Fanfare 9/5

College

Nebraska running back Thunder Collins said Wednesday his suspension from the football team had nothing to do with two charges of misdemeanor assault that have been refiled against him.

Collins, who appeared in court Wednesday, said he could not comment on the suspension.

The Lincoln Journal Star first reported that the charges against Collins were reinstated after he failed to complete a domestic violence prevention class he agreed to last summer.

A trial on the refiled charges is scheduled for Oct. 28.

Collins was cited in June 2001 for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, Nebraska basketball player Shannon Howell.

Football

A 10-year-old girl's family is searching for answers after she collapsed at the end of a football practice last week and died days later.

Taylor Davison was the only girl on her tackle football team in the 800-player Bartlett Raiders organization.

She collapsed after non-contact drills on Friday, and the Cook County medical examiner's office ruled that her death Monday was caused by blunt trauma that led to a clot under the surface of her brain. A spokesman for the office said she had been hit during a full-contact practice last Tuesday.

But Taylor's mother, Susan Davison, isn't so sure.

"I never saw her get hit," she said. "She was fine up to that very minute. The doctors did two CT scans, and there were no skull fractures. The doctors told me it was an aneurysm."

Denver Broncos starting left guard Lennie Friedman will require surgery to insert a pin in his broken thumb, possibly forcing him to miss Sunday's season opener at home against St. Louis.

The Rocky Mountain News reported in Wednesday's editions that the fourth-year player could miss up to three weeks.

The injury leaves Denver with Steve Herndon or Ben Hamilton, a pair of second-year players, at left guard with the Broncos set to face the NFL's third-ranked run defense in the Rams.

Herndon started three games for the Broncos last season, including two starts at left guard in place of Friedman. Hamilton has never played in an NFL game, having been declared inactive for all of last season.

Motorsports

Paul Andrews, crew chief for Steve Park's No. 1 Chevrolet for three seasons, has left Dale Earnhardt Inc. and moved to Roush Racing, where he'll replace Frank Stoddard and call the shots for driver Jeff Burton.

Andrews became a crew chief in 1988 with Alan Kulwicki and was part of the 1992 Winston Cup championship team. He joined DEI 12 races into the 1999 season and helped Park to victories at Watkins Glen in 2000 and Rockingham in 2001.

People

World heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis says he is thinking of marriage after watching a friend's traditional African engagement.

But at 37 he is not yet quite ready to ring the bell on the end of bachelorhood.

Lewis has been in the West African country of Ghana, with promoter Don King, to attend the colorful engagement ceremony of Ghanaian friend Prince Osei-Poku.

"It definitely gives me ideas about getting married," he told Reuters late on Monday. But asked about likely candidates he said only that his girlfriend's name was Violet - the same as his mother's.

"She's a very nice girl. She's got a great name, a lovely name and she's perfect for me," he said.

Lewis has been linked to Violet Chang, runner-up in this year's Miss Jamaica Universe competition and winner of its prize for best hair.

Rivals have taunted Lewis because he is still single.

Verbatim

Bud Shaw, Cleveland Plain Dealer, after Augusta National's Hootie Johnson declared he would forgo sponsors to avoid pressure from women's groups seeking to integrate the all-male membership: "All this from a letter in the mail? The last figurehead at a golf club to react so ridiculously to a perceived intrusion was Judge Smails in 'Caddyshack.'"

Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden after his Tigers' 31-28 loss to Georgia: "If I had a special-teams coach, this would have been his last game."

-- From wire reports