Unser Awarded Portland Victory by Appeals Panel

Al Unser Jr., deprived of a victory at Portland, Ore., when his car was ruled to be in technical violation of road-clearance requirements, had the victory returned Friday by an IndyCar appeals panel. The verdict did not affect the outcome of the driver points race, in which Unser finished second to Jacques Villeneuve of Canada.

The three-member panel sided with Penske Racing, which argued that a different inspection procedure was used for its car than for others.

Unser dominated the Portland race, only to have the victory set aside when the car was found to be in violation of the two-inch clearance requirement between the bottom of the side pods and the bottom of the car. The victory was awarded to runner-up Jimmy Vasser.

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Damon Hill took the provisional pole position alongside teammate David Coulthard as the revamped Williams-Renault cars swept the front-row positions at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril.

Basketball

The Boston Celtics signed Dana Barros to a six-year deal reportedly worth $21 million, which will bring the sharpshooting guard home to the city where he grew up and went to college.

“I took the long road,” Barros said, “but I’m finally home.”

Barros is Boston College’s all-time leading scorer. He played four years for Seattle before moving to Philadelphia, where he averaged 20.6 points and 7.5 assists per game last season en route to his first All-Star Game. Last season, Barros made $950,000.

Golf

Jim Dent and Bruce Devlin overcame dreary weather to each shoot a three-under-par 69 and share the first-round lead in the Bank One Senior Classic in Lexington, Ky.

Two-time Quad City winner D.A. Weibring shot a six-under-par 64 to share the first-round lead with Russ Cochran and Jim McGovern at the rain-delayed Quad City Classic in Coal Valley, Ill. The event has been shortened to 54 holes because of rain.

U.S. Open champion Annika Sorenstam had her second consecutive bogey-free round to take a six-stroke lead in the LPGA’s Heartland Classic. She shot a five-under-par 67.

Miscellany

The University of Nebraska is investigating the relationship between football player Lawrence Phillips and Tina McElhannon, a group home operator from Southern California who has said she leased a 1995 Ford Mustang for Phillips, paid for plane tickets and provided him money for living expenses. The NCAA is trying to determine whether that constitutes a violation of the extra-benefits rule. McElhannon said she has done similar favors for other residents. Phillips has already been suspended from the team for hitting his former girlfriend. . . . Nebraska officials said they support Coach Tom Osborne’s decision to allow backup receiver Riley Washington to play while he awaits trial on an attempted murder charge.

Joe Johnson, president of the University of Tennessee, where the football team has been rocked by a series of player problems, said athletes must be dealt with “in a way that all of them understand--if you break the rules, you will not play on Saturday.”

Tennessee has had a rape charge against one player, allegations of NCAA violations by the girlfriend of another and newspaper reports that former players received gifts from agents while still in college.

Junior Derrick Carroll, a part-time basketball starter for two years at Florida State, has been kicked off the team for an undisclosed violation of a school policy.

No. 8 UCLA will be host to defending national champion Stanford tonight at Pauley Pavilion in a rematch of last year’s NCAA women’s volleyball title match. The Bruins (6-2 overall and 2-1 in the Pacific 10) defeated California, 15-7, 15-8, 15-7, Friday night, while No. 4 Stanford (7-2, 3-0) defeated No. 19 USC, 15-10, 15-8, 15-7. The Trojans (2-4, 0-3) will play California (5-3, 2-1) tonight at the Lyon Center.

Names in the News

Free-agent forward Theo Fleury ended his holdout and signed a reported five-year deal worth $2.5 million a year with the Calgary Flames. . . . Right wing Jocelyn Lemieux signed a one-year contract with the Hartford Whalers, a day before his scheduled arbitration hearing. Financial terms were not disclosed. . . . Top-seeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria rallied for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Meredith McGrath to advance to the final of the indoor Moscow Ladies Open. Yelena Makarova of Russia defeated Italy’s Adriana Serra-Zanetti, 6-1, 6-1, in the other semifinal. . . . Bobby Czyz (43-6), a former light-heavyweight and cruiserweight champion, outpointed Jeff Williams in a 10-round unanimous decision in a heavyweight bout at West Orange, N.J.