Sampras Upset in Barcelona Tournament

Pete Sampras, two days after losing his No. 1 ranking, was beaten by the world’s 84th ranked player Wednesday in the Conde de Godo ATP tournament at Barcelona, Spain.

Oliver Gross of Germany won, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, in Sampras’ first match since being overtaken by Andre Agassi on Monday for the top spot in tennis.

“I really played motivated,” Sampras said. “I came to win this tournament and played some good tennis. Each day is a different day, and today I didn’t play the way I should have.

Said Gross: “It means a lot to me beating Sampras. It’s my best win ever. He made easy mistakes, and he gave me a lot of points.”

In another match, Gilbert Schaller of Austria, upset the tournament’s No. 2 seeded player, Sergi Bruguera of Spain, 7-5, 6-1.

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In his first match since being ranked No. 1, Agassi defeated Tommy Ho, 6-3, 6-2, in the $1.2 million Japan Open at Tokyo.

In other matches, No. 6 Michael Chang defeated Shuzo Matsuoka of Japan, 6-4, 6-2; Jim Courier defeated Anders Jarryd of Sweden, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, and Wayne Ferreira of South Africa defeated Dimitri Poliakov of Ukraine, 6-1, 6-3.

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Steffi Graf defeated Maria Strandlund, 6-2, 6-1, in the second round of the Houston Women’s Tennis Championships.

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Monica Seles, who has not played competitive tennis since being stabbed in the back at Hamburg nearly two years ago, said in a statement she remains haunted by the image of her attacker, Guenther Parche.

In a statement released by IMG, which represents Seles, she explained her reluctance to testify at the appeal hearing earlier this month in which Judge Gertraut Goering upheld Parche’s suspended sentence.

“I was not going to turn my back on this criminal again,” Seles said. “I am still haunted by the memory of seeing him behind me as he attempted to stab me a second time in 1993. Why should I have to see him again, just to try to see that justice is done?

“I continue to be unable to understand the court’s decision to once again let this criminal go free.”

Football

The Chicago Bears announced plans to build a $285 million open-air, grass-field stadium and leave Soldier Field, their home for the last 24 years.

The Bears said they would push for legislation to fund the new facility and hoped to play their first season there in the year 2000.

They said three sites are under consideration: one in the city near O’Hare International Airport, which is about 15 miles from downtown and two suburban sites.

Bear officials have met with Mayor Richard Daley and state and suburban officials to discuss the new stadium. Plans call for it to be open, with a heated grass field.

Daley said earlier this week if the Bears abandon Chicago, he would seek another NFL team to replace them. The Bears played their first 51 seasons in Wrigley Field.

The San Diego Chargers have agreed to two-year contract with Houston Oilers safety Bo Orlando, the team announced. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

He becomes the second safety signed by the team--Shaun Gayle being the first--since losing safeties Darren Carrington and Stanley Richard from last season’s Super Bowl team.

Carrington went to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Richard to the Washington Redskins.

Basketball

Stanford women’s Coach Tara VanDerveer, who has guided the Cardinal to eight consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, was expected to be named coach of USA Basketball’s national team today.

VanDerveer, 42, will oversee preparation of the team for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Her national team coaching duties involve a fulltime commitment for about a year, and Stanford officials haven’t announced plans to replace her.

Kansas assistant Steve Robinson has been hired as Tulsa’s coach.

Robinson, 37, has spent the past seven years under Roy Williams at Kansas. He was an assistant for two years at Cornell.

He succeeds Tubby Smith, who led the Golden Hurricane to the round of 16 the past two years before leaving for the job at Georgia.

Delaware has hired former Duke assistant coach Mike Brey to take over the head coaching job of its men’s basketball program.

Brey, 36, succeeds Steve Steinwedel, who announced his resignation March 7 after leading Delaware to a record of 163-121, two North Atlantic Conference titles, and two NCAA tournament appearances over 10 seasons.

Arkansas State guard Arthur Agee, a star of the acclaimed sports documentary “Hoop Dreams,” was the first pick of the Florida Sharks in the United States Basketball League draft.

Rebecca Lobo, who led Connecticut’s women’s basketball team, to an undefeated national championship season, was chosen in the eighth and final round of the U.S. Basketball League draft by the Jersey Turnpikes.

Two other women -- USC’s Cheryl Miller in 1986 and Sheryl Swoopes of Texas Tech in 1993 -- were selected in USBL drafts.

Lusia Harris of Delta State was picked by the then-New Orleans Jazz in the seventh round of the 1977 NBA draft. Ann Meyers of UCLA tried out for the Indiana Pacers in 1979.

Olympics

The chief organizers of the 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival reassigned the chief executive officer to duties unrelated to the event. Festival co-chairmen Roger Ogden and Tim Leiweke decided to reassign Edmond (Buddy) Noel.

Jurisprudence

Former pro golfer Cathy Gerring has reached an out-of-court settlement in a $25 million lawsuit she filed as a result of burns she received during a fire in a concessions tent at a 1992 tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

Gerring, 32, was burned on her hands during the 1992 Sara Lee Classic at Hermitage Golf Course in Nashville. Gerring’s doctors have said her injuries made it impossible for her to ever compete again on a professional level.

She settled with Service America Inc., the defendant in Gerring’s negligence and defective product suit. Settlement terms are confidential.

Names in the News

Mia Hamm scored three goals to lead the U.S. women’s soccer team to a 5-0 rout of Canada in an international tournament at St. Maur, France.

Kevin Mitchell hit a home run and Kevin Reimer, another former major leaguer, singled home a run as the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks beat the Nippon Ham Fighters, 3-0, in the Tokyo Dome.