Cricket-Australia recall Clarke for Sri Lanka ODIs

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Australia captain Michael Clarke is one of three big names to return to the squad for the third and fourth one-day internationals against Sri Lanka after a disappointing showing by stand-ins on Sunday.
Opening batsman David Warner and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade were the others to be recalled for the matches in Brisbane on Friday and Sydney on Sunday, with all-rounder Moises Henriques also given a chance to impress.
The 25-year-old Portuguese-born Henriques scored 18 runs and took one wicket in his two previous ODIs for Australia against India in 2009.
"Moises is a young man who has shown promise for some years with both the bat and the ball," Cricket Australia National Selector John Inverarity said in a statement.
"This will be an opportunity for him to impress as we look for a good seam bowling all-rounder."
Aaron Finch and Steve Smith, who struggled in the eight wicket loss to the tourists on Sunday that levelled the series at 1-1, were dropped from the 12-man squad with Usman Khawaja, Kane Richardson and Ben Cutting also making way.
Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was also left out after suffering a hamstring injury in the Adelaide loss but Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson have been named despite injury concerns.
Australia's rotation policy has been criticised by a number of former players but Inverarity defended the system.
"The three different formats and the amount of cricket and the amount of travel is very different from the past," Inverarity told reporters.
"The other key factor that's not often mentioned is the lack of proper conditioning periods. It's very difficult to find an extended timeslot when they can undergo appropriate conditioning."
Changes will also take place in the coaching set up for Friday's clash at the Gabba with Steve Rixon taking over the head coach role with Mickey Arthur returning home to South Africa to spend time with family before the Sydney match.
The fifth and final ODI will be played in Hobart on Jan. 23 before Sri Lanka wrap up their tour with two Twenty20 matches.

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Sharapova starts Australian Open with 6-0, 6-0 win

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Maria Sharapova finished her first match of the year in 55 minutes Monday, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Olga Puchkova to start proceedings on center court at the Australian Open without showing any signs of trouble with her sore right shoulder.
The No. 2-ranked Sharapova, who lost the final to Victoria Azarenka here last year before going on to win the French Open, faced only two break points in the match and she saved both of those in the first game.
Then she went on a 12-game roll that earned her a second "double bagel" inside a year.
Sharapova started her run to the French Open title with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Alexandra Caduntu at Roland Garros last year. But she said the score line wasn't really relevant.
"If you win 7-6 in the third, you've still won the match," she said.
Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International earlier this month with an injured right collarbone, saying she wanted to concentrate on being fit for the season's first major. She skipped the tournament last year, as well, before going on to reach the Australian Open final.
"After a couple of close games and a few break points, I certainly started to concentrate a bit better," she said. "I didn't want to concentrate on the fact I hadn't played a lot of matches. I just wanted to focus on what was ahead of me and really be aggressive.
"It was one of those matches where I didn't try to worry about her too much."
Sharapova has a potential third-round match against Venus Williams, who needed just an hour for her opening 6-1, 6-0 win over Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan.
No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska won the last nine straight games in her opening 7-5, 6-0 win over Australian wild-card entry Bojana Bobusic 7-5, 6-0 and 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur beat Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 7-6 (3), 6-3 to end a run of five losses on home soil.
Sixth-seeded Li Na, who lost the Australian Open final before winning the 2011 French Open, had a 6-1, 6-3 win over Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan, while No. 18 Julia Gorges of Germany and No. 27 Sorana Cirstea of Romania also advanced.
On the men's side, No. 10 Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat American qualifier Steve Johnson 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-2, No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka beat German qualifier Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 and No. 16 Kei Nishikori of Japan had a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win over Romania's Victor Hanescu.
No. 32 Julien Benneteau of France ousted rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Venus Williams played with power and determination and took command of the match early with a steady stream of winners and powerful serves.
She skipped last year's Australian Open due to illness and was warmly welcomed with applause as she entered the court. Venus Williams had the biggest jump of any of the top players in 2012, moving from outside the top 100 to finish the year at No. 24.
The announcer told the crowd as Williams, who has won seven major titles, was warming up on court: "She's back and fiery."
Williams said she was happy with the match statistics, particularly her serve, so early in the season.
"I don't think my opponent quite got the hang of ... you know, it's hard to play the first match in a major, first thing of the year, and that can be a lot of pressure,' Williams said. "I did my best to just close it out."
Her younger sister, Serena, was sitting in the crowd with coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Serena is the strong favorite to win the Australian Open, heading into the tournament with 35 wins in her past 36 matches including titles at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the U.S. Open.
No. 3-ranked Serena Williams is in the top half of the draw with defending champion Victoria Azarenka, and the pair won't start until Tuesday.
Novak Djokovic starts his bid to be the first man in the Open era to win three consecutive Australian titles later Monday with a first-round match against Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.
The top-ranked Djokovic shelved the conventional preparations for a while on the weekend, warming up for a shot at a third consecutive Australian title with a bit of weekend hit-and-giggle and a Gangnam Style dance with Serena Williams.
That was for kids' day, when thousands of people flocked to Rod Laver Arena to see 2012 Australian champions Djokovic and Azarenka hitting in a just-for-fun match with players including past champions Roger Federer and Williams and a cast of human-sized cartoon characters.
From Monday, it'll be all business. His five-set, 5-hour, 53-minute win over Rafael Nadal in the final last year has already been written into Australian Open folklore, and followed his titles at Melbourne Park in 2008 and 2011.
"This is my most successful Grand Slam. But this Grand Slam is also known for a lot of surprises, players who have been reaching the final stages who are not expected to. We'll see. The Australian Open always brings something interesting."

