Sports digest 10/2/01

Blues name Weight assistant captain

ST. LOUIS -- Doug Weight hasn't played a regular-season game yet with the St. Louis Blues, and he's already received a promotion.

The Blues on Monday named Weight as an assistant captain, joining Al MacInnis, the other assistant, and captain Chris Pronger. Prior to coming to St. Louis this summer, Weight was captain of the Edmonton Oilers from 1999 to 2001 and served as assistant captain for the six seasons before that.

"Doug is a player that has been a leader throughout his career and has quickly become a leader in our locker room and on the ice," coach Joel Quenneville said.

In 706 career games, Weight has 180 goals and 467 assists.

The Blues open the regular season Thursday at Columbus.

OVC honors EIU's Romo, TSU's Reese

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Tony Romo of Eastern Illinois and Walter Reese of Tennessee State are the Ohio Valley Conference players of the week.

Romo completed 17 of 23 passes for 211 yards, including four touchdowns, in a 44-33 win over Tennessee Tech.

Reese, a linebacker, had 10 stops in the Tigers' 20-14 win over Southeast Missouri. He had three tackles for loss and a pair of sacks in the game.

Skins Game to have Woods, new format

INDIO, Calif. -- Tiger Woods will join Greg Norman, Jesper Parnevik and defending champion Colin Montgomerie in the 19th annual Skins Game, which for the first time will require players to post the low score on back-to-back holes to earn money.

Woods will play the Thanksgiving weekend event for the first time since 1997 as part of his endorsement deal with Disney, which owns ABC Sports.

Each of the first six holes will be worth $25,000, while the next six will be worth $50,000 and the Nos. 13-17 will be worth $70,000. The 18th hole is worth $200,000.

All four players have agreed to donate 20 percent of the $1 million purse to the victims of the New York disaster.

Unlike previous Skins Games, a player who wins a skin will not get credit unless he wins the next hole or is one of the players who ties for the low score. If he fails to do either, the skin will be carried over.

The only time that rule will not apply is at No. 18.

Slaney fails to get Supreme Court hearing

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court refused to hear Mary Slaney's challenge of drug-testing rules on Monday, ending her hopes of reclaiming a medal she lost after being accused of doping.

The distance runner had claimed that birth control pills may have led to her only positive test in a 25-year career.

Slaney contested the reliability of the method used to detect levels of testosterone, as well as the arbitration process.

Slaney was stripped of the silver medal she won at the 1997 world championships after an arbitrator with the International Association of Athletics Federations concluded she had used performance-enhancing drugs in 1996. The arbitrator said she was ineligible to compete for at least two years after that test.

Testosterone is a natural hormone that builds muscle mass. The IAAF's threshold for determining doping does not take into account women's bodies, Slaney said.

Armstrong out for season with ruptured tendon

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders defensive end Trace Armstrong will have surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles' tendon and will miss the rest of the season.

Armstrong injured his right Achilles' tendon in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 38-14 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Raiders coach Jon Gruden said the 35-year-old pass-rush specialist would undergo surgery in the next few days.

Armstrong, a 13-year veteran, signed with the Raiders as a free agent in the offseason after getting a career-best 16.5 sacks with the Miami Dolphins last season.

He is third among active players with 98.5 career sacks. He's also president of the NFL Players Association.

-- From wire reports