North Carolina coach Butch Davis suspended defensive tackle Marvin Austin indefinitely on Wednesday for violating unspecified team rules.

"This decision is not a result of the ongoing NCAA review," Davis said in a brief statement issued by the school. "Marvin has violated team rules and has neglected his responsibilities to the team."

Less than a week away from a high-profile opener, Butch Davis doesn't sound too certain of who will take the field for North Carolina.

The 18th-ranked Tar Heels are weighed down by an NCAA investigation into agent-related benefits as well as a probe into potential academic misconduct. So instead of enjoying the buzz that comes with starting his fourth season against No. 21 LSU in Atlanta, Davis is answering questions — or, more accurately, not answering them — about who will be eligible to play.

"We're not preparing for worst-case scenarios," Davis said. "We're preparing for best-case scenarios."

Since Quail Hollow Club returned to the PGA Tour in 2003, big-name golfers from Tiger Woods to Phil Mickelson have said the Charlotte course could be the site for a major championship.

That will come in 2017 when it will host the PGA Championship, the final major of each pro season.

A state government official with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday that the PGA of America will make a formal announcement on Tuesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt the official announcement.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The Atlanta Braves brought a four-game losing streak to a shuddering halt with a resounding 12-3 victory over the Florida Marlins on Saturday.

The win allowed the Braves to maintain a two-game lead in the National League East over the Philadelphia Phillies, who had earlier defeated the San Diego Padres 3-1.

"We knew Philly won today," Braves starting pitcher Tim Hudson told reporters. "We knew we had to go out there and put up a 'W' (win) one way or another. It just happened to be pretty one-sided."

Hudson, who had no decisions in his previous two starts, recorded his 15th win of the season, striking out a career high 13 batters in seven innings while allowing one run on six hits and one walk.

LINCOLN COUNTY - Here is a list of tonight's high school football action for Lincoln County and surrounding area teams.

Bessemer City at Hunter Huss
Draughn at Cherryville
East Lincoln at Newton Conover
Lincolnton at South Point
North Lincoln at Bunker Hill
West Lincoln at North Wilkes

The investigation of North Carolina's football program has expanded into possible academic misconduct involving players and a woman who also has worked as a tutor for coach Butch Davis' son, school officials said Thursday night.

Athletic director Dick Baddour declined to identify the players or say how many may be involved, and he refused to specify what the possible violations may have been, saying only that they involved "a student tutor and student-athletes on the football team.

Brad Van Liew has raced alone around the world not once, but twice. Now, at age 42, he's preparing for a third race that will take him into some of the most treacherous seas on the planet.

"Of course it's a risky thing to do," Van Liew said on Wednesday shortly before he was to take his 60-foot yacht out for a shakedown to test its new sails and electronics as he prepares his boat for the Velux 5 Oceans race.

NFL owners have shown widespread support for going to an 18-game schedule but want to implement the change as part of a new labor agreement.

Commissioner Roger Goodell says owners see two more regular-season games — and two fewer preseason games — as the most logical way to enhance revenues in a difficult economic environment. He says it will be one of the main issues in talks on reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

Ryan Houston figures slimming down won't stop him from being the battering ram in North Carolina's ground attack.

Three years after arriving on campus as a 273-pound freshman, Houston is down almost 40 pounds entering his senior season. He's been a proven goal-line option and a lead ball carrier capable of wearing down defenses, and coach Butch Davis has said Houston is off to his best training camp with the No. 18 Tar Heels.

"I think he's found that ... every year he's gotten lighter, he's gotten stronger, he's gotten quicker, he's gotten more explosive," Davis said. "Last year he found that when the load was on his shoulders the second half of the season, that even being a little more fit and a little quicker would have served him a little better.

Jorge De La Rosa pitched seven effective innings and Carlos Gonzalez hit his 26th home run to lead the Colorado Rockies to a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.

Seth Smith also homered and Eric Young had a career-high three hits for the Rockies.

Huston Street worked the ninth for his 12th save.

South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders has been suspended indefinitely by coach Steve Spurrier for violating team rules.

Saunders was not at practice Monday night. Spurrier said after the workout that Saunders' absence was not connected to the NCAA's questioning of the senior this summer.

Count college sports among the sagging economy's latest victims.

A newly released NCAA report shows that just 14 of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools made money from campus athletics in the 2009 fiscal year, down from 25 the year before.

Researchers blame the sagging economy and suggested that next year's numbers could be even worse.

Tennessee Titans backup quarterback Chris Simms needs to add a new date to his 2010 season: an October trial in his New York City drugged-driving case.

Simms didn't make it Monday to a Manhattan court date in the case, which stems from a July 1 arrest. Police say he admitted smoking marijuana in his car; he says they misquoted him.

Lawyer Kim Richman declined to explain why Simms wasn't there, but the Titans are in the midst of training in Nashville and were set to play a preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night.

Many players came to the Wyndham Championship for a push into the PGA Tour's playoffs.

Not Arjun Atwal. He was playing for his spot on tour.

Atwal won by a stroke Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club, becoming the first Monday qualifier to win on the tour in 24 years.

After leading or sharing the lead after each of the first three rounds, Atwal shot a 3-under 67 in the final round. He finished at 20-under 260 and earned $918,000 — or, more than double the amount he previously earned this year, the reason why his future on tour had been in jeopardy.

By Mike Laheta

STANLEY, NC - While clouds and the chance of rain threatened the 6th Annual Clash of the Clergy this Saturday night, the weather held off and the fans in attendance were able to experience a full night of racing action.

