FanFare 11/29/02

Baseball

Former Seattle manager Rene Lachemann was hired by the Mariners as bench coach under new manager Bob Melvin, who also retained three coaches from Lou Piniella's staff. First base coach John Moses, third base coach Dave Myers and pitching coach Bryan Price will return after working for Piniella, who left after the season to manage the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Orlando Gomez will be the new bullpen coach. He was Tampa Bay's bullpen coach from 1998 to 2000.

Basketball

Dallas was denied a spot in the NBA record books by an Indiana Pacers team that showed why it has the best record in the East. Repeatedly working the ball inside to take advantage of its low-post talent, Indiana got 26 points from Jermaine O'Neal and inspired efforts from Al Harrington, Brad Miller and Ron Artest to defeat the Mavericks 110-98. The Pacers prevented Dallas (14-1) from matching the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets for the best start to a season in NBA history -- 15-0.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ricky Davis has been sued for damages for a June 1999 auto accident in which a Salisbury woman says his negligence caused a wreck that left her injured. Margaret H. Ragan says she was a passenger in a car on Interstate 85 in Rowan County struck by a sport-utility vehicle driven by Davis, who was playing for the Charlotte Hornets at the time.

Football

Carolina Panthers running back Lamar Smith was charged with drunken driving. The 31-year-old player was charged with driving while impaired, speeding and reckless driving, according to a deputy with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department. Smith was released several hours later after posting a $1,200 bond.

Colts running back Edgerrin James returned to practice after an ankle injury and is expected to start against the Houston Texans. Defensive end Brad Scioli, however, might not be able to play at home against the Texans. He missed his second day of practice because of an injured shoulder.

Golf

Retief Goosen and Chris DiMarco each shot 4-under-par 68 to share the first-round lead at the $4.06 million Nedbank Golf Challenge. Jim Furyk was at 69, with three players at 70: defending champion Sergio Garcia, Robert Allenby and Ernie Els. The winner of the elite 12-player tournament earns $2 million, the richest first prize in golf.

Peter Lonard and Jarrod Moseley shot 7-under-par 65s in mostly calm morning conditions to share the first-round lead in the Australian PGA. While a jet-lagged Greg Norman had an up-and-down round, shooting an even-par 72, and American John Daly had 75, Lonard birdied the 18th to tie Moseley.

Hockey

Edmonton Oilers right wing Georges Laraque was released from the hospital following a car accident. The 25-year-old Laraque was put in a neck brace before being taken to the hospital, but he was not seriously injured. He was to be evaluated by team doctors Friday to determine if he will miss any playing time.

Flyers scoring leader John LeClair will be out indefinitely with a dislocated right shoulder after he collided with an opponent and crashed into the boards.

A Swedish hockey fan was convicted of a hate crime for making a stiff-armed Nazi salute during a game early this year. Daniel Jonstad, 20, was fined $700 after he was videotaped making the salute during a Jan. 3 game in the Swedish Elitserien league.

Sailing

Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes team needed a victory today to avoid being eliminated from the challenger competition of the America's Cup. The four-time Cup winner, sailing for the New York Yacht Club again after an acrimonious 20-year separation, trailed American rookies Seattle's OneWorld Challenge 3-0 in their best-of-seven race quarterfinal repechage. The winner advances to the Cup semifinals.

Tennis

Captain Guy Forget picked inexperienced Paul-Henri Mathieu over ailing Arnaud Clement for France's pursuit of a second straight Davis Cup title. The 20-year-old Mathieu, who never has played a Davis Cup match, was selected to play singles along with Sebastien Grosjean against Russia on clay at the Bercy indoor stadium. The best-of-five series opens today.

-- From wire reports