Sports in Brief: Crosby exceeds Jagr's all-star votes record

Pittsburgh Penguins star

Sidney Crosby

has surpassed

Jaromir Jagr's

record for the most votes ever received by a player in fan balloting for the NHL All-Star Game.

At noon yesterday, Crosby passed the 1,020,736-vote mark that Jagr set in 2000 while with the Penguins.

Pittsburgh's

Evgeni Malkin

was also poised to top the record, trailing Jagr's total by 19,000 votes yesterday.

Fan voting ends Jan. 2. The All-Star Game will be Jan. 25 in Montreal.

Boston Bruins forward

Patrice Bergeron

, sidelined most of last season with a concussion, was released yesterday from Massachusetts General Hospital after being diagnosed with another concussion. He was injured in a collision in Saturday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Michael McGee

blocked a potential game-tying field-goal attempt in overtime, lifting Southern Mississippi to a 30-27 comeback victory over Troy in the New Orleans Bowl.

Southern Miss (7-6) took the lead on

Britt Barefoot's

39-yard field goal on the first posesssion of overtime. Troy finished with an 8-5 record.

Golden Eagles receiver

DeAndre Brown

fractured his lower left leg and was taken to the hospital during the first quarter. The Southern Miss freshman set a school record with 67 receptions this season.

Duke gave football coach

David Cutcliffe

a two-year contract extension through 2015. Terms were not released.

The Blue Devils went 4-8; they won only four games total from 2004 to '07.

Eastern Michigan has hired

Ron English

, 40, making him the fifth African American head coach in major college football.

English was Louisville's defensive coordinator this season after serving on

Lloyd Carr's

staff at Michigan for five seasons.

The Los Angeles Angels have pulled their eight-year offer to

Mark Teixeira

and will no longer go after the first baseman.

The Boston Red Sox said last week that they "are not going to be a factor" in signing the 28-year-old Maryland native.

Washington and Baltimore have expressed interest in Teixeira, who batted .308 with 33 homers and 121 RBIs for the Atlanta Braves and Angels in 2008.

Carlos Manuel Santiago,

a star infielder in the Negro leagues during the 1940s, died of cardiac failure yesterday at age 82 at his home in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Vijay Singh

made a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Sherwood Country Club to post a 1-shot victory over

Steve Stricker

at the Chevron World Challenge.

Singh won

Tiger Woods

' season-ending charity event in Thousand Oaks, Calif., for the first time, finishing at 11-under 277.

Local favorite

Richard Sterne

won the South African Open in Paarl, defeating

Gareth Maybin

of Northern Ireland on the first playoff hole. They tied at 14-under 274 after 72 holes at Pearl Valley Golf Estates.

Stern's win capped his climb in the world rankings to No. 43, earning him an invitation to the Masters, which begins April 10. The top 50 in the world make the tournament at Augusta National; Stern was ranked 113th two weeks ago.

Rory McIlroy

of Northern Ireland moved up to No. 39 in the world, also qualifying for the Masters.

Singapore's

Lam Chihbing

won the Asian Tour's Volvo Masters by 2 strokes at Thai Country Club in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ted Ligety

, the Olympic combined champion, finished fourth in the giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy, and stayed in the chase to retain his World Cup skiing title.

Daniel Albrecht

of Switzerland was the winner on a Gran Risa course in which

Bode Miller

fell during the second run. The American was seventh after the opening leg.

Former Wimbledon semifinalist

Jelena Dokic

won a wild-card spot at next month's Australian Open by beating

Monica Wejnert

, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3, in a playoff in Melbourne.