Florida Sentinel Bulletin

MOBILE, Ala. — Florida State’s E.J. Manuel passed for a touchdown and rushed for another on the South’s first two drives in a 21-16 victory over the North in the Senior Bowl on Saturday.

Manuel and running backs Stepfan Taylor and Mike James combined to put the game for senior NFL prospects away on the South’s final drive. Stanford’s Taylor carried five times for 32 yards and caught a 6-yard pass from Manuel.

Manuel converted a fourth-and-1 play on a sneak to set up a 5-yard touchdown run for Miami’s James with 2:41 left. Manuel was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player. Brigham Young defensive end Ezekiel Ansah received the honors for the South team while Purdue defensive lineman Kawann Short was the North’s top player.

BOSTON — Boston Celtics star point guard Rajon Rondo will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The news came during Boston’s 100-98 double-overtime win over the Miami Heat on Sunday in which Ray Allen returned to his old home court for the first time. ‘’New guys are going to get an opportunity now,’‘ Boston forward Paul Pierce said. ‘’These guys haven’t had a chance to really showcase what they can do.’‘

For the past five seasons, Pierce, Allen and Kevin Garnett made up the Big Three. After Allen signed with the Heat as a free agent in the offseason, Rondo joined that group – and became the team leader with his ability to run the offense. He was chosen as the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star game in Houston on Feb. 17. Now the Celtics hope he can be ready for the start of next season.

‘’How far is that?’‘ coach Doc Rivers said, ‘’I don’t even know how long that is. Eight months? Nine months? So he’ll probably be ready, but I don’t know.

SAN FRANCICSO — Criminal charges won’t be filed against 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree after an alleged sexual assault in a hotel after the team’s playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco’s district attorney said Friday. After examining information submitted by police, District Attorney George Gascon said his office determined that no charges would be filed “at this time.”

“The San Francisco Police Department – Special Victims Unit completed and submitted a thorough investigation of the allegations against Michael Crabtree,” Gascon said.

The NFL fined Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard $15,250 for his illegal hit on New England Patriots receiver Wes Welker during Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.

The hit occurred on a 24-yard pass during the third quarter with the Patriots up, 13-7, resulting in a 15-yard penalty. Pollard later knocked New England running back Stevan Ridley out of the game with a vicious fourth-quarter hit that gave the Ravens a key fumble and Ridley a head injury. Pollard was not fined for the hit.

Overall, last week’s eight playoff teams averaged 35 points. Offense is the way teams are winning now. To that end, NFL owners are looking for coaches that are well versed in running high-powered offenses. Of the eight head coaching openings this off-season, seven have been filled with coaches with offensive play-calling backgrounds.

So where does that leave African-American coaches? The most common place to find an NFL coach is by looking at top coordinators. With the way the league’s headed, offensive coordinators are the applicants getting the most attention. But there’s currently only one African-American offensive coordinator in the NFL, Jim Caldwell of the Baltimore Ravens. And he only got the position after former offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was fired after Week 13.

The only other African-American offensive coordinator last season was the Buffalo Bill’s Curtis Modkins, who was also the running backs coach. He didn’t actually call the offensive plays though, and he was recently hired by the Detroit Lions to coach their running backs. The problem is most African-American coaches come from defensive backgrounds.

Another issue might be that there aren’t many African-American offensive candidates in the pipeline. NFL owners also look to hire top college coaches every year, and last year there were 15 African-American coaches heading college programs. There’s certainly been progress, as there were only three black head coaches a decade ago, but there’s still plenty of work to do. There’s a total of 125 college head coaching jobs, so 15 isn’t exactly eye opening.

There are solid candidates in Stanford’s David Shaw and Louisville’s Charlie Strong, but they both seem content at their current positions.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Victoria Azarenka had to endure some anxious moments before and after her win over American teenager Sloane Stephens. Li Na wasn’t flustered at all in an easy victory over No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova.

The result is that Li will play for the Australian Open title against Azarenka, who ended Stephens’ unexpected run to the semifinals that included a quarterfinal upset of 15-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams. Azarenka needed six match points to finish off a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Stephens that included a medical timeout after the American broke her serve to pull within 5-3 in the second set. After leaving the court for medical attention, the Belarusian returned to break Stephens’ serve to end the match.

“Well, I almost did the choke of the year,” Azarenka told an on-court interviewer immediately after the match. “At 5-3, having so many chances I couldn’t close it out.” The 23-year-old Belarusian’s on-court comments after the match led to speculation about the timing of her medical timeout. She didn’t help herself in a second television interview after the match that suggested the pressure of trying to close out the match was getting to her.

JaMarcus Russell is planning a comeback attempt that he hopes will see him play in the league again.

The former No. 1 pick in the 2007 NFL draft has not played a single NFL snap since the 2009 season with the Oakland Raiders. The reclamation of Russell will follow a tricky road for a quarterback who was always known more for his physical blessings than technique.

Russell, 27, who has effectively been out of football since tryouts with the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins in 2010, might find overcoming himself his biggest challenge. Currently at 308 pounds, Russell is down from the 320 pounds he weighed this past fall and has been focusing on cardio conditioning the past six weeks to lose the weight.

SAN FRANCISCO — Police are investigating a sexual assault allegation involving 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree, authorities said Friday.

The alleged assault occurred in a San Francisco hotel room early Sunday, after the 49ers’ playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers, police said in a written statement. Crabtree has been interviewed with his attorney present and has cooperated with the probe, the statement said. The receiver hasn’t been detained or arrested, and he agreed to be available for more questions in the future.

The probe is being handled by the department’s special victims unit. When the investigation is done, the findings will be forwarded to the district attorney’s office, which decides if charges should be filed.

Authorities didn’t release any further details.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Two cities have hoped to host the final game in the stomping, screaming, shoulder-checking 16-year NFL career of Ray Lewis.

Two cities have been disappointed by the Baltimore Ravens and the linebacker they call “Mufasa.” Nursing a surgically repaired right triceps, Lewis collected a team-high 14 tackles with nine in the first half as the Ravens defeated the New England Patriots 28-13 in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.

Lewis thanked God and exchanged hugs with team owner Steve Bisciotti on the field and Michael Phelps in the locker room. “For Baltimore,” Lewis and the Olympic swimming legend agreed. And it was Lewis’ teammates who did all the roaring about their “Lion King.” “There’s no better leader,” linebacker Terrell Suggs said. “That’s Mufasa. He said this is his last ride, so we might as well make it special for him. He’s led us here. He busted his tail to get back and make a run with us, and we still have one more win to get.”

The linebacker, who announced his retirement at the onset of these playoffs, will play but one more game – Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, Feb. 3 in New Orleans. After Championship Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers stand between Lewis and a second title.