NFL sides propose differing plans

A day after the judge handling the NFL lockout lawsuit urged the sides to go "back to the table," the players and owners both expressed a willingness to do so. The hitch: Each offered to meet for talks in a setting the other finds unpalatable.

A lawyer representing MVP quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and other players suing the NFL wrote U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson on Thursday to say they're willing to engage in mediation overseen by her federal court in St. Paul.

The NFL sent its own letter Thursday to lawyers for the players, proposing to resume talks in the Washington, D.C., office of federal mediator George Cohen, two people familiar with the case told the Associated Press. The sides met with Cohen for 16 days before the lockout.

Kansas twins to go proKansas twins Marcus and Markieff Morris are skipping their senior seasons with the Jayhawks, choosing instead to hire an agent and enter the NBA draft.

The forwards from Philadelphia led the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots last season, when the Jayhawks went 35-3, won the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the regional finals as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Fresno State hires men's coach

• Fresno State hired Rodney Terry as its new men's coach. Terry has been an assistant under Rick Barnes at Texas the past nine seasons.

For the past three decades, there have been incidents in which TV viewers see and report what they believe is an infraction. Often the reporting of the violation comes after the player has signed his card. Then the player is disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

The rule change will allow for consideration of the circumstances.

Spartans lineman back from cancerMichigan State offensive lineman Arthur Ray Jr. practiced with the Spartans on Thursday, four years after being diagnosed with leg cancer.

The school said Ray was granted a waiver by the NCAA that enabled him to participate.

"I just cried tears of joy," he said. "It represents so much now."

College athletics: Southern University dismissed athletic director Greg LaFleur, who was arrested last weekend in Houston for allegedly soliciting prostitution from an undercover police officer. LaFleur, 52, is a former NFL tight end.

Horse racing: Premier Pegasus was knocked out of Saturday's Santa Anita Derby because of a hairline fracture on his left front leg that will sideline the promising colt through the Triple Crown series.