Sports briefs 11/17/04

Colleges

• Missouri added its third recruit on Tuesday, signing 6-foot-9 Leo Criswell of Kansas City to a national letter of intent.

Criswell averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds as a junior at Kansas City Piper before transferring to Coastal Christian Academy. He was rated the nation's 26th best forward by Rivalhoops.com and a top 50 national recruit by several services.

Criswell chose Missouri over Kentucky, UNLV and St. John's. He joins guard Keaton Grant of Kissimmee, Fla., and forward Matt Lawrence of St. Louis.

Coach Quin Snyder said he expects Criswell to be an impact player.

"Leo has the talent and tremendous versatility to be a great player, and we are excited to have the opportunity to continue his development as a player and a person," Snyder said.

Football

• ABC's "desperate" bid at cross-promotion backfired on "Monday Night Football."

The network's steamy intro to the Philadelphia-Dallas game, featuring a naked Nicollette Sheridan jumping into the arms of Eagles receiver Terrell Owens, drew complaints from viewers and the NFL.

ABC Sports apologized Tuesday for the segment, used a day earlier to promote the hit show "Desperate Housewives" and broadcast just nine months after another football flap -- the Janet Jackson Super Bowl fiasco.

Hockey

• David Frost, the agent for jailed former St. Louis Blues player Mike Danton, has been banned from attending games and events of the Central Junior A Hockey League.

"We don't want him around, period," commissioner Mac MacLean announced Tuesday.

The ban follows an incident in Jim Durrell Arena in Ottawa last Saturday in which Frost entered an area off limits to fans, a league news release said, adding that Frost "accosted, harassed and threatened an official of the CJHL."