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Tennis-Australian Open order of play - day two

MELBOURNE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Order of play on the main
showcourts at the Australian Open on Tuesday (play starts at
0000 GMT on all courts, prefix denotes seeding):
Rod Laver Arena
Robin Haase (Netherlands) v 3-Andy Murray (Britain)
1-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) v Monica Niculescu (Romania)
Benoit Paire (France) v 2-Roger Federer (Switzerland)
From 0800
Bernard Tomic (Australia) v Leonardo Mayer (Argentina)
20-Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) v Jarmila Gajdosova
(Australia)
- - - -
Hisense Arena
10-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) v Sabine Lisicki (Germany)
3-Serena Williams (U.S.) v Edina Gallovits-Hall (Romania)
7-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) v Michael Llodra (France)
6-Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) v Adrian Mannarino
(France)
- - - -
Margaret Court Arena
Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) v 7-Sara Errani (Italy)
Francesca Schiavone (Italy) v 8-Petra Kvitova (Czech
Republic)
29-Sloane Stephens (U.S.) v Simona Halep (Romania)
Marinko Matosevic (Australia) v 12-Marin Cilic (Croatia)
From 0800
Gael Monfils (France) v 18-Alexander Dolgopolov (Ukraine)
- - - -
(Compiled by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Patrick Johnston)

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New Zealand show fight against South Africa

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (Reuters) - New Zealand fought bravely to move to 157 for four in their second innings, following on and still 247 runs behind South Africa, at the close of the third day's play in the second test on Sunday.
Unbeaten pair BJ Watling (41) and Dean Brownlie (44) provided stern resistance and the duo looked relatively untroubled as they added an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 73 off 27.2 overs to steer their team to the close of play.
Opener Martin Guptill contributed 48 before being bowled by seamer Rory Kleinveldt who went on to have Daniel Flynn (0) caught behind with his next delivery.
Kleinveldt ended the day with two for 31 while left-arm spinner Robin Peterson, who accounted for Brendon McCullum (11) and Kane Williamson (11), claimed two for 29.
The tourists showed far more determination with the bat than they had in their first innings when they subsided to 121 all out in reply to the top-ranked hosts's 525-8 declared.
Watling said that while the pitch was providing some variable bounce it was still good for batting which would aid New Zealand's seemingly impossible task of at least forcing South Africa to bat again.
"It is a little bit variable and there are a few balls staying quite low. It's still a reasonable track and we need to keep fighting away tomorrow morning and keep wearing them out," Watling told a news conference.
The morning session had belonged to speedster Dale Steyn, the world's top-ranked bowler, who claimed five for 17 off 13 overs to bundle New Zealand out 30 minutes before lunch, at that stage trailing South Africa by 404 runs.
Watling provided the one shining light for the tourists in their first dig as his battling 63 off 87 balls with 13 fours added some gloss to the innings.
ATTACK OR DEFEND?
Steyn, while expressing some sympathy for the situation that New Zealand find themselves in, said that the introduction of the second new ball soon after the start of play on day four could settle the test.
"It's a difficult situation when you have been asked to follow on and you are so many runs behind. How do you go about batting? Do you attack or do you defend? It is a tough one for them," he said.
"We are 13 overs away from the second new ball so if we can knock one over tomorrow with the older ball then get the new ball to talk a bit and get some swing then that would help," he added.
New Zealand began the day on a parlous 47 for six and the pair of Watling and Doug Bracewell (7) added 14 runs to the overnight total before the right-handed Bracewell prodded at a Steyn delivery to send an outside edge through to keeper De Villiers.
Steyn struck again one run later when he trapped the left-handed Neil Wagner (0) leg-before with an in-swinging delivery.
The 29-year-old Steyn was not done yet and in his next over he bowled Jeetan Patel (0) after the batsman backed away from a good length delivery.
Steyn enjoyed a wonderful morning as he claimed his 19th five-wicket haul in tests as he sent down a spell that produced figures of 5-3-3-3.
Watling and Trent Boult (17 not out) then provided some late resistance with a last-wicket stand that produced 59 runs, a New Zealand record 10th-wicket partnership against South Africa beating the 57 scored by Simon Doull and Richard de Groen scored in Johannesburg during the 1994/95 season.
The aggressive Watling was the last man out, caught at first slip off the bowling of paceman Morne Morkel.

