Rosenthal Says He Will Leave Notre Dame Job

Dick Rosenthal, athletic director at Notre Dame since 1987, will retire next year and be succeeded by Canada’s ambassador to Ireland.

Rosenthal announced his plans Monday, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. The retirement becomes effective on Aug. 1, 1995.

Rosenthal was responsible for an exclusive contract with NBC-TV for home football games, plans for an expansion of Notre Dame Stadium, the hiring of John MacLeod to replace Digger Phelps as basketball coach and, starting in September of 1995, affiliation with the Big East Conference in all sports except football.

As is Rosenthal, who played basketball and baseball at Notre Dame in the early 1950s, the school’s next athletic director is a former Irish athlete: Michael A. Wadsworth, a 1966 Notre Dame graduate and Canadian ambassador to Ireland since 1989.

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James Wilfred (Bill) Orwig, 87, a former Indiana athletic director perhaps best known for hiring Bob Knight as basketball coach, died of cancer in St. Joseph, Mich.

Hockey

Sources close to the Pittsburgh Penguins say Mario Lemieux probably will tell Penguin owner Howard Baldwin on Wednesday or Thursday that he isn’t healthy enough to start the new season.

Baldwin said Lemieux, who is visiting Scotland, hasn’t made a final decision. The Penguins declined comment until after the meeting, scheduled “very shortly.”

Former King Mike Krushelnyski signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

Krushelnyski, 34, a forward, had played for Toronto the last four seasons. He had five goals and six assists in 54 games last season. Krushelnyski also played on three Stanley Cup champions in Edmonton and was involved in the trade that sent Wayne Gretzky from the Oilers to the Kings. In 12 seasons, Krushelnyski has 239 goals and 325 assists.

Florida Panther President Bill Torrey gladly gave up his duties as general manager and selected former Detroit Red Wing general manager Bryan Murray to fill the vacancy.

Gerry Cheevers, a former coach and goalie of the Boston Bruins, was sentenced to three years’ probation and 500 hours of community service for income tax evasion.

The U.S. District Court in Concord, N.H., also ordered him to pay $10,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties. Cheevers, who led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup championships in the 1970s, worked as a race analyst at Rockingham Park in Salem, N.H. Cheevers has blamed gambling for his problems.

Tennis

Officials of the Australian Open abandoned plans to hold a best-of-five sets women’s final next year. The Australian Open was to have become the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce such a format for women.

Geoff Pollard, president of Tennis Australia, said it appeared a large majority of women players did not support the change.

“We are disappointed because we thought it was a great idea, but it appears we may have been a bit before our time,” tournament director Paul McNamee said.

“We are not interested in imposing anything arbitrarily onto anyone. We have listened to what they have said and we have responded.”

Miscellany

Alkis Panagoulias said he will resign as coach of Greece’s soccer team when his contract expires Aug. 31. Panagoulias, 60, had coached Greece since 1992. He was coach of the U.S. team during the 1984 Olympics and qualifying for the 1986 World Cup.

Florida State football Coach Bobby Bowden is expected to be released as early as today after undergoing minor back surgery, his surgeon said.