FanFare 3/9/03

Briefly

Baseball

David Wells will not be traded or released because of his autobiography, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Saturday. But Wells still might be punished by the team for a book Cashman has said "tarnishes the Yankees' image,"according to league officials.

Boxing

Corrie Sanders knocked out Wladimir Klitschko 27 seconds into the second round to take the WBO heavyweight title in an upset. Sanders caught the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Klitschko with a short hard left with 33 seconds left in the first round, then sent him down to the canvas three more times.

Colleges

Villanova suspended 12 basketball players, including leading scorers Gary Buchanan and Ricky Wright, for allegedly making unauthorized telephone calls. The suspensions will leave Villanova with only seven players available for today's regular-season finale against No. 7 Pittsburgh.

Jim Harrick Sr. said last week that the truth would come out, but more allegations have surfaced against the Georgia men's basketball coach. According to court records from Christine King's lawsuit against the University of Rhode Island, the Providence Journal reported Saturday that the documents detail sexual-harassment charges and allegations that Harrick Sr. changed some players' grades and arranged for players' term papers to be written by other students.

Golf

Ernie Els saved par on the troublesome 18th hole and finished with a 3-under 69 to grab a share of the lead entering the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic. Els, seeking his third Dubai title and second in a row, birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th holes, and his par on No. 18 gave him a three-round total of 13-under 203. The South African is tied with Alastair Forsyth and David Lynn.

Scott Hoch shot a 6-under 66 and share the lead with Bob Tway going into the final round of the Ford Championship at Doral. He finished at 14-under 202 and will play in the final group with Tway, who parred the final eight holes for a 3-under 69.

Bruce Lietzke made seven birdies before bogeying the 18th hole to fall into a three-way tie for the lead with Tom Jenkins and Eamonn Darcy at the end of the second round of the MasterCard Classic.

Motorsports

Michael Schumacher won the pole for today's Australian Grand Prix after he covered the 3.295-mile Albert Park course in 1 minute, 27.173 seconds. His Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello, was second.

Frank Kimmel's engine problem gave Mark Gibson an unexpected victory in the ARCA 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kimmel led 145 of the 162 laps on the 1 1/2-mile quad-oval before he had late engine problems. Gibson led the final 13 laps.

Kevin Harvick and sponsor GM Goodwrench have signed three-year contracts with Richard Childress Racing that will keep them together through 2006.

Tennis

Amelie Mauresmo won to join Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament, although Mauresmo had to work the hardest to get there. The fifth-seeded player in the $2.1 million tournament, Mauresmo struggled for 2 hours, 11 minutes before winning, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, over Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Pete Sampras withdrew from upcoming tournaments at Key Biscayne and Indian Wells, Calif., extending his break from tennis to more than six months. He hasn't played a match since winning a record 14th Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open in September.

On the air

Arena footballGrand Rapids at Georgia, 11 a.m., WPSD

Bowling

World Championship, 11:30 a.m., ESPN

College baseballSoutheast at Southern Mississippi, 12:45 p.m, KGIR-1220

College men's basketballKansas at Missouri, 1 p.m., KFVS, KZIM-960

Duke at North Carolina, 3 p.m., KFVS

Maryland at Virginia, 7 p.m., FOX-Midwest

West Coast Conference semifinal, 11 p.m., ESPN

College women's basketballAtlantic Coast Conference, noon, 2:30 p.m., FOX-Midwest

Conference USA, 1 p.m., ESPN2

Southeastern Conference, 3 p.m., ESPN2

GolfClearwater Classic, 12:30 p.m., GOLF

Ford Championship, 2 p.m., WPSD

MotorsportsMBNA 500, 11:30 a.m., KBSI

NBA

Washington at New York, noon, WSIL

Philadelphia at L.A. Lakers, 2:30 p.m., WSIL

NHL

Detroit at Anaheim, 5 p.m., ESPN

Tennis

Franklin Templeton Classic, same-day tape, 8 p.m., ESPN2

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 Southern Mississippi, 1 p.m.

College softball

Southeast Classic: Southeast vs. Southwest Missouri, 10 a.m.; Drake vs. Siena, 10 a.m.; Drake vs. Lipscomb, noon; Middle Tennessee vs. Siena, noon; Southeast vs. Lipscomb, 2 p.m.; Middle Tennessee vs. Southwest Missouri, 2 p.m.