Former Brave knuckleballer Phil Niekro, less than...

Former Brave knuckleballer Phil Niekro, less than three months shy of his 56th birthday, said he was contacted recently by an NL club about becoming a potential replacement player. “I would certainly listen, see what’s available . . . “ Niekro said. “My arm feels better now than it has in 10 years.”

Yachting

Young America held off a challenge from Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes to win its third America’s Cup defender race. Young America, skippered by Kevin Mahaney, crossed the finish line 18 seconds ahead of Stars & Stripes.

Football

Paul Robeson, the Rutgers’ All-American who became famous as a singer and movie star, will be posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in Larchmont, N.Y. this year after being spurned for decades because of his politics.

John Sandusky, who spent 26 years as an assistant under Coach Don Shula, retired from the Dolphins after 43 years in the NFL as a player and coach. . . . Floyd Peters, one of the NFL’s top defensive coordinators over the last 20 years, was fired by the Buccaneers.

Miscellany

The L.A. Rugby Club will play Back Bay Rugby Club of Newport Beach in a Southern California Rugby Union game at A Street Field in Newport Beach Saturday at 1 p.m. . . . A 16-year-old hockey player died of cardiac arrest Wednesday after collapsing on the ice during a Quincy, Mass., high school game in which his father was in the stands.