(AP) – Second baseman Skip Schumaker has agreed to a two-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, who did not tender a contract offer to infielder Ryan Theriot before Monday night’s deadline. The 31-year old Schumaker batted .283 in 117 games for Red Birds this year, and then .381 in the postseason with the lone RBI in a 1-0 victory over Philadelphia in Game 5 of the NL Division series. Theriot hit .271 with one homer and 47 RBIs. He was the starting shortstop until St. Louis acquired Rafael Furcal at the trade deadline. Furcal and the Cardinals have agreed to a $14-million, two-year contract. Theriot now becomes a free agent.

(AP) – Make that three NFL coaches fired in the past two weeks. Hours after the Kansas City Chiefs announced Monday that they had dismissed Todd Haley, the Miami Dolphins said they had fired Tony Sparano, who was in the midst of a 4-9 season. Haley’s injury-ravaged Chiefs are 5-8 after Sunday’s 37-10 loss to the New York Jets. Sparano’s dismissal came a day after Miami’s 26-10 loss to Philadelphia.

Haley leaves with a 19-27 record in nearly three-years at his first NFL head coaching job. Defensive Coordinator and former Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel will take over as the Chiefs interim coach. Todd Bowles, who has been an assistant head coach in charge of the secondary, will be the Dolphins’ interim coach for the final three games. Miami lost its first seven games of the 2011 campaign and Sunday’s loss to the Eagles ended a recent surge.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross says he’s looking for  “A young Don Shula” as his long-term solution to the Dolphins’ woes. Jacksonville fired coach Jack Del Rio, on Nov. 29th.

The Top Ten teams in the Associated Press Iowa high school basketball poll with first-place votes in parentheses and won-loss record, total points and position last week at right:
Class 4A
Record Pts Prv
1. Iowa City West (9) 4-0 134 4
2. Ankeny (5) 4-0 131 2
3. Marion Linn-Mar 2-1 92 1
4. West Des Moines Valley 3-1 77 3
5. Dubuque Senior 3-0 69 8
6. Sioux City East 3-1 59 5
T7. Waukee 3-1 57 9
T7. Southeast Polk 4-0 57 NR
9. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 3-0 36 10
10. Cedar Falls 1-1 18 6
Others receiving votes: Cedar Rapids Jefferson 18. Des Moines Hoover 11. Des Moines Roosevelt 4. Des Moines North 3. Waterloo West 3. Urbandale 1.

Class 3A
Record Pts Prv
1. Waverly-Shell Rock (10) 4-0 132 1
2. MOC-Floyd Valley (3) 4-0 118 2
3. Davenport Assumption 2-1 91 5
T4. Sioux City Heelan (1) 3-0 84 T3
T4. Iowa Falls-Alden 4-0 84 T3
6. Mount Pleasant 5-1 59 6
7. Solon 4-0 48 10
8. Le Mars 4-0 28 NR
9. Carroll 3-1 27 NR
10. Atlantic 3-0 26 NR
Others receiving votes: A-D-M, Adel 19. Humboldt 15. Dubuque Wahlert 14. Dallas Center-Grimes 12. Pella 4. Epworth, Western Dubuque 3. Harlan 2. Storm Lake 2. Ballard 1. Algona 1.

Class 2A
Record Pts Prv
1. Hull Western Christian (10) 3-0 131 2
2. West Marshall (1) 5-0 111 4
3. West Fork, Sheffield (3) 4-0 82 6
4. Fort Dodge St. Edmond 3-1 68 3
T5. Kuemper Catholic, Carroll 5-1 56 5
T5. Regina, Iowa City 3-0 56 9
7. Beckman, Dyersville 4-0 46 7
8. Mount Vernon 4-1 44 8
9. Des Moines Christian 5-0 29 10
10. Orange City Unity Christian 4-1 28 NR
Others receiving votes: Denver 22. Paullina South O’Brien 21. Monroe PCM 20. Dike-New Hartford 10. Goose Lake Northeast 10. Ogden 9. Pella Christian 8. Stanwood North Cedar 7. Roland-Story 5. Bloomfield Davis County 3. Mediapolis 3. Forest City 1.

Class 1A
Record Pts Prv
1. Danville (11) 5-0 137 1
2. Storm Lake St. Mary’s (2) 3-0 123 3
3. Blairsburg NE Hamilton (1) 6-0 98 4
4. Kalona Iowa Mennonite 4-1 69 2
5. Boyden-Hull 3-1 66 5
6. Treynor 4-0 54 6
7. Council Bluffs St. Albert 2-0 41 NR
8. Kingsley-Pierson 4-0 37 T8
9. Lone Tree 5-0 21 NR
10. Buffalo Center North Iowa 4-1 20 NR
Others receiving votes: Harris-Lake Park 19. Keota 17. Greenfield Nodaway Valley 14. Lisbon 14. Troy Mills North Linn 11. Exira 6. Oakland Riverside 3. Le Mars Gehlen Catholic 3. Hinton 3. Algona Garrigan 3. Southeast Webster-Grand, Burnside 2. Newman Catholic, Mason City 2. Mount Ayr 2. Moville Woodbury Central 2. Tripoli 2. Lynnville-Sully 1.