Owners, players face critical week
NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- If Major League Baseball is to avoid its ninth work stoppage in 30 years, negotiators for the owners and Players Association will have to iron out some serious differences this week.
When the players' union agreed to set Friday as a strike date, it set in motion a chain of events that could result in the cancellation of the rest of the season for the second time in nine years.
With less than four days left to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement, both sides remained divided Monday on a couple of substantial issues.
The deal involves a potential luxury tax on team payrolls. The owners' latest proposal calls for a tax of between 35 and 50 percent on payrolls over $107 million, with additional penalties imposed on repeat offenders.
The players have countered with a sliding scale tax that begins at 15 percent and could climb to 40 percent for repeat offenders in the third year of the four-year deal. The players' scenario has teams being taxed on payrolls over $125 million in 2003 and increasing $10 million each season. The players also have eliminated the tax in the fourth and final year of their proposal.
The sides also differ on revenue sharing, an area in which owners have called for $263 million to be transferred in each year of the pact. The players again would like to deal in increments, beginning with just over $170 million in 2003 and increasing about $25 million a season.
The sides also need to finalize a steroid and drug testing policy, an issue that could prove to be a sticking point. How often players are tested and whether or not test results would be announced remain points of contention.
The sides have been able to agree on a number of relatively minor issues, such as minimum salaries and players' rehabilitation rights. Parameters also have been put in place for a worldwide player draft.
Bargaining sessions are set throughout the week, but the history of labor unrest between the two parties almost assures that differences will go unresolved and negotiations will continue right up to Friday's deadline.
Davenport advances at U.S. Open
NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- No. 4 seed Lindsay Davenport impressed the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium Monday by quickly finishing off Eva Dyrberg, 6-2, 6-1 in her first-round match at the 2002 U.S. Open Tennis Championships in suburban New York.
Davenport recovered impressively from her collapse against Venus Williams Saturday in the finale of the Pilot Pen tournament, when she lost in straight sets after coming to within a point of winning the first. Davenport lost the final ten games of the match.
Meanwhile, Justin Henin, the No. 8 seed, routed fellow American Samantha Reeves, 6-1, 6-2. Henin, in a battle of wicked first serves that measured about 103 miles an hour for the winner and 107 for Reeves, hit flawless groundstrokes, committed only seven unforced errors and maintained a 100 percent break point conversion rate.
Also advancing in early first-round action on the men's side were Albert Costa and Michael Chang.
Davenport needed just 43 minutes to rout Eva Dyrberg of Denmark.
The fourth-seeded American is playing just her fifth tournament of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on her right knee on January 11. She has reached the semifinals or better in all four hardcourt events heading into the Open.
Also, No. 12 Elena Dementieva of Russia, who reached the semifinals here two years ago, posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Saori Obata of Japan.
French Open champion Costa of Spain, the eighth seed, advanced past Magnus Norman, 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Magic C-F Hunter out 4-6 months
ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Orlando Magic center-forward Steven Hunter suffered a torn right ACL and will undergo surgery that will sideline him four to six months, the team announced Monday.
The injury occurred while Hunter was participating in Big Man Camp at the Basketball Academy in Bradenton, Fla.,, Magic general manager John Gabriel said.
A 7-footer selected with the 15th overall pick in 2001, Hunter averaged 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 53 games as a rookie. In 21 starts, he averaged 5.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots.
Timberwolves reportedly get Troy Hudson
MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Monday that Troy Hudson, who played with the Orlando Magic last season, has agreed to a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The newspaper did not disclose financial terms but said it was likely a three-year deal with with third year as a player's option and that Hudson's agent, Bill Neff, recently turned down the Wolves' offer of a $1.4 million exemption.
Hudson, 26, averaged 11.7 points and 3.1 assists in 22.9 minutes per contest last season. The 6-1, 185-pounder from Southern Illinois has averaged 8.1 points and 3.0 assists in 251 games over five seasons with Utah, the Los Angeles Clippers and Orlando.
The paper that the Timberwolves also had talked to Travis Best, another point guard still on the market. Best played for the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls last season.
Minnesota signed swingman Ricky Davis to an offer sheet on Aug. 16, but the Cleveland Cavaliers matched it five days later. Last season, Minnesota's starting point guard, Terrell Brandon, played just 32 games before suffering a season-ending leg injury, and Chauncey Billups, who became the starter in Brandon's absence, signed as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons in July.
Missouri extends coach's contract
COLUMBIA, Mo., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Gary Pinkel, who was just 4-7 in his first season as coach at Missouri, on Monday had his contract extended two years through the 2007 season.
Pinkel's original contract, signed in December 2000, took him through the 2005 season. While complete terms were not disclosed, the school said that his base salary of $192,000 will remain the same with the new extension.
Pinkel came to Missouri after a 10-year run at Toledo and owns a career record of 77-44-3.
Chiefs lose Woods for season
KANSAS CITY, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The defense of the Kansas City Chiefs has taken a major blow with the loss of veteran free safety Jerome Woods, who will miss the entire 2002 campaign after suffering a broken right leg Saturday night against Seattle.
Woods, who started 79 of the last 80 regular-season games after coming to the Chiefs as a first-round pick out of Memphis in 1995, was hurt trying to make a tackle on Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander.
Coach Dick Vermeil called the loss of Woods, who made 73 solo tackles last year, a major setback for the whole team.
"They lost a teammate for the season, a good player," Vermeil said. "And you can't lose too many good football players and remain competitive. But my experience has been, when something like this happens, someone steps up and fills that void. He is our key guy back there. He's an experienced free safety and safety in the scheme and the scheme is a very sophisticated, complicated scheme that requires him to do a lot of things. It hurts."
The likely replacement for Woods, a six-year veteran who had never missed a regular season contest, will be Jason Belser. The former Oklahoma star played for the Chiefs last season after spending nine years with the Indianapolis Colts. He has 13 career interceptions, and 616 solo tackles.
Pats to sign Jamal Anderson
FOXBORO, Mass., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Veteran running back Jamal Anderson, who missed nearly all of the 1999 and 2001 seasons because of serious knee injuries and a former Pro Bowl choice, apparently has agreed to terms with the New England Patriots.
In New England, Anderson would join a backfield that features Antowain Smith, who rushed for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2001.
Anderson, who has undergone two knee reconstructions in the last three years, was released by the Atlanta Falcons in June. He became expendable after the Falcons signed Warrick Dunn as a free agent and selected T.J. Duckett from Michigan State in the first round of the April draft.
Anderson, 29, spent the last eight seasons with the Falcons, carrying 1,329 times for 5,336 yards and 34 touchdowns. He tore the ACL in his right knee in 1999, returned to rush for 1,024 yards in 2000, then out his left knee in 2001. His best season was 1998, when he rushed for 1,846 yards and helped the Falcons reach the Super Bowl for the only time. He set an NFL record that season with 410 carries.
