HONOLULU — The Golf Channel suspended anchor Kelly Tilghman for two weeks on Wednesday for saying last week that young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should “lynch him in a back alley.”

Tilghman was laughing during the exchange Friday with analyst Nick Faldo at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, and Woods’ agent at IMG said he didn’t think there was any ill intent.

But the comments became prevalent on news shows Wednesday, and the Rev. Al Sharpton joined the fray by demanding she be fired immediately. The Golf Channel didn’t know who would replace Tilghman in the booth this week at the Sony Open or next week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Woods and Tilghman have known each other 12 years. She was picked to host a club demonstration with Woods in south Florida when he talked about new products from Nike Golf. Tilghman was helped when Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent at IMG, said it was a non-issue and considered the matter “case closed.”

“Tiger and Kelly are friends, and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly,” Steinberg said Tuesday night in a statement released by The Golf Channel. “Regardless of the choice of words used, we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments.”

Tilghman had said in a previous statement she apologized directly to Woods, and the immediate support from Woods’ camp was critical.

The suspension ends in time for the Buick Invitational on Jan. 24, when Woods will make his 2008 debut.

Baseball

• Clemens hearing delayed by House committee

WASHINGTON — Congress wants to be prepared when Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, head to Capitol Hill.

The House hearing involving Clemens, McNamee and Andy Pettitte was postponed from Jan. 16 until Feb. 13, giving lawmakers more time to gather evidence, to take depositions from the witnesses and to coordinate their investigation with the Justice Department.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was to begin meeting with lawyers for the witnesses Thursday. Clemens’ attorney, Rusty Hardin, said he hopes to meet with committee staffers next week. In addition, McNamee is to meet with federal prosecutors today in New York.

Plans are still in place for the Jan. 15 hearing before the same committee about the Mitchell Report on baseball’s Steroids Era. The witnesses that day will be commissioner Bud Selig, union leader Donald Fehr and former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, the report’s author.

Questioned by federal prosecutors last year, McNamee said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Prosecutors had him repeat those charges to Mitchell, and since the report was issued last month, Clemens has repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegations.

A lawyer for McNamee said his client wants immunity from the House committee. Hardin said Clemens will not request immunity. McNamee will meet with the BALCO prosecutors who are in the area for former track star Marion Jones’ sentencing Friday. Jones pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about steroid use and a check-fraud scheme.

“They want to talk to him while they’re in town,” said Earl Ward, McNamee’s primary lawyer.

Does this mean prosecutors are now turning their attention to Clemens?

“Nothing like that,” Ward said. “They just wanted grab a cup coffee, that’s all. It’s just an informal, quick meeting.”

College Sports

• Pregnant athletes, text messaging on agenda

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dealing with pregnant athletes is among the items on the agenda at the NCAA convention that opens today at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

There will be a vote on whether to override the ban on coaches text messaging recruits. Also on the program: whether Canadian schools can join Division II, limiting male practice players in Division III basketball and discussing whether to create a new division.

Georgia president Michael Adam has proposed an eight-game playoff for the Football Bowl Subdivision, and NCAA president Myles Brand has agreed to take the suggestion to the Division I board Monday. Division I delegates also will vote on modifying financial aid for baseball players and changing competition rules in men’s and women’s golf.

Last spring, ESPN reported that seven Clemson athletes had abortions in recent years because they feared losing their scholarships. A Memphis track athlete said she lost hers when she became pregnant.

The NCAA allows pregnant athletes to apply for an extra year of eligibility that would not count as a redshirt year. But there were no national guidelines about pregnancy.

College coaches have not been able to text-message recruits since Aug. 1, and a vote to override that ban is expected Saturday. Athletes opposed allowing unlimited text messages. The American Football Coaches Association favors texting, while the National Association of Basketball Coaches split on the topic.

Division II delegates will be voting to eliminate text messaging except when a student has signed a letter of intent or has a written offer of financial aid. Division III will be voting on banning text messaging completely.

• New Mexico proposes own penalties in probe

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico will self-impose penalties, including the loss of two scholarships for next season, in response to an NCAA investigation into academic fraud involving the school’s football program.

In a report to the NCAA, New Mexico also proposed cutting the number of coaches who can recruit off campus by one, from seven to six, for the next two seasons and reducing the number of official visits by recruits by four, from 50 to 46, during the 2007-08 recruiting period.

The school cut the number of junior college recruits who were academic non-qualifiers out of high school by 50 percent for two years. UNM’s four-year average of nine will be trimmed to four for next season and five in 2009.

The university also imposed two years’ probation on the program.

“We recognize we need to be held accountable for our actions,” athletics director Paul Krebs said at a news conference. “We feel these are appropriate sanctions, based upon the violations.”

Head coach Rocky Long is not accused of any wrongdoing. Long just capped a 9-4 season with a 23-0 victory over Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl.

The assistants were accused of helping four prospective student athletes and one student athlete already enrolled at New Mexico improperly obtain credits through correspondence courses at Fresno Pacific University. The coaches are accused of steering New Mexico recruits, while enrolled in junior college, to take the Fresno Pacific courses. They were credited for work never performed and were granted eligibility.

• Knight set for something new — victory No. 900

LUBBOCK, Texas — Bob Knight is about to enter a realm occupied by only two other Division I basketball coaches, and they’re both women.

When the Hall of Fame coach gets win No. 900 he will join former Texas coach Jody Conradt and Tennessee’s Pat Summitt as the only members of the Division I club. Knight’s first shot comes Saturday at Oklahoma State.

