US hockey team romps
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The unbeaten United States hockey team thundered into the Olympic quarterfinals Monday in a dramatic reversal of the lackluster effort put forth four years ago.
As the final week of competition got under way, Germany tied Norway for the lead in gold medals by winning two -- one of them by the narrowest of margins. And, Australia won its second gold of the Winter Olympics after having never won one before the Salt Lake City Games.
When National Hockey League players made their Olympic debut in Nagano in 1998, the Americans won just one of four games, failed to claim a medal and then left town under a cloud when some of the team members trashed a hotel room.
That was then, this is now. The United States steamrolled past a solid team from Finland, skated to an entertaining tie with Russia and claimed the No. 1 spot in its round-robin group Monday with an 8-1 thrashing of Belarus.
That sets up a United States-Germany matchup in the quarterfinals on Wednesday with the winner of that one moving on to the medal round.
Four gold medal events were on the program Monday and the first three went to the ski jumping team from Germany, the women's biathlon relay team from Germany and to Australian freestyle skiing aerial specialist Alisa Camplin.
Camplin joined Steven Bradbury as Australian gold medalists at these Games with Camplin's gold being well earned. Bradbury admitted that his came on a fluke when the four skaters in front of him in the men's 1,000 short-track race all were wiped out in a collision.
In the team ski jumping event, Germany's four-man squad put together a point total of 974.1. That was good for the gold when Finland came up a tenth of a point short at 974.0. The bronze went to Slovenia, that country's first medal at these Olympics.
With the ice dancing final the only gold medal event remaining Monday night, Germany and Norway both had eight gold medals. But Germany led overall with 24. The United States, which had no contenders in ice dancing and thus faced its first day of the Games without a medal, had a total of 18.
Skating boss wants judging changes
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The head of the International Skating Union said Monday he wanted to make revolutionary changes in the system currently used to judge figure skating and also announced a commission would be formed to determine whether the results of the Olympics pairs event had been pre-determined.
In Paris, meanwhile, the suspended French judge who found herself at the core of the controversy, said that rather than being pressured to vote for Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze in the pairs event, she had been pressured to vote for Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.
"I judged in good faith that the Russians were best," Marie-Reine Le Gougne told the French daily newspaper L'Equipe.
When Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze won the pairs gold medal by a 5-4 vote over Sale and Pelletier a week ago, there was instant controversy because impartial observers believed the Canadians skated the better program.
Reports then began to surface that Le Gougne had said she was pressured to vote for the Russians. As a result, she was suspended for an idefinite period of time while an investigation takes place.
The furor eventually led to the Canadians being awarded a gold medal as well, which they received in a ceremony Sunday night.
Gruden to coach Buccaneers
TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally landed the high-profile coach they coveted Monday, prying Jon Gruden away from the Oakland Raiders and signing him to a five-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed for Gruden, who will be introduced at a news conference on Wednesday. ESPN reported Gruden will receive $17.5 million, or $3.5 million per year.
He replaces Tony Dungy, who was fired last month.
The 38-year-old Gruden had a 40-28 record in four seasons at Oakland and took the Raiders to the AFC championship game a year ago. The Raiders won the AFC West this past season before being eliminated by the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
The Bucs last month tried to hire Gruden, who had one year left on his contract with the Raiders. But they were unable to put a compensation package to the liking of Oakland owner Al Davis. The two sides finally worked out a deal and details of the compensation will be announced on Wednesday.
The ESPN report said the Raiders will receive first- and second-round picks in 2002, a first-round pick in 2003 and a second-round pick in 2004. The Raiders will not receive any cash or players.
Texans start with Boselli
HOUSTON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Tony Boselli will serve as the cornerstone
for a second expansion franchise and the Houston Texans built
their nucleus around eight high-priced players in Monday's NFL
expansion draft.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens
viewed the draft as a salary cap dumping ground, and the Texans
were more than willing to take advantage of the situation.
A five-time Pro Bowl left tackle, Boselli was the first-ever
pick of the Jaguars in 1995. On Monday, the Texans made him the
No. 1 pick in the expansion draft.
The Texans also plucked starting defensive tackles Gary Walker
and Seth Payne from the Jaguars, who were nearly $23 million
over the salary cap, and starting cornerbacks Aaron Glenn and
Marcus Coleman and right tackle Ryan Young from the New York
Jets, who were more than $16 million over the cap.
Houston selected outside linebacker Jamie Sharper and two-time
Pro Bowl returner Jermaine Lewis from the Ravens.
Coleman, Miller benched for brawling
NEW YORK, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The NBA suspended Derrick Coleman of the Philadelphia 76ers and Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers on Monday for their role in a scuffle in Sunday's game at Conseco Fieldhouse.
NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson suspended Coleman for two games and fined the forward $12,500 for grabbing the throat, throwing a punch and fighting.
Miller was suspended one game and fined $7,500 for throwing a punch and fighting during the incident, which took place with 6:15 remaining in the third period.
Sixers forward Corie Blount received an automatic one-game suspension and was fined $5,000 for leaving the vicinity of the bench at the time of the altercation.
Coleman and Blount will miss Monday's game against the Denver Nuggets and Coleman will also miss Wednesday's game against Golden State. Miller will miss Friday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Pacers went on to an 86-76 win over the shorthanded 76ers, who were playing without without NBA scoring leader Allen Iverson.
The Pacers held a 53-46 lead when Miller and Coleman began scuffling near mid-court. Coleman threw a punch before Indiana forward Jeff Foster wrestled him away.
Coleman did not speak to reporters after the game but apparently wanted to resume hostilities with Miller.
