LOS ANGELES — Owner Frank McCourt vowed on Wednesday that no one will take the Los Angeles Dodgers away from him, while the man appointed by Major League Baseball to oversee the team's daily operations arrived in town to begin his duties.

“Sending someone to seize the Dodgers is absolutely wrong,” McCourt said.

Tom Schieffer introduced himself publicly for the first time and said his role is to monitor the Dodgers on behalf of Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, whom he made clear is in charge of the team.

Schieffer, however, said Selig doesn't want to take the Dodgers away from McCourt.

OAKLAND, Calif. — This was one shot Keith Smart couldn't make.Maybe nobody could.The Golden State Warriors parted ways with their head coach Wednesday, the first major fallout this offseason from a new ownership group that has promised sweeping changes to the perennial underachieving franchise.Smart, the Indiana guard best known for hitting “The Shot” against Syracuse that won the Hoosiers the 1987 NCAA title, spent seven years as an assistant with Golden State before he replaced Don Nelson just before training camp.

SEOUL, South Korea — Top-ranked Lee Westwood finished Thursday's first round of the Ballantine's Championship with a double bogey, falling six shots behind leader Damien McGrane.The Englishman finished at even-par 72.

KOSICE, Slovakia — The underdog Czech Republic pulled off a major upset a year ago to capture the world championship, and NHL great Jaromir Jagr is confident his team is again the one to beat.The 39-year-old Jagr says hard work will be a key at the annual tournament, which will be held in Slovakia for the first time and starts Friday with two games in Kosice and two in Bratislava.