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• Xavier lands Crawford: Indiana guard Jordan Crawford has accepted a scholarship from Xavier.

Crawford’s brother Joe played at Kentucky and went to Detroit Renaissance. He played in 30 games for Indiana last season as a freshman, including eight starts, averaging 9.7 points and 2.3 assists.

Motor sports: Stewart draws fine of $10,000

Tony Stewart was fined $10,000 for what the U.S. Auto Club deemed unsportsmanlike conduct during a midget race last week at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis is.

Tony Stewart Racing also was placed on probation for the remainder of the USAC season.

Stewart reportedly knocked a radio headset off the head of one USAC official and shoved another following a ruling Thursday involving Stewart’s car, driven by Tracy Hines . Hines scraped the wall and pitted for a tire change, but his car was not deemed ready to re-enter the race in time to rejoin the field for the restart. Stewart apologized and volunteered to pay for new radios and uniforms for USAC officials.

• IRL to miss Nashville in 2009: The Indy Racing League and Nashville Superspeedway in Gladeville, Tenn., have failed to negotiate an agreement for a 2009 race.

Track officials announced the IRL won’t be coming back to the track. The IndyCar Series had raced there the past eight years, including July 12 when Scott Dixon won a rain-shortened race.

The superspeedway is owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc. Nashville had been the only concrete track on the IRL circuit, and drivers had been unhappy with the difficulty of passing on the 1.33-mile oval.

Television:ESPN says Valdosta, Ga., is title town

Sorry, Motor City. Valdosta is TitleTown USA.

At least according to ESPN, which selected the Georgia city of about 50,000 as the nation’s top sports city. Valdosta has won dozens of sports championships and is a hub for high school football.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle , who was on hand for the announcement, called it fitting. He said “not to take anything away from any other community, but certainly Valdosta is truly legendary — particularly in high school football.”

Valdosta beat out 19 other finalists, including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Chicago, New York and Pittsburgh.