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Australian wildfires spare observatory, uncover bush drug lab

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Raging wildfires destroyed at least another 28 homes and licked at Australia's leading optical space observatory on Monday, officials said, but spared giant telescopes that have mapped far-away galaxies and discovered new planets.
Less fortunate were a father and son who police arrested after a fire was lit deliberately to destroy illegal drug laboratories they were alleged to be running in dense bushland. Police were closing in on the drug labs when the fire was lit.
More than 140 fires are burning across vast areas in the north and west of New South Wales state (NSW), Australia's most populated state, and in the island state of Tasmania despite cooler weather giving firefighters some respite.
A searing heat-wave had fuelled the fires over the past week. Only one person, an elderly firefighter working alone in Tasmania, has died so far in the fires.
The biggest blaze, with a perimeter of 100 km (60 miles), destroyed around 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of bushland and 28 homes around the Warrambungle National Park in NSW.
That fire also forced the evacuation of the Siding Springs Observatory, which houses 15 major telescopes.
Cameras inside the mountain-top observatory showed large flames and thick smoke sweeping over it. There appeared to be little damage to telescopes and dishes but scientists have been unable to visit the site yet to assess any damage.
"We do not yet know what impact the extreme heat of the ash might have on the telescopes themselves," said Erik Lithander, acting vice chancellor of the Australian National University, which operates the observatory.
The fire damaged five buildings at the observatory, including accommodation for visiting astronomers, but Lithander said scientists were confident the telescopes would still work.
Siding Springs is home to the 4-metre (13 ft) Anglo-Australian Telescope, which has surveyed 200,000 galaxies and was instrumental in confirming the existence of dark energy.
That discovery led to Australian Brian Schmidt sharing the 2011 Nobel Prize for physics.
The observatory has also helped find more than 30 new planets over the past decade and is being used to map the southern sky.
In Sydney, police arrested two men late on Sunday over a fire that broke out in the Blue Mountains National Park west of the city last week. The fire destroyed more than 50 hectares of bushland in the Blue Mountains, a popular tourist destination.
Police said they had been aware of the illegal, outdoor drug labs but were forced to postpone a raid due to the extreme fire danger in the area last week.
"The two sites ... were only accessible by foot and required police to trek through tick, leech and snake-infested scrubland to reach them," NSW police said in a statement on Monday.
Police said a father and son had been charged with "the large commercial manufacture of a prohibited drug" and contaminating a water catchment area. The younger man was also charged with lighting the fire.

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Will game live up to hype in BCS championship?

