Sports

In brief

Fighting Sioux vow to keep images

By wire services
Published August 28, 2005

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GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Embedded in the granite floor of Ralph Engelstad Arena is a 10-foot sketch of an Indian head. It's an image the NCAA wants to change.

Building officials estimate there are at least 3,000 University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux logos in the $104-million hockey palace. Jody Hodgson, who became the arena manager in May, is just beginning to discover some of them.

"Many of those are very subtle," he said.

The NCAA considers the logo and nickname "hostile and abusive," and has ordered the school to cover up all Fighting Sioux references for the NCAA playoffs. The arena, which operates separately from the school, is holding the West Regional hockey tournament in March.

Hodgson said there are no plans to alter any logos, which can be found on floors, walls, seats and railings. Eliminating them would be too expensive, he said.

The school is appealing the decision that originally affected 18 colleges with Indian nicknames.

"We don't believe, at the end of the day, we'll have to cover anything up," Hodgson said.

Wooden withdraws support for award

Hall of Fame coach John Wooden, who led UCLA to 10 national championships, says that for the first time in nearly three decades he won't present the prestigious collegiate player of the year award bearing his name, due to a dispute with the group that sponsors the prize.

The 94-year-old Wooden, however, said he won't contest the use of his name for the award.

VOLLEYBALL: Ninth-ranked Tampa (3-0) defeated Metro St. (0-2) 30-17, 30-25, 24-30, 30-28 in the Tampa Classic.

CYCLING: French back Lance

Lance Armstrong drew wide support from French fans who criticized the newspaper that accused the seven-time Tour de France winner of doping, with one letter writer pleading that the cyclist be left alone.

L'Equipe published letters to the editor in its weekend magazine Saturday in response to last week's cover story that Armstrong used a banned blood booster in his first Tour victory in 1999. The cyclist has denied the charges, suggesting he is the victim of a setup and places no trust in the lab that handled the test.

Of the seven letters published, six backed Armstrong and expressed varying degrees of anger at the newspaper.

TENNIS: Davenport wins title

Lindsay Davenport won the Pilot Pen championship, defeating Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-4 after missing nearly two months with a back injury.

Davenport, who was using the tournament as a tuneup for the U.S. Open that begins Monday, showed few signs of rust, winning the tournament without losing a set. It was Davenport's first title in New Haven, Conn.

FOREST HILLS WOMEN'S CLASSIC: Lucie Safarova rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Sania Mirza in the final in New York.

ET CETERA

SOCCER: Bobby Boswell's own goal in the first half was the difference in host New England's 2-1 win over D.C. United.

WNBA: Asjha Jones scored 22 points as visiting Connecticut defeated Charlotte 78-67. ... DeLisha Milton-Jones and Laurie Koehn each scored 15 points as host Washington downed Detroit 76-67. ... Sue Bird scored 20 points as Seattle overcame Diani Taurasi's 31-point performance to beat the Mercury 85-74. ... Kelly Miller scored 13 points as host Indiana defeated New York 75-50. ... Visiting Sacramento downed Minnesota 61-52 behind 17 points from Yolanda Griffith. ... Dominique Canty's 17 points helped lift host Houston past Los Angeles 77-51.

YACHTING: Defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland and Emirates Team New Zealand remained the only unbeaten boats in the Louis Vuitton Act 6 regatta after posting two match-race wins in the waters off Malmo, Sweden. Alinghi, which swept New Zealand in the 2003 America's Cup final, improved to 6-0 in the round-robin portion after the team beat BMW Oracle of the United States and Desafio of Spain. The Swiss have won 16 straight races this year.

[Last modified August 28, 2005, 01:15:11]

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