FanFare 3/8/03

Briefly

Baseball

Shane Reynolds was put on waivers Thursday by the Astros, who decided to use young pitchers Tim Redding and Jeriome Robertson in their rotation. Reynolds, who said he had fully recovered from a season-ending back operation last summer, had been effective at times during spring training despite an 0-1 record and 5.87 ERA.

Mets coach Don Baylor has been diagnosed with cancer in his bone marrow but hopes the chemotherapy treatments won't cause him to miss any games. Baylor, 53, will undergo four days of oral and intravenous chemotherapy beginning Tuesday -- the day after the Mets open the season against Baylor's former team, the Cubs -- to treat the multiple myeloma.

Basketball

Tim Hardaway feared his career was over when teams ignored him during training camps. The Pacers were concerned about backcourt depth entering the final weeks of the season. Both problems were solved Thursday. Hardaway gave up his job as a television analyst to sign with Indiana, giving the struggling Pacers a needed boost.

The SuperSonics suspended guard Joseph Forte for one game for conduct detrimental to the team. General manager Rick Sund did not provide any details about the conduct that led to the penalty.

Golf

Tiger Woods hit tee shots to the left, approach shots to the right and eventually moved out of the way for an older generation of leaders at The Players Championships. Jay Haas, Rocco Mediate and Bob Tway, all in their 40s, showed there was more than one player in The Players Championship, sharing the clubhouse lead at 4-under 68 in the rain-delayed first round at golf's first big event of the year.

Football

Vikings running back Michael Bennett will have surgery today on his broken left foot and is expected to be sidelined six weeks. Bennett felt discomfort while working out at the Vikings' practice facility on Tuesday, coach Mike Tice said in a statement released by the team. Bennett was diagnosed with a fracture, and is expected to make a full recovery following surgery and rehabilitation.

Heath Irwin signed with the Broncos after starting at left guard with the Rams for much of last season. Irwin agreed to a one-year, $655,000 contract that includes a $25,000 signing bonus.

Free agent running back Mike Cloud was suspended for the first four games of the 2003 season for violating the NFL's steroid policy.

Tennis

From the start, Serena Williams had Kim Clijsters on the defensive, sliding into the splits at the baseline in vain attempts to retrieve overpowering shots. The world's No. 1 player advanced to the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open and remained unbeaten in 2003 by winning 6-4, 6-2. In men's play, No. 9 Albert Costa was two points from victory when rain forced the suspension of his quarterfinal match against No. 4 Roger Federer.

Verbatim

WWE wrestler Matt Hardy, to Fox Sports Net, giving a don't-try-this-at-home warning about backyard wrestling: "If you really want to be a sports entertainer one day, don't kill yourself, because you won't get the chance."

On the air

BoxingChampion Teddy Reid (20-5-1) vs. Nick Acevedo (15-1-0), NABF welterweight championship, 8 p.m., ESPN2

College baseballMissouri Valley at Southeast, 3:45 p.m., KGIR-1220

College men's basketballNCAA tournament, Oklahoma vs. Butler, 6 p.m., KFVS

NCAA tournament, Maryland vs. Michigan St., 8:40 p.m., KFVS, KGIR-1220

Golf

The Players Championship, 11 a.m., ESPN

Kraft Nabisco Championship, 4 p.m., ESPN2

High school baseballChaffee at Kelly, 3:45 p.m., KAPE-1550

Zalma at Oran, 4 p.m., KRHW-1520

Motorsports

O'Reilly 300 qualifying, 2 p.m., SPEED

Samsung/Radio Shack 500 qualifying, 3 p.m., FOX-Midwest

NBA

Phoenix at Detroit, 7 p.m., ESPN

Dallas at Portland, 9:30 p.m, ESPN

Tennis

NASDAQ 100, semifinals, 1:30 p.m; 6 p.m., ESPN2

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 baseballMissouri Valley at Southeast, 4 p.m.

High school baseballNotre Dame at Festus Tournament

Jackson at Perryville, 4 p.m.

Chaffee at Kelly, 4 p.m.

St. Vincent at Meadow Heights, 4 p.m.

Delta at Advance, 4 p.m.

Zalma at Oran, 4 p.m.

High school boys' tennisCentral vs. SLUH, at St. Louis Forest Park, 4 p.m.

High school girls' soccerNotre Dame Optimist Spring Classic: Central vs. St. Vincent, 4 p.m.; Perryville vs. Farmington, 4 p.m.; Jackson vs. Poplar Bluff, 6 p.m.; Notre Dame vs. Marion, Ill., 8 p.m.

High school softballWoodland at Chaffee, 4 p.m.

Delta at Advance, 4 p.m.

Kingston at Leopold, 4:15 p.m.