MIAMI (AP) — Sometimes, the buildup to a game can overwhelm what actually happens on the field.
Certainly, No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Alabama would have to play nothing less than a classic to live up to all the hype for Monday night's BCS championship.
Before either team stepped on the field in balmy South Florida, this was shaping up as one of the most anticipated games in years, a throwback to the era when Keith Jackson & Co. called one game a week, when it was a big deal for teams from different parts of the country to meet in a bowl game, when everyone took sides based on where they happened to live.
North vs. South. Rockne vs. Bear. Rudy vs. Forrest Gump.
The Fighting Irish vs. the Crimson Tide.
College football's two most storied programs, glorified in movie and song, facing off for the biggest prize.
"It's definitely not any other game," said Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley.
For the Crimson Tide (12-1), this is a chance to be remembered as a full-fledged dynasty. Alabama will be trying to claim its third national championship in four years and become the first school to win back-to-back BCS titles, a remarkable achievement given the ever-increasing parity of the college game and having to replace five players from last year's title team who were picked in the first two rounds of the NFL draft.
"To be honest, I think this team has kind of exceeded expectations," coach Nick Saban said Sunday. "If you look at all the players we lost last year, the leadership that we lost ... I'm really proud of what this team was able to accomplish."
That said, it's not a huge surprise to find Alabama playing for another title. That's not the case when it comes to Notre Dame.
Despite their impressive legacy, the Fighting Irish (12-0) weren't even ranked at the start of the season. But overtime wins against Stanford and Pittsburgh, combined with three other victories by a touchdown or less, gave Notre Dame a shot at its first national title since 1988.
After so many lost years, the golden dome has reclaimed its luster in coach Brian Kelly's third season.
"It starts with setting a clear goal for the program," Kelly said. "Really, what is it? Are we here to get to a bowl game, or are we here to win national championships? So the charge immediately was to play for championships and win a national championship."
Both Notre Dame and Alabama have won eight Associated Press national titles, more than any other school. They are the bluest of the blue bloods, the programs that have long set the bar for everyone else even while enduring some droughts along the way.
ESPN executives were hopeful of getting the highest ratings of the BCS era. Tickets were certainly at a premium, with a seat in one of the executive suites going for a staggering $60,000 on StubHub the day before the game, and even a less-than-prime spot in the corner of the upper deck requiring a payout of more than $900.
"This is, to me, the ultimate match-up in college football," said Brent Musberger, the lead announcer for ESPN.
Kelly molded Notre Dame using largely the same formula that has worked so well for Saban in Tuscaloosa: a bruising running game and a stout defense, led by Heisman Trophy finalist Manti Te'o.
"It's a little bit old fashioned in the sense that this is about the big fellows up front," Kelly said. "It's not about the crazy receiving numbers or passing yards or rushing yards. This is about the big fellas, and this game will unquestionably be decided up front."
While points figure to be at a premium given the quality of both defenses, Alabama appears to have a clear edge on offense. The Tide has the nation's highest-rated passer (AJ McCarron), two 1,000-yard rushers (Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon), a dynamic freshman receiver (Amari Cooper), and three linemen who made the AP All-America team (first-teamers Barrett Jones and Chance Warmack, plus second-teamer D.J. Fluker).
"That's football at its finest," said Te'o, who heads a defense that has given up just two rushing touchdowns. "It's going to be a great challenge, and a challenge that we look forward to."
The Crimson Tide had gone 15 years without a national title when Saban arrived in 2007, the school's fifth coach in less than a decade (including one, Mike Price, who didn't even made it to his first game in Tuscaloosa). Finally, Alabama got it right.
In 2008, Saban landed one of the greatest recruiting classes in school history, a group that has already produced eight NFL draft picks and likely will send at least three more players to the pros (including Jones). The following year, the coach guided Alabama to a perfect season, beating Texas in the title game at Pasadena.
Last season, the Tide fortuitously got a shot at another BCS crown despite losing to LSU during the regular season and failing to even win its division in the Southeastern Conference. In a rematch against the Tigers, Alabama romped to a 21-0 victory at the Superdome.
The all-SEC matchup gave the league an unprecedented six straight national champions, hastening the end of the BCS. It will last one more season before giving way to a four-team playoff in 2014, an arrangement that was undoubtedly pushed along by one conference hoarding all the titles under the current system.
"Let's be honest, people are probably getting tired of us," Jones said. "We don't really mind. We enjoy being the top dog and enjoy kind of having that target on our back, and we love our conference. Obviously, we'd rather not be a part of any other conference."
This title game certainly has a different feel than last year's.
"That was really kind of a weird national championship because it was a team we already played," Jones remembered. "It was kind of another SEC game. It was in the South, and it just had a very SEC feel to it obviously. This year is much more like the 2009 game (against Texas) for me. We're playing an opponent that not only we have not played them, but no one we have played has played them (except for Michigan). So you don't really have an exact measuring stick."
In fact, these schools have played only six times, and not since 1987, but the first of their meetings is still remembered as one of the landmark games in college football history. Bear Bryant had one of his best teams at the 1973 Sugar Bowl, but Ara Parseghian and the Fighting Irish claimed the national title by knocking off top-ranked Alabama 24-23.
If you're a long-time Notre Dame fan, you still remember Parseghian's gutty call to throw the ball out of the end zone for a game-clinching first down. If you were rooting for the Tide, you haven't forgotten a missed extra point that turned out to be the losing margin.
Of course, these Alabama players aren't concerned about what happened nearly four decades ago.
For the most part, all they know is winning.
"There's a lot of tradition that goes into Alabama football," Mosley said, "and our plan is to keep that tradition alive.

