Sports: Sports digest

Sports digest

By RODNEY PAGE, Times wires

Arena players approve contract

Arena Football League players approved a six-year collective bargaining agreement, ending months of negotiations that had nearly resulted in the 2000 season being canceled.

The players, who had been working under an interim collective bargaining agreement since March, voted to ratify the pact by a 6-1 margin. AFL owners approved the agreement this month.

"This agreement provides for generous salary increases, accelerated free agency, and an unprecedented level of benefits to our players," AFL deputy commissioner Ronald Kurpiers said. "(It's) a win-win for all parties involved."

League owners have agreed to give about $1-million in retroactive pay to players who participated in the 2000 season and earned less than the new minimum salaries.

Rookies are guaranteed a minimum of $900 a game and a $200 bonus for a victory, second-year players receive at least $1,250 a game and a $300 win bonus, and players with three or more years of AFL experience are guaranteed a minimum of $1,450 a game and a $400 win bonus.

Teams also will operate under a salary cap and any AFL player with four or more years experience in the league can become an unrestricted free agent.

AFL players have been seeking a new collective bargaining agreement since February, when a group of players filed a lawsuit that charged the league with violating antitrust laws. The players argued that the league was keeping players' salaries low by eliminating free agency.

League owners voted to cancel the 2000 season Feb. 25, but the two sides reached a temporary agreement. They reinstated the season, avoiding a devastating blow to the 14-year-old indoor league.

The AFL has been financially successful in recent years and gained nationwide attention with the success of former arena league quarterback Kurt Warner, who led the St. Louis Rams to a National Football League Super Bowl victory last season.

The Orlando Predators won the Arena Bowl title this year, edging the Nashville Kats 41-38.

AUTO RACING: All the gate receipts collected Sunday at Spanaway Speedway, about $7,000, will go to two drivers burned in the worst accident in the Washington track's 44-year history. Mike Easley, 44, and Ken Longley, 58, are still in a Seattle hospital, where they were taken after the three-car pileup Aug. 12. Gasoline from a ruptured tank ignited after two cars collided in the second lap of a 150-lap race.

CRICKET: Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams, who agreed to take money to play poorly, were fined and suspended from international play for six months.

CYCLING: Jans Koerts won the third stage of the Tour of Spain, finishing the 120-mile route in 5 hours, 8 minutes and 27 seconds, pulling just ahead of Alessandro Petacchi and Jan Svorada in the sprint. Alex Zulle held on to the overall lead.

GOLF: Michael Jordan is ending his affiliation with a charity golf tournament that has carried his name since 1988 and will start a similar event in the Bahamas. The Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf Classic, which benefits the Ronald McDonald houses in North Carolina, will continue in Greenville, N.C., in 2001 under a different name.

HORSES: Antitrust, ridden by Jerry Bailey, held off Willowick Lad in a $46,000 turf allowance for 3-year-olds and up at Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Antitrust earned $27,600 for Klaravich Stables. ... Old Topper, ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, pulled away for a 51/2-length victory over favorite Five Star Day in the $63,700 feature race at Del Mar, Calif. The win was the seventh in 25 lifetime starts for Old Topper and was worth $39,000, raising the career earnings of the 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Gilded Time to $655,861. ... Two-time champion filly Silverbulletday, with earnings of $3,093,207, has been retired and will be bred in 2001. The 4-year-old product of Silver Deputy-Rokeby Rose was being pointed to the Breeders' Cup Distaff in November in an effort to beat Serena's Song's filly record of $3,283,388. But owner Mike Pegram and trainer Bob Baffert decided to end her racing career after winning only one of five starts this year. Pegram bought Silverbulletday for $155,000 in 1997 in Lexington, Ky. ... Phil Teator escaped serious injury in the second race when he was thrown from Stormingthepalace, which broke a left front leg and was destroyed.

SOCCER: With Miami's 2-1 loss to D.C. United and Colorado's tie against Kansas City on Saturday, the Mutiny clinched a playoff berth despite its 3-3 tie with Chicago. Tampa Bay would play sixth-seeded Dallas in the first round. If the Mutiny hosts a first round game, it would be Sept. 15. Tampa Bay plays at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Columbus.

ENDURANCE: Short of swimming Lake Ontario both ways because of bad weather, Jim Dreyer was back at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, after 10-foot waves and poor visibility forced him aground Sunday. Over two days, Dreyer ran a 26.2-mile marathon, biked 112 miles, swam across Lake Ontario and started back.