NBA Starts 'Last-Ditch' Talks; Baseball's Tentative Testing

Today in sports: Hawaii faces a point-shaving scandal, Urban Meyer denies Ohio rumors, and Hulk Hogan gets taken to the mat in his divorce.

Today in sports: Hawaii faces a point-shaving scandal, Urban Meyer denies Ohio rumors, and Hulk Hogan gets taken to the mat in his divorce.

• Police in Hawaii won't investigate players at the University of Hawaii in an alleged point-shaving scheme, saying on Tuesday they didn't have enough evidence to open the case after the school received an anonymous letter Nov. 3 "accusing unnamed players of intentionally playing poorly to affect the final score as part of a gambling scheme," the Associated Press reports. University officials wouldn't speak to reporters about the allegation on Wednesay, but said in a statement they took the allegations "very seriously." [AP]
• A new round of talks between N.B.A. players and owners got underway on Tuesday, this time with a solid deadline: to Play games on Christmas. The talks started so quietly, in fact, that they're only just now being discovered by the sports press. Yahoo Sports, which broke the story, described the talks as "last-ditch," as time is running out. "While the two sides have enough time to negotiate a deal for a shortened schedule for the 2011-12 season, they likely would have to reach agreement no later than this weekend if the league also hopes to save its showcase games scheduled for Christmas." [Yahoo Sports]
• Buckeyes fans, you're just going to have to be patient in learning who your new coach is. Some of the rumors: ESPN reports Urban Meyer, the former Florida coach and current ESPN analyst, has supposedly "agreed in principle to become coach" at Ohio State in a seven-year, $40 million deal. But he's denying that up and down. According to The New York Times, "In a statement on Wednesday morning, Meyer said: 'I have not been offered the job. I have not taken the job. I will not comment any further. I’m going to do Thanksgiving with my family.' "  Yes, it's hard to suppress the eagerness to get past the ugly memorabilia-for-cash scandal that broke earlier this year, but we're all going to have to just sit and wait, at least until after this long weekend. [ESPN / New York Times]
• Baseball played a bit of catch-up to other sports by including language in its new collective bargaining agreement specifically banning discrimination on the grounds of sexuality. But it's leading the way in another facet of the CBA: Implementing regular testing for human growth hormone. Other North American sports don't test for the banned performance-enhancing substance, so baseball's new regime is going to be something of a test case. At first, players will get blood tests in spring training, and again after the season, but not during it. "This on-again, off-again schedule for testing in the first year underscores just how daunting it is for the players union to agree to blood testing for the first time," The New York Times reports. But the testing frequency is expected to increase in future seasons, and other sports are looking on intently. [New York Times]
• Were they serious? It's hard to believe the International Amateur Boxing Association actually meant what it said about perhaps having female boxers wear skirts in next year's Summer Olympics in London. Certainly the fighters aren't buying it. The association, for its part, says the skirts won't be compulsory, and that it was "simply sounding out opinion from the national federations and the public." That opinion came back a resounding "no thanks" from the women preparing to fight in this week's pre-olympic test event in London. "They are boxers and they want to wear boxing kit,” Britain’s podium coach Dave Alloway told the Associated Press on Wednesday. [AP / Yahoo]
• Poor Hulk Hogan. It's been a long time since he had a victory in the ring, and now he's lost his shirt in a divorce settlement. His ex-wife, Linda Bollea, gets "a little more than 70 percent of the couple's liquid assets," according to the St. Petersburg Times. Linda Boella also gets a 40 percent ownership stake in the Hulkster's companies, and he has to pay her an additional $3 million "property settlement." Terry Boella (that's the Hulk's real name) did score a hit in not having to pay alimony, but Linda Boella already sold their beach house and can expect more payout from the sale of another house in Belleair. What a knockout blow. [St. Petersburg Times via Deadspin]