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Riddick, Wood interchanging for Notre Dame

MIAMI (AP) — Notre Dame tailbacks Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood showed how interchangeable they are in the final two games of the regular season for the Fighting Irish.
Game 11 against Wake Forest, Wood ran for 150 yards, while Riddick had 20.
Game 12 against USC, it was Riddick running for 146 yards, and Wood for 20.
And so has been the theme for the Irish this season: Two running backs — and sometimes three — are better than one. That approach has served Notre Dame pretty much since training camp, and the top-ranked Irish (12-0) are hoping it holds true once Monday night when they face No. 2 Alabama (12-1) in the BCS title game.
Riddick has run for 880 yards and five touchdowns this season, Wood 740 yards and four scores, and George Atkinson III — who got only 51 carries, compared with 180 for Riddick and 110 for Wood — added five touchdowns and 7.1 yards per carry.
"We try to utilize all their strengths," Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chuck Martin said. "The truth be told, they all could be a feature back, they all could do all the things. Everybody is like, 'He plays more, what's wrong with him?' There's nothing wrong with any of the three. We'd like to get George 20 carries a game but there's one football."
Notre Dame was unranked to start the year, which means not many — well, very few — people thought the Irish would be in the national title game against the reigning champion Crimson Tide.
Among those who thought the Irish would play in the season's last game: Riddick, Wood and Atkinson.
"We've had RB meetings where we talk about what we want to do and what we all want to accomplish," Wood said. "In the beginning of the season, what we said normally was, 'We want to win them all.' That was word-for-word what we said. We want to win them all. And up to this point, we have. So we took that upon ourselves. We think we're one of the more skilled groups on the whole team. That's just how we go about our business."
Martin was asked in the days leading up to the BCS title game to describe all three backs, rapid-fire style. His responses:
On Riddick, "pound for pound as good a football player as they make."
On Wood, "as explosive a player as they make."
On Atkinson, "really explosive athlete."
Notice any trends there? The Irish love their backs, and Alabama is raving about what they see from them all as well.
"Riddick is probably quicker than the other two," Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart said. "Great one-step quickness, the ability to make you miss, good stiff arm. Didn't think a former receiver would run with that much power, but he does run with power. They're really good backs."
Riddick came to Notre Dame as a running back, then primarily played wide receiver for two years and returned to the backfield this season. He said he never complained, said he never wondered which position better suited him.
Whatever it took to win was fine with him, Riddick said.
"What can I say? I feel like I'm at ease," Riddick said. "Everything slows down tremendously and I think it's just helped me."
Ask anyone on the Notre Dame offensive line how Riddick has handled his return to running back, and they'll say they believe he's hitting his best stride at the perfect time.
That being, title game.
"He's been unbelievable," offensive lineman Zack Martin said. "Especially in the last three or four games of the season, he's been great. To have a guy like that behind you, he's fun to block for."
That probably can be said for Wood and Atkinson as well.
"It's a credit to all three of them that they've stuck with it and prepared hard every week, and some weeks they've gotten more touches, but that's the nature of the beast," said Chuck Martin, the offensive coordinator. "But we're very fortunate to have three very talented kids at that position.

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Alabama AD made a brief stop at Notre Dame

