Motor sports
* Vettel wins 3rd straight F1 title in Brazil: Sebastian Vettel overcame a first-lap crash Sunday to capture his third straight Formula One championship. He finished sixth in the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, which was won by Jenson Button, and at 25 became the youngest three-time champion in Formula One. Vettel held off Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the only other driver contending for the title. Alonso had a superb start on a hectic first lap at Interlagos. He finished second but that wasn’t enough to erase Vettel’s lead in the standings.
Golf
* McIlroy wins Dubai World Championship by 2 strokes: Rory McIlroy won the Dubai World Championship by two strokes after shooting a 6-under 66 on Sunday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, ending a year in which he won the PGA Championship and the European and PGA tour money titles. The top-ranked McIlroy overcame early putting woes to finish with five straight birdies in a 23-under 265 at the season-ending tournament to beat Justin Rose of England, who shot a course-record 62.
Winter sports
* Zettel edges teammate Schild to win Aspen slalom: Austria’s Kathrin Zettel held off teammate and training partner Marlies Schild to win a World Cup slalom Sunday in Aspen, Colo., skiing a blazing second run on a course on which she is much at home. Zettel finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 42.46 seconds to edge Schild by 0.67 seconds. Tina Maze of Slovenia was third in a race Lindsey Vonn skipped as she recovers from an intestinal illness. Schild was seeking her 34th career slalom win, which would match the discipline record of Swiss great Vreni Schneider. She looked on her way, too, after a swift second run through a challenging course. But Schild was eclipsed by Zettel, the last skier of the afternoon.
• Norway’s Svindal wins super-G, completes sweep: Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won a super-G Sunday in Lake Louise, Alberta, completing a sweep at Lake Louise. Svindal also won Saturday’s downhill, making him the first man to win both events at Lake Louise since Bode Miller in 2004. Svindal was timed in 1 minute, 34.96 seconds, beating runner-up Adrien Theaux of France by 0.85 seconds. Joachim Puchner of Austria was third in 1:35.86, and Ted Ligety of the U.S. was fourth in 1:35.87.
Football
* Auburn fires Chizik after 3-9 season: Auburn has fired coach Gene Chizik. Auburn announced Sunday that Chizik was dismissed two years after leading the Tigers to their first national title since 1957. The Tigers closed with a 49-0 loss to No. 2 Alabama that was the second-most lopsided Iron Bowl game ever. The move came after a 3-9 season without any Southeastern Conference wins. It was the most losses by an Auburn team since an 0-10 season in 1950. Chizik had three years left on a contract worth $3.5 million annually. The announcement came after a team meeting.
• N.C. State fires O’Brien after 6 seasons: North Carolina State has fired football coach Tom O’Brien after six seasons. Athletic director Debbie Yow made the announcement Sunday, one day after the Wolfpack finished a 7-5 regular season with a win over Boston College. O’Brien went 40-35 after coming to Raleigh from Boston College following the 2006 season. He took the Wolfpack to three bowl games, but won’t coach in a fourth when N.C. State receives its bid next week. N.C. State says offensive coordinator Dana Bible will be the interim coach for the bowl game. All other assistants are staying to continue bowl preparations. His teams were just 22-26 in ACC play and never finished higher than 5-3 in the league. He was 1-14 in Atlantic Division road games.
• Boilermakers make quick decision to fire Hope: Danny Hope is out as Purdue’s football coach. One day after the Boilermakers retained the Old Oaken Bucket with a 56-35 victory over Indiana and became bowl eligible for the second straight season, athletic director Morgan Burke announced that Hope had been fired. After replacing the winningest coach in school history, Hope went 22-27 in four seasons with teams that were ravaged by injuries.
• Seahawks’ cornerbacks could face suspensions: The Seattle Seahawks’ Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman each might face four-game suspensions for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN, citing unnamed league sources. That punishment is being appealed, according to Schefter. A report on NFL.com reported a source said both players were accused of taking Adderall, which is a combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine used to fight attention deficit disorder.
Basketball
* Kevin McHale’s daughter dies at 22: The daughter of Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale has died at 22. The death of Alexandra “Sasha" McHale was announced by the team Sunday. No other details were released. Kevin McHale has been on leave since Nov. 10 to deal with what the team called a personal family matter. Team owner Leslie Alexander said in a statement that he extends his “deepest condolences" over the loss of the McHales’ “beautiful daughter." He called Kevin and wife Lynn “loving and dedicated parents who will need our continued support throughout this very difficult time."
— From wire reports
