Sports digest: New York Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks breaks foot, will miss up ... - San Jose Mercury News

New York Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks is expected to be sidelined up to three months after breaking his right foot at a team organized activity early Thursday in East Rutherford, N.J.

Nicks fractured the fifth metatarsal of his right foot as he was running a route during individual drills in the Timex Performance Center field house, the team said in a release later in the afternoon.

Nicks is scheduled to have surgery Friday to have a screw inserted into the broken bone. The procedure will be performed by foot and ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. The expected recovery time for Nicks is approximately 12 weeks.

The Giants, who lost Super Bowl hero Mario Manningham to the 49ers via free agency, have depth at receiver with Victor Cruz returning along with Domenik Hixon, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, and Ramses Barden. Second-round draft pick Rueben Randle showed a lot of talent in the recent rookie minicamp, as well.

• A sports series is the most-watched prime-time show for an entire television season for the first time. The NFL said "Sunday Night Football" averaged the most viewers for the 2011-12 season. The games on NBC averaged 20.9 million viewers during the official TV season to beat out "American Idol."
• The Arizona Cardinals signed free-agent linebacker Quentin Groves and released wide receiver Marc Wilson. Terms of Groves' deal weren't disclosed. He spent the past two seasons with the Raiders. He played in all 16 games last season, making three starts and finishing with 19 tackles.
• The NFL and its referees union have agreed to federal mediation. The officials' contract with the league expired after the 2011 season. The NFL is looking into replacement officials if a new deal is not reached by the preseason.

  Horse racing

  Doug O'Neill, the trainer of Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another, was suspended 45 days by the California Horse Racing Board and fined $15,000 after one of his horses had an excessive level of carbon dioxide, but the punishment won't start before he saddles the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner in the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

  The suspension comes in the final weeks of I'll Have Another's attempt to become horse racing's 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed 34 years ago. I'll Have Another won the Derby on May 5 and then took the Preakness on Saturday.

  O'Neill originally was suspended 180 days by the racing board after Argenta tested positive for a performance-enhancing mixture after finishing eighth in a race at Del Mar on Aug. 25, 2010.

  Miscellany

  Aric Almirola took the pole for the Coca-Cola 600 with a lap of 192.940 mph, giving Richard Petty Motorsports a front-row sweep at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., for NASCAR's longest race. Teammate Marcus Ambrose was second at 191.598 in qualifying for the Sunday night race.

• International and U.S. Olympic leaders reached a new revenue-sharing agreement that clears the way for future American bids for the games, two officials with knowledge of the negotiations said. The deal resolves a long-running dispute over the U.S. share of Olympic television and marketing revenues that undermined recent U.S. bids for the games.
• Nikolay Davydenko beat top-seeded John Isner 6-4, 7-6 (4) in Nice, France, joining second-seeded Gilles Simon and third-seeded Nicolas Almagro in the Open de Nice semifinals.
• Thirteenth-ranked Gael Monfils has withdrawn from the French Open because of a right knee injury suffered in his second-round loss to Brian Baker at the Open de Nice on Wednesday.
• Andrea Guardini edged out favorite Mark Cavendish in a bunch sprint to win the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia as Joaquin Rodriguez kept his grip on the overall lead. The Giro ends Sunday in Milan.