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From The Associated Press

NFL clears Pacman Jones to play for Cowboys

IRVING, Texas—Adam “Pacman” Jones did what he had to do to get back into the NFL for real. He stayed out of trouble.

The cornerback-kick returner was fully reinstated Thursday from his 17-month NFL suspension, which followed an accumulation of arrests and legal problems, and is clear to play for the Dallas Cowboys during the regular season.

“This is another step in the process,” Jones in a statement released by the team. “I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I understand my responsibilities to the Dallas Cowboys and the National Football League. Right now I just want to keep working hard so I can accomplish the goals that I have set for myself both on and off the field.”

Since being cleared almost three months ago by commissioner Roger Goodell to practice with the Cowboys, who acquired the cornerback from Tennessee, Jones had repeatedly expressed confidence that he would be reinstated for the regular season and said he was doing everything expected of him.

Still, there was a sense of relief when he got the official news.

“There’s no sure thing in life. It’s nice to finally get the affirmation for all the hard work he’s put in,” Jones’ agent and attorney, Manny Arora, said after speaking to his client. “The rest is up to him. It’s time to play football. He’s a very motivated player.”

And a player that has to continue to stay out of trouble to stay in the NFL.

Jones has been arrested six times and involved in a dozen incidents requiring police intervention since the Titans drafted him in the first round in 2005. His last NFL game was Dec. 31, 2006.

Oscar confirms Pacquiao bout, bags retirement talk

Oscar De La Hoya finally has an opponent for his farewell fight — only the Golden Boy’s tantalizing matchup with Manny Pacquiao might not be his final bout after all.

De La Hoya and Pacquiao have confirmed their plan to meet Dec. 6 in Las Vegas, matching the most popular star in boxing with arguably the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighter.

After Pacquiao, the dynamic Filipino lightweight, agreed to move up 12 pounds to welterweight, De La Hoya inked a deal for what’s certain to be boxing’s most lucrative bout since his split-decision loss last year to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the richest fight in boxing history.

Yet De La Hoya (39-5-0, 30 KOs) changed the fight’s stakes Thursday when he acknowledged he wasn’t sure he’ll retire afterward. De La Hoya repeatedly had said he would quit boxing after this year, but his inability to land a rematch with Mayweather in September might have altered his plans.

“Let’s just say my foot’s got caught in the door,” De La Hoya said. “My focus is my training. My focus is my next fight. I’m not going to talk about retirement. I’m not going to think about retirement. I want to be 100 percent focused on the job I’ve got to take care of, and we’ll see after the fight how I feel.”

De La Hoya will take on Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs) at the MGM Grand Garden, which has hosted each of his last six fights except his victory over Steve Forbes last May in Carson, Calif. Given De La Hoya’s worldwide popularity and Pacquiao’s fanatical following in his native Philippines, the fight seems likely to challenge the HBO pay-per-view records set by De La Hoya’s fight with Mayweather.

Man United gets Celtic in Champions League draw

MONTE CARLO, Monaco—Defending champion Manchester United will face British rival Celtic in the group stage of the Champions League.

United will also meet Villarreal and Aalborg in the 32-team phase, with the first round scheduled for Sept. 16-17.

“We always love to draw the champion of Europe as we did last year (with FC Barcelona),” Celtic striker Scott McDonald said after the draw Thursday. “All of those things add up to good things and get us to the next round again. They’re going to be fantastic games.”

United’s trip to Villarreal in Group E will revive bad memories of striker Wayne Rooney’s sending off there in September 2005 when Alex Ferguson’s side failed to progress into the knockout phase.

Chelsea, which lost May’s final on penalty kicks to the Red Devils, also has a relatively easy group, featuring AS Roma, Bordeaux and newcomer CFR Cluj.

Five-time champion Liverpool was drawn alongside PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid and Marseille.

Baseball’s replay central resembles NASA

NEW YORK—Baseball’s replay central is an 18-by-24 foot room on the fifth floor of a former baking factory in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District that’s crammed with so many computers and television screens that it looks like NASA’s Mission Control.

Five monitors stretch across the top of the wall, and beneath are eight, 46-inch screens split into two rows. Each television can show one picture, or be split into nine, 16, 25 or 100 angles at once.

In the third row are two white Macintosh computers with 19-inch screens, each adjacent to a 26-inch TV. And, finally, below that are dozens of buttons on a router panel. Some are blue, some green, some red, some yellow. This is where the technicians and supervisors will sit.

The room is called the NOC — the Network Operations Center for MLB.com. It’s where video from the 30 major league ballparks is already being collected, and will be made available to umpires starting Thursday to help them with home-run calls. Technicians can zoom in on replays, run them at any speed.

“Pretty soon, we’ll wonder how we got along without it, and it won’t even be noticed,” Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner’s office, said as reporters got a tour Wednesday.

Beckett scratched, to be examined by Dr. Andrews

NEW YORK—Josh Beckett has been scratched from a scheduled start again, and the Boston Red Sox ace plans to have his ailing right elbow examined by Dr. James Andrews in Alabama.

Beckett is to see Dr. Andrews on Friday, Boston manager Terry Francona said after Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees.

A 20-game winner and postseason star for the Red Sox last season, Beckett hasn’t pitched since Aug. 17, when he reported numbness and tingling in his right arm.

He missed a turn in the rotation, but had been slated to start Friday night against the Chicago White Sox. Daisuke Matsuzaka will get the ball for Boston instead.

Giambi comes off bench, saves Yanks against Boston

NEW YORK—Jason Giambi saved the New York Yankees, coming off the bench to hit a tying homer in the seventh inning and a game-winning single in the ninth for a 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.

Desperate to get back in the playoff race, New York salvaged the finale of a three-game series and won Boston’s final regular-season game at Yankee Stadium.

Mariano Rivera (5-5) entered a tie game in the eighth and pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings for the win, helping the Yankees overcome another poor performance by Alex Rodriguez.

Booed vociferously all afternoon, A-Rod struck out three times and popped up with runners at the corners and one out in the sixth. The three-time MVP also had a terrible game Tuesday night, going 0-for-5 and grounding into a pair of double plays during a 7-3 loss.

This time, Giambi brought the Yankees back.