Friday's FanFare

Briefly

Basketball

Reserve forward Devean George agreed to terms on a four-year contract to stay with the NBA champion Lakers. George's contract is worth slightly less than $18.5 million, according to a source.

Free-agent guard Larry Hughes signed a three-year contract with the Wizards. Hughes will have an opening salary of $4.5 million.

Colleges

Lincoln University football coach Jack Bush was charged with misdemeanor assault and fired after a confrontation with an assistant. Bush faces a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge for attacking assistant coach Kevin Faulkner during a meeting at Lincoln's athletic offices.

Football

Linebacker Jamel Smith signed a one-year contract with the Chargers, his third NFL team.

Golf

Tripp Isenhour, Shaun Micheel, Paul Claxton, Joe Ogilvie and David Morland IV shot 7-under 65s to share the first-round lead in the B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y. Brian Wilson was a stroke back, and Jim Gallagher Jr., J.P. Hayes and David Peoples topped a group at 67.

Hockey

Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman will have knee surgery in early August and is expected to miss the first two months of next season. He's not expected to be able to play until January.

Defenseman Robert Svehla ended his 35-day retirement and agreed to a contract with the Maple Leafs, who acquired his rights in a trade with Florida.

Marc Bergevin will return to the Penguins, the second former defenseman signed by Pittsburgh this week. Bergevin played last season with the Blues.

Motorsports

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. will not face criminal charges after his girlfriend accused him of hitting her and leaving her stranded along a highway. A prosecutor said that there was not enough evidence for a conviction.

Tennis

No. 2 seed Gustavo Kuerten bowed out of the Mercedes Cup when he lost to Lars Burgsmueller 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (4) in a second-round match. Top seed Jiri Novak is in a quarterfinal and won 6-0, 6-2 over Fernando Meligeni.

Alex Corretja lost to Christophe Rochus 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the Energis Open.

Martina Hingis might try to return to action at the U.S. Open, a Swiss newspaper reported. She has been sidelined since ankle surgery in Zurich on May 20.

Lindsay Davenport, sidelined nine months by a knee injury, will return to the WTA Tour next week in the Bank of the West Classic.

Verbatim

n From Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: "Somehow, over time, sports got away from us. The great American hero machine is broken down, on the road to (you might even say) perdition. Peruse the latest `sports' news and struggle to find much about actual playing. Struggle to find the fun in the games. You see, all across sports, athletes gone bad, galloping ticket prices, stagnant or declining attendance, southward TV ratings and palpably rising fan disenchantment in the dried well of tax money for new stadiums."

-- From wire reports