In brief

Nicklaus grandson dies after hot tub fall

By wire services
Published March 2, 2005

NORTH PALM BEACH - A 17-month-old grandson of Jack Nicklaus died Tuesday after falling into a hot tub where he had been playing earlier, officials said.

Jake Walter Nicklaus was pronounced dead at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center about 6:30 p.m., said Palm Beach County sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller.

The son of Steve Nicklaus, the toddler had been playing in the hot tub with his 4-year-old brother and their nanny, Miller said. The three left the pool area and went into the house, but Jake slipped away and went back through a sliding door to the hot tub, Miller said. He said there was a child barrier around the entire pool area.

The nanny quickly realized the tot was missing and discovered him in the water, Miller said. She performed CPR until rescue workers arrived. The boy was breathing at the time, he said.

He was taken to the hospital and died about an hour and a half after rescuers were called, Miller said. An autopsy was planned.

Racing greats Bobby Allison, Junior Johnson and Benny Parsons lobbied the Legislature to lend support for a resolution to honor the memory of NASCAR aces and promote a racing museum in the state. Lawmakers in both chambers unanimously approved the resolution as part of their effort to protect a $1.5-billion racing industry that employs about 10,000 people in North Carolina. As the sport increases in popularity, so does the competition from other states to lure it away.

NASCAR PENALTIES: Busch Series crew chief Todd Lohse was suspended for four races and fined $10,000 for unapproved hinged air deflector modifications on the car of Shane Hmiel. It was the most severe of several penalties imposed for violations at California Speedway last weekend. The team has appealed and Lohse is allowed to participate in the Busch race in Mexico City this weekend. Also penalized were three Nextel Cup crew chiefs: Tim Weiss (No. 73 Chevrolet of Eric McClure), $10,000 for actions detrimental to stock car racing and an unapproved third gear transmission ratio; Larry Hyder (No. 49 Dodge of Ken Schrader), $5,000 for an unapproved final drive gear ratio; Billy Poindexter (No. 37 Dodge of Kevin Lepage), $6,000 for an unapproved deck lid and unapproved fire suppression agent. Two other Busch crew chiefs and three from the Truck series were fined lesser amounts.

For the price of one Carlos Beltran, the United States gets an entire Olympic team. In a fascinating comparison of financial apples and oranges, consider that the New York Mets recently signed Beltran to a seven-year contract worth $116.7-million (figure is for luxury tax purposes; actual contract is $119-million). The U.S. Olympic Committee, meanwhile, announced an operating budget for 2005 of $116.7-million. The vast majority of the 2005 budget, $98.3-million, goes to the national governing bodies of the individual sports and sport performance programs while $18.4-million is earmarked for administrative costs, sales and marketing.

TENNIS: U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova lost in the second round of the Dubai Open to Sania Mirza, an Indian wild card who overcame an early ankle injury and won the second-round match 6-4, 6-2.

FIGURE SKATING: Americans Morgan Matthews, 17, and Maxim Zavozin, 19, took the top spot in the ice dance compulsory at the world junior championships in Kitchener, Ontario.

SOCCER: The U.S. Soccer Federation announced that the national team will play its World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica on June 4 at Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Americans play their next qualifier at Mexico on March 27.

SKIING: Austria's Hans Knauss was banned for 11/2 years by the sport's international federation after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone. The ban covers the 2006 Turin Olympics and could end the 33-year-old skier's career.

- Compiled from Times wires.

[Last modified March 2, 2005, 00:47:18]