Sports in brief

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Suspended Buckeyes coach Tressel

apologizes before friendly audience

Standing before a room jammed with loyal admirers, Ohio State coach Jim Tressel apologized several times Monday in Canton, Ohio, during his first public speaking engagement since being suspended last week for two games and fined for violating NCAA rules.

During a 40-minute speech focused on handling adversity, Tressel charmed a crowd of 400 -- many of them Ohio State fans clad in the school's scarlet and gray -- at a luncheon sponsored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Five Ohio State players were suspended for five games in 2011 for selling jerseys and other memorabilia to the owner of a local tattoo parlor who was under investigation in a federal drug trafficking probe.

Tressel began by saying he couldn't say much about the program's troubles "because of the nature of the investigation. But I can tell you this. I consider all of you a part of the Buckeye Nation. I sincerely apologize for what we've been through . . . and because I'm going to have some sanctions.''

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Sooners fire Capel after 5 seasons

Oklahoma fired coach Jeff Capel after the program's first back-to-back losing seasons since 1967. Capel was 96-69 in five seasons but only 17-36 the past two.

NBA

Nets beat Celtics; Heat routs Spurs

Deron Williams made the clinching three-pointer as the Nets extended their longest winning streak in three years to five with an 88-79 victory over the Celtics. The Nets snapped a nine-game home losing streak against Boston . . . Chris Bosh scored 30 points and Dwyane Wade had 29 as the host Heat routed the NBA-leading Spurs, 110-80.

WNBA

Pondexter sorry for Japan-bashing

Liberty guard Cappie Pondexter apologized for offensive Twitter postings over the weekend about the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. In one tweet she said: "u just never knw! They did pearl harbor so u can't expect anything less."

FIGURE SKATING

Worlds in Tokyo postponed

Accepting that Tokyo cannot host the World Figure Skating Championships next week, the sport's governing body stepped up efforts to find a new venue and dates. The International Skating Union gave up hopes to proceed as planned after Tokyo's Yoyogi Stadium escaped damage in Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.