TORONTO, June 19 -- Neilson elected to Hockey Hall of Fame Roger Neilson was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame Wednesday and will be joined in the class of 2002 by two-time Norris Trophy winner Rod Langway, four-time Stanley Cup winner Clark Gillies and 1,000-point scorer Bernie Federko.
The voting was announced at the annual meeting of the 18-member selection committee in Toronto.
Neilson, 67, battled a rare form of cancer two years ago and lost his job as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. He was hired as an assistant by the Ottawa Senators in August 2000 and coached his 999th and 1,000th NHL games in the recently completed season when Jacques Martin stepped aside to allow his mentor to coach the final two games.
Nicknamed "Captain Video" early in his career for his extensive use of videotape as a teaching tool, Neilson coached eight NHL teams -- Toronto, Buffalo, Vancouver, Los Angeles, the New York Rangers, Florida, Philadelphia and Ottawa.
He owns a 460-381-159 record and led Vancouver to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1982, when he attained cult status in Vancouver after waving a towel in mock surrender to protest the officiating in a playoff game.
Neilson was runner-up for the Adams Award as the NHL's top coach in 1991-92 after helping the Rangers win the Presidents' Trophy.
Neilson was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in February 2000. He underwent chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant, but returned behind the bench as an assistant to Martin in August of that year.
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Italy howls over World Cup exit The World Cup took its first day off in almost three weeks Wednesday, a fact that did nothing to quell the outrage boiling in Italy.
"Sincerely, it was scandalous," said Italian defender Paolo Maldini.
"Shame," screamed the headline Wednesday in the Italian daily newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport. Underneath the headline was a photo of Byron Moreno, who until Tuesday night was unknown in Italy but is now viewed as public enemey No. 1.
Moreno, a referee from Ecuador, officiated Tuesday nights match between South Kroea and Italy, one that ended four minutes shy of a penalty shootout when Jung Hwan Ahnscored the winning goal.
South Korea thus reached the quarterfinals for the first time and Italy headed home, yet another big-time team having been eliminated from the tournament.
Ahn, although he became a national hero in South Korea, found he was out of a job with the club team for which he had played, which just happens to be in Italy.
"That gentleman will never set foot in Perugia again," said Luciano Gaucci, chairman of the Perugia club team.
"He was a phenomenon only when he played against Italy. I am a nationalist and I regard such behavior not only as an affront to Italian pride but also an offense to a country which two years ago opened its doors to him. I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian soccer."
Although the Italian contingent complained about many of the officiating calls, the two which have drawn the most scrutiny both came in overtime.
In the 110th minute, Christian Vieri sent a perfect pass to Damiano Tommasi, who scored what appeared to be the winning goal. Tommasi, however, was judged to be offside.
Technology put to use by a television network in Brazil examined replays and proclaimed Tommasi was onside by nine inches.
There was also the call in the 102nd minute in which Francesco Totti fell in the penalty box after being challenged by a South Korean defender. Even Italian partisans were mixed on whether Totti was fouled, but they were enraged that Totti was given a second yellow card for diving and was sent off.
"I think the sending off of Totti was scandalous," Maldini said. "I couldnt see if it was a penalty, but it certainly wasnt a sending off offense."
The eight teams remaining in the tournament were preparing for the quarterfinal round, which will be contested Friday and Saturday.
England and Brazil will open the quarterfinals Friday in Shizuoka -- a classic matchup between two of soccers traditional heavyweights. The United States, enjoying unexpected success on soccers biggest stage, will play Germany Friday night in Ulson with the Americans going into the game as a heavy underdog.
On Saturday, South Korea will try to pull off another upset when it meets Spain in Gwangju and that night Senegal will face Turkey in Osaka.
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Public service for Buck set for Thursday The family of late Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck and the St. Louis Cardinals announced Wednesday that a public viewing and memorial service for Buck will take place Thursday at Busch Stadium.
The legendary announcer of the Cardinals for nearly 50 years, Buck died on Tuesday. He was 77.
The public viewing will begin at 8 a.m. EDT followed by a memorial service scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
As a result, the start time for Thursday's scheduled game against the Anaheim Angels has been pushed back to approximately 4:10 p.m. EDT.
The Cardinals will wear a black armband with the initials "J.F.B.", standing for Jack Francis Buck, on the right sleeve of their uniforms for the remainder of the 2002 season.
In addition, the Cardinals have set up a memorial site on the west side of Busch Stadium, at the Jack Buck statue, that will be lit around the clock and will remain in place until a date yet to be determined. The team unveiled a bronze sculpture of him behind a microphone outside the stadium in 1998.
The Buck family is also planning a private memorial service to be held at Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church on Friday, followed by a private burial at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetary.
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Navratilova ousted in Eastbourne Martina Navratilova had one day to celebrate her triumphant return before running into 19-year-old Daniela Hantuchova.
After winning the first four games of the match, Navratilova appeared to have Hantuchova intimidated, but the third-seeded Slovakian recovered and earned a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round of the Britannic Asset Management Championships.
Playing in her first singles match in nearly eight years, the 45-year-old Navratilova beat Tatiana Panova of Russia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 on Tuesday and started strong on Wednesday, breaking Hantuchova's serve twice in the first four games.
But Hantuchova fought back against her legendary opponent, winning four straight games in the second set and breaking Navratilova's serve twice in the third set as well.
Many of the players were not pleased with Navratilova's return, especially top seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, who had her match against Daja Bedanova relegated to a smaller court on Wednesday.
"You would think that the No. 1 seed would play on Centre Court, but there's some ridiculous match out there instead," Dokic said referring to Navratilova's match against Hantuchova. "I thought I'd be playing there but they changed it."
Dokic's complaint came after she was beaten by Bedanova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
"I'm not going to take it personally," Navratilova said when told of Dokic's outburst. "I understand there were a bunch of players who were happy I was playing and others who were not so happy. But I remember playing matches on court four and five at Wimbledon when I was ranked No. 1 and defending champion."
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Jets sign first-round pick The New York Jets Wednesday became the second team to sign their first-round pick, inking Alabama-Birmingham defensive end Bryan Thomas to a five-year contract.
The 22nd overall pick in the April draft, Thomas will receive $6.8 million with "escalator" clauses that can raise the deal to as much as $9 million.
Last year's 22nd overall selection, New York Giants cornerback Will Allen, signed a five-year contract worth $6.2 million.
Quarterback David Carr, the No. 1 overall pick of the Houston Texans, was the first first-round pick to sign back in April.
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Laimbeer becomes WNBA coach The WNBA's Detroit Shock, off to the worst start in league history at 0-10, Wednesday fired head coach Greg Williams and replaced him with former Detroit Pistons "Bad Boy" Bill Laimbeer.
The 45-year-old Laimbeer was named a special consultant with the Shock at the start of the season after spending the 2001-02 campaign as a television analyst for the Pistons. Laimbeer played 13 seasons with the Pistons and helped them win back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and '90.
"Bill has been close to the team since the beginning of training camp, holds great basketball knowledge, and expertise and we feel he is the right person to turn the franchise around," said Shock President Tom Wilson. "We consider this a fresh start for the team."
Laimbeer is the Pistons all-time leader with 9,430 rebounds, and was known for his outside shot as well as his physical play that was typical of the Pistons teams in the late 1980s and early '90s. |end| Content: 15003000 15007000 15008000 15031000 15054000 15065000
