FanFare 12/22/02

Baseball

The Diamondbacks reached agreement Saturday on a one-year deal with first baseman Mark Grace. Terms of the contract, which includes a club option for the 2004 season, were not announced, but Grace was believed to have taken a pay cut from the $3 million he earned last season.

Basketball

Bonzi Wells drew a two-game suspension from the NBA on Saturday for fighting at the end of the Portland-Golden State game, while Rasheed Wallace was fined $15,000 for attempting to go into the stands. Wells' suspension began with Portland's home game Saturday night against Seattle. He also will miss next Friday's game against Utah.

Pacers forward Ron Artest sat out Saturday night's game with a stomach ailment, missing his first trip back to Chicago since being traded.

Glenn Robinson, the Hawks' leading scorer, was a last-minute scratch from Saturday night's game against Philadelphia because of a tight lower back.

Colleges

Florida State quarterback Chris Rix said he was worried about his father's health when he overslept and missed a final exam, leading to his suspension for the Nokia Sugar Bowl. "I am deeply sorry for what happened. I let a personal situation with my father distract me far beyond what I intended," Rix said in offering his first explanation of his actions.

With his entire family on hand, basketball star Luke Walton received his degree Saturday in winter graduation ceremonies at the University of Arizona. Walton's father, former UCLA and NBA star Bill Walton, mother Susan and three brothers attended the ceremony, where Walton received a bachelor's degree in family studies.

It's taken just two years for famed volleyball coach Mick Haley to lead Southern California to a national championship. Katie Olsovsky had 16 kills as top-seeded USC defeated Stanford 3-1 Saturday in the third meeting between the schools this season. It is USC's second title since winning the inaugural NCAA championship in 1981.

Hank Luisetti, the three-time All-American forward from Stanford who revolutionized basketball by popularizing the running one-handed shot, has died. He was 86.

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez signed a seven-year contract extension, after improving the Mountaineers from 3-8 in 2001 to 9-3 and a bowl berth this season. Rodriguez, a West Virginia graduate in his second year as coach, will earn at least $700,000 next season. His salary will increase every year during the contract, which runs through 2009.

Football

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones met with Bill Parcells for five hours earlier this week, but no job was offered -- or even specifically discussed, both said. Jones has indicated he will evaluate the job status of Dave Campo, in his third year as the team's coach.

Hockey

Boston Bruins forward Sergei Samsonov will undergo surgery on his right wrist Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined at least three months.

People

There's still no place like home for Price

Though Washington State coach Mike Price will soon relocate to Tuscaloosa, Ala., one thing won't change: the family's annual July get-together at the Price summer home on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

From the sounds of it, the coach's expertise on fly patterns, hook patterns and line play is more heavily weighted toward football than it is toward angling.

"We hang out, tell stories and fish," son Eric Price, the New York Jets' quarterbacks coach, told the Birmingham News. "But Dad's not a big fisherman. Most of the time he spends dinking around with the latest gadgets.

"About 10 percent of the time, he has a line in the water. The other 90 percent, he's tying a lure or pulling out a hook that snagged his pants."

Verbatim

NBC's Jay Leno, on Sylvester Stallone signing on for "Rocky VI": "In this one, he's fighting glaucoma."

-- From wire reports