Sports in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

CEO of Arizona's Super Bowl committee resigns
PHOENIX—The CEO of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee has resigned from her post less than a week after launching its bid to host the 2011 Super Bowl.

Debbie Wardrop, CEO of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, submitted her letter of resignation to committee Chairman Mike Kennedy Thursday night. Kennedy told the committee's board of directors about Wardrop's decision Friday night.

"She made a decision she wanted to move on and I accepted that," Kennedy said.

Wardrop previously served in director positions for The Boulders Resort & Spa in Carefree and the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix. She did not return a phone call for comment Friday evening.

NFL owners are scheduled to meet with Kennedy and other committee members Wednesday to review the state's 2011 bid to host the Super Bowl.

Delegations from Indianapolis and Dallas, which are vying with Phoenix to host the game, also will meet with the league. NFL owners will hear presentations from the three bid committees and decide in May during their spring meeting in Nashville, Tenn. where to hold the 2011 game.

Arizona will host Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale next year.

Webb shuts down Nationals
WASHINGTON—Here’s how effective Brandon Webb was Saturday night: The only run he allowed came on a homer that might really have been a foul ball.

Last year’s NL Cy Young Award winner delivered much better results in his second start of 2007 than his first, scattering seven hits over seven innings to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 7-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.

Washington fell to 1-5 in becoming the only major league club since 1900 to trail by at least 4-0 in each of its first six games. The Nationals have been outscored 42-17 so far.

Wearing short sleeves even though the temperature at first pitch was 41, Webb (1-0) struck out eight and lowered his ERA from 9.00 to 4.50—he gave up five earned runs in five innings Monday at Colorado.

Eric Byrnes—wearing a stocking cap that covered everything but his eyes when he was in right field—homered for the Diamondbacks.

John Patterson (0-2), the closest thing Washington has to an established starter, labored through a 31-pitch first inning in which he allowed three runs and two hits with two walks. The big hit was Chad Tracy’s two-run double

Durant, Parker win Wooden awards
LOS ANGELES—Kevin Durant completed a sweep of the top six national player of the year honors. It was a humbling experience in more ways than one.

The Texas star won the John R. Wooden Award in a runaway Saturday to become the first freshman to receive the trophy, but friend and rival Acie Law of Texas A&M taught him a lesson on the Los Angeles Athletic Club basketball court a day earlier.

Candace Parker, the 6-foot-4 sophomore who led Tennessee to its seventh NCAA championship, won the women's Wooden Award.

"This is a huge honor," Parker said. "I'm a student of the game, I know who John Wooden is and what he's done for basketball. I have the pyramid of success on my wall."

Parker received 224 points in the balloting of more than 200 voters. She was followed by Harding (181), Paris (169), North Carolina senior Ivory Latta (112) and LSU junior Sylvia Fowles (76).

Durant outdistanced Ohio State freshman Greg Oden in the balloting of more than 1,000 voters, including media and college basketball experts. Previously, he won the Naismith Trophy, The Associated Press Player of the Year award, the Adolph Rupp Trophy, the NABC Player of the Year award, and the Oscar Robertson Trophy.

Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds—one of three players in the country to average more than 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Durant is the second Texas player to win the award, joining T.J. Ford, who won in 2003.

Durant received 4,351 points. He was followed by Oden (2,858), Wisconsin senior Alando Tucker (2,779), Law (2,708), North Carolina sophomore Tyler Hansbrough (2,142), UCLA junior Arron Afflalo (1,891), Florida junior Joakim Noah (1,741), Nevada senior Nick Fazekas (1,409), Kansas sophomore Brandon Rush (837) and Oregon senior Aaron Brooks (799).

"He's the best player I've ever played against," Law said of Durant. "There are no flaws to his game. The sky's the limit for him."

A-Rod’s grand slam lifts Yankees
NEW YORK—Alex Rodriguez made the New York Yankees forget Kei Igawa's forgettable debut.

A-Rod hit a grand slam off Chris Ray with two outs in the ninth inning, giving the Yankees a memorable 10-7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Rodriguez homered twice, doubled and drove in six runs. Two days earlier, he popped out with the bases loaded to end the eighth in a 7-6 loss to Tampa Bay, a performance reminiscent of his October flop.

Igawa left after five mediocre innings trailing 7-3.

But Jason Giambi hit a three-run homer in the eighth off Danny Baez to get the Yankees close. Ray (0-1) got the first two outs of the ninth before Robinson Cano singled, Derek Jeter walked and Bobby Abreu was hit by a pitch.

Rodriguez then connected on a 1-2 pitch, and knew it was gone as soon as he hit it. The ball landed in the black section of the bleachers in center for his 14th career slam and, after Rodriguez reached the dugout, Jeter shoved him back on the field for a curtain call.

Mariano Rivera (1-0) got the win with a one-hit ninth. Melvin Mora tied a career high with five RBIs for Baltimore,

Two days after Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched seven dominating innings to win his debut for the Boston Red Sox, Igawa started hearing boos after his 12th batter. He failed to string together a 1-2-3 inning and gave up seven runs, eight hits, three walks, a hit batter and two home runs, a performance that left him with a 12.60 ERA.