Report: Mark Cuban hit with large NBA fine
DALLAS, May 11 (UPI) -- The NBA has hit Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban with a $200,000 fine for public criticism of officiating.
Cuban lashed out at officials after Game One of the Mavericks' Western Conference semifinal series against San Antonio on Wednesday night and went onto the court during the fourth quarter.
The fine was divided into two parts, each amounting to $100,000.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Cuban wrote in an online blog that he "criticized the league for using too many officials in the playoffs rather than just selecting the 12 most experienced refs and going with them exclusively. It makes absolutely no sense to do it the way it is currently done. If the league wants the best officiating in every game, only use the best officials. Anything less cheats us all."
In a similar situation, Cuban was hit with a similar fine in last year's playoffs.
Lowery, Scott tie for Byron Nelson lead
IRVING, Texas, May 11 (UPI) -- Steve Lowery and Adam Scott both shot 5-under 65 Thursday and share the lead after one round of the Byron Nelson Golf Championship at Irving, Texas.
Lowery was bogey-free over 18 holes, while Scott's round featured seven birdies and two bogeys.
Bob Estes and Brett Wetterich head into the second round tied for third place at 4-under 66.
Bubba Dickerson -- who was tied for the lead with Scott and Lowery late in his round -- bogeyed two of his final four holes and finished at 3-under 67, tied with nine other players, including Dean Wilson, Tom Herron and Bo Van Pelt.
Defending champion Ted Purdy is tied with 15 players -- including Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk, last week's winner of the Wachovia Championship at Charlotte -- at even-par 70.
Two-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are not playing in this year's Byron Nelson tournament.
Karrie Webb leads at Williamsburg
WILLIAMSBURG, Va., May 11 (UPI) -- Karrie Webb shot 5-under 66 to take the lead after Thursday's first round of the LPGA's Michelob Ultra Open at Williamsburg, Va.
Jimin Kang is in second at 4-under 67. Yu Ping Lin, Meena Lee, Pat Hurst and Jeong Jang all shot 3-under 68 to share third place.
Webb, who won the year's first major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship last month, had eight birdies and three bogeys -- all three bogeys coming on the final six holes.
Defending champion Cristie Kerr leads a group of six players tied for seventh place at 2-under 69. The others are Brandie Burton, Brittany Lang, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, Ai Miyazato and Jill McGill.
Paula Creamer, No. 2 in the world, is tied with 10 players for 13th at 1-under 70.
World No. 1 Annika Sorenstam bogeyed four holes Thursday and is 2-over 73 with 27 other players.
St. John's receives NCAA penalties
INDIANAPOLIS, May 11 (UPI) -- The St. John's University basketball program was sanctioned Thursday by the NCAA's Committee on Infractions.
The penalty included sanctions St. John's already imposed on itself, including a post-season tournament ban in 2004-05 and the loss of one scholarship in 2005-06 and 2006-07. The school vacated all victories in which former player Abe Keita played and agreed to return 90 percent of the money it collected from the Big East for the 2002 NCAA tournament.
The violations, which occurred when Mike Jarvis was coach, included payments to Keita after he failed to qualify academically for a scholarship. Jarvis was fired in December 2003.
The school's former director of basketball operations was given a three-year "show cause" penalty. Should he seek athletically-related employment with another NCAA school, he and the hiring institution must appear before the infractions committee.
"This institution should have identified, communicated with and tracked the sources of income for the student-athlete, who it knew to be in financial difficulty," said Gene Marsh, a law professor at the University of Alabama and the committee's chairman. "Had it done so, it would have been able to determine that the young man was unable to meet his financial obligation and was receiving funds from unknown and possibly impermissible sources."
