FanFare 3/25/03

Briefly

Baseball

The Expos acquired Livan Hernandez from the Giants on Monday night, uniting the former World Series MVP with his half brother, Orlando Hernandez. Montreal acquired Livan Hernandez and catcher Edwards Guzman and $3.2 million in exchange for pitcher Jim Brower and a player to be named. The money will pay all of Livan Hernandez's salary but the $300,000 minimum.

Kirby Puckett's sexual assault trial began Monday, with the Hall of Famer accused of dragging a woman into a restaurant men's room and groping her. Prosecutors contend the former Twins star grabbed the woman's breast before she escaped from the bathroom at the Redstone American Grill in suburban Eden Prairie on Sept. 6.

Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamonbacks enjoyed their first four years together so much that they don't want to end the relationship any time soon. Johnson, who won the NL Cy Young every year he's been in Arizona, agreed to a $33 million, two-year contract extension with the Diamondbacks. The deal is the largest average annual salary for a pitcher.

Pete Rose turned down an invitation to be Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken's guest when the Reds open their new stadium next week. Luken said that Rose's agent contacted him to say the former Reds star would not be at the March 31 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the new Great American Ball Park.

Colleges

Texas sophomore T.J. Ford and Connecticut junior Diana Taurasi won the Naismith Awards as the top college basketball players in the country. Ford, a 5-foot-10 guard, leads the Longhorns in scoring (15), assists (7.4), and steals (1.96) per game. Last year, he was the first freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in assists with 8.27 per game. Taurasi, a 6-foot guard, leads the Huskies with 16.5 points, 4.7 assists and 1.2 blocks per game this season. She is 12th on UConn's all-time scoring list with 1,452 points.

Football

The Vikings made their biggest free agent acquisition of the offseason, signing former Detroit linebacker Chris Claiborne to a two-year deal. In his four NFL seasons, Claiborne has 391 tackles, 10.5 sacks and six interceptions. Last year, he led the Lions with 102 tackles. He also had 4.5 sacks and three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

Hockey

Stars forward Pierre Turgeon underwent successful surgery on his injured ankle and is expected to be out four weeks. Turgeon was injured when he was hit by a puck in practice March 8. It was initially thought he had a bone bruise, but a re-evaluation Sunday showed a fracture.

Area digest

Southeast golfers lead tourney in Louisiana

EASTOVER, La. -- Southeast Missouri State University sits one stroke up on the field after the first day of competition at the Methodist Sportscare/Bob Brown Invitational hosted by the University of New Orleans.

The Indians shot an eight-over-par 295 and are one stroke up on host New Orleans. Indians senior Woody Hill shot a 1-under-par 71 to lead Southeast. Hill's 71 tied him for fourth place after the first day. Junior Kent Philips sits tied for eighth with a 2-over-par 73, and Jimmy Blose and Brian Sheehan rounded out Southeast's top four with a 3-over and 4-over, respectively.

Missouri-Kansas City, Belmont and Tulane round out the top five, respectively. The final round will conclude today.

-- From staff, wire reports