FanFare 12/14/02

Baseball

Major league general managers probably will make a recommendation of a minimum age for bat boys when they meet Monday on the final day of the winter meetings.

Ken Griffey Jr. telephoned his general manager Saturday and made it clear he didn't want Cincinnati to trade him. "He called me just to make sure I knew he wasn't disgruntled," Reds GM Jim Bowden said. "His position is he wants to stay in Cincinnati and finish his career there." Phil Nevin vetoed a deal last month that would have sent him from San Diego to the Reds for Griffey, leading to speculation that another swap might be in the works.

While the Expos prepared to pare payroll, the commissioner's office got ready for the first step in the process of selling the team. The commissioner's office telephoned government officials in Washington, D.C.; Northern Virginia; and Portland, Ore., and told them that if they are interested in having the Expos move to their area, they should express an interest by the end of February.

Basketball

Portland Trail Blazers forward Ruben Patterson faces a parole violation hearing in Washington state after his arrest in Oregon for alleged domestic assault, according to a published report. Patterson was arrested after a disturbance at his home on Nov. 25, but prosecutors later decided not to press charges because his wife, Shannon, asked that the case be dropped.

Colleges

Green Bay Packers linebackers coach Bo Pelini is expected to decide toda whether he will become the Nebraska football team's defensive coordinator, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported in its Saturday editions.

Curt Anes threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to David Kircus with 1:04 left to give Grand Valley State of Michigan its first NCAA Division II title with a 31-24 victory over Valdosta (Ga.) State.

Dan Pugh ran for a career-high 254 yards and five touchdowns as Mount Union of Ohio reached the Division III national title game by defeating John Carroll of Montana 57-19.

Golf

Phil Mickelson put on a spectacular display of golf and led the United States's charge to the top of the leaderboard at the World Cup.

Skiing

Stephan Eberharter led a 1-2-3 Austrian sweep and mastered a tricky course for his third straight downhill victory. He has won five of the seven World Cup races he has entered this season.

People

South Bay gets punishment from Stoneridge

Basketball players at South Bay High -- a residential facility in Torrance, Calif., for wards of juvenile court -- are now experts on cruel and unusual punishment. That's because South Bay scheduled Stoneridge Prep, a small-school hoops powerhouse, for its season opener as an educational experience. It got one, and it wasn't pretty.

South Bay's 10-player team, which includes one girl starter and two girl reserves, committed 64 turnovers.

"At which point does it become ridiculous?" South Bay coach Stephen Moore said to the Los Angeles Times, believing Stoneridge was unrelenting. "Are you guys trying to prove a point? Are we really working on sportsmanship and team ball here?"

Responded Stoneridge counterpart Ron Slater, who says he called off his full-court press after the first quarter: "Just because we're not playing a good team, I still want my guys playing good fundamental defense."

Mission accomplished: Stoneridge 151, South Bay 5.

Verbatim

Frank Fitzpatrick of the Philadelphia Inquirer, on Cincinnati conducting a raffle in which the winners will push the button to implode Cinergy Field: "One suspects the contest would attract considerably more attention if the Bengals' offices were still there."

-- From wire reports