Saturday FanFare 9/13/03

Baseball

Marlins right-hander Brad Penny left Friday night's game against the Braves in the first inning with a hyperextended pitching elbow, and he'll undergo an MRI exam Saturday. Penny gave no indication that he was hurt until Javy Lopez fouled off a pitch.

Basketball

Darko Milicic, the No. 2 overall pick in June's NBA draft, signed a three-year contract worth about $11 million with the Pistons. The 7-foot, 245-pound Milicic, from Serbia and Montenegro, has played professionally in Europe since he was 14. He settled a contract buyout with his Serbian team this month. The club, Hemofarm Vrsac, claimed it had Milicic under contract through 2009 and filed a lawsuit in New York against Milicic's agent, Marc Cornstein. The club demanded at least $10 million.

Kobe Bryant's attorneys asked a judge to close next month's preliminary hearing, saying publicity would threaten the NBA star's right to a fair trial on a rape charge. They also accused authorities of secretly recording a statement by Bryant. The Oct. 9 hearing will determine whether the Lakers guard will stand trial on a charge of sexually assaulting a Colorado resort worker over the summer. He has said the two had consensual sex.

Colleges

Baylor University's Board of Regents voted to keep Robert Sloan as president of the world's largest Baptist university after faculty members urged his ouster in a no-confidence vote. Sloan's leadership was questioned following the summer slaying of basketball player Patrick Dennehy, the arrest of former player Carlton Dotson on murder charges in Dennehy's death and the ensuing disclosure of major NCAA violations in the basketball program.

Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson is urging presidents of the league's 10 schools to take advantage of the uncertainty that exists within Conference USA by recruiting two of its universities for a new 12-team league with two six-team divisions, a Houston television station reported. KRIV said it obtained a copy of a letter Benson sent the presidents in which Benson said he wants to make a run at two schools from a group of three now in Conference USA -- Houston, TCU and Tulane.

Football

Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims was arrested on a child support warrant and was released. The former University of Oklahoma and Detroit Lions running back was stopped by police for a traffic violation after he left an autograph signing session Thursday.

Todd Sauerbrun became the highest-paid punter in NFL history Friday, agreeing to a four-season contract extension with the Panthers that pays $1.5 million a year.