Lemieux Gets Advice, Returns to Penguins

Mario Lemieux got some advice on coming back as a hockey player from someone who made the most celebrated comeback in sports.

Michael Jordan returned to basketball. Why shouldn’t Lemieux be a Pittsburgh Penguin again?

“I played golf with Michael a couple of times last week and we talked about him coming back . . . and how he wanted to be the best when he came back,” Lemieux said Tuesday in announcing his plans to play next season at 30.

“I’m not coming back to be an average player. If I can play 60-70 games and get my back in shape, I can be where I was a couple of years ago.”

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Terry Simpson, the Winnipeg Jets’ interim coach since April 5, was named head coach.

Boxing

Mike Tyson came home to a hero’s welcome in New York after three years in prison, basking in the cheers of fans and shielded from questions about his rape of a beauty queen.

“The powers that be didn’t want you here and didn’t want me to speak to you,” the former heavyweight champion told a sweltering outdoor rally of more than 500 in Harlem. “But we’ll beat them because God’s on our side.”

Football

New Miami Coach Butch Davis has suspended Hurricane linebacker James Burgess, the team’s second-leading tackler last season, for at least two games--those against UCLA and Florida A&M--after; he was arrested following an altercation at a dance club and charged with battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.

The Buffalo Bills signed their No. 1 draft choice, Pittsburgh offensive lineman Ruben Brown, to a five-year contract worth $5.6 million.

Tennis

Top-seeded and five-time champion Steffi Graf was paired against 14-year-old Swiss sensation Martina Hingis in the opening round at Wimbledon. Last year, Graf became the first Wimbledon defending champion to lose in the first round, falling to Lori McNeil.

Jimmy Connors returned to an ATP tournament at 42 and beat 22-year-old Sebastien Lareau, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), in the first round in Halle, Germany. Jim Courier was beaten, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 7-6 (12-10), by Richey Reneberg.

Names in the News

The New York Knicks, looking for a coach to replace Pat Riley, met with Don Nelson, and his lawyer says he’s interested in the job, the New York Times reported. . . . Dutch soccer forward Dennis Bergkamp signed a four-year contract with Arsenal of London worth about $5.6 million in a $12-million transfer from Internazionale of Milan. . . . A Virginia appeals court reversed the conviction of Georgetown basketball player Allen Iverson on three felony counts in connection with a 1993 brawl in a Hampton, Va., bowling center. . . . Forward Kebu Stewart, the former Big West basketball player of the year who was suspended in late February for accepting a pair of shoes from an agent, will not return for his final season at Nevada Las Vegas.

Cuba’s Ivan Pedroso had the year’s best long jump, 28 feet 7 3/4 inches, in winning at the Madrid International. World-record holder Mike Powell failed to show. . . . Helendale’s Mark Johnson claimed medalist honors at 72-72--144 in the California Amateur golf championship at Pebble Beach. . . . Pitcher Ted Silva, who helped Cal State Fullerton win the College World Series, signed with the Texas Rangers.