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In brief

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 14, 2002

Olympic baseball gains support

Major League Baseball wants the Olympics to keep the sport as long as it doesn't have to send its stars.

The International Olympic Committee program commission recommended in August that baseball, softball and modern pentathlon be dropped starting in 2008.

The IOC is scheduled to vote on the proposals at its general assembly in Mexico City on Nov.27-29.

A majority of the members voting at the meeting is required for a sport to be cut.

"We're hopeful it will be a favorable decision," Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner's office, said Wednesday at the baseball general managers meetings.

"There was a lot of effort on our part to see that the game is retained. We lobbied with everybody from NBC to the Republic of China to individual IOC members."

Major league players have not participated in the Olympics. Teams did supply minor-league prospects for the 2000 tournament in Sydney, Australia.

It might be a long time -- if ever -- before the likes of Barry Zito play.

Alderson might not have to sweat out the vote. Earlier this week, IOC president Jacques Rogge said the vote could be postponed, and any decision might not apply until 2012.

Keeping baseball is a priority for Alderson, who was involved in putting together the United States' gold medal team in 2000. He said it's important to the sport's future growth.

"It's a platform from which baseball can develop internationally, particularly at the grass-roots level," Alderson said. "It doesn't translate into more revenue for Major League Baseball. There's no tangible benefit to Major League Baseball other than the growth internationally of the sport.

"Without the Olympics, baseball would cease to exist in many countries because the funding for sports comes from the Olympic committees."

Alderson said he is hopeful major-leaguers could participate but there are a lot of hurdles.

"We play our game every day in July and August, and fans expect that," Alderson said.

"The weather is bad in April and March, so we have a lot of obstacles. But we're committed to improving the quality of the American team."

TENNIS: Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Marat Safin, the top three seeds, lost in round robin play at the eight-player Masters Cup in Shanghai, China. CarlosMoya clinched a semifinal berth by beating Hewitt 6-4, 7-5. Jiri Novak beat Agassi 7-5, 6-1, and Albert Costa beat Safin 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Paradorn Srichaphan's career could be put on hold if he's required to serve in Thailand's military next year. He will report for boot camp April7, as required by law, but the country's lottery system allows some to avoid the draft.

COLLEGES: The No.4-seed South Florida men's soccer team plays No.5 Cincinnati at 6:30 p.m. today in the first round of the Conference USA tournament in St. Louis. The winner faces top-seeded Marquette in the semifinals Friday. USF soccer's Jeff Thwaites and Hunter West were named first-team all-conference. Troy Perkins and Jared Vock made the second team. Tampa women's soccer player Ginger Lynn was named Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. Lynn and Eckerd's Monica Carrasco were named to the all-SSC first team. Tampa's Melanie Moody and Katie Calvin, Eckerd's Johanna Wiborg and Brooke Lacey were named to the second team. Saint Leo forward Helen Brady was named honorable mention.

Saint Leo goalkeeper Charlie Long was named to the second team of the all-SSC soccer team. Saint Leo's Cristiana Florea and Tampa's Krissi MacIntyre were named to the Academic All-District III volleyball team. Florea has a 3.67 grade-point average in international business, MacIntyre a 3.95 in biology. Nebraska volleyball and basketball player Greichaly Cepero entered a program to deal with charges stemming from a disturbance at the apartment of quarterback Jammal Lord. If she completes the program, the misdemeanor charges will be dropped.

AMERICA'S CUP: Switzerland's Alinghi, San Francisco's Oracle and Sweden's Victory took 2-0 leads in the best-of-seven challenger quarterfinals early today in Auckland, New Zealand. Also, New York's Stars & Stripes evened its match with Britain's GBR Challenge at 1. Oracle beat Seattle's OneWorld. Alinghi beat Italy's Prada. Victory beat France's Le Defi. The series continue Friday.

BOXING: Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas met at a restaurant in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday, shook hands, and Vargas congratulated De La Hoya for knocking him out in the 11th round of their 154-pound title bout two months ago. "I look at this meeting as a starting point to what will develop into a long friendship between the two of us," De La Hoya said in a statement. There was animosity between the two before the bout, but they discussed a possible rematch.

SKIING: Nicole Hosp won the opening NorAm Cup giant slalom event in Georgetown, Colo. Her two-run time of 1:52.35 was .15 seconds faster than Britt Janyk.

HORSES: Magna Entertainment's acquisition of Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park in Maryland was unanimously approved by the Maryland Racing Commission. ... Power was restored at Hollywood Park, and racing will be held as scheduled today. An outage canceled the final race Monday. No racing was scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday. ... Full Mandate beat Irish Legacy by a length in the allowance feature for 3-year-olds and older at Churchill Downs.

OBITUARY: Juan Schiaffino, a Uruguayan soccer star who helped lead his country to the 1950 World Cup title in an upset of Brazil, died at 78. ... Glenn Dobbs, an All-America tailback at Tulsa during the early 1940s who later coached the team for eight seasons died Tuesday night. He was 82.

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