“Oh, who cares about 900?” Knight, ornery as ever at 67, said last week after victory No. 899. That game, a 75-68 victory over UTEP, was marked by his first technical foul this season. He kicked a table after what he thought was a bad call and lost his right shoe.

Knight has been a head coach for 42 years at three Division I schools. He got his 100th victory at Army, then moved to Indiana, where his Hoosiers went 662-239 and won three national championships from 1971-00.

Since his arrival, Knight has led Tech to 20-plus-win seasons in five of six years, something never before done at the school. He also was left with the second-worst record of his career at Tech, finishing 15-17 in 2005-06.

The silver-haired coach has other notations on his resume: He threw a chair across a court; kicked a chair on the sideline while his son Pat was sitting in it; had countless spats with officials and reporters; and was accused of grabbing a player by the throat during a practice. A videotape of that 1997 episode created a zero-tolerance policy that eventually led to his dismissal at Indiana in 2000.

In Lubbock, he argued with the manager of a Houston arena over the size of Tech’s locker room and was reprimanded by the university’s president after a dustup with the system’s chancellor at a salad bar. He also unloaded a barrage of expletives when a sportscaster interviewing Knight asked about his relationship with former Indiana star Steve Alford.

NFL

• Willis, Lee make AP NFL All-Pro team for 49ers

NEW YORK — LaDainian Tomlinson and Randy Moss were unanimous selections to The Associated Press 2007 NFL All-Pro team. So was Tom Brady — sort of.

The league’s Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year was chosen on each of the ballots from 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. One voter, however, split the vote at quarterback between Brady and Green Bay’s Brett Favre.

Joining Tomlinson, the league’s leading rusher, were fellow Chargers Lorenzo Neal, who clears many of L.T.’s paths from his fullback spot, and cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who led the NFL with 10 interceptions.

The Seahawks had tackle Walter Jones, defensive end Patrick Kerney and linebacker Lofa Tatupu. Jones previously made All-Pro in 2001, ’04 and ’05; the others Seahawks were first-timers.

The All-Pros on defense included San Francisco inside linebacker Patrick Willis, the only rookie on the squad. The special teams players were Titans kicker Rob Bironas and 49ers punter Andy Lee, both newcomers to the squad, and record-setting kick returner Devin Hester of Chicago,  who also made it as a rookie in 2006.

Boxing

• Gilbert’s lawyer disputes banned-substance results

RENO, Nev. — The director of Nevada’s boxing regulatory agency said tests on a second — or “B” — urine sample confirmed the presence of banned substances in middleweight boxer Joey Gilbert, a conclusion strongly disputed by Gilbert’s lawyer.

“We’ve been waiting for the “B” sample test results for several weeks now,” Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, said. “They show the presence of a stanozolol metabolite on Mr. Gilbert’s pre-fight urine sample.”

Gilbert, 31, gained international attention on the NBC reality series “The Contender,” which aired in 2005. A licensed lawyer who was a three-time national collegiate champion at Nevada, he has a 16-1 record with 12 knockouts as a professional.

He tested positive for anabolic steroid, methamphetamine and amphetamine and three other substances before and after his knockout victory over Charles Howe at the Grand Sierra Resort on Sept. 21. The commission later dismissed the methamphetamine charge, after receiving conflicting results for the substance.

Soccer

• Beckham meets prime minister about academy

LONDON — David Beckham took time out from training to meet a high-profile fan — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The Los Angeles Galaxy star went to 10 Downing Street on Tuesday night for a one-hour private meeting with Brown to discuss Beckham’s soccer academy and England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder also met Brown’s wife, Sarah, and the couple’s two sons, John and Fraser.

“He’s interested in sports and his football,” Beckham told the BBC. “He is very interested in doing a lot for my academy and also getting involved in schools around the country as well. He’s a very good man. ... I’m very proud to be here.”

Beckham has been training with Arsenal to get ready for the Major League Soccer season in the United States. He is expected to be called up by new England manager Fabio Capello for the Feb. 6 friendly against Switzerland, which would be the 100th national team appearance of his career.

Tennis

• Sampras says his ‘dull’ reputation is ‘nauseating’

NEW YORK — Like Roger Federer, Pete Sampras was considered dominant but dull. But if you want to get Sampras riled up, just suggest that the man poised to break his record for career Grand Slams is boring.

“I’m so tired of that...” the normally reserved Sampras said, using an expletive for emphasis, during a conference call. “It’s nauseating.”

Federer heads into next week’s Australian Open needing three Grand Slam titles to break Sampras’ record of 14. Federer and Sampras will face off in an exhibition March 10 at Madison Square Garden.

The pair played three exhibitions in Asia in November, with the retired Sampras winning one.

Sampras noted that the focus and consistency required to earn the No. 1 ranking in the world aren’t very compatible with worrying about being entertaining on the court.

Track and Field

• USA Track & Field CEO leaving to work for Nike

Craig Masback has resigned after a decade as head of USA Track & Field to take an executive position with Nike.

Masback will become director of business affairs for Nike’s Global Sports Marketing Division. Nike is a major sponsor of USA Track & Field.

No date was given for his departure. Masback said his transition will take place over the next few months. No replacement has been selected.

The former distance runner took over as chief executive officer of a troubled USATF in July of 1997. Since then, the federation’s annual budget has grown from $6.7 million to more than $17 million.