Sports in brief

GOLF

Piercy makes 8 straight birdies

Scott Piercy reeled off eight consecutive birdies on the front nine, then eagled the 616-yard 18th to break the course record with an 11-under-par 61 to take the lead Saturday at the Reno-Tahoe Open. Piercy parred the first hole and birdied the next eight to make the turn at 8-under 28. That tied both the longest birdie streak and lowest nine holes in relation to par posted on the PGA Tour this year.Senior, Huston tied for lead

Peter Senior shot a 67 and John Huston birdied No. 18 for a 68 that left them tied for the lead at 12 under after the second round of the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn. Jay Haas shot 69 and was one shot back.

NFL

Bears rip Soldier Field turf

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher and his teammates made it clear how they felt about poor grass conditions at Soldier Field that forced the cancellation of Friday night's practice there. "It's a joke," Urlacher said. Bears players called for a switch to an artificial playing surface at Soldier Field after the Family Fest practice at the stadium was called off because of dried-out sod. Chicago Park District officials said they failed to put enough water on 3 1/2-week-old sod, causing the seams to buckle.

SOCCER

Salt Lake routs Red Bulls

Nat Borchers, Luis Gil and Alvaro Saborio scored in host Real Salt Lake's 3-0 victory over the Red Bulls. Only one of the Red Bulls' seven shots were on target . . . AC Milan won a record sixth Italian Super Cup, rallying past city rival Inter Milan in the second half for a 2-1 victory at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing. Kevin-Prince Boateng scored the winner for AC Milan.

-- AP