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By JOHN C. COTEY, Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 28, 2001
NCAA leaders support bills to ban legal Nevada bets
More than two dozen NCAA coaches, athletic officials and college presidents were on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to support legislation that would eliminate legal gambling on college athletics.
The group, which included South Carolina football coach Lou Holtz, Notre Dame president Edward "Monk" Malloy and NCAA president Cedric Dempsey, spoke to congressmen and urged passage of the Senate's Amateur Sports Integrity Act and the House of Representative's Student Athlete Protection Act. The bills would outlaw betting on college athletics in Nevada, the only state where wagering is legal.
"Gambling is giving a black eye to college athletics," Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan, said. "As long as there is one state where it is legal, it provides a marketplace."
MORE COLLEGES: Japan beat the United States 3-1 in the annual baseball championship between the countries. Japan leads the best-of-five series 2-1. Game 4 is Saturday at Tokyo.
BOXING: A fighter was punched into a coma three rounds after ringside physicians nearly stopped the light-heavyweight bout, New York boxing's chief medical officer said. Beethavean Scottland, 26, was in critical condition after three hours of brain surgery. Scottland was knocked out Tuesday night in the 10th round of his fight with undefeated George Khalid Jones. ... WBC super featherweight champ Floyd Mayweather has been sued by a man who claims Mayweather broke a bottle over his head in a Las Vegas nightclub.
CYCLING: Lance Armstrong finished in the lead pack and maintained a 1-minute, 5-second overall lead in the Tour de Suisse. Erik Zabel won the day's trial that ended in Lausanne, Switzerland.
FOOTBALL: Tampa Bay Storm coach Tim Marcum said offensive specialist James Bowden will not play Sunday against Orlando. Bowden separated cartilage in his ribs against Arizona two weeks ago and missed the second half of that game and Monday's win over Florida. Bowden leads the Storm in every receiving category and ranks first in the league in all-purpose yards per game. Gunnard Twyner, who had four touchdown catches Monday, is his likely replacement. ... A medical expert testified that the diet drug Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski is accused of obtaining illegally could have improved his performance. Romanowski is on trial in Colorado for obtaining the appetite suppressant phentermine from prescriptions written for his wife, Julie, and a family friend. Defense lawyer Harvey Steinberg said a doctor prescribing the pills knew they were for Romanowski, who used other names to avoid publicity. Thomas French, a pharmaceutical expert testifying for the prosecution, said small doses of phentermine could help alertness. ... The agent for Steve McNair said the Titans quarterback soon will sign a contract extension worth $47-million over six years. The team said nothing is official and it plans to make an announcement by the end of the week. ... The Rams signed cornerback Jerametrius Butler, their fifth-round pick in this year's draft, to a three-year contract worth minimum salaries of $209,000, $298,000 and $389,000. ... Jamain Stephens, a backup offensive lineman for the Bengals, re-signed through the 2002 season. ... After spending last season with the Rams and 49ers, free-agent defensive tackle Nate Hobgood-Chittick agreed to a two-year contract with the Chiefs. Terms weren't disclosed.
GOLF: Bob Eastwood withdrew from the U.S. Senior Open because of a pulled hip muscle. Joel Hirsch will take his place at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass.
SOCCER: Miami coach Ray Hudson was named coach for the MLS East All-Stars after leading the Fusion to the league's best record (10-1-2) at the season's midpoint. TRACK AND FIELD: A court in Munich, Germany, ordered world track and field's governing body to pay compensation to Katrin Krabbe over the length of a suspension. The court ruled the IAAF must pay Krabbe $530,000, plus 4 percent in annual interest since 1994. Krabbe, the 100-meter and 200-meter champion at the 1991 World Championship, received a three-year suspension in 1992 after taking the banned substance clenbuterol in asthma medicine.