Couples, Price Withdraw From U.S. Open

Nick Price and Fred Couples, two-time PGA Tour players of the year, withdrew from the U.S. Open golf tournament Monday.

Price, winner of two PGA championships and a British Open, pulled out because of a chronic sinus infection.

Couples, who won the Masters in 1992 and is the tour’s third-leading money winner, withdrew because of continued back problems.

Tom Purtzer will replace Price in the field, and 19-year-old amateur Randy Leen, a sophomore at Indiana University, will replace Couples.

Jurisprudence

A tearful Brian Blades sat silently in court, listening to the tape of the 911 call he made moments after a tussle over a gun led to the fatal shooting of his cousin, Charles Blades.

The voice of the Seattle Seahawk receiver, caught on tape in that first emergency call after the shooting at 12:38 a.m. on July 5, 1995, echoed through Circuit Judge Susan Lebow’s courtroom in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The tape was played back as testimony began in Blades’ trial on a single count of manslaughter. Blades faces a possible 10-year prison sentence if he is convicted.

Prosecutor Peter Magrino portrayed Charles Blades’ shooting as an act of anger, stemming from “an error in judgment.” Brian Blades’ defense attorneys called the death of the professional athlete’s 34-year-old cousin “a tragic accident.”

More than three years after Colin Ridgway was shot in his home, police have arrested a suspect in the death of the former Dallas Cowboy.

Kenneth A. Bicking III, 35, was in custody in Florida, awaiting an extradition hearing to face a Dallas County charge for the murder of Ridgway, who was a punter and kicker for the Cowboys in 1965.

Bicking was arrested Friday in Fort Lauderdale in connection with the death of Ridgway on May 13, 1993.

Cincinnati Bengal wide receiver Darnay Scott will be arraigned today on four firearms charges stemming from a May 12 traffic stop in which police found two loaded guns in his car.

The offenses carry a maximum penalty of 18 months in jail and/or a $2,000 fine.

A college football analyst known for his recruiting expertise and coverage of the West Virginia team has been charged with 26 counts related to sexual abuse.

Alex Komons, 35, of Morgantown, was held on $410,000 bond after his arrest last Friday.

Police say Komons is charged with 13 counts of sexual abuse by a parent or guardian, 12 counts of third-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree sexual assault.

Tennis

Two-time Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg began his final grass-court campaign before his retirement by defeating Britain’s Danny Sapsford, 6-4, 6-3, on the opening day of the Queen’s tournament at London.

The Heineken grass-court tourney lost its top-seeded player in the first round as Frenchman Arnaud Boetsch, ranked 15th in the world, managed to win only five games in a 6-3, 6-2 loss to compatriot Stephane Simian at Rosmalen, Netherlands.

Defending champion Alberto Berasategui of Spain lost to Sweden’s Mikael Tillstrom in the first round of the Maia Open-Oporto Cup at Oporto, Portugal, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

Miscellany

Richie Parker, the high school basketball star who pleaded guilty to sexual assault 1 1/2 years ago, will attend Long Island University. Parker was one of the nation’s most highly sought recruits before his attack on a 15-year-old girl in a stairwell of his Manhattan high school, which caused Seton Hall to rescind its scholarship offer.

Chistophe Dungarry scored in the 24th minute after a blunder by goalkeeper Bogdan Stelea as France defeated Romania, 1-0, in the European soccer championship at London and extended its unbeaten streak to 24 games. The Netherlands and Scotland played a scoreless tie at Villa Park in Birmingham.

Greg Bolin, a former football player at Fountain Valley High and UCLA and former assistant coach at Santa Ana Mater Dei, was killed in a traffic accident last Friday. He was 32. Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday, at Mariner’s Church at Newport Beach. . . . Tight end and long snapper Trey Junkin, an unrestricted free agent who spent the last six seasons with Seattle, signed with the Oakland Raiders. . . . Tim Leary, a former pitcher with the Dodgers, was hired as an assistant coach at UCLA.

UCLA’s Ato Bolden and Amy Acuff were named the Pacific 10 Conference track and field male and female athletes of the year. Bruin Coach Bob Larsen was named men’s coach of the year for the fifth consecutive time. USC’s Ron Allice earned women’s coach-of-the-year honors. . . . University of Wisconsin basketball guard Jeremy Hall will transfer to Eastern Kentucky this fall, the school said. . . . Leonard Ross Sr., father of San Diego Charger Coach Bobby Ross, died after a prolonged illness. He was 92.

Breeders’ Cup officials reversed last week’s decision to move the seven-race, $11-million horse racing event from Woodbine Racetrack in Ontario, Canada, after a labor dispute with the mutuel clerks’ union was settled.