Michigan coach denies violations

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Michigan coach denies violations

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said yesterday that his program has abided by NCAA rules, despite allegations from anonymous players and former players who say the team has practiced far beyond the time allowed.

At a news conference in Ann Arbor, Rodriguez became emotional and had to gather himself several times with glassy eyes as he denied any wrongdoing.

The school on Sunday launched an investigation into allegations that the football program regularly violates NCAA rules limiting how much time players can spend on training and practice.

In other college football news:

• The father of former University of Miami quarterback Cannon Smith said the player will enroll at Memphis. Smith had played for Christian Brothers High School in Memphis and also at nearby Olive Branch, Miss. Smith played in one game for the Hurricanes last year as a true freshman.

• UCLA plans to play its season opener Saturday against San Diego State while monitoring the wildfires in the Los Angeles hills above the Rose Bowl.

• Marvin "Moose" Stewart, a star center for LSU in the 1930s, has died. He was 97. The school said he died Sunday in Pebble Beach, Calif. Mr. Stewart was a factor for the Tigers in their Southeastern Conference titles in 1935 and 1936.

HOCKEY

Fedorov wins $60 million suit

DETROIT - A Michigan judge said former Detroit Red Wings star Sergei Fedorov is entitled to $60 million from a man accused of failing to meet a loan obligation to the hockey player. Wayne County Circuit Judge Kathleen MacDonald made the ruling Friday, and her clerk confirmed the decision yesterday.

Fedorov said Joseph Zada of Grosse Pointe Shores swindled him out $43 million during the past 11 years. He allegedly promised to repay the former player $60 million by April 20.

In other hockey news:

• Emma Laaksonen scored on a power play 2:10 into the third period to lift Finland to a 3-2 win over the United States in the opening game of the Hockey Canada Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• Paul Kelly is out as executive director of the NHL Players' Association. The union announced at its annual meeting that its executive board had voted to remove Kelly.

OLYMPIC BASKETBALL

Robertson, Newell, Yow set for shrine

GENEVA - Oscar Robertson and coach Pete Newell will be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame for leading the United States to the gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. The list of 11 inductees includes Kay Yow, the former N.C. State coach who led the U.S. women to the 1988 Olympic title.

Newell coached one of the most powerful teams in Olympic history. Robertson, Jerry West and Jerry Lucas were on the squad that went 8-0 and beat its opponents by more than 42 points a game.

Enshrinement will be Sept. 20 in Poland, site of the EuroBasket final, and Sept. 22 at the FIBA Hall of Fame in Alcobendas, Spain.

SPORTS BETTING

Court hits Delaware plan again

DOVER, Del. - A federal appeals court dealt another blow to Delaware's plans for a new sports betting lottery, saying it must be limited to parlay bets on professional football games. A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared last week that Delaware's sports betting plan, which included single-game bets and wagering on a variety of professional and collegiate sports, violated federal law but it did not expressly say why.

Yesterday, the panel outlined its reasoning in a 23-page opinion. The court said it interpreted language that exempted Delaware from a 1992 federal ban on sports gambling - known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act - as precluding any type of betting beyond what it had offered in a failed NFL lottery in 1976. That lottery allowed only parlay bets, which means bettors had to pick the winners of at least three separate NFL games in a single wager.

TRACK AND FIELD

Gay, Merritt post wins

GATESHEAD, England - Tyson Gay won his first race since a second-place finish at the world championships, then said he would be having surgery at the end of the season to cure a lingering groin injury. Gay clocked 10.15 seconds in the 100 meters running into a headwind at the British Grand Prix, finishing well ahead of Kim Collins and Marc Burns.

Olympic and world 400-meter champion LaShawn Merritt (Portsmouth) won his 15th race in a row but clocked a slow 45.11 seconds in damp conditions.

In other track and field news:

• Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper won the 100-meter hurdles at the Zagreb (Croatia) Grand Prix, and Darvis Patton and Mike Rodgers went 1-2 in the men's 100. Harper finished in 12.67 seconds. In the men's 100, Patton won in 9.94, followed by Rodgers in 9.97.

ELSEWHERE

• Olympic champion Nastia Liukin withdrew her name from consideration for the world gymnastics championships, saying she hasn't had enough time to train. Liukin, only the third U.S. woman to win the Olympic title, has been in high demand for appearances, photo shoots and commercial opportunities since she left Beijing.

• U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist Peter Uihlein and Cameron Tringale are the final two amateur golfers selected to the U.S. Walker Cup team. Uihlein is the third Oklahoma State player chosen for this year's team. The sophomore from Orlando, Fla., joins teammates Rickie Fowler and Morgan Hoffmann.

• Augusta National announced that Jack Nicklau will join Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter for next year's Masters.

- From Wire Reports