FanFare 12/20/02

Baseball

Greg Maddux accepted the Atlanta Braves' offer of salary arbitration, the equivalent of signing a one-year deal for the 2003 season. The four-time Cy Young Award winner had been a free agent. Tom Glavine already left the Braves, agreeing to a three-year contract with the New York Mets. Maddux, a 36-year-old right-hander, is coming off a $57.5 million, five-year contract, and he is expected to ask for an arbitration record. The highest figure submitted for a player was $18.5 million by the Yankees' Derek Jeter in 2001.

Hideki Matsui, intent on wearing the famous Yankees' pinstripes, became the biggest Japanese baseball star yet to join the major leagues, reaching a preliminary agreement on a $21 million, three-year contract with New York. A three-time Most Valuable Player of Japan's Central League, the 28-year-old power-hitting outfielder seemed set on joining the Yankees since August, when New York sent its assistant general manager to Tokyo to scout him.

Reliever Antonio Alfonseca and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration.

Basketball

The Toronto Raptors lost more than a game -- they lost $1,500 in cash. The money apparently was stolen from the Raptors' team bus during Wednesday night's 96-83 defeat at the Chicago Bulls. Four players and one coach discovered that their money was missing when they returned to the bus, which was parked at a United Center loading dock, Chicago police spokesman Carlos Herrera said. No arrests have been made.

Indiana forward Ron Artest was fined $10,000 by the NBA for shoving Dallas' Raja Bell and failing to leave the court quickly after being ejected.

Boxing

Boxer Fernando Vargas has been ordered to perform 20 hours of community service for violating his probation by traveling out of state without permission. The former WBA 154-pound champion has been on probation after pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit assault and battery in connection with a 1999 assault on a man in Santa Barbara.

Colleges

Former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson sued the university in federal court, claiming its chancellor and athletic director discriminated against him because he is black and violated his free-speech rights. Richardson asked a federal judge to return him to his old job. Arkansas Chancellor John A. White fired Richardson on March 1 after the longtime basketball coach complained that he was being treated differently because he was black.

East Carolina's new football coach will be Florida defensive coordinator John Thompson, sources at both schools told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. East Carolina will announce the move at a news conference today.

Gregg Brandon was hired as football head coach at Bowling Green State. Brandon was promoted from assistant head coach and offensive coordinator just more than a week after Urban Meyer resigned to become coach at Utah.

Marshall's former athletic compliance director filed a $1 million lawsuit against the school and coach Bob Pruett, charging the coach with making false statements to NCAA investigators. Dave Ridpath, who filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Huntington, claims that Pruett falsely said that the school's compliance office was monitoring the athletes' employment by booster Marshall Reynolds.

A gambling investigation at Florida State centers on former Seminoles quarterback Adrian McPherson, who was kicked off the team last month after he was accused of stealing a check. University vice president John Carnaghi said that police are not investigating other Florida State athletes.

Tennis

Pete Sampras is bringing back Paul Annacone as his full-time coach. Annacone resigned as managing director of USA Tennis High Performance after a year of running the program aimed at developing stars of the future.

-- From wire reports