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LOCAL

SteelHounds set
wedding promotion

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown SteelHounds, in conjunction with radio station Hot 101 (WHOT-FM 101.1), will hold "My Big Fat Youngstown Wedding" between periods of the SteelHounds/Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs game on Feb. 10.

Couples interested in tying the knot or renewing their wedding vows are encouraged to sign up to share their special day at the Chevrolet Centre in front of thousands of SteelHounds hockey fans.

Prizes include gift cards to Casal's de' Spa & Salon.

Performing the special honor of joining the lucky couples in holy matrimony will be A.C. McCullough and Kelly Stevens from the Hot 101 Wake-Up Crew.

To register, couples are asked to send a letter, fax or email to the Youngstown SteelHounds describing why they would like to exchange their nuptials on the ice. Deadline is Feb. 7.

To enter, send a letter to: Big Fat Youngstown Wedding, Youngstown SteelHounds, 229 E. Front St., Youngstown, OH 44503,

The fax number is (330) 747-3902. The e-mail address is bewareofdog@steelhounds.com.

REGION

Pirates sign
pitcher Gryboski

PITTSBURGH — Right-hander Kevin Gryboski signed a minor-league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates and has been invited to their spring training camp.

The 33-year-old Gryboski spent most of last season with Triple-A New Orleans, and had a 4-6 record, seven saves and a 3.71 ERA in 52 games. He was with the Washington Nationals for six games, allowing 11 runs in 52/3 innings.

Gryboski has a 12-8 career record in 238 games with the Atlanta Braves (2002-05), Texas Rangers (2005) and Nationals. He played college baseball at Wilkes.

Blue Jackets
call up Platt

COLUMBUS — The Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday recalled forward Geoff Platt from the club's American Hockey League affiliate in Syracuse.

Platt, 21, has two penalty minutes in three games with the Blue Jackets this season and has five assists in 17 career NHL games with Columbus.

He leads Syracuse with 16 goals and has 13 assists in 33 games.

Crosby to start
in All-Star Game

NEW YORK — It'll be Sid the Kid and the Sabres in the NHL All-Star game.

Pittsburgh Penguins phenom Sidney Crosby topped all vote-getters and will join three Buffalo Sabres in the starting lineup for the Eastern Conference in hockey's midseason classic later this month in Dallas.

Crosby, at 19 years, 5 months, is the youngest player ever elected by fans. He headlines a team that includes Sabres center Daniel Briere, defenseman Brian Campbell and goalie Ryan Miller.

Crosby, who earned 825,783 votes, is six months younger than Jaromir Jagr was in 1992 when he started for the Wales Conference.

The Sabres are the first team to place three players in an All-Star starting lineup since fan balloting began in 1986. They will be able to show off the standouts who carried them to the top mark in the East this season after Buffalo fell a win short of the Stanley Cup finals a year ago.

"It's just gone to prove that the last year and a half hasn't been by accident," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who will lead the East on Jan. 24. "Last year was what it was, and this year we've built off from where we were."

Washington's Alex Ovechkin, last season's rookie of the year, and Montreal defenseman Sheldon Souray round out the East lineup that features five first-time All-Stars. Only Souray was elected before, but he didn't start in 2004, the last time the NHL staged the game.

Louisville to hire
Tulsa coach

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The last 24 hours had passed so quickly for Steve Kragthorpe, you couldn't blame him for a little slip of the tongue.

Moments after being introduced as Louisville's head coach, Kragthorpe was midway through an answer about how he'll approach recruiting when the day's dizzying events finally caught up with him.

"We're going to try and find the best players that fit the University of Tulsa," Kragthorpe said, before catching himself.

"University of Tulsa? University of Louisville. I haven't slept in two days."

Neither, apparently, has Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, who capped a whirlwind courtship of his longtime friend by luring Kragthorpe away from Tulsa.

The hiring came less than 48 hours after Bobby Petrino resigned to become head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

"We might have just concluded the shortest search in the history of the NCAA," Jurich joked.

The process was less of a search and more of a mission for Jurich, whose relationship with Kragthorpe dates to 1990, when Jurich was the athletic director at Northern Arizona and Kragthorpe was hired as quarterbacks coach.

Kragthorpe, 41, signed a five-year, $1.1-million deal that runs through the 2012 season, the first of what he hopes will be several contracts he signs with the Cardinals.

Vindicator staff/wire reports

Wednesday, January 10, 2007