FanFare 9/15/03

Briefly

Baseball

Barry Bonds was ejected in the eighth inning of the Giants' game against Milwaukee for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout. Bonds walked as a pinch-hitter leading off the eighth. After he was replaced by pinch-runner Eric Young and Rich Aurilia struck out looking, Bonds argued with home plate umpire Jim Reynolds from the bench.

Home plate umpire Steve Rippley left the Cincinnati Reds' game against the Chicago Cubs before the ninth inning because of a headache. Rippley was hit in the chin by a foul ball off the bat of Cincinnati's Ray Olmedo in the sixth inning. The game was delayed 13 minutes while Jerry Meals, who had been at second base, went into the clubhouse to change. He worked home plate for the rest of the game.

Basketball

Lithuania won its third title at the European Basketball Championships by defeating Spain 93-84 behind 21 points from Arvydas Macijauskas. Italy earlier won an Olympic basketball berth by beating France 69-67 for the bronze medal when Tony Parker of the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs missed a layup with less than two seconds left. Lithuania and Spain already qualified for the Olympics by winning semifinals Saturday. The Italians clinched the last remaining European slot for the Athens Games. Host Greece and world champion Serbia-Montenegro earned automatic spots. Pau Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies had 36 points for Spain.

Lauren Jackson of the Seattle Storm was chosen as the WNBA MVP. Jackson, who led the league with 21.2 points a game, received 23 of 54 first-place votes and 406 total from a nationwide media panel.

Colleges

Another close call dropped Ohio State even further in The Associated Press college football poll. The defending national champion Buckeyes fell two spots to No. 5 in the poll following their second straight close call, a 44-38 triple-overtime win over North Carolina State. Ohio State, which has the nation's longest winning streak at 17 games, fell one spot last week after edging San Diego State 16-13. Oklahoma and Miami remained in the top two spots in balloting by the panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Missouri debuted at No. 23. The top five in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll was Oklahoma, Miami, Southern Cal, Ohio State and Michigan.

Cycling

Lance Armstrong dropped out after 50 miles, and that allowed Chris Horner room to win the T-Mobile International in San Francisco. Armstrong, the five-time Tour de France winner competing in his final North American cycling race of the season, was still feeling the effects of a 102-degree fever and flulike symptoms from Friday.

Horse racing

Cuvee cruised to victory in the Belmont Futurity and is now the colt to beat in next month's Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Taking control from Value Plus at the top of the stretch, Cuvee steadily pulled away from the six-horse field and won the $200,000 Futurity at Belmont Park by 8 1/4 lengths. Todd Pletcher's Value Plus held on for second, but the trainer still added to his collection of 2-year-old stakes wins earlier when Marylebone beat stablemate Lokoya by a nose in the $200,000 Matron for fillies.

Motorsports

Michael Schumacher won the Italian Grand Prix, holding off his chief rival in the standings for his first Formula One victory in three months. Schumacher maintained his lead on Juan Pablo Montoya from start to finish to win his Grand Prix for Ferrari.

Obituary

Ron Burton, a running back who starred at Northwestern before being the first player drafted by the Boston Patriots, has died. He was 67. Burton died Saturday of bone cancer, his son Steve told WBZ-TV.

Tennis

The oldest sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams was shot to death in the crime-ridden Los Angeles suburb that the family left years ago, authorities said. Yetunde Price was a personal assistant to her famous half-sisters. Price, 31, had been with a man in a sport utility vehicle shortly after midnight and "somehow they had become involved in a confrontation with the local residents," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy Richard Pena. No arrests have been made.

Track and field

Kelli White finished fourth in the 100 meters Sunday at the inaugural World Athletics Final, coming up short in her bid to become the World Athlete of the Year.