Adam Vandiver started on the pole for the Stock Four division feature race. The first caution of the night fell for an early incident that involved points leader Lee Oiler, the 16 of Barney Fuller and the 4 car of Jeff Crump.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL '10: 6 players who could prevent Mark Ingram from winning another Heisman

Mark Ingram was the third consecutive sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. Hence, he becomes the third consecutive player who returns with a chance to match Ohio State's Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner of the coveted bronze statue.

Here are six player who could keep Ingram from winning another — other than his teammate, Trent Richardson, who might steal enough carries from Ingram to keep his numbers down.

Sanchez slightly better than Moore in dismal offensive showing; Jets beat Panthers 9-3

Mark Sanchez was lucky to avoid two interceptions and failed to get the New York Jets in the end zone despite great field position.

And he still had the better night of the two starting quarterbacks.

Matt Moore couldn't lead Carolina to any points on a night of bad passes, drops, penalties and dismal offense in the Jets' 9-3 victory over the Panthers on Saturday.

Sanchez completed 5 of 10 passes for 12 yards, a setback after he recovered from an interception on his first pass Monday against the Giants and looked sharp. LaDainian Tomlinson's 20-yard draw play was the Jets' top offensive play.

Jon Beason has played in the Pro Bowl the past two seasons. He set a Carolina franchise record last year with 169 tackles, displaying the speed, aggressiveness and hard-hitting that have made him one of the NFL's top middle linebackers.

So why in the heck would the Panthers move him to another position?

Look in the middle of the field at training camp these days and you won't find Beason. Instead, he's been shuffled to weakside linebacker in a gamble coach John Fox believes will make up for a key injury — while not limiting the effectiveness of perhaps his top defensive player.

Rolling Tide: Alabama No. 1 in AP preseason poll for first time since Bear's time

Alabama starts this season where it ended last season: No. 1.

Coach Nick Saban has the Tide rolling the way Bear Bryant did in his day, in the top spot of The Associated Press preseason poll for the first time since 1978.

Alabama received 54 of 60 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,491 points to easily outdistance No. 2 Ohio State in the Top 25 released Saturday.

The Buckeyes, who have been ranked no lower than 11th in the last eight preseason polls, received three first-place votes.

Boise State is No. 3, its best preseason ranking, following another undefeated season. Underdogs no more, the Broncos even received one first-place vote.

Donovan McNabb's presence in Washington, absence in Philadelphia seems to benefit both teams

Donovan McNabb likes to crack jokes, play loose and be silly.

His act wore thin in Philadelphia, even though he was the best quarterback in franchise history. In the nation's capital, McNabb is a welcomed addition. It begs the question: Are the Philadelphia Eagles better off without No. 5? Are the Washington Redskins better with him?

The answer could be yes to both questions.

McNabb went to six Pro Bowls and led the Eagles to eight playoff appearances, five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl in 11 seasons.

Entering Year 2 in Capers' 3-4 scheme, Packers keeping blitzes under wraps for preseason

As far as the Green Bay Packers are concerned, bland is the new blitz — at least when it comes to the preseason.

Entering their second year in defensive coordinator Dom Capers' 3-4 scheme, the Packers are facing a far more gentle learning curve to get ready for the regular season.

So unlike last year, when the defense was new and Capers felt players had to practice everything under game conditions, he's now keeping his most exotic blitzes under wraps and off of game film.

Capers said he intentionally went conservative in the Packers' first preseason game, a loss to Cleveland. He expects to do more of the same in Saturday's game at Seattle.

Homer Bailey pitched seven solid innings in his second start for the suspended Johnny Cueto, Brandon Phillips backed him with three hits and three RBIs and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 on Friday night for their season-high seventh straight victory.

The win, coupled with St. Louis' home loss to San Francisco, increased Cincinnati's lead in the NL Central to 4 1/2 games — the Reds' largest margin since May 18, 2002, when they held a five-game lead before finishing in third place. They are seeking their first division title since 1995, when they swept the Dodgers in the first round of the postseason.

The Reds had lost their previous 12 games at Dodger Stadium since winning on July 28, 2005.

India's Arjun Atwal fired a nine-under par 61 to match the tournament record and seize a two-stroke lead after the first round of the US PGA Wyndham Championship in Greensboro.

Atwal, who played his way into the field by firing a 67 at another course on Monday in a qualifying event, had a bogey-free round at the par-70 Sedgefield course on Thursday to equal the tournament mark set in 2008 by Sweden's Carl Pettersson.

"You get used to making a lot of birdies in the Monday qualifier otherwise you won?t make it," Atwal said. "I kind of continued that today. It was fun."

Brady throws for TD, Welker returns, Patriots cruise past Falcons 28-10 in preseason game

Wes Welker was back seven months after tearing up his left knee. Tom Brady wasted no time going to his favorite receiver.

On New England's second offensive play, Brady zipped a 6-yard pass to Welker. On the next play, they hooked up on a 14-yard completion. A third straight pass toward Welker was broken up by the Falcons, but the message was clear.

LINCOLN COUNTY – Tonight will mark the return of high school football with season openers for all count teams. It also means the return of the Lincoln Tribune Scoreboard where we run the results beginning on Friday night all week long.

Tonight’s games are: Bunker Hill at Cherryville, North Lincoln at Maiden, East Rutherford at Lincolnton, and West Wilkes at West Lincoln. These games all start at 7:30 p.m.

Burns will face East Lincoln at 8 p.m.

The East Rutherford at Lincolnton game will be the featured game on WLON-1050 AM.

As always, fans can text updates to (704) 931-8742 or send live photos from the game.

File photo by Ron McCann at SportPixNC.