FanFare 7/31/02

Briefly

Baseball

Cliff Floyd is changing uniforms again, this time trading in his Expos gear for a new pair of Red Sox. The Marlin-turned-Expo was traded to Boston for three prospects on Tuesday after spending less than a month in Montreal. Floyd is batting .276 with 21 home runs and 61 RBI's in 98 games with the Marlins and Expos this season. The Expos get a pair of pitchers from the Sox Sun Woo Kim and minor league pitcher Sueng Song.

The Athletics acquired pitcher Ricardo Rincon from the Indians for infielder Marshall McDougal.

Basketball

Lisa Leslie became the first woman to dunk in a professional game when the Los Angeles Sparks center did it late in the first half against the Miami Sol. Leslie dunked three times in practice during the recent All-Star weekend in Washington, but it had not been done in a game in the WNBA's six seasons.

The Mavericks re-signed Raef LaFrentz to a maximum length deal of seven years. In 27 regular-season games with the team, LaFrentz averaged 10.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.

Baron Davis is sticking with the Hornets after all, signing a contract that will bring him to New Orleans for seven years. The extension is reportedly worth $84 million.

Colleges

The University of Missouri-Kansas City hired Irv Ray as coach for track and cross-country. Ray held the same positions for the last five years at California Baptist University, where his team won the 1999 NAIA national championship.

Hockey

The Panthers re-signed restricted free agent center Viktor Kozlov to a one-year contract. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Lightning re-signed left wing Chris Dingman to a multi-year contract.

Soccer

Former soccer star George Best underwent a 10-hour liver transplant operation Tuesday to repair the damage caused by decades of alcoholism. The 56-year-old former Manchester United and Northern Ireland star was in stable condition.

Swimming

Sweden's Anna-Karin Kammerling broke the women's 50-meter butterfly world record, finishing in 25.57 seconds at the European Swimming Championships. Kammerling beat the record of 25.64 set by Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn.

People

No relief for Cubs fans

Wrigley Field might be a baseball shrine, but people who live in the shadow of the Chicago Cubs' ballpark say it makes their neighborhood smell like something far from sacred -- like a huge outdoor toilet.

But the Chicago City Council will vote today on a measure that will make pubic urination illegal. Fines can be up to $500. Currently, there is no city ordinance that specifically addresses public urination.

Charles Holzner says drunken baseball fans regularly relieve themselves in front of his house.

"I've been screaming and hollerin' for years about this," said Holzner, 75, who has lived in the neighborhood known as Wrigleyville for half a century. "I understand they're out there drinking beer like crazy, they have to go somewhere. Just why does it have to be on my property?"

The diva has a fan

Cael Sanderson completed his college wrestling career last season with a 159-0 record at Iowa State, but he went 0-1 against the athletic department.

When Sanderson was left to choose his pre-match intro song, he provided the department a tape of Cher's dance hit "Believe." His choice was nixed and replaced by the blaring sounds of electric guitars.

"I don't care what they say," Sanderson said of the Cher hit. "That's a great song."

Verbatim

Chi Chi Rodriguez, on his pink golf bag: "That bag looks pink to you, but it looks green to me. I get $200,000 to use it."

-- From wire reports