Sports briefs 12/29/04

Basketball

Jeff Bzdelik was fired Tuesday as coach of the Denver Nuggets, who are on a six-game losing streak and struggling despite the addition of Kenyon Martin this season.

Assistant Michael Cooper was appointed interim coach.

Denver was expected to move near the top of the Western Conference after signing Martin, an All-Star power forward. So far, however, the Nuggets have been hurt by injuries and inconsistency.

The Nuggets started the season without power forward Nene and have used 10 different starting lineups, with star forward Carmelo Anthony missing the past five games with a sprained ankle.

Shooting guard Voshon Lenard, Denver's only legitimate outside shooting threat, was lost for the season with a torn Achilles' tendon in the opener.

Denver opened the season 2-5, won 10 of its next 12 games and has lost eight of its last nine, dropping to 13-15 after a 104-101 loss to Golden State on Monday night.

Colleges

* Louisville football coach Bobby Petrino has met with LSU officials about the Tigers' job but refused to say if he expected further talks.

"There's no offer on the table," he said Tuesday.

The LSU job opened when Nick Saban left for the Miami Dolphins. Petrino, who called his session with LSU a "preliminary meeting," is in Memphis, where the No. 7 Cardinals play No. 10 Boise State in the Liberty Bowl on Friday.

* Stephanie McGhee, the all-time leading scorer Oklahoma high-school basketball history, has decided to leave the Oklahoma women's basketball program, coach Sherri Coale said.

"We are truly disappointed in Stephanie's decision to not return to the team," Coale said Monday. "We wish her the best in all her future endeavors."

McGhee, a 6-foot guard, missed the first six games of the season with a stress fracture. She returned to play in three of the next four games, averaging 2.3 points.

She had been named the Big 12's preseason freshman of the year after an impressive high-school career. McGhee, who scored 3,376 points in her high-school career at Howe, is the only girl to pass the 3,000-point mark in Oklahoma. Her future plans are unknown.

* Vanderbilt running back Kwane Doster was shot to death after his friends and a group of other men exchanged "trash talk" about their cars, Tampa police said Tuesday.

Police continued to appeal for help in making an arrest in the Sunday morning shooting. Police said they have suspects, but need witnesses who might have seen who fired the fatal shot.

Doster, 21, was shot to death at a sandwich shop after visiting a local club with two friends about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Hockey

* Veteran tough guy Rob Ray sued the NHL Players Association, claiming he has been shut out of the union's lockout compensation fund as punishment because he said in October he would return to the ice if the NHL used replacement players.

Ray spent most of last season working as a TV broadcaster with his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, before signing with Ottawa in February. He played six games with the Senators, and was on the team's roster when it was eliminated by Toronto in the first round of last year's playoffs.

The 15-year NHL veteran is an unrestricted free agent. He said Tuesday he was notified early last month that an NHLPA committee ruled he was not eligible for compensation.

Soccer

* Brazilian soccer star Romario is retiring after a career in which he helped lead his country to the 1994 World Cup title.

"I stopped. I can't do it anymore. I don't have the desire," Romario told the O Globo news agency Tuesday from Florianopolis, where he was vacationing.

The 38-year-old striker said he planned a farewell game at the famed Maracana Stadium during the second half of 2005.

Romario burst onto the national soccer scene in 1985 and was FIFA's player of the year in 1994.