Sports brierfs 5/26/04

Baseball

Baseball's River City Rascals considered it lighthearted -- a promotion dubbed "Sports Criminals Night," where the stadium would be transformed into a giant prison. Snacks would be bread and water for $1, and a fan each inning would get tossed into a "dugout jail." But the gimmick -- planned for June 2 -- got scratched from the promotions lineup not long after it was made public.

Basketball

Shaq got hacked, whacked and smacked -- and until Kobe Bryant finally showed up in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, it almost worked. Shaquille O'Neal had 22 points and 17 rebounds, and Bryant rallied from a scoreless first half for 22 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 100-89 home victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

College

Trent Johnson found a job that was too good to pass up after his old boss left Stanford for the NBA. Johnson, a former Cardinal assistant coming off a breakthrough season at Nevada, was hired to replace Mike Montgomery..

Texas (48-11), which won the Big 12 baseball title and is No. 1 in the major polls, will play Nebraska (35-21) in a first-round game as the Big 12 tournament begins today in Arlington, Texas. In the two-bracket setup, Oklahoma State (33-22) and Texas A&M (39-17) play on the same side as Texas-Nebraska. In the other half, Texas Tech (38-17) plays Baylor (27-29) and Oklahoma (36-20) takes on Missouri (34-20-1).

Hockey

Mike Danton wants his trial on charges that he sought to have his agent slain moved, questioning his chances of getting unbiased jurors in the same metropolitan area where he played for the St. Louis Blues. Danton's attorneys also have asked U.S. District Judge Michael Reagan to bar as evidence any recorded telephone calls involving Danton, including jailhouse talks with David Frost -- the man Danton allegedly tried to have killed -- after Danton's arrest.

-- From wire reports