Sports Digest: Spartans' Dawson earns Big Ten honor

Pro baseball

CUBS AGREE TO MINOR LEAGUE DEALS WITH VETS: Veteran pitchers Rodrigo Lopez and Trever Miller have agreed to minor league deals with the Cubs.

The Cubs made the announcement Monday and said both players were invited to spring training.

Lopez returns to the Cubs after going 6-6 with a 4.42 ERA in 26 games last season. The right-hander made 16 starts for Chicago.

The 38-year-old Miller is 18-17 with 11 saves and a 4.18 ERA in 694 major league appearances. The lefty pitched for the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Red Sox last season.

Also agreeing to minor league deals were catcher, Jason Jaramillo and infielders Alfredo Amezaga, Bobby Scales and Matt Tolbert.

Pro football

IRSAY HOPES TO HALT TALK OF MANNING: Jim Irsay did his own politicking Monday.

Instead of talking about Peyton Manning and the franchise quarterback's future in Indianapolis, the Colts owner quickly tossed the football to a real politician.

"When I was asked about Peyton, I was going to say why don't you ask Mitch (Daniels) about his presidential run? Any comments Mitch?" Irsay said drawing laughter as he turned to the Indiana governor.

Irsay's diversionary tactic didn't work.

With the Manning-Irsay spat still dominating talk around town, Irsay tried to deflect attention away from this week's biggest distraction and put the focus squarely back on the Super Bowl matching the New York Giants against the New England Patriots.

Last week, after Manning went public with his complaints about the dour atmosphere at the team's complex, Irsay retorted with his own public rant -- calling Manning a "politician" and contending he had been "campaigning."

The two tried to put an end to the spat Friday by issuing a joint statement that essentially said they had spoken and reconciled.

FORMER COLTS COACH HIRED BY RAVENS: Jim Caldwell is back in the NFL, this time as the Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach.

The 57-year-old Caldwell was hired on Monday by the Ravens. The appointment comes less than two weeks after Caldwell was fired as head coach of the Colts following a 2-14 season.

Caldwell went 26-22 in three years with Indianapolis, including a Super Bowl appearance.

College basketball

SPARTANS' DAWSON NAMED POW: Michigan State freshman Branden Dawson was named Big Ten Men's Freshman Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, a first in the Lew Wallace grad's promising college career.

Dawson scored a career-high 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and added four rebounds and four blocks in the Spartans" win over Minnesota.

PSU'S EDWARDS HONORED AS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore guard Ryan Edwards was named NJCAA Region IV Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 29.

The honor is Edwards' second of the year, coming after she posted 43 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and six steals in three games during the week.

In 23 games this season, Edwards is averaging 14.7 points per contest.

Women's bowling

VU FINISHES FIFTH AT KUTZTOWN INVITATIONAL: Top-ranked Valparaiso University finished fifth Sunday at the Kutztown Invitational in Reading, Pa. The Crusaders were 1-2 in Baker play on the final day of the event.

Men's soccer

FOUR VU PLAYERS EARN ACADEMIC HONORS: Valparaiso University's Kevin Miller, Todd Vervynckt, Wei Ming Wong and Kyle Zobeck were each named to the Horizon League's All-Academic squad. Miller (3.952 GPA) is a physics major, Zobeck (3.966) and Vervynckt (3.952) are mechanical engineering majors and Wong (3.804) is an international business and finance major.

Women's soccer

VU'S HOAGLIN EARNS HORIZON LEAGUE HONOR: Valparaiso University's Rachel Hoaglin has been named to the Horizon League's All-Academic squad. Hoaglin (3.73) is a sports management and marketing double major.

Prep sports

INDIANA EXTREME TO BATTLE FOR IOAA STATE TITLE: After winning a pair of games during the Richmond semifinals, Indiana Extreme will play for the Indiana Outreach Athletic Association state title during the weekend of Feb. 11-12.

Indiana Extreme, based in Gary and coached by Boris Bowie, beat the Evansville Stars 79-52, the Richmond Knights 69-63 and then the Kokomo Bears 89-47 in the championship.

Indiana Extreme is a five-time defending state champion.

Around the horn

New Houston Astros owner Jim Crane says he won't change the team's name. Crane said last week he was considering a switch. But he emailed a video message to season-ticket holders on Monday saying, "one thing that we are not going to change is the name." ... NCAA President Mark Emmert reiterated his support Monday for a two-round, four-team BCS championship playoff and his concern about the discord conference expansion creates. Emmert said Monday there are ongoing discussions about what he described as a Final Four model, a scenario which would've matched LSU against Stanford and Alabama versus Oklahoma State this season with the winners advancing to the title game. Alabama defeated LSU 21-0 to avenge its lone loss and win the championship.