Fanfare 10/15

Baseball

The fans have spoken: Kansas City's new minor league baseball team will be called the T-Bones.

The name was chosen from nearly 3,000 suggestions the team received in about two weeks, said team vice president Mike Hurd. Some of the other suggestions were Prairie Dogs, Twisters, Jazz, Blues and Racers.

The new team expects to begin play in June 2003 at a new stadium near the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

Six different fans entered the name T-Bones. Team officials drew one of the six -- Chris Dunn, of Kansas City, Mo. -- as the winner of four box seats to the team's home opener.

The team's owner, John Ehlert, announced in September that he planned to relocated his team from Duluth, Minn., to Kansas City, Kan.

The new 5,000-seat baseball stadium is on schedule to be finished in time for the home opener, Hurd said. Construction began this week.

The Seattle Mariners said Monday they are open to letting teams interview manager Lou Piniella and will release him from the final year of his contract if adequate compensation can be arranged.

Piniella told Mariners officials last Friday in a meeting in Tampa, Fla., that "for personal and family reasons," he had decided not to return to Seattle for the 2003 season.

Piniella has managed the Mariners for 10 seasons, directing a perennial no-name team to three straight playoff appearances and a record-tying 116 victories in 2001.

College

Former University of Nebraska football player Jake Young has been reported missing after the bomb blasts in Bali, Indonesia.

Young played center at Nebraska from 1986 to 1989, and was an Associated Press All-American in 1988 and 1989. He was the first Cornhusker offensive lineman to play as a true freshman since the NCAA restored freshman eligibility in 1972.

An attorney, Young had been working in Hong Kong since at least July 2001 and had been in Bali over the weekend for a rugby tournament. He had planned to fly to the United States when the tournament was over, rejoining his wife Laura and 2-year-old son, Wilson, who recently moved to the Kansas City, Mo., area.

No one had heard from Young since the two explosions ripped through a popular nightspot Saturday, killing more than 180 people and injuring hundreds of tourists.

Nebraska quarterback Jammal Lord and Cornhusker volleyball and basketball player Greichaly Cepero were ticketed for disturbing the peace.

Officers were called to Lord's north Lincoln apartment about 3 a.m. CDT Sunday after neighbors complained of hearing a loud noise.

Lord and Cepero appeared to be drunk and were taken by officers to a detoxification center where they were later released, Finnell said. Both are 21, the legal drinking age.

Nebraska football coach Frank Solich said the citation does not require suspending Lord from any games, but some form of discipline may be necessary.

Football

Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler will miss at least four weeks because of a broken right thumb.

Fiedler underwent surgery to repair the joint on Monday, Dolphins trainer Kevin O'Neill said.

Fiedler sustained the injury late in Sunday night's 24-22 victory over the Denver Broncos.

Fiedler was injured with about 3:30 remaining in the game, hitting his throwing hand on a helmet while completing a 5-yard pass to Ricky Williams.

But Fiedler remained in the game and played the final series, setting up Olindo Mare's 53-yard winning field goal with two critical completions totaling 39 yards in the final seconds.

Ray Lucas will start at quarterback against Buffalo on Sunday, Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said.

Kansas City defensive tackle Ryan Sims, the sixth player taken in this year's draft, is probably out for the year with a broken elbow.

If so, it will be a blow to a defense already ranked last in the NFL. It also will mean the season has been almost entirely lost for the 315-pounder from North Carolina, who missed training camp in a contract holdout and got off to a slow start once the season began.

In his second start, he was injured early in the Chiefs' 35-34 loss Sunday to the Chargers.

Coach Dick Vermeil said Sims broke and dislocated his left elbow and would probably be placed on injured reserve.

Tennessee Titans defensive end Jevon Kearse is not expected to play for another four weeks because his broken left foot is healing slowly.

Kearse broke his foot in the opener, and he hoped to return after this weekend's bye to play against Cincinnati on Oct. 27. The Titans originally estimated he would be out 6-to-8 weeks, but now he hopes to play Nov. 10 against the Houston Texans.

-- From wire reports