through the five boroughs.

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Missouri to SEC is done deal

After weeks of waiting, Missouri's move to the Southeastern Conference became official on Sunday.

The SEC released a statement saying the conference's presidents and chancellors acted unanimously, and Missouri will join the league effective July 1, 2012.

"The Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference are pleased to welcome the University of Missouri to the SEC," Florida President Bernie Machen said in a statement. "The University of Missouri is a prestigious academic institution with a strong athletic tradition and a culture similar to our current institutions."

Missouri will be leaving the Big 12, a conference it has been a part of since 1907, including its days as the Big Eight.

"The Southeastern Conference is a highly successful, stable, premier athletic conference that offers exciting opportunities for the University of Missouri," Missouri Chancellor Brady J. Deaton said. "In joining the SEC, MU partners with universities distinguished for their academic programs and their emphasis on student success. The SEC will provide our student-athletes with top flight competition and unparalleled visibility. We came to this decision after careful consideration of the long term best interests of our university.

"We believe the Southeastern Conference is an outstanding home for the Mizzou Tigers, and we take great pride in our association with this distinguished league."

The addition of Missouri will increase SEC membership to 14 schools, including Texas A&M, which announced last month that it was also leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

Asked what division Missouri would be in, Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long posted on his Twitter account that Missouri will be in the "East initially."

Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas declined comment.

Sunday's announcement comes as no surprise. Last month the Missouri board of curators gave Deaton the permission to change leagues and from that point on it seemed only a matter of time before the Tigers said goodbye to the Big 12.

Apparently, legal issues and other details took time to work out. The Big 12 needed to have a replacement for Missouri lined up, because the conference needs 10 schools to fulfill its TV contracts.

The Big 12 took care of that and bid farewell to Missouri 10 days ago, when it invited West Virginia from the Big East to join the conference. The league did not even list Missouri among the schools it anticipated would be competing in the Big 12 next year.

But despite what the SEC and Big 12 plan, the Big East still will have a say in when Missouri and West Virginia will be allowed to start competing in their new conference homes.

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto has been adamant about enforcing the league's 27-month notification period and holding West Virginia in the conference for the next two years.

West Virginia filed a lawsuit challenging that rule and the Big East countered with a lawsuit asking the courts to make the school abide by its contract.

The Big East is in rebuilding mode now and is expected to start adding new members in the next few days. The league last week approved inviting Boise State, Navy and Air Force for football only and SMU, Houston and Central Florida for all sports.

Its goal is to form a 12-team football league, but even if all the schools its targeting accept invitations, there are various hurdles that would have to be cleared - including waiting periods and exit fees - to have them in the Big East by 2012.

It's possible Missouri could be stuck in the Big 12 until West Virginia can depart from the Big East.

The SEC had said it was working on schedules for a 13-team conference when Texas A&M joined.

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NBA players get new offer, and deadline to take it

Commissioner David Stern gave NBA players an offer and a deadline: Accept a chance to earn up to 51 percent of basketball-related income by Wednesday or get ready for a deal that's a whole lot worse.

He wouldn't call it an ultimatum, but it didn't sure sit well with the union.

"The players will not be intimidated," attorney Jeffrey Kessler said early Sunday after eight hours of negotiations stretched late into the night. "They want to play, they want a season, but they are not going to sacrifice the future of all NBA players under these types of threats of intimidation. It's not happening on Derek Fisher's watch; it's not happening on Billy Hunter's watch; it's not happening on the watch of this executive committee."

Kessler said the proposal was really 50.2 percent for the players and called the chance of them ever reaching 51 percent a "fraud" and an "illusion."

Whatever. If players don't agree to it by Wednesday, Stern said they would get a deal that would guarantee them just 47 percent of BRI and call for a flex salary cap.

"We hope that this juxtaposition will cause the union to assess its position and accept the deal," Stern said.

Thus ended another frustrating day, one that puts a lengthy 2011-12 season in doubt.

"Today was another sad day for our fans, for arena workers, our parking lot attendants, our vendors. Very frustrating, sad day," union president Fisher added. "We, for sure, unequivocally, made good faith efforts to try to get this deal done tonight. And we're at a loss for why we could not close it out."

And it remains difficult to see how they can. Stern certainly wouldn't speculate on the chances.

"I'm not going to make percentage guesses or anything like that. We want our players to play. We'd like to have a season," he said. "These are the terms upon which we're prepared to gear up and get in as many games as possible."

Players and owners met with federal mediator George Cohen for more than eight hours, and Stern said Cohen offered six "what if?" recommendations relating to the BRI split and the salary cap system.

Stern said owners accepted the first five and would put them in writing in a formal proposal to the players, hopefully Sunday. But it wasn't acceptable Saturday, with Stern saying Kessler rejected it.

"I think it's fair to say that speaking on behalf of the union, Mr. Kessler rejected the mediators' recommendations and our proposal," Stern said. "But hope springs eternal, and we would love to see the union accept the proposal that is now on the table."

Though insistent on no more than a 50-50 split, owners will offer the players a band that would allow them to receive between 49 percent and 51 percent of revenue. However, Stern's description of how it would work was confusing, and Kessler said under "the wildest, most unimaginable, favorable projections and we might squeeze out to 50.2."

Fisher said the players' proposal would have given them about 51 percent, with a portion taken out to use for retired players' benefits

Day 128 of the lockout came at the end of a tenuous week in which both sides seemed as much at odds with themselves as each other. Some players took part in conference calls to discuss the option of decertifying the union and filing an antitrust case against the league, while hardline owners were in favor of offering the players 47 percent now and not going beyond 50.

Although the lengthy meeting offered hope of compromise - despite the rare attendance of Hall of Famer and Charlotte owner Michael Jordan, and Portland billionaire owners Paul Allen, considered to be hard-liners - Kessler said owners never really made any.

"They came in here with a prearranged plan to try to strong arm the players," he said. "They knew today they were sticking to 50, essentially 50.2. They were going to make almost no movement on the system, and then they were going to say, 'My way, or the 47 percent highway.'"

He added there was no reason to talk again before Wednesday if the owners stick to their current position.

Other items in the new owners' proposal related to rules for teams paying the luxury tax and for the use of the midlevel exception. Players have said the system issues are just as important as the BRI split, because they fear owners' proposals essentially would prevent teams in the biggest markets from being free agent options.

A month of the season already has been lost, and more games could be in jeopardy soon. Nobody said the decertification threat made any real impact on the discussions, but Fisher also said there's not a deal yet that's worth a vote.

If they can't agree to one by Wednesday, it will be even harder to find common ground. Players already rejected a flex cap in June.

Fisher and Kessler again questioned the owners' willingness to negotiate, but Stern said they were ready to make a deal - by Wednesday.

"We want to allow the union enough time to consider our most recent proposal, and we are hopeful that they will accept," he said.

As for the Wednesday deadline, he added that it "doesn't aid the negotiating process to just leave it hanging out there."

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LSU locks up No. 1, Okla St jump to 2 in AP poll

LSU put a lock on the top spot, Oklahoma State moved up to No. 2 for the best ranking in school history, and Alabama slipped to No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll after losing a 1 vs. 2 showdown against the Tigers.

LSU received 59 out of 60 first-place votes after beating the Crimson Tide 9-6 in overtime in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday night.

Oklahoma State moved up one spot after a wild 52-45 victory against Kansas State and Stanford also moved up a spot to third.

Alabama slipped two spots Sunday. Boise State remained No. 5 with one first-place vote.

The rest of the top 10 was No. 6 Oregon, followed by Oklahoma, Arkansas, Clemson and Virginia Tech.

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