In Baseball:
In the American League:
Chi White Sox at CLEVELAND, ppd.
Minnesota at NY YANKEES, ppd.
In the National League:
ATLANTA 3; Florida 0
Montreal at CHICAGO CUBS, ppd.
SAN FRANCISCO 7; San Diego 4
Arizona 6; LOS ANGELES 4 (12 innings)
Milwaukee at PITTSBURGH, ppd.
Syracuse wins men's NCAA final
NEW ORLEANS, April 7 (UPI) -- The NCAA has a new basketball champion, and the winning coach finally has a monkey off his back.
In Monday night's title game at the Superdome in New Orleans, a three-point attempt by Kirk Hinrich was blocked by Hakim Warrick as time wound down, and made a winner of Syracuse and Coach Jim Boeheim, 81-78, in the NCAA title game.
The Orangemen (30-5) bolted out to a commanding 32-17 in the first half, and withstood a furious rally in the late going to help Boeheim win the crown in his second try. It was also the school's first ever.
The freshman-laden Orangemen were led by Carmelo Anthony, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and fellow freshman Gerry McNamara added 18.
Anthony had just enough team support to overcome a 19-point, 21-rebound effort by Nick Collison of the Jawyhawks.
It was a tough loss for Kansas Coach Roy Williams, who now has lost the title game twice, and now will have to listen to the conjecture about his possibly leaving Lawrence, Ks., for Chapel Hill. He has been mentioned as likely the next coach at North Carolina, where Matt Dougherty resigned under pressure last week.
Williams was so incensed about a television reporter's question about his future that he uttered an expletive on camera, calling the question "insensitive."
Red Sox exercise option on Pedro
BOSTON, April 7 (UPI) -- The Boston Red Sox have quelled a potential controversy involving Pedro Martinez by exercising the option on his contract.
Martinez is a three-time Cy Young Award winner. The option is for the 2004 season.
Martinez was upset when the Red Sox did not exercise the $17.5 million option by the start of the current season. The Red Sox finally exercised the option on Monday, and said the club will resume negotiations on a new contract at the conclusion of the 2003 season.
"Now it's time to focus on baseball, winning, and 2003," said Red Sox President Larry Lucchino. "Once we complete the 2003 season, we will get together promptly with Pedro's representatives to continue our discussions of the longer-term contractual issues, with our mutual goal that Pedro Martinez complete his career as a member of the Boston Red Sox."
Martinez, 31, is in the final year of a six-year, $75 million contract that will pay him $15 million this season.
He has been dominant in his first two starts this season, allowing just two runs, one earned, in 15 innings, but does not have a decision because of bullpen failures.
Martinez was 20-4 with an American league-leading 2.26 ERA last season, and owns a career record of 152-63.
Worthy, Parish voted into Hall of Fame
NEW ORLEANS, April 7 (UPI) -- Boston Celtics center Robert Parish and Los Angeles Lakers forward James Worthy headline the list of seven elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday.
The two were among the NBA's 50 Greatest Players.
Also, Lakers broadcasting icon Chick Hearn, legendary Italian superstar Dino Meneghin, famed Louisiana Tech women's coach Leon Barmore, black basketball pioneer Earl Lloyd, and Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters were named to comprise the Class of 2003.
The selections were announced Monday afternoon at the Superdome, site of the NCAA Men's Final Four.
Former players Maurice Cheeks, Dennis Johnson, and Bobby Jones, and coach Bill Sharman were among the finalists who did not gain election from the 24-member Honors Committee for Enshrinement.
Parish, a nine-time NBA All-Star, teammed with Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Kevin McHale to form one of the finest frontcourts in league history. The trio won NBA titles in 1981, '84, and 1986.
He holds the record for defensive rebounds (10,117), and is sixth overall with 14,715 rebounds. His total of 23,334 points ranks 15th, and his 2,361 blocked shots is eighth on the NBA's all-time list.
A regular in postseason action, Parish appeared in the playoffs 16 seasons, second only to the 18 of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Worthy led North Carolina to the 1982 NCAA title, and played his entire 12-year NBA career with the Lakers, winning NBA titles in 1985, '87, and 1988. He appeared in seven All-Star Games, and is one of only seven Lakers to have his number (42) retired.
The 6-9, 225-pounder dominated in the low post with his swooping moves to the basket, and was named MVP of the 1988 NBA Finals after averaging 22 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per contest.
Hearn, who died in August, broadcast 3,338 consecutive games for the Lakers, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986. He earned the Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Media Award in 1992.
Known for creating play-by-play buzzowrds such as "on him like a postage stamp," and "the mustard's off the hot dog," Hearn began his historic streak on Nov. 21, 1965, and extended it to Dec. 16, 2001.
Lemon, known as the "Clown Prince of Basketball," and for his near-perfect hook shot from halfcourt, joined the Globetrotters in 1957, and played in over 16,000 games in a career that lasted until 1979.
