Sports: In brief

In brief

Compiled from Times wires

Study: Sports fans more likely to binge when drinking

Sports and alcohol go hand in hand, according to a study that shows fans binge drink more often than those who are not fans.

The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study says 53 percent of fans usually binge when they drink, compared to 41 percent of male and 37 percent of female nonfans.

Findings of the study, released Monday, surveyed more than 14,000 students at 119 four-year colleges in 39 states. The study will appear in the January-February issue of Addictive Behaviors.

The study defines binge drinkers as men who have five or more drinks in a row at least once within two weeks, or women who have four or more.

SOCCER: In the EuropeanChampions League, host Inter Milan beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2, host Ajax beat Roma 2-1, Valencia drew 0-0 at Arsenal and Newcastle United's game at Barcelona was postponed to today because of heavy rain. ... The Spanish federation banned Barcelona from using its Camp Nou stadium for two league matches after fans hurled objects at Real Madrid's Luis Figo on Nov. 23, causing the match to halt for 15 minutes. ... The U.S. women's team will play in a tournament next month which includes Norway, Germany and host China.

OLYMPICS: Austrian skier Benjamin Raich received the Olympic bronze medal taken from Alain Baxter for failing a drug test.

AMERICA'S CUP: Prada beat Seattle's OneWorld by 20 seconds in a best-of-seven challenger series semifinal. The teams have split two races but the Italian boat leads because of a one-point penalty against OneWorld. Alinghi of Switzerland went 2-0 up in its semifinal against San Francisco's Oracle syndicate, winning by 29 seconds.

RODEO: K.C. Jones won the fourth round of steer wrestling in the National Finals at Las Vegas with a 3.7-second run to jump to third in the world standings.

COLLEGES: Florida defender Danielle Murphy and Jacksonville midfielder Vanessa Illanes were named first-team All-South region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. UF's Jordan Kellgren and Florida State's Cindy Schofield were on the second team. South Florida's Tia Oplinger was named to the third team.

AWARD: Seven were nominated for the American-International Athlete Trophy, awarded for best demonstrating excellence and promotes worldwide understanding. The nominees are Lance Armstrong, Tim Montgomery, Ronaldo, Michael Schumacher, Ian Thorpe, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods. An international panel will pick the winner, who will be honored Feb. 18 in New York.

BOXING: Christy Martin sued a promoter for allegedly failing to pay her $300,000 for her fight Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., against Mia St. John. Martin is suing Peter Klamka and Revolution Fighting Inc., in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

AUTOS: Chip Ganassi Racing named Donnie Wingo as crew chief for Jamie McMurray's No. 42 Dodge in Winston Cup next season.

FLORIDA SENIOR GAMES: David Frankenfield of Seminole and Lyman Sosbey of St. Petersburg scored 1,226 in bowling to set a record for the 70-74 age group in Lakeland. They qualified for the National Senior Games. Sosbey and Marylou Sosbey won in 75-79 mixed doubles. John Weber (Tarpon Springs, 50-54 age bracket) won in 5K and 40K cycling and Brian McGrath (St. Petersburg, 85-89); won at 5K.