FanFare 3/21/03

Briefly

Basketball

Another flagrant foul, another suspension for Ron Artest. The Indiana Pacers' swingman was banned for two games, raising the total of games he's missed because of NBA punishment this season to 10. This time, the league upheld a flagrant foul call on Artest just five seconds into Wednesday night's game against Boston, calling for an automatic two-game suspension for exceeding the limit on flagrant-foul points.

A court should not enforce an alleged agreement between Michael Jordan and a woman seeking $5 million from him to keep their relationship quiet because her demand is extortion, Jordan's attorney argued. Attorney Fred Sperling asked a judge to find in favor of the basketball star, who is suing Karla Knafel to keep her from collecting on what Jordan calls an extortion attempt.

Colleges

Oklahoma State started strong in its bid for a 31st NCAA wrestling championship, surviving several upset scares and taking the early team lead as eight of its 10 wrestlers advanced to the second round. Two-time defending champion Minnesota advanced six of its eight wrestlers -- including defending national champions Jared Lawrence at 149 pounds and Luke Becker at 157 pounds -- and was in a three-way tie for fifth after the first round.

Football

The New York Jets signed reciver Curtis Conway to a three-year deal that could pay as much as $7.5 million with a signing bonus of $1.2 million. The signing came a day after the Jets announced they would not match the $13 million signing bonus and $35 million contract Laveranues Coles got from the Washington Redskins.

Golf

Annika Sorenstam opened her year with a solid 5-under 67, only to find herself trailing would-be rivals Se Ri Pak and Karrie Webb after the first round of the Safeway Ping tournament. Pak shot a 7-under 65 while Webb bogeyed her final hole for a 66, both serving early notice to Sorenstam that she might have trouble winning 11 times on the LPGA tour again this year.

Miscellaneous

The "inside man" in the $3 million Breeders' Cup betting scam received a year and a day, the least amount of jail time of the three fraternity brothers sentenced. Computer expert Chris Harn was sentenced after his co-defendants Glen DaSilva and Derrick Davis. DaSilva, of New York, was sentenced to two years in prison, and Davis, of Baltimore, received 37 months. Federal Judge Charles Brieant said Harn, of Newark, Del., could have received 70-to-87 months if he had not helped authorities.

Motorsports

A Virginia couple was awarded more than $4 million by a jury for injuries in the 2000 collapse of a pedestrian walkway at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Cindy and Marty Taylor of Nelson County, Va., sought $27 million in damages from the speedway and from Tindall Corp. of Spartanburg, S.C., which built the pedestrian bridge over U.S. 29 in Concord.

Soccer

The U.S. women's soccer team beat China 2-0 to win the Algarve Cup, with Sharon MacMillan and Mia Hamm scoring in a three-minute span during the second half. The victory in the 12-nation tournament is a big boost for the Americans leading to the World Cup in China in September.

Tennis

Serves turned shaky and willpower wilted in the scorching South Florida sun, which turned the Nasdaq-100 Open into a test of subtropical stamina. Old-timers Vince Spadea and Jonas Bjorkman passed, notching first-round victories. Teen prodigy Richard Gasquet failed, quitting in the third set with a heat-related headache. And there was Meilen Tu, who won a midday marathon and then left the stadium court on a stretcher with heat exhaustion. Goran Ivanisevic, the 1996 runner-up, withdrew before his match after cutting his left foot while wading in the Atlantic Ocean on Miami Beach.

On the air

BoxingMike Stewart (31-1-2) vs. Chucky Tschorniawsky (22-5-1), for vacant USBA junior welterweight championship, 8 p.m., ESPN2

College men's basketballSyracuse vs. Manhatten, 11:15 a.m., KGIR-1220

Kentucky vs. IUPUI, 11:30 a.m., KFVS

Oklahoma State vs. Pennsylvania, 1:35 p.m., KFVS

LSU vs. Purdue, 1:50 p.m., KGIR-1220

Michigan St. vs. Colorado, 6:10 p.m., KGIR-1220

Louisville vs. Austin Peay, 6:20 p.m., KFVS

Indiana vs. Alabama, 8:45 p.m., KFVS

Maryland vs. UNC-Wilmington, 8:45 p.m., KGIR-1220

Golf

LPGA Safeway Ping, noon, ESPN

Bay Hill Invitational, 3 p.m., USA

Toshiba Senior Classic, 4 p.m., GOLF

Motorsports

Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying, noon, SPEED

Channellock 250 qualifying, 12:30 p.m., SPEED

Food City 500 qualifying, 2 p.m., FOX-Midwest

NBA

Minnesota at San Antonio, 7 p.m., ESPN

Washington at Phoenix, 9:30 p.m., ESPN

CHARTER CABLE 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), KBSI (9), KFVS (7), MSNBC (55), Outdoors (38), Outdoor Life Network (74), Oxygen (75), Speed Channel (44), TNT (48), WDKA (17), WPSD (6), WQWQ (33), WSIL (3). Listings and times are provided by the networks and individual stations and are subject to change.

Area events

College gymnasticsWinona State at Southeast, 7 p.m.

College women's tennis

Southeast vs. Lipscomb, Hilton Head, S.C., 8 a.m.