FanFare 5/29/03

Briefly

Baseball

A federal appeals court upheld a ruling barring the Florida attorney general from investigating baseball owners' attempt to eliminate two teams. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in an opinion released Tuesday, affirmed the decision made in December 2001 by U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle, who said the 1922 U.S. Supreme Court decision exempting baseball from federal antitrust laws extended to state laws as well.

Astros right-hander Brian Moehler, on the disabled list since April 17, will undergo reconstructive elbow surgery today and miss the rest of the season. The surgery will be performed by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Moehler met with Andrews on Wednesday to get a second opinion on his injury, diagnosed last week as a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament.

The Braves became only the second team in major league history to start a game with three straight homers Wednesday night. Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield hit consecutive home runs off Cincinnati's Jeff Austin in the bottom of the first. The only other team to start a game with three straight homers was the Padres. Marvelle Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk pulled off the feat against San Francisco on April 13, 1987.

Basketball

Dirk Nowitzki is not expected to play in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. Nowitzki said he planned to rest his sprained left knee until a pregame shootaround tonight. The San Antonio Spurs lead the series 3-2 and can advance to the NBA Finals with another win.

Colleges

The Ohio Valley Conference announced it is inducting former Eastern Kentucky football coach Roy Kidd into its hall of fame. Kidd, who began coaching at the Richmond, Ky., school in 1964, retired after last season with a 315-123-8 overall record. The 71-year-old coach is sixth in all-time victories among NCAA Division I-A and I-AA coaches.

Nine U.S. Senators from the home states of the other Big East schools wrote to the leaders of Miami, Boston College and Syracuse in an effort to stop them from bolting to the Atlantic Coast Conference. The senators from West Virginia, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania said the defection would devastate the Big East, erode the progress its schools have made in women's sports and "send a troubling message to student-athletes across America."

Nebraska senior Sarah Sasse became the school's first female golfer to receive first-team All-America honors. The Big 12 player of the year was chosen first team All-America by the National Golf Coaches Association. There were 11 members on the first team.

Hockey

The Kings acquired goaltender Roman Cechmanek from the Flyers for a second-round choice in the 2004 NHL draft. The Kings have decided to part ways with goalie Felix Potvin, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.

Colorado's Patrick Roy retired as one of the NHL's greatest goaltenders, saying he did everything he could to be the best. Roy is a four-time Stanley Cup champion, winning two each with Colorado and Montreal. He is the only three-time winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the playoff MVP, and is the NHL's career leader in victories with 551 and games played with 1,029.

Tennis

Andre Agassi lost the first two sets and trailed in the third, rallied to take the lead, blew one chance to close out the match and finally beat 19-year-old Mario Ancic at the French Open. Twice down a service break in the third set, Agassi finally found his groove and won 5-7, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. In women's play, Ashley Harkleroad advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time, beating No. 9-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 7-6 (2), 4-6, 9-7. Defending champion Serena Williams overcame 32 unforced errors and extended her Grand Slam winning streak to 30 matches, beating Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian 6-3, 6-2.

Verbatim

Bill Scheft of Sports Illustrated, on LeBron James' entourage: "I don't want to say LeBron comes with a lot of baggage, but his posse has a skycap."

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, with a bumper-sticker suggestion: "Male golfers have bigger purses."

On the air

GolfWales Open, 9 a.m., TGC

Henrico County Open, 12:30 p.m., TGC

The Memorial Tournament, 3 p.m., ESPN

High school baseballNotre Dame vs. North County, 3:45 p.m., KGIR-1220

MLB

N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia, 6 p.m., ESPN2

MotorsportsQualifying for Monaco Grand Prix, 7 a.m., SPEED

NBA playoffsSan Antonio at Dallas, 8 p.m., TNT

NHL playoffsAnaheim at New Jersey, 7 p.m., ESPN

Tennis

French Open, 7 a.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), KBSI (9), KFVS (7), MSNBC (55), Outdoors (38), Outdoor Life Network (74), Oxygen (75), Speed Channel (44), TBS (10), The Golf Channel (46), 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

High school baseball

North County at Notre Dame, Class 3 sectional, 4 p.m.