In 2000, he earned the Basketball Hall of Fame's John Bunn Award, the most prestigious award given outside of actual enshrinement.
Lloyd, who in 1950 became the first black to play in an NBA game while with the Washington Capitols, was instrumental in integrating pro basketball as a player and coach. He was selected by the Veterans Committee.
He led West Virginia State to two CIAA Conference and Tournament titles in 1948 and '49, and enjoyed a solid NBA career with Washington, the Syracuse Nationals, and Detroit Pistons.
Meneghin, regarded as the finest Italian basketball player in history, was the International selection. From the age of 16 to 44, he played in Italy's top division, where he dominated play while participating in a record 834 games. He played in four Olympic Games (1972, '76, '80, and 1984), leading the Italians to a silver medal in 1984, and his Italian clubs to a record 12 Cup of Champions finals and seven championships.
In 1991, Meneghin was named by Giganti del Basket as the greatest player in European history.
The Atlanta Hawks selected Meneghin in the 1970 draft, making him one of the first foreign players ever drafted.
Enshrinements ceremonies are scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 4-6 in Springfield, Mass.
Lorenzen Wright done for season
MEMPHIS, April 7 (UPI) -- Center Lorenzen Wright of the Memphis Grizzlies will miss the remainder of the NBA season with a torn ligament in his right thumb.
An MRI Monday revealed a partial tear of the radial collateral ligament in the thumb that will sideline Wright for the Grizzlies' final five games.
Wright originally suffered the injury in a March 28 game against Seattle before aggravating it in Saturday's 97-91 loss at Atlanta. Wright will be in a cast for 2-4, then be re-evaluated.
In 70 games this season, the 6-11 Wright has averaged 11.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
Arbitrator: Morton to Redskins
ASHBURN, Va., April 7 (UPI) -- An arbitrator ruled Monday that the New York Jets did not properly match the Washington Redskins' offer sheet to restricted free agent Chad Morton.
The veteran kick returner was thereby awarded to the Redskins.
The ruling is the latest hit administered to the Jets by the Redskins, who last month signed two starters from New York, wide receiver Laveranues Coles and guard Randy Thomas.
Ironically, the two teams will kick off the NFL season on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover, Md., the Redskins' home field.
The Jets did not match an offer sheet tendered to Coles, but thought they matched the offer given to Morton last month. However, arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled Monday that the Jets did not include the key voidability provisions of Washington's five-year offer sheet worth nearly $8 million.
"By forwarding a copy of its proposed player contract, without the
voidability option, the (Jets) manifested its intention not to be bound by a very meaningful element of the offer sheet," Bloch said.
That "element" determined that Morton could void the five-year contract after three years if certain benchmarks were met.
Bloch heard both sides in an arbitration hearing last Thursday after Morton's agent claimed the Jets did not properly match the offer sheet.
Bloch agreed, ruling "there was no match" by the Jets in the voidability clause.
"However willing the (Jets) may have been to subsequently abide by the voidability clause if so required, the unavoidable conclusion is that, at that critical juncture of the carefully documented contract formation stage, there was no match," Bloch said.
"We are disappointed in the arbitrator's decision," said Jets General Manager Terry Bradway, "based on the NFL Management Council's opinion that so-called voidable years are not principal terms and not be matched by a player's team. We allowed the process to run its course."
Morton, 25, ranked second in the AFC last season, averaging 26 yards per return. He totaled a team-record 1,509 return yards and two touchdowns, both in a Week One win at Buffalo, including a 98-yarder in overtime.
The second player in NFL history to return a kickoff for a touchdown in overtime has averaged 24.4 yards per return in three seasons, two with the Jets and one with New Orleans.
Holliday signs with Chiefs
KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 7 (UPI) -- The Kansas City Chiefs Monday announced the signing of free agent defensive end Vonnie Holliday.
He started 63 games over the last five seasons with Green Bay, and got a five-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but Holliday reportedly received $21.3 million.
The Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks also courted Holliday, 27. Last year, he rejected a five-year, $20 million offer from the Packers because he wanted a deal closer to the six-year, $33 million given to Joe Johnson by Green Bay.
"Vonnie Holliday is an experienced five-year starting defensive end for a perennial playoff team," said Chiefs President Carl Peterson. "He's a former number one draft choice who helped Green Bay to a substantial number of victories during his tenure there. He plays both defensive end positions, and can play defensive tackle if necessary."
The Chiefs likely will start Holliday at right end. They originally went after Hugh Douglas, who is a better pass rusher than Holliday, but not as strong against the run. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Kansas City previously signed linebacker Shawn Barber and cornerback Dexter McCleon to help a defense which ranked last in the NFL last season.
Holliday, a first-round pick of the Packers in 1998 out of North Carolina, has recorded 260 tackles, 32 sacks, 22 passes defensed, and five forced fumbles in 66 career games. He had six sacks last season, but five of them came in one game, against Buffalo on Dec. 22.
