Sports briefs 3/10/04

Baseball

Gary Sheffield got a thumb's up from a hand specialist Tuesday and will return to spring training instead of having surgery to repair a torn ligament. The right fielder, who reinjured his thumb last weekend, will resume playing later this week.

Basketball

The Orlando Magic confirmed that oft-injured forward Grant Hill will delay his fourth comeback attempt until next season. Hill has had four operations on his left ankle, limiting him to 47 games since signing with the Magic in 2000.

College

Eddie Sutton was a unanimous selection as the Big 12 coach of the year after leading surprising Oklahoma State (24-3, 14-2) to its first outright conference title since 1964-65.

Wisconsin guard Devin Harris was named Big Ten player of the year, and Northwestern's Bill Carmody took coach of the year honors. Harris, 6-3 guard, was second in scoring in Big Ten games with 20.9 points and nearly doubled his scoring average of 10.6 points per game from a year ago. Joining Harris on the first team were Paul Davis of Michigan, Kris Humphries of Minnesota, Deron Williams of Illinois and Jitim Young of Northwestern.

Football

Free agent quarterback Jeff Garcia agreed to a $25 million, four-year contract with Cleveland, ending Tim Couch's rocky era with the Browns. Garcia's deal is worth $10 million over the first two years, and there's an option for the final two years. The 34-year-old Garcia, a three-time Pro Bowler, was unable to agree on a restructured contract with the San Francisco 49ers, who released him earlier this month after five seasons.

The NFL canceled plans for a third opening-game kickoff concert following Janet Jackson's risque halftime show at the Super Bowl. The league held free downtown concerts before its season-opening Thursday night games the last two seasons, but NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said that commissioner Paul Tagliabue put an end to the concerts.

The league's players union officially asked an arbitrator to make Terrell Owens a free agent, claiming San Francisco didn't have the rights to trade the wide receiver to Baltimore. The case will go to Steven Burbank of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, who was selected jointly by the league and the NFL Players Association early last year to arbitrate such contract disputes. Owens was prevented from becoming a free agent when the NFL Management Council ruled last week that his agent, David Joseph, failed to void the last two years of his contract by a Feb. 21 deadline.

Hockey

Detroit Red Wings center Robert Lang will be sidelined up to four weeks with a cracked rib. Lang, among the NHL's leading scorers with 78 points, was injured on a hit in the first period of Monday's 1-1 tie with Tampa Bay, Red Wings coach Dave Lewis said. Lang was acquired from Washington on Feb. 27.

Carolina captain Ron Francis waived his no-trade clause and was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. The 41-year-old Francis, in his 23rd season, ranks fourth in NHL history in career points and second in assists. The Hurricanes received the Maple Leafs' fourth-round draft pick in 2005.

-- From wire reports