DETROIT — Jerome Bettis is scheduled to throw the first pitch at the Detroit Tigers' home opener, a few homers away from where he helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl.

The Tigers will host the World Series champion Chicago White Sox Monday.

The Detroit native, the NFL's fifth-leading rusher, closed his 13-year career two months ago with a title after Pittsburgh beat Seattle at Ford Field, which is adjacent to the Tigers' Comerica Park.

NEW YORK — Owners Dan Rooney of Pittsburgh and Jerry Richardson of Carolina were appointed Wednesday to head the eight-member committee that will search for the successor to commissioner Paul Tagliabue.Others on the committee put together by Tagliabue include Dallas' Jerry Jones and Oakland's Al Davis, both of whom have often clashed with the commissioner.Robert Kraft of New England, Lamar Hunt of Kansas City, Mike McCaskey of Chicago and Woody Johnson of the New York Jets round out the group.

DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University's lacrosse coach resigned and the school canceled the rest of the season Wednesday amid a burgeoning scandal involving allegations that three players on the team raped a stripper at an off-campus party.Mike Pressler spent 16 seasons at Duke and won three Atlantic Coast Conference championships. Last year, his team appeared in the national championship game.Earlier, authorities unsealed documents stating that hours after the alleged rape, a player apparently sent an e-mail saying he wanted to invite more strippers to his dorm room, kill them and skin them. It was not clear whether the message was serious or a joke.