FanFare 2/23/03

Briefly

Baseball

Robert Person agreed to a minor league contract with the Red Sox on Saturday, two years after winning 15 games for Philadelphia. Person is a veteran pickup on a pitching staff filled with them. If he makes the team, he'll provide depth in the bullpen and an emergency starter.

The Mets signed free agent pitcher Donovan Osborne to a minor-league contract. Osborne reported to spring training on Saturday. The 33-year-old Osborne posted an 0-1 record with a 6.19 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Cubs last season.

Yankees manager Joe Torre will talk with David Wells about the pitcher's use of ephedra, the nutritional supplement that might have contributed to the death of Baltimore pitcher Steve Bechler. Wells occasionally uses an over-the-counter supplement containing the substance.

Basketball

The Timberwolves on Saturday signed guard Mike Wilks for the rest of the season. The Wolves signed Wilks to a 10-day contract on Feb. 12. The 5-foot-11 Wilks averaged 2.5 points in six games with Minnesota.

Colleges

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun returned to the UConn bench Saturday, just 16 days after undergoing prostate cancer surgery.

Football

Rams coach Mike Martz didn't need a competition to determine his starting quarterback for 2003. All he needed was Kurt Warner's medical chart. Martz said Saturday at the NFL's annual scouting combine that Warner will start ahead of Marc Bulger next season.

The Giants announced that they have waived punter Matt Allen and released wide receiver Herman Moore from the reserve/retired list.

Golf

Bruce Fleisher made the most of his time on the course under difficult conditions Saturday to lead the suspended second round of the Verizon Classic. Fleisher is six under par through 15 holes.

Hockey

Thrashers goaltender Byron Dafoe has been diagnosed with a sports hernia and is likely to miss the remainder of the season, according to a published report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Skiing

Austria's Stephan Eberharter won his second straight World Cup downhill title Saturday, dominating the competition on the Kandahar course.

Tennis

Taylor Dent defeated Vince Spadea 6-2, 6-4 Saturday to reach the final of the Kroger St. Jude tournament. He will go for his second title Sunday against defending champion Andy Roddick or Brian Vahaly.

Max Mirnyi beat doubles partner Roger Federer 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 Saturday to advance to the final of the ABN Amro tournament. Mirnyi will face Raemon Sluiter, who beat sixth-seeded Sebastien Grosjean 6-3, 6-3, in Sunday's final.

Top-seeded Carlos Moya and eighth-seeded Guillermo Coria will square off in today's final at the $380,000 Copa AT&T tennis tournament. Moya defeated sixth-seeded Gustavo Kuerten , 7-6 (10-8), 6-1 in the semifinals. Coria outlasted fourth-seeded Gaston Gaudio 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

Justine Henin-Hardenne recovered after dropping the first set and beat Monica Seles 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 Saturday to win the Dubai Open. Martina Navratilova added another title to her career, winning the doubles with Svetlana Kuznetsova.

On the air

Arena footballLos Angeles at Chicago, 2 p.m., WPSD

BowlingTar Heel Open, 11:30 a.m., ESPN

College baseballSoutheast at Alabama, 1:45 p.m., KGIR-1220

College men's basketballMississippi St. at Kentucky, 1 p.m., KFVS

Kansas at Oklahoma, 3 p.m., KFVS

Virginia at Wake Forest, 5:30 p.m., FOX-Midwest

College women's basketballTCU at Tulane, 1 p.m., ESPN2

Creighton at Drake, 2 p.m., FOX-Midwest

Penn St. at Minnesota, 3 p.m., ESPN2

Golf

Malaysian Open, same-day tape, 8 a.m., GOLF

Nissan Open, final round, 2:30 p.m., WSIL

Canadian Tour Challenge, 3 p.m., GOLF

Verizon Classic, same-day tape, 5 p.m., CNBC

Motorsports

NASCAR Subway 400, 11:30 a.m., KBSI, KAPE-1550, KRHW-1520

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, noon, SPEED

Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals, 3 p.m., ESPN; final round, 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

NBA

Dallas at Washington, 11:30 a.m., WSIL

NHL

Stars at Blackhawks, 5 p.m., ESPN2

Game TBA, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Blues at Wild, 7:30 p.m., KGIR-1220

CHARTER CABLE SPORTS KEY --CNBC (ch. 53), ESPN (42), ESPN2 (43), Lifetime (49)Fox-Midwest (45), Fox-Central (352), Fox-Pacific (353), Fox-Sunshine (351), Fox-World (350), FX(50), Golf Channel (46), MSNBC (55), Outdoors (38), Outdoor Life Network (74), Oxygen (75), Speed Channel (44), TNT (48). Listings and times are provided by the networks and individual stations and are subject to change.

Area events

College baseballSoutheast at Alabama, 2 p.m.

College golf

Southeast at Jackson State Pizza Hut Classic, 8 a.m.