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Sideline

By TIMES WIRES
Published September 18, 2006

5 Duquesne players injured in shooting

Five Duquesne basketball players were shot early Sunday on campus, leaving at least one critically injured, officials said. Police were searching for the gunman, who was seen leaving campus, located in downtown Pittsburgh. Two players were walking near a dormitory and encountered a man who apparently had been disruptive at a dance, authorities said. The players tried to calm the man and walked away but were shot. Players who rushed to their aid were shot as well. The gunman and a group with him were not students, a university official said. Sam Ashaolu was in critical condition, Stuard Baldonado was in serious condition and Kojo Mensah, thought to be shot in the shoulder, was hospitalized, school officials said. Mensah's condition was not available. Shawn James, shot in the foot, and Aaron Jackson, shot in the hand, were released from the hospital after treatment. Duquesne is a private Catholic university with nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

OUT OF BOUNDS

WHAT IS DUH? Danielle Lloyd is no Ken Jennings, the Jeopardy king. Lloyd, the reigning Miss Great Britain and girlfriend of West Ham soccer player Teddy Sheringham, was being prepped by her boyfriend to appear on the BBC television show Test the Nation. Sheringham asked here, "Who was Winston Churchill: a rapper; U.S. president; the PM; king?" Lloyd answered, according to British news reports: "Wasn't he the first black president of America? There's a statue of him near me that's black." Later, Lloyd told a reporter she was still looking forward to the show, "but Ted is so embarrassed that he's going on holiday rather than watch."

QUOTABLE

LARRY COKER, coach of the Miami Hurricanes, a day after his team lost 31-7 to Louisville, fell to 1-2 and dropped out of the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since Nov. 28, 1999 - a span of 107 weeks:

"I'm not really concerned about job security. I'm really not. I'm not concerned about that at all. I'm concerned about getting our football team back to where it needs to be, winning football games. If we do that, job security will take care of itself."

[Last modified September 18, 2006, 02:19:16]