Dennis Weathersby in serious condition
CINCINNATI, April 14 (UPI) -- Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dennis Weathersby was hospitalized in serious condition Tuesday with injuries suffered in a traffic accident.
"As a result of the auto accident, he sustained a head injury. He is receiving aggressive, state-of-the-art medical treatment. At this point, it is too early to make any further statements," the Bengals reported on their Web site.
Weathersby was injured in an accident Monday night in a Cincinnati suburb.
"The Bengals have been informed that there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol involved in the accident. No other persons were involved," the team report said.
Weathersby, 23, who played for Oregon State in college, was drafted in the fourth round by Cincinnati last year a week after he was wounded in an a drive-by shooting in Duarte, Calif., his hometown. He recovered from a bullet wound in his back.
Norm Roberts named St. John's coach
JAMAICA, N.Y., April 14 (UPI) -- Norm Roberts was hired as head basketball coach at St. John's University Tuesday.
The 38-year-old Roberts moves to St. John's from Kansas, where he was an assistant on the staff of Coach Bill Self.
Roberts succeeds Mike Jarvis, who was fired in December. The Red Storm had a 6-21 record last season, one of the worst in the school's history.
"This is coming home," Roberts, a New York city native, said at a news conference."It's very exciting to be coaching in New York again, at a place where I always dreamed of doing the job."
Other candidates for the St. John's job had been DePaul Coach Dave Leitao and former North Carolina Coach Matt Doherty.
Roberts worked for Self at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois before going to Kansas.
"We are so very happy for Norm," Self said. "He's an excellent recruiter, he's an excellent coach and he conducts his business in a manner which any university would be proud. He has a unique way of getting close to players quickly."
Denmark pays price for Algeria boycott
LONDON, April 14 (UPI) -- Denmark on Tuesday was relegated to the lowest echelon of next year's Davis Cup after refusing to play in Algeria.
The Danes were supposed to play Algeria last weekend, but they failed to show after considering security issues. The Davis Cup committee took a dim view of their decision.
Meeting in London, tournament organizers decided to declare Algeria automatic winners of the Europe/Africa Zone Group II first-round match.
They also relegated Denmark to Europe/Africa Zone Group III for next season, playing in a draw with non-tennis powers San Marino, Nigeria, Lithuania and Cyprus.
Denmark will receive no prize money for the 2004 competition, having failed to compete. The Danes also were ordered to pay compensation for costs incurred by the Algerian tennis federation in attempting to host the tie.
The news was welcome for Slovenia, which was scheduled to meet Denmark in July in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II playoffs.
Schuettler out early in Estoril Open
ESTORIL, Portugal, April 14 (UPI) -- Top seed Rainer Schuettler suffered his seventh early loss in eight tournaments Tuesday, falling to Romanian Victor Hanescu at the Estoril Open.
Schuettler lost to Hanescu, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, to drop to 4-8 on the season. The German won a pair of singles matches last weekend to help his country defeat Israel in the Davis Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group I, but has lost five straight ATP outings.
Last year's finalist Agustin Calleri, the third seed, also went out, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) to Czech Jiri Vanek. Calleri lost both his singles matches and the doubles over the weekend in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
No. 7 Gaston Gaudio of Argentina also was eliminated, 6-4, 6-4, by German Florian Mayer.
Fourth seed Tommy Robredo of Spain swept through the first set, 6-0, against Xavier Malisse before the Belgian retired with an injury.
