FanFare 12/24/02

Baseball

Former Gold Glove infielder Neifi Perez is guaranteed $4.25 million under his two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants claimed Perez off waivers from the Kansas City Royals last month and agreed to the contract Sunday. Perez gets $1.5 million next year and $2.75 million in 2004, and can earn $500,000 a year in performance bonuses.

The Oakland Athletics shored up their outfield Monday, signing Chris Singleton to a one-year contract with a club option for 2004. Singleton batted .262 with nine homers and 50 RBIs last season for the Baltimore Orioles. He also had 30 doubles and 20 stolen bases.

Basketball

Wesley Person of the Memphis Grizzlies probably will be sidelined up to three weeks with a broken right index finger. Person, who is shooting an NBA-best 52.3 percent from 3-point range, broke his finger in Sunday's 103-74 loss to Utah.

Colleges

Auburn offensive coordinator Bob Petrino was hired as Louisville's coach Monday, replacing his former boss who moved on to Michigan State. Petrino follows John L. Smith, who left the Cardinals last week after five seasons, including a school-record 11 wins in 2001. The 41-year-old Petrino signed a five-year contract with a base salary of $450,000, plus up to $300,000 a year in incentives.

Bo Pelini promises a different look to Nebraska's defense next season when he's on the Cornhuskers' coaching staff. Pelini, the Green Bay Packers linebackers coach, on Monday was named Nebraska's defensive coordinator. Coach Frank Solich made the announcement as the Huskers arrived in Shreveport, La., for the Independence Bowl. Pelini said he plans to incorporate more five-man fronts. But he declined to go into details about changes, he said, because he wasn't familiar with the Huskers' personnel.

A late scoring burst from Ricky Minard helped the Morehead State junior win the Ohio Valley Conference's player of the week award Monday. Minard scored 30 of his 35 points in the last 11:05 of the Eagles' 101-100 overtime victory against Marshall. The conference chose Eastern Kentucky's Matt Witt as its rookie of the week. Tennessee-Martin's Earl Bullock was OVC newcomer of the week after scoring 50 points in two games.

Katie Kelly of Eastern Kentucky was chosen Ohio Valley Conference women's player of the week Monday. Kelly, a junior guard, averaged 18.5 points per game in wins over Grambling State and Troy State in the UAB Lady Blazer Classic. Keva Robinson of Tennessee-Martin was the league freshman of the week after scoring 26 points against North Carolina-Asheville in her first career start.

Wesleyan University football players Young Douglas, 21, the team's leading rusher, and Daniel Quinones, 20, a linebacker, were arrested after a foot chase with police and charged with robbing a Gap clothing store at gunpoint. The two were arrested shortly after the store was robbed Friday night, police said.

Football

Deion Sanders was released by the Washington Redskins on Monday, clearing the first of several obstacles for him to play for the Oakland Raiders. The retired cornerback was on the reserve-retired list with the Redskins, the team from which he retired after the 2000 season, one year into his seven-year contract -- meaning the Redskins own his rights. Sanders now must clear waivers on Tuesday for the Raiders to be able to sign him. It was not immediately clear whether the team wants him, despite Sanders' comments about trying to return to the NFL with the Raiders.

Tampa Bay's Brad Johnson was declared inactive for Monday night's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Shaun King made his first start at quarterback in nearly two seasons for the Buccaneers.

Golf

The final world golf ranking of the year was published Monday and set in motion a holiday tradition like no other: Masters invitations are in the mail. The 87 players who already have qualified include a record 39 foreign-born players and 10 professionals who will be making their first trip to Augusta National, such as PGA champion Rich Beem and rookie Jonathan Byrd, who grew up in Elgin, S.C.

Sailing

No penalty was imposed on Oracle of San Francisco on Tuesday, even though a jury ruled the syndicate broke America's Cup rules by using a sophisticated radar system during races. Instead of a penalty, the Cup jury invited other challengers and defender Team New Zealand to approve the use of radar and other devices in upcoming races. Oracle finished off a sweep of OneWorld Challenge of Seattle on Monday to advance to the challenger final against Alinghi of Switzerland.

Tennis

Tommy Haas will miss the Australian Open next month after right shoulder surgery. The German, a semifinalist at the Grand Slam event last January, had the operation last week after tearing a tendon in his right shoulder while training.

-- From wire reports