Reports: Jones kicked off Notre Dame football team
SOUTH BEND, Ind., June 11 (UPI) -- In yet another negative development in an offseason that has been full of them, both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday that running back Julius Jones has been kicked off the team for academic reasons.
School officials declined comment on the reports.
Jones led the Fighting Irish in rushing last season as a junior with 718 yards on 168 carries.
The Tribune reported that Jones was dismissed last week at a university hearing for consistently poor academic performance.
The reported dismissal leaves Ryan Grant, who played sparingly as a freshman last year, as the only tailback with some game experience.
Notre Dame has already lost five players expected to start or compete for starting roles in 2002. Three players -- wide receiver Lorenzo Crawford and safeties Abram Elam and Donald Dykes -- were expelled last month after being accused of raping a female student. Crawford and Dykes were charged with rape and Elam was charged with conspiracy to commit rape.
Also, quarterback Matt LoVecchio decided to transfer and sophomore running back Cory Jones announced he was transferring to Washington.
Kevin Brown having back surgery
LOS ANGELES, June 11 (UPI) -- Veteran righthander Kevin Brown of the Los Angeles Dodgers, already battling arm problems, underwent surgery to repair a protruding disc in his lower back.
Brown is on the disabled list for the second time this year and could end up missing the remainder of the season. He was placed on the 15-day DL on May 27 with a posterior medial sprain in his right elbow.
Dr. Robert Watkins was performing the surgery at USC Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The 37-year-old Brown, who made three trips to the DL last season starting with a strained right Achilles tendon, became the highest-paid player in the major leagues when he signed a seven-year, $105 million contract with the Dodgers in December 1998.
He went 31-15 in his first two seasons in Los Angeles, but was limited to 19 starts last year, when he was 10-4.
In nine starts this season, Brown is 2-3 with a 4.06 ERA. He has allowed 22 runs, 20 earned, and 45 hits in 44 1/3 innings, with 11 walks and 38 strikeouts.
Omar Daal, who asked to be traded earlier in the year because he did not prefer to pitch out of the bullpen, will continue to occupy Brown's place in the rotation.
Daal will start Tuesday night when Los Angeles (38-25) continues a three-game interleague series at Tampa Bay.
Miami gets Lennox from Minnesota
MIAMI, June 11 (UPI) -- The winless Miami Sol Tuesday acquired guard Betty Lennox, the 2000 WNBA Rookie of the Year, from the Minnesota Lynx for rookie guard Tamara Moore.
Lennox, the sixth overall pick in the 2000 draft, averaged 16.9 ppg and was the only rookie selected to the All-WNBA Second Team. However, she was limited to just 11 games last season because of a strained left hip capsule suffered in a June 17 game at Detroit. She averaged 11.0 points and 4.9 rebounds.
After undergoing arthroscopic hip surgery in late November, Lennox has started just one of five games for Minnesota this season, averaging 6.2 points per contest.
"This is not something we did without a tremendous amount of thought," said Sol Coach-General Manager Ron Rothstein, who is attempting to shake up his team after an 0-5 start. "The opportunity to get a young veteran with the talent and capabilities of Betty Lennox was something we couldn't pass up. We still believe Tamara has a bright future and can be a terrific player in this league."
Moore returns to her hometown of Minneapolis after averaging 5.6 points in five games for the Sol.
Moore, a first-round pick in the 2001 draft, scored 22 points in her WNBA debut May 28 against Minnesota in the Sol's season opener.
Utah activates Starbird
SALT LAKE CITY, June 11 (UPI) -- The Utah Starzz Tuesday activated forward Kate Starbird in time for its game against the New York Liberty.
Starbird played the first three games of the year before going on the injured list with inflammation in her right elbow. She averaged 4.7 minutes and 2.7 points in those games.
The 6-2 Starbird averaged a career-high 4.7 points in 23 games last year.
To make room for Starbird on the roster, Utah placed rookie forward Danielle Crockrom on the injured list with a bruised leg. The 6-2 Crockrom was the 11th pick in the 2002 WNBA draft and averaged 4.8 minutes and 1.6 points in five games.
Defending champ France out at World Cup
SEOUL. June 11 (UPI) -- France, touted as the most powerful soccer team in the world, is going home much earlier than anyone anticipated. Senegal, making its first appearance on the sport's most significant stage, will be staying around for a while.
What had seemed impossible before the start of the World Cup became reality Tuesday as the defending champions made their way to the exit in what will be viewed in their home country as complete disgrace.
"I accept the defeat as I have accepted the victories," French coach Roger Lemerre. The folks back home will likely not be as gracious.
The World Cup entered a dramatic phase Tuesday with the playing of the first four of the 16 final group matches. In almost every match over the course of four straight days, a berth in the second round will be on the line.
On Tuesday, spots in the second round went to Denmark, Senegal, Germany and Ireland. Missing from that group was France, which won the 1998 World Cup on home soil and backed that up by winning the European championship two years ago.
This time, however, the No. 1 ranked team in the world could not manage a single goal in any of its three matches. Needing a two-goal victory Tuesday over Denmark to advance to the second round, France fell to the Danes in Incheon, 2-0. That gave Denmark first place in Group A and Senegal claimed the second spot by holding on for a 3-3 tie with Uruguay in Suwon.
The other games played Tuesday came in Group E, where Germany captured first place in Shizuoka thanks to a 2-0 victory over Cameroon in a mean-spirited game that saw 53 fouls called. That outcome gave Ireland the chance to advance with a win over Saudi Arabia and the Irish did so with a 3-0 decision in Yokohama.
