Steeler Aide Capers First Panther Coach

Dom Capers brought his defensive expertise to the Carolina Panthers on Monday, becoming the NFL expansion team’s first coach.

“It’s like going into a game,” Capers said at a news conference. “You do extensive planning, you do your homework, and then you have to react.

“I believe that a head coach has to have knowledge and control of all phases of the game,” he said. “I assure you that I will know as much about what’s going on with the offense and the kicking game as I will with the defense.”

Capers, defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, received a five-year contract from the Panthers, who begin play in September in the NFC West. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Winter Sports

Anita Wachter skied to such an easy victory in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, that defending World Cup champion Vreni Schneider of Switzerland--among the badly beaten in the giant slalom--offered the ultimate compliment.

“Wachter is skiing so well right now that she’s impossible to beat. She’s like Tomba,” Schneider said.

Twenty-four hours earlier, in Wengen, Switzerland, Alberto Tomba of Italy won his seventh consecutive slalom race--by 1.32 seconds, Wachter, a 27-year-old Austrian, didn’t win by that much, but her margin of 89 hundredths of a second devastated the field.

Baseball

The Dodgers have offered a triple-A contract to utility infielder Freddie Benavides, who has a career .253 batting average.

They also hired longtime scout George Genovese, formerly of the San Francisco Giants, who will begin Feb. 1.

The sale of the Pittsburgh Pirates to cable Television entrepreneur John Rigas received preliminary approval from baseball’s ownership committee.

He will attempt to negotiate a purchase agreement by Sunday, the expiration of the six-month deadline given the city to find a new buyer.

Olympics

The International Olympic Committee is concerned about the possible impact of last week’s Japanese earthquake on the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano.

Marc Hodler, an IOC vice president, said the issue would be discussed this week by the IOC executive board.

He said IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch has been in touch with the director general of the Nagano organizing committee, Makoto Kobayashi.

Nagano was not hit by the earthquake that devastated Kobe. But Hodler said it could have a financial impact on the Games’ organization.

Miscellany

Rusty Glidden will temporary replace his father, Bob, in Pro Stock competition on the NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series while he recovers from heart surgery. Rusty, 27, will take over for his father starting at the season-opening Chief Auto parts Winternationals, Feb. 2-5, at Pomona.

The McDonald’s American Cup and the International Mixed Pairs competition, events that will showcase gymnasts likely to compete at the 1996 Olympics, will be held in Seattle in early March.