By Compiled from Times wires
Published May 16, 2003
WASHINGTON - Nebraska football coach-turned U.S. Congressman Tom Osborne argued Thursday for legislation ending no-holds-barred recruiting by sports agents.
Osborne, in testimony to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, recalled the disappearance of his quarterback as his team boarded a bus in Miami. The player was found in a hotel lobby, cornered by two agents.
The subcommittee, by voice vote, approved a bill that would bar agents from recruiting student-athletes by giving false or misleading information, making false promises or providing anything of value to the athlete before entering into a contract.
It would prohibit the predating or postdating of an agency contract and require agents to immediately notify the school of a contract signing so the school does not have the athlete, who would then be ineligible, play in a game.
MORE COLLEGES: USF's women lead after the first day of the Conference USA track meet in Charlotte, N.C. They have 23 points, two more than Marquette. The men are third, one behind Marquette and six behind DePaul. ... Keith Tribble, the Orange Bowl's chief executive officer, appears to be the top candidate to become Pittsburgh's athletic director. Pitt called a news conference for today, and Tribble is the only candidate known to have interviewed twice.
FOOTBALL: Ex-Cleveland linebacker retires
Former Browns linebacker Jamir Miller, 29, announced his retirement because he can't play at full strength. He missed all of last season after tearing his Achilles' tendon in a preseason game.
CHARGERS: Receiver B.J. Lovett was claimed off waivers from Cleveland. The undrafted free agent caught 33 passes for 383 yards and four touchdowns for Michigan State last season.
RAMS: Lawrence McCutcheon was promoted to director of player personnel. With the franchise for 30 seasons as a running back and in the front office, he was director of scouting for four years.
PLAYOFFS: The competition committee does not want to change the playoff format this season, Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. The committee, co-chaired by Fisher, will present a study during an owners that starts Tuesday.
TENNIS: Capriati reaches quarterfinals
Jennifer Capriati beat Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open in Rome. Other winners: Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo.
HAMBURG MASTERS: Top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, Gustavo Kuerten and Roger Federer lost in the third round in Germany.
QUEEN'S CLUB: Former Wimbledon champs Goran Ivanisevic and Richard Krajicek accepted wild cards for the Wimbledon warmup tournament.
OLYMPICS: Koreas discuss unified team
North and South Korea are discussing forming a joint team for the 2004 Games in Athens. Athletes from the divided peninsula have never competed together, but they marched together during the Opening Ceremony in 2000.
DRUGS: The U.S. Olympic Committee gave the IOC data about 1988 drug tests of Carl Lewis and other Americans. According to documents released by Dr. Wade Exum, the USOC's former director for drug control, U.S. athletes tested positive for drugs more than 100 times from 1988-00. Only a handful were barred from competing. IOC president Jacques Rogge said his group's board will discuss the issue Saturday. LONDON BID: The British government announced it will back London's bid for the 2012 Games. It joins New York, Madrid, Leipzig, Germany, and Cuba as confirmed bidders. Moscow, Paris and the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo also are possibilities.
ET CETERA
SOCCER: Sweden submitted a bid to host this year's Women's World Cup, and Canada asked to stage part of the tournament. The tournament was moved from China because of SARS. ... South American qualifying for the 2006 World Cup will start Sept. 6, three months early, because European clubs have complained South American players must return home for too many qualifiers.
BOXING: Vitali Klitschko will face unbeaten Cedric Boswell on the undercard of the fight between heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and Kirk Johnson on June 21 in Los Angeles. If he wins, Klitschko will fight Lewis by the end of the year.
OBITUARY: Rik Van Steenbergen, a three-time world cycling champion, died after a long illness. He was 78. He won 15 stages of the Tour of Italy and four of the Tour de France.
