Sunday FanFare 10/12/03

Briefly

Baseball

Two Yankees will be charged with assaulting a Fenway Park worker who was cheering for the Red Sox in the New York bullpen during the AL championship series Saturday night, police said. Police spokesman Michael McCarthy did not release the names of the players, but Red Sox spokesman Charles Steinberg said Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia were the players involved.

Basketball

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal sat out practice Saturday as calm returned to the Lakers' training camp. Bryant had problems with his knee, which was surgically repaired the day after his alleged sexual attack on a 19-year-old woman in Colorado in June. O'Neal's heel bothered him, so he sat and watched 40-year-old Karl Malone lead the Lakers during sprints. Former Bulls player Horace Grant replaced O'Neal at center during scrimmages.

Free-agent guard Derrick Zimmerman signed with the Pistons, less than a week after being waived by Golden State. The Warriors picked Zimmerman in the second round of June's draft. He averaged 6.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.61 steals in 127 games at Mississippi State.

Colleges

Boston College, left at the altar by the Atlantic Coast Conference few months ago, apparently is willing to forgive and forget. The New York Times reported that Boston College has agreed to leave the Big East Conference and become the 12th member of the ACC when an official invitation is offered today. Citing an unidentified ACC official, the New York Times reported that the presidents of the 11 ACC schools will hold a conference call in which they are expected to overwhelmingly approve an invitation to Boston College. The official added that Boston College will immediately accept the offer.

Football

The Rams signed running back Joffrey Reynolds and tight end Spencer Nead from their practice squad. It is Reynolds' first time on the active roster. Reynolds had spent the entire season on the team's practice squad after being signed as an undrafted free agent out of Houston.

Offensive tackle Chris Terry was activated by the Seahawks after serving a five-week suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse and personal conduct policy. Terry will be available for tonight's game against San Francisco.

Hockey

Celine Dion's loss is the Avalanche's gain. Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix signed a long-term contract extension, halting speculation he would leave the team at the end of the season to manage the Canadian pop singer.

Right wing Martin Havlat ended his holdout and signed a one-year contract with the Senators. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Havlat had been seeking an annual salary along the lines of Tampa Bay's Brad Richards, who is making $2.4 million, and Philadelphia's Simon Gagne, who is being paid $2.6 million.

Motorsports

Tony Stewart put a winning stamp on what's been a disappointing reign as Winston Cup champion by winning the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Stewart had the most dominant car all night but still had to run down Ryan Newman over the final stretch to score just his second win of the season. Newman, the pole-sitter and hottest driver in the series with eight victories this year, made an early pit stop to search for a vibration on the No. 12 Dodge. When the rest of the field had to make their stops much later, Newman inherited the lead from Stewart.

Tennis

Carlos Moya is close to qualifying for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. A win against top seed and defending champion Roger Federer of Switzerland in the final of the CA Tennis Trophy will help his cause. Moya moved closer to a berth among the elite eight heading to Houston with a 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 victory over Britain's Tim Henman in the semifinals of this $893,984 indoor event. The second-seeded Spaniard is seventh in the ATP Champions Race 2003, with only two spots remaining in the field for the Tennis Masters Cup.

Germany's Rainer Schuettler and local favorite Arnaud Clement rode their hot streaks into the final of the Lyon Tennis Grand Prix. Schuettler, the top seed, came within two points of defeat before pulling out a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 triumph over Russian Mikhail Youzhny. He captured his first title of the year last week in Japan. The 27-year-old qualified for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Houston by reaching the semifinals on Friday, but now bids for his fourth career title.

On the Air

Bowling

Banquet Open, noon, ESPNGolf

Dutch Open, 8 a.m., TGC

Samsung World Championship, 1:30 p.m., WPSD

Las Vegas Invitational, 2 p.m., WSIL

Gila River Classic, 4 p.m., TGC

Turtle Bay Championship, 7 p.m., TGCMLB

Chicago Cubs at Florida, 3 p.m., KBSI, KGIR-1220

New York Yankees at Boston, 7 p.m., KBSI, KGIR-1220Motorsports

MotoGP 250 (same-day tape), 11 a.m., SPEED

MotoGP World Championship (same-day tape), noon, SPEED

Chevy 500, 2:30 p.m., ESPN

Gran Premio Telmex/Gigante, 3 p.m., SPEED

Fall Nationals (same-day tape), 5 p.m., ESPN2NFL

Chiefs at Packers, noon, KFVS, KAPE-1550

Bears at Saints, noon, KBSI

Steelers at Broncos, 3:15 p.m., KFVS

San Francisco at Seattle, 7:30 p.m., ESPNNHL

St. Louis at Colorado, 8 p.m., ESPN2Soccer

Women's World Cup, 11:30 a.m., WSIL

Area eventsCollege women's soccer

Jacksonville State at Southeast, 2 p.m.