World Alpine Meet Off for Lack of Snow

The World Alpine Skiing Championships, scheduled to begin Monday in Sierra Nevada, Spain, have been postponed for a year because of a lack of snow, and Alberto Tomba, on a winning streak in the slalom, isn’t happy about it.

“This year, with the form I’m in, it could really have been a good time,” he said. “I felt like I could have won a medal. I’m very upset.”

Tomba has won all seven slaloms this season and two of four giant slaloms to establish a 400-point lead in the World Cup overall standings. He has won five Olympic medals but never a gold at the World Championships.

Football

Seattle Seahawk rookie running back Lamar Smith was charged with one count of vehicular assault in the crash that left teammate Mike Frier paralyzed. King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng said Smith drank at least five beers and 6 1/2 ounces of Scotch in three hours before driving his car into a utility pole Dec. 1.

The World League of American Football announced plans to play 10-game schedules with teams in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Frankfurt, London, Dusseldorf and Edinburgh beginning April 8.

Former UCLA coach Pepper Rodgers, out of the sport for a decade, will coach the Memphis expansion entry in the Canadian Football League. He is also managing general partner.

Baseball

Dennis Moeller is among the latest group of nonroster players the Dodgers plan to bring to spring training. Moeller, 27, a left-hander who has pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals, is scheduled to join outfielder Rick Parker, third baseman Chris Butterfield and pitcher Mike Milchin as nonroster players.

The Angels, mining the independent Northern League, signed former Chicago Cub and St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Leon Durham to a minor league contract. The Angels said Durham would not be used as a replacement player. Durham, 37, hit 147 home runs in a 10-year major league career that ended in 1989. He batted .241 with eight homers and 20 RBIs for St. Paul last season.

Golf

Duffy Waldorf, thriving in chilly, wet weather, shot a seven-under-par 64 to take a three-stroke lead over Jim Furyk, Bob Lohr and Tom Watson in the Phoenix Open.

Southland Report

Said Aouita of Morocco, who has held world records in the 1,500-, 2,000-, 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs, has signed to run in the Sunkist Invitational track meet Feb. 11 at the Sports Arena. . . . The Pacific Coast Polo Center will play host to the finals of the High-Goal League Sunday at 2:15 p.m. at Indio.

Miscellany

Mark Messier has agreed to a contract with the New York Rangers that will make him second to Wayne Gretzky on the NHL salary scale this season. Financial terms were not disclosed, but it is believed Messier got close to the $6 million he sought. . . . Lothar Matthaeus, Germany’s most experienced player in international soccer games, underwent surgery for a career-threatening torn Achilles’ tendon. . . . Lisa Braziel, a 34-year-old Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., woman, sued World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Oliver McCall, claiming he pushed her and injured her knee after she rebuffed his attempts to kiss her.

An international racing jury will meet Saturday to decide a protest that could disqualify Japan’s newest America’s Cup boat before it arrives in San Diego. Team New Zealand has said modifications to Nippon Challenge’s boat, JPN-30, have made it a new vessel. Rules allow a syndicate only two boats, and Nippon Challenge is expecting JPN-41 in February, which New Zealand claims would be Nippon Challenge’s third boat.