Sports briefs 11/15/05

Baseball

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have hired Los Angeles Angels bench coach Joe Maddon as manager, six weeks after beginning their search to replace Lou Piniella.

The team confirmed Maddon's hiring Monday. The St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune reported in Monday editions that the team selected Maddon over incumbent Devil Rays bench coach John McLaren the day before.

The Devil Rays have scheduled a news conference for today.

* A community activist was convicted Monday of attempting to blackmail New York Yankees slugger Gary Sheffield and his wife with a purported sex video.

A federal jury convicted Derrick Mosley of extortion and wire fraud for allegedly plotting to extort money from Sheffield and his wife, gospel singer DeLeon Richards-Sheffield. Prosecutors said he threatened to make public a video that he claimed showed her having sex with a professional musician before she married Sheffield.

Basketball

* The Sacramento Kings were fined $30,000 by the NBA on Monday for showing derogatory images of Detroit on video screens prior to their home opener against the Pistons.

When the Pistons were introduced Nov. 8, the Arco Arena scoreboard flashed pictures of abandoned buildings, burned-out cars, piles of rubble and other negative images of Detroit. The Pistons won the game 102-88.

The Kings apologized that night and owners Joe and Gavin Maloof bought full-page ads that ran in The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, expressing "great respect for Detroit's long and rich tradition as a landmark American city and the incredibly positive impact the Motor City has made over the course of our country's history."

Colleges

* Contracts for Missouri State head football coach Randy Ball and his coaching staff will not be renewed, university athletic director Bill Rowe announced Monday.

Current contracts for all nine coaches expire January 31, 2006, and Rowe said none will be renewed after the Bears finished the 2005 season 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the Gateway Football Conference.

Ball leaves Missouri State after seven years with a 34-42 record. In 1999, he came to what was then Southwest Missouri State after nine years as head coach at Western Illinois.

Oklahoma State's Mike Hamilton, Brent Curvey of Iowa State and Aaron Ross of Texas were named Big 12 players of the week on Monday.

Hamilton had 161 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown in the Cowboys' 24-17 upset of 13th-ranked Texas Tech. It was his second straight 100-yard game.

Curvey, a defensive tackle, intercepted a screen pass and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown as the Cyclones beat No. 22 Colorado 31-16. Curvey also had five tackles.

Ross had three punt returns for 79 yards and a touchdown for the No. 2 Longhorns, who beat Kansas 66-14. It was Ross' second punt return for a score this season.

Golf

* Karrie Webb's grand prize for winning a junior event as a teenager was getting to spend a week with Australian icon Greg Norman. On Monday night, she joined him in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Webb, who captured the career Grand Slam quicker than any other player and is the only woman to win all five of the LPGA Tour majors, became the youngest member of the Hall of Fame when she was inducted with four others.

In a ceremony that highlighted women, she was joined in the Hall of Fame by Ayako Okamoto of Japan. Inducted posthumously were Willie Park Sr., the first British Open champion; writer Bernard Darwin; and golf course architect Alister MacKenzie, whose designs include Augusta National, Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne.

Tennis

Andre n Agassi lost to Nikolay Davydenko, then pulled out of the Tennis Masters Cup less than an hour after second-ranked Rafael Nadal withdrew with an injured left foot.

Nadal withdrew Monday while Agassi was on court, losing 6-4, 6-2. The 19-year-old Spaniard had been due to face Gaston Gaudio in his opening round robin-match in the Gold Group.

Mariano Puerta was drafted to play Gaudio in Monday's later match at Qi Zhong Stadium.

Agassi lasted 1 hour, 14 minutes against Davydenko, then said he couldn't play the rest of his round-robin matches because he aggravated an injury in his left ankle.

"No chance for me to play again -- it's very dangerous and risky for my future," Agassi said. "This is an unfortunate setback."

Nadal said he had consulted local doctors in Shanghai and the tournament doctor, and all recommended he withdraw and rest the damaged ligaments in his foot.

The two latest injuries are a major setback for the season-ending Masters Cup, which is supposed to feature the top eight players of the year.

No. 3 Andy Roddick and Australian Open winner Marat Safin withdrew before the tournament because of injuries. Lleyton Hewitt, ranked fourth, opted to remain in Sydney with his wife, actress Rebecca Cartwright, who is expecting the couple's first child within two weeks.