Sports briefs
Memphis selects Silverfield as coach
Memphis has hired Ryan Silverfield as the Tigers’ new coach, removing the interim tag given to him Sunday when Mike Norvell left for Florida State.
Athletic director Laird Veatch announced the hiring Friday, saying Memphis met with candidates from all over the country. Veatch said Silverfield won this job outright.
“He separated himself from our national field with his preparation, his own plan for moving us forward and his unwavering passion and commitment to the Memphis football program and our community,” Veatch said. “I am confident that coach Satterfield is the right man at the right time and I’m excited to join forces with him in the pursuit of more championships.”
Silverfield had Norvell’s deputy head coach and co-offensive coordinator in Memphis’ best season yet as the No. 15 Tigers went a school-record 12-1 and won the American Athletic Conference championship last week.
“He identified the needs of our program, along with the characteristics and experience of the individual needed to help this program take the next big step in its remarkable trajectory,” Memphis President M. David Rudd said in a statement.
Silverfield becomes the 25th head coach in Memphis history. He will make his debut Dec. 28 in the Cotton Bowl against No. 13 Penn State.
Stern has brain surgery
Former NBA Commissioner David Stern had emergency surgery after suffering a brain hemorrhage while having lunch not far from league headquarters.
The league had no update on his condition Friday.
The 77-year-old Stern underwent the operation at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital after he was stricken at a midtown Manhattan restaurant.
Stern served exactly 30 years as the NBA’s longest-tenured commissioner before Adam Silver succeeded him on Feb. 1, 2014.
In the NHL
Philadelphia Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom will miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a cancerous tumor that grows in the bones or in the tissue around bones.
The 23-year-old from Sweden had 11 goals and 18 points in 30 games this season. Lindblom has 30 goals in 134 career games over two-plus seasons with the Flyers. The Flyers had said earlier this week only that Lindblom would miss games because of an upper-body injury.
The Flyers said they will have no further comment and asked “that Oskar be afforded a period of privacy so that he may focus his efforts on his treatment and a return to full health.”
Cardinals release Suggs
he Arizona Cardinals have released veteran linebacker Terrell Suggs with three games remaining in a disappointing season for both the player and the team.
The 37-year-old Suggs had some good moments for the Cardinals early in the year but his production diminished in recent weeks. He’s played in all 13 games and has 35 tackles, including eight for a loss and 5 1/2 sacks.
Suggs, who played in high school in the Phoenix area and in college at Arizona State, signed with the Cardinals during the offseason after playing 16 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. The Cardinals have lost six straight games and have a 3-9-1 record.
Texas signs Lyles for $16M
The Texas Rangers completed a $16 million, two-year contract with free agent right-hander Jordan Lyles, finalizing a deal that had been agreed upon before this week’s winter meetings.
Lyles gets a $2 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million in each season. He was 7-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 11 starts at the end of last season for Milwaukee after he was acquired from Pittsburgh.