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Mal Moore's career was adrift.
A quarter century of winning games and titles as an Alabama player and assistant to Bear Bryant had ended, and Moore was passed over to succeed the famed coach.
He was thinking about getting out of the profession altogether before Notre Dame's Gerry Faust called one Sunday morning to gauge his interest in a job.
"At the time, I kind of felt like a man without a country," Moore said. "I was in a strange position that I'd never been in before."
He flew to South Bend that day for an interview, then served as running backs coach from 1983-85. From one elite program to another and, ultimately, back to his alma mater to stay.
Moore's stopover in northern Indiana is now a footnote in a 50-year career defined by the eras of Bryant, Gene Stallings and now Nick Saban. He has been around for nine national titles at Alabama and is hoping to crack double digits Monday night when the Tide faces No. 1 Notre Dame.
But back in the 1980s, Moore's career moves were the height of intrigue and drama in the college football world.
He was either a player or assistant for Bryant during all but one season of a historic 25-year run. Bryant, who died a couple of months after stepping down following the 1982 season, won 323 games, six national titles and 13 Southeastern Conference championships during his tenure in Tuscaloosa.
When he left, Moore and fellow assistant Ken Donahue interviewed for a job that went to Ray Perkins, then coaching the NFL's New York Giants. And Notre Dame made an attention-getting hire.
"It was considered quite a coup, an amazing coup," said Lou Somogyi, senior editor of 247Sports' Notre Dame site and Blue and Gold Illustrated. "All of a sudden, here's Mal Moore, who's been part of so many national titles with Bear, and he's looking for work.
"Out of the blue, Gerry Faust called him. That was a pretty extraordinary set of circumstances."
It was also quite an adjustment for a Southern Baptist heading to a Catholic university.
Moore lived for several months in the Morris Inn on campus, where he could step out the door, glance left and see the golden dome. Wife Charlotte, who died in 2010, and daughter Heather moved to South Bend after their home was built.
"It was a good three years," said Moore, who had become Alabama's first offensive coordinator in 1975. "We weren't a great team during that time. We went to two bowl games, but it was quite an experience. Especially for Charlotte. Charlotte was Catholic growing up. She loved her time there and on the campus."
Moore then went on to coaching stops in the NFL before returning to his alma mater as Stallings' offensive coordinator in 1990, helping the Tide to a national title two years later. He's been athletic director since 1999, hiring Saban from the Miami Dolphins in his best career move. The football and athletic administration building is named after him.
Moore was on the opposite sideline for the first four of six meetings between Notre Dame and Alabama. The Fighting Irish won by one point in 1973, two in 1975 and three in 1976.
Notre Dame's 7-0 win in 1980 broke the pattern of one-point increase in scoring margin.
"Bear Bryant said after the (1976) game: "I don't think I'm going to be around for the four-pointer," Somogyi recalled.
He noted that "Notre Dame fans were groaning" after Alabama missed a field goal in '80 that would have created that four-point margin.
Moore and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbuck had several discussions about trying to set up regular-season meetings, perhaps at some neutral site like New York or Orlando.
"We just never could quite pull it off," Moore said. After the BCS matchup was set: "I called him and said, 'Jack, you and I couldn't put a game together but now we let the players do it.'"
After ups and downs for both programs, they're once again vying for national supremacy. And Moore, of course, will have a prime view.
His stop at Notre Dame showed him the similarities both programs share. Notre Dame had Knute Rockne and Ara Parseghian, Alabama Wallace Wade and Saban. Both have had five different coaches claim national titles.
Traditions galore.
"A powerful university. Great history, great tradition," said Moore, who has talked to several of his former Notre Dame players leading up to the matchup. "That is what's so similar between the two programs, is the great success that both have enjoyed through the years.
"There's a lot of people that have had success at both universities. The alumni at both expect greatness. This is what here at Alabama I hope never changes. Once it doesn't matter then you are in trouble.

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Lakers guard Bryant finally joins Twitter world

(Reuters) - Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant finally succumbed to the social network Twitter when he opened his own verified account on Friday.
"The antisocial has become social #mambatweets," Bryant, who is nicknamed "Black Mamba", said in his first tweet.
Within five hours of his account being open, the 14-time All-Star and five-time NBA champion had attracted nearly 300,000 followers.
One of the most popular players in the game and a regular user of Facebook, Bryant had flirted with Twitter when he briefly took over Nike basketball's account last week.
"You're able to get a lot of great feedback about the game but also about the product as well -- what they thought, what they like, what they didn't like," the 34-year-old told reporters about the benefits of Twitter.
"It's the best way to gauge reaction."

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Kobe Bryant: I'm on Twitter now

against the Los Angeles Clippers, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP …more
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant is no longer a holdout. He's on Twitter.
With five words — "The antisocial has become social" — the Los Angeles Lakers guard sent the first tweet from his account Friday. About 270,000 people followed his verified account, (at)kobebryant, within a few hours and he was up to 365,000 late Friday night as the Lakers played the Clippers.
Bryant tiptoed into the Twitterverse last week when he briefly took over Nike basketball's account, when he sent out things like a photo of him hanging out with his daughter, an ice bath that he was dreading and even a suit he was wearing to a particular game.
Bryant says those few days made him consider starting his own account, saying he enjoyed connecting with fans "with no filters."
Heat star LeBron James has 6.8 million followers, the most of any NBA player.

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