FanFare 1/15/03

Briefly

Baseball

Commissioner Bud Selig's plan to have the All-Star game winner get home-field advantage in the World Series is the top item on the agenda for the meeting of baseball owners that starts today in Scottsdale, Ariz. The National League and American League have traditionally alternated which league hosts Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 in the World Series. Selig decided to push for the change after last year's All-Star game ended in a 7-7, 11-inning tie at Milwaukee. Both managers made frequent substitutions to get everybody in and ran out of players.

Hideki Matsui was introduced by the New York Yankees after agreeing last month to a $21 million, three-year contract. Nicknamed "Godzilla," the Yankees' newest international star was greeted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Matsui, 28, arrived last week from Japan to take a physical and meet the team and officials. He is expected to play left field for the Yankees.

Basketball

Robert Johnson completed a deal with Charlotte that clears the way for construction of a $260 million downtown arena for an NBA expansion team. Johnson signed nine contracts late Monday, allowing the Charlotte City Council to approve them. The city will exercise options on land for the arena that were to expire today.

Glenn Robinson's reunion with his former Milwaukee Bucks teammates and fans was tarnished by an injured elbow that kept him out of the Atlanta Hawks' lineup Tuesday night.

Colleges

Willis McGahee, a sophomore running back at Miami, will forgo his final two seasons of eligibility at Miami and enter the NFL draft despite sustaining a career-threatening knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl. Following surgery last week, doctors were optimistic McGahee would be able to play again, maybe even this fall.

Eli Manning announced he will return for his senior season at Mississippi instead of entering the NFL draft.

Southern Mississippi linebacker Rod Davis will return to school for his senior season instead of making himself available for the NFL draft.

Arkansas free safety Ken Hamlin announced that he is leaving school one year early to enter the NFL draft.

Senior forward Janerio Spurlock has left the Kansas State basketball team because of a lack of playing time, coach Jim Wooldridge said. Spurlock told Wooldridge about his decision before the Wildcats left for today's game at Colorado.

Football

Coach Bill Cowher apologized for charging referee Ron Blum at the end of the Steelers' overtime playoff loss at Tennessee, protesting a costly penalty that set up the decisive field goal.

High schools

Raytown South's Bud Lathrop, one of Missouri's best-known high school basketball coaches, has been suspended by the school, and so has one of his assistants, former Missouri star Jevon Crudup. The Kansas City Star reported that during a practice last week one of its reporters saw the 67-year-old Lathrop use a wooden paddle to spank several players after they missed free throws during a drill. Lathrop says the suspension, which will cause him to miss one game and four practices, was not related to the paddlings. School officials would not elaborate on the suspension of either coach.

Hockey

The Atlanta Thrashers hired Bob Hartley as their new coach, hoping the 2001 Stanley Cup winner can turn around the team with the NHL's worst record. Hartley was fired less than a month ago by the Colorado Avalanche after a 10-8-9-4 start.

Obituary

Pete Chapman, former athletic director and football coach at Wayne State College, has died after battling cancer for more than a year. He was 53. He died Monday in Iowa City, Iowa, a college release said. Chapman coached Wayne State from 1983-88 and was athletic director from 1987-99.

Area digest

White wins second straight OVC award

Southeast Missouri State University's Kenja White was chosen as the women's basketball newcomer of the week by the Ohio Valley Conference on Tuesday.

White, a junior guard who leads the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game, scored 18 points in an 88-77 loss to Eastern Kentucky, and had 14 points in an 83-63 win against Morehead State.

On the air

College men's basketballCincinnati at St. Louis, 6 p.m., ESPN2

Rhode Island at Massachusetts, 6 p.m., FOX-Sunshine

Virginia at Duke, 6 p.m., ESPN

Wichita State at Southern Illinois, 7 p.m., FOX-Midwest, FOX-Central

Wyoming at Kansas, 8 p.m., ESPN2

NBA

Mavericks at Kings, 8 p.m., ESPN

Tennis

Australian Open, 10 p.m., ESPN2

CHARTER CABLE SPORTS KEY --CNBC (ch. 53), ESPN (42), ESPN2 (43), Lifetime (49)Fox-Midwest (45), Fox-Central (352), Fox-Pacific (353), Fox-Sunshine (351), Fox-World (350), FX(50), Golf Channel (46), MSNBC (55), Outdoors (38), Outdoor Life Network (74), Oxygen (75), Speed Channel (44), TNT (48). Listings and times are provided by the networks and individual stations and are subject to change.

Area events

High school boys' swimmingLafayette at Central, 5 p.m.

High school girls' basketballEgyptian, Ill., at Central, 7:30 p.m.

Scott-Mississippi Conference Tournament, Oran: Delta vs. East Prairie, 5 p.m.; Kelly vs. Chaffee, 6:30 p.m.; Scott County Central vs. Oran, 8 p.m.