Former University of Kansas employees charged in ticket scheme

Federal prosecutors charged five former University of Kansas employees Thursday with conspiring to steal more than $2 million in tickets to athletic events.

Investigators said the conspirators made between $3 million and $5 million in the scheme over five years.

Prosecutors singled out former associate athletic director Charlette Blubaugh, who was in charge of the ticket office. They said she began stealing tickets in 2005 and gave them to other key athletic department employees to sell, either personally or through third parties.

Blubaugh, 43, of Medford, Okla., was charged along with her husband, Thomas Blubaugh, 46, who was a consultant to the ticket office.

Also charged were former assistant athletic director Rodney Jones, 42, of Lawrence; former associate athletic director Ben Kirtland, 54, of Lenexa, Kan.; and Kassie Liebsch, 28, of Lawrence, who was a systems analyst working in the ticket office. The school said Liebsch resigned Thursday.

All five are scheduled to appear Dec. 8 in federal court in Wichita.

Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo received a $500,000 raise, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball. Athletic Director Mark Hollis said Izzo signed an amendment to his contract last week that increases his annual compensation to $3.49 million. Izzo has won a national championship and six Big Ten titles. He has led the Spartans to six of the last 12 Final Fours.

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Jazz will be without Sloan for two games

Utah Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan will not be with the team for the next two games so he can attend the funeral for a family member. Assistant coach Phil Johnson will take over for Friday’s home game against San Antonio and Saturday’s game at Portland.

Golden State Warriors forward David Lee was released from a hospital after having a second procedure on his left elbow to treat an infection.

American A.J. Moye was hospitalized after suffering a stroke following a head-on collision with a teammate in practice in Germany. Moye’s team, Deutsche Bank Skyliners Frankfurt, said the 28-year-old forward was taken to a hospital for “intensive examinations.” The Skyliners said both players continued practicing after the collision Monday, but that Moye had trouble finding words during a phone conversation that evening with his stepfather.

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Pop Warner will require doctor’s note from players with concussions

Pop Warner, the nation’s oldest and largest youth football organization, will require a note from a doctor before letting any player who has suffered a head injury back on the field.

“It takes all the pressure off a coach,” said Jon Butler, Pop Warner’s executive director. “There is no decision — the child is out until being signed off by a trained medical professional.”

The organization also announced the creation of a national medical advisory board. The chairman is Dr. Julian Bailes, who works with the NFL Players Assn. on concussion-related issues and is chairman of neurosurgery at West Virginia University’s medical school.

Soccer’s governing body suspended two executive committee members from voting for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts after completing a corruption investigation. FIFA’s ethics panel banned Nigeria’s Amos Adamu from all soccer activity for three years for agreeing to take bribes from undercover reporters from the British Sunday Times who posed as lobbyists trying to buy votes. Reynald Temarii of Tahiti, the president of Oceania’s confederation, was suspended for one year for breaching FIFA’s loyalty and confidentiality rules when he was secretly filmed in the undercover sting.

The Vancouver Whitecaps, who will join Major League Soccer next season, made U.S. defender Jay DeMerit their first MLS signing.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mattias Ritola was suspended for two games for hitting Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders from behind in a game Wednesday.

Calgary Flames forward Olli Jokinen was suspended for three games for a cross check to the head of Phoenix Coyotes forward Wojtek Wolski during the third period of Calgary’s 3-1 loss Wednesday.

A 40-year-old Azusa man was arrested on suspicion of stealing Dodgers catcher Jimmy Campanis’ 1988 World Series ring from his golf bag at a charity tournament. Police in La Verne said Frank Carrillo was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of grand theft and possession of stolen property in connection with Monday’s theft at Western Hills Golf Course in Chino Hills. Officers told the Whittier Daily News that they found the ring while investigating Carillo’s suspected involvement in a series of thefts at a different country club. A Rolex watch that Campanis also reported as stolen was found at a pawn shop in Ontario.

PGA Tour winner Matt Bettencourt shot an eight-under-par 64 at Del Monte, taking a two-stroke lead in the Pebble Beach Invitational, while Annika Sorenstam opened with a 69 in a rare competitive start since her retirement in 2008. Bettencourt, the Reno-Tahoe Open winner in July who finished 114th on the 2010 money list, had two eagles, five birdies and a bogey in the tournament, which features 76 male and female players.

The UCLA and UC Irvine women’s soccer teams have advanced to the third round of the NCAA playoffs. UCLA (13-7-2) will play Stanford (20-0-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. at Stanford. Irvine (19-2-2) will host Washington (12-8-2) on Saturday at 6 p.m.

UCLA, which entered the playoffs unranked for the first time since 1999, has advanced to the College Cup — soccer’s equivalent of basketball’s Final Four — seven consecutive years but has never won a championship. Irvine is making its first NCAA tournament appearance.

Women’s lacrosse will become USC’s 21st NCAA sport — and 12th women’s sport — beginning in the 2012-13 season, the school announced. USC, which currently has a club team, will compete as part of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, joining Stanford, Denver, Oregon, UC Davis, St. Mary’s and Fresno State. The team will play games on campus and at the Coliseum.