Briefly

Baseball

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is expected to open the regular season on the disabled list with an injured right groin. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday there is no timetable for how long Rivera will be out, but said players typically need three weeks to recover from groin problems.

Jeff Weaver has won the three-way competition to be the New York Yankees' fifth starter. Manager Joe Torre announced the decision after the Yankees beat the Phillies 5-0 Tuesday night.

Longtime announcers Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren won't be part of TBS' coverage of the Braves at the start of the season as the cable network tries to lure more viewers. Don Sutton and Joe Simpson, who've split television and radio duties with Caray and Van Wieren for the past several years, will be in the booth for 90 games on TBS.

Colleges

The NCAA next month will consider the proposed Fort Worth Bowl, a game that could match teams from the Big 12 and Conference USA. An NCAA football certification subcommittee could approve the proposed postseason game when it meets next month in San Diego. If approved, the game likely would be played Dec. 23 at Amon Carter Stadium on TCU's campus.

Football

Raiders senior assistant Bruce Allen, who helped guide the Raiders to the 2003 Super Bowl, has been selected NFL executive of the year by The Sporting News. Details will be in the March 31 edition on newsstands Thursday.

Chiefs running back Priest Holmes had arthroscopic surgery as part of his rehabilitation from a hip injury that caused him to miss the last two games of the 2002 season.

Golf

Martha Burk plans to expand her campaign against Augusta National and CBS by contending that televising the event from an all-male golf club "is an insult to the nearly quarter million women in the U.S. armed forces." Burk, chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, plans to protest the club's membership policy during the third round of the Masters on April 12 at Augusta, Ga.

Ernie Els withdrew from The Players Championship after injuring his right wrist two weeks ago while working out with a punching bag at his home in London.

Skating

A year after the Salt Lake City debacle, figure skating has more chaos on its hands. And this one goes to the very heart of the sport, a power play by some of skating's most prominent names to replace the International Skating Union. "We cannot be silent any longer and let our sport careen into the abyss," Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie said, announcing the creation of the World Skating Federation. Disgusted by what it says is a loss of the sport's integrity and credibility under the leadership of ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta, the WSF's ultimate goal is to become the sport's governing body.

Tennis

Robby Ginepri defeated Hyung-Taik Lee 6-3, 6-2 at the Nasdaq-100 Open, making him the only man to reach the quarterfinals of both Indian Wells, held earlier this month, and Key Biscane. In other action Carlos Moya, seeded fifth, erased four set points in the second set and beat Nicolas Escude 6-4, 7-6 (8), fourth-seeded Roger Federer defeated No. 14 Sjeng Schalken 6-3, 6-2 and American Todd Martin, who arrived at Key Biscayne with just one match victory this year, eliminated Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-2. Top-seeded defending champion Serena Williams became the first women's semifinalist with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Marion Bartoli. Serena's hopes for an all-Williams final were dashed when Venus lost to Meghann Shaughnessy Monday night.

On the air

High school baseballChaffee at Central, 3:45 p.m., KAPE-1550

High school boys basketballMcDonald's All-American Game, 6 p.m., ESPN

College baseball

Lincoln at Southeast, 12:45 p.m., KGIR-1220

College men's basketballNIT quarterfinals, 6 p.m, 8 p.m., ESPN2

NBA

L.A. Lakers at Houston, 8 p.m, ESPN

NHLSt. Louis Blues at Minnesota Wild, 7 p.m., KGIR-1220

Tennis

NASDAQ 100 Open, noon, ESPN

CHARTER CABLE KEY:CNBC (ch. 53), ESPN (42), ESPN2 (43), Lifetime (49)Fox-Midwest (45), Fox-Central (352), Fox-Pacific (353), Fox-Sunshine (351), Fox-World (350), FX(50), Golf Channel (46), KBSI (9), KFVS (7), MSNBC (55), Outdoors (38), Outdoor Life Network (74), Oxygen (75), Speed Channel (44), TNT (48), WDKA (17), WPSD (6), WQWQ (33), WSIL (3). Listings and times are provided by the networks and individual stations and are subject to change.

Area events

College baseballLincoln at Southeast (2), 1 p.m.

College softballSouthern Illinois at Southeast (2), 4 p.m.

High school baseballChaffee at Central, 4 p.m.

Ste. Genevieve at Jackson, 4 p.m.

St. Vincent at Park Hills Central, 4 p.m.

Advance at Bloomfield, 4 p.m.

Delta at Oran, 4 p.m.

Kelly at Sikeston, 4 p.m.

High school softballAdvance at Bloomfield, 4 p.m.

Delta at Oran, 4 p.m.

High school girls' soccerSt. Pius at St. Vincent, 4 p.m.

High school girls' swimmingCentral vs. Notre Dame, 4 p.m.

High school golf

Central at Sikeston, 4 p.m.