FanFare 11/7/02

Briefly

Baseball

Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez married longtime girlfriend Cynthia Scurtis last weekend, The Dallas Morning News reported in Wednesday editions. Rodriguez, 27, and Scurtis were married Saturday in a small ceremony in Dallas, the Rangers said. A reception was conducted at his home in Highland Park, an upscale Dallas suburb. Among the guests were former Baltimore star Cal Ripken Jr., Rodriguez's boyhood idol.

Anaheim's Dennis Cook and Boston's Willie Banks filed for free agency as Edgar Martinez tried to work out a new deal with Seattle. The Mariners had until the end of Wednesday to exercise a 2003 option on Martinez that called for a $10 million salary, with $7 million deferred without interest. If Seattle declined it, the team would be responsible for a $1 million buyout.

Colleges

College World Series champion Texas was put on two years' probation by the NCAA on Wednesday for illegal job benefits given to a former volunteer assistant coach. The NCAA determined that assistant Richard Couch took a $40,000-a year marketing job at a beer distributorship owned by former university regent Lowell Lebermann but never did any work. Instead, Couch spent all his time working on activities related to the baseball team, especially recruiting.

Reggie Duncan, one of the most highly sought prep running backs Kansas has recruited but who's career never seemed to get started, is no longer with the program. First-year coach Mark Mangino declined to say whether the junior tailback decided to leave or had been dismissed.

Football

Green Bay Packers defensive end Vonnie Holliday, who just returned from a torn chest muscle that sidelined him for six weeks, needs arthroscopic knee surgery. Holliday will undergo the procedure today to repair torn cartilage in his right knee and will be out two-to-five weeks, coach Mike Sherman said.

Kansas City's beleaguered defense took another blow when linebacker Lew Bush was suspended four games after testing positive for a banned substance. The Chiefs said the action was taken after a routine test by the league, which ordered the suspension because of a violation of its "anabolic steroid and substance policy." Losing Bush for four games is a setback for a defense that's been struggling to escape the NFL's statistical cellar. While the offense has been among the best during the first half of the season, the defense has ranked 32nd -- dead last -- in total defense, pass defense and scoring defense.

Hockey

Blackhawks defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev will be out of action for up to six weeks after fracturing his right ankle during Tuesday night's game against the Red Wings, the team announced.

Miscellaneous

After winning more games than any high school basketball coach and sending a dozen players to the NBA, Morgan Wootten, 71, announced his retirement at a news conference at DeMatha High School, where he compiled a 1,274-192 record since taking the job in 1956. Two years ago, Wootten became just the third prep coach to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. He never had a losing season, and last year's squad closed with an 18-game winning streak to finish at 32-3.

-- From wire reports