The four teams that advanced Tuesday will learn their second-round opponents Wednesday when the final games in Group B and Group F are played.
After two very disappointing matches against Senegal (a loss) and Uruguay (a tie), France had some hope for a rebound Tuesday since superstar Zinedine Zidane returned to the lineup. He missed the first two games with a damaged thigh muscle.
Those hopes were wiped out when Denmark came up with goals from Dennis Rommedahl and Jon Dahl Tomasson.
France became the first defending champion to miss out on the second round since Brazil in 1966. And the fact the French could not score a goal made it only worse.
"It is obvious we didn't deserve to progress to the second round," said Lemerre, whose job is clearly in jeopardy.
"It's very difficult to analyze the situation right now. It's very difficult for the world champions and European champions to be eliminated during the first round. It is difficult for the players first, for myself and for the French. This is definitely very difficult to take."
While France was quietly fading away, Senegal, the team that started the French decline, was going through an emotional 90 minutes of soccer.
Needing only a tie with Uruguay to advance, Senegal took an astonishing 3-0 lead -- the first goal coming on a penalty kick that was, as many have been in the World Cup, very questionable.
But Uruguay scored early in the second half and panic began to set in on the Senegal side. Uruguay scored again, and again. Now, with the game tied and and Uruguay swarming around the net in search of the goal that would put it through to the second round, the Africans barely hung on.
"Our players proved their abilities," said Senegal coach Bruno Metsu. "We would like to create another wonderful story for African football and create another surprise."
The evening matches Tuesday went as predicted, but not without some controversy.
Spanish referee Antonio Lopez Nieto called 53 fouls, issued 16 yellow cards and two red cards in the Germany-Cameroon match.
With the winner of the match certain to advance, Cameroon wasted early chances. Cameroon, however, seemed in good shape when Germany's Carsten Ramellow was sent off in the 40th minute.
Instead, it was Germany that picked up the pace with Marco Bode putting the Germans in front in the 50th minute on a perfect feed from Miroslav Klose. And Klose added his tournament-leading fifth goal late in the match to clinch it.
Ireland, needing a victory to clinch its spot in the second round, dominated Saudi Arabia as expected.
Robbie Keane eased the pressure with a goal in the seventh minute and Ireland added two goals in the final half hour of play.
Ireland was thus able to overcome what was the biggest controversy leading up to the tournament, the dismissal of captain Roy Keane.
Wednesday's early action will determine which two teams from Sweden, England and Argentina will advance to the second round from Group F.
England and Sweden go into the matches with four points each and Argentina has three. England needs only to tie Nigeria to advance and will not even have to do that if Sweden beats Argentina. The winner of the Sweden-Argentina match will move on. If it ends in a tie, Sweden will advance.
The night matches come in Group B, where Spain has already wrapped up one of the two spots with six points and will be favored to beat South Africa and win the group. But South Africa is in second place with four points and if it can manage a tie against the Spanish, it will advance.
Paraguay, in third place with one point, can make it into the second round if it beats Slovenia while South Africa is losing to Spain. In addition, however, Paraguay must make up a three-goal deficit to South Africa in goal differential.
Sharks give Lombardi contract extension
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 11 (UPI) -- San Jose Sharks General Manager Dean Lombardi, who has held the post since 1996 and whose club finished this past season with a franchise-record 99 points, was rewarded late Monday with a contract extension.
Terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed.
Lombardi joined former New York Islanders GM Bill Torrey as the only men in their positions in NHL history to have teams improve their point totals in six consecutive seasons.
The Sharks won their first Pacific Division title and finished third overall in the Western Conference this year. They took the Colorado Avalanche to seven games before being eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Sharks also signed their entire scouting staff to contract extensions.
"Dean and his staff have earned these new deals with their hard work, dedication and commitment to building a championship caliber- club," said San Jose President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Jamison. "We have been very pleased with our improvement and direction, both on and off the ice, while he has
been in charge."
This past season, the Sharks posted a 44-27-8-3 record and reached the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
New Hampshire loses its AD over resume flap
HANOVER, N.H., June 11 (UPI) -- Charles S. Harris has withdrawn his acceptance of the offer to become the new Director of Athletics and Recreation at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.
On Tuesday, after speaking with Dean of the College James A. Larimore, Harris notified Larimore that he had declined the offer.
"I have accepted Charles' decision to withdraw," said Larimore. "One of the chief considerations for both Charles and me was the fact that, after the conclusion of the search process, questions arose concerning his representation of his educational record to a previous employer. Charles decided that it would be difficult to accept this appointment under these circumstances. I very much regret, both for Charles' sake and for that of the College, that this is the case. He has compiled an outstanding professional record in 25 years as an athletic administrator and I believe he would have brought many strengths to the position of Director of Athletics and Recreation at Dartmouth. All of us at Dartmouth wish him the very best."
Harris had been named to the post June 6 after spending six years as the Commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. He previously the AD's posts at Arizona State and the University of Pennsylvania.
"I am terribly disappointed to learn of this development," said Dartmouth President James Wright. "I have had the privilege of working with Charles Harris through my involvement with the NCAA Board of Directors. I have found him to be an impressive, thoughtful colleague."
There have been several instances of resume fraud in the last few months. Among them was that of George O'Leary, who left Georgia Tech as football coach to take a similar post at Notre Dame when it was discovered that he had embellished his educational background. Likewise for Sandra Baldwin, who resigned as president of the U.S. Olympic Committee under a similar cloud.
