Ford Replaces Dunleavy as Bucks’ Coach

Chris Ford says he has no trepidation about working for Mike Dunleavy, the general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks and the man he’s replacing as their coach.

“I think Mike and I have a great relationship,” Ford said Saturday after becoming the sixth coach in the Bucks’ 28-year history.

Dunleavy, who went to Milwaukee after two seasons with the Lakers, was stripped of his coaching duties April 27 after going 107-221 in four seasons with the Bucks. When he was fired, Dunleavy said it would be difficult to watch the new coach inherit a foundation he spent four years creating.

Ford, 47, received a three-year contract, with the club retaining an option for two more years.

Jurisprudence

Less than a week after taking the pounding of his life in losing his World Boxing Council lightweight championship title to Oscar De La Hoya, Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez has been accused of battering his wife.

In a lawsuit in the couple’s home town of Culiacan, northern Mexico, Amalio Carrasco de Chavez charged that Chavez, while drunk on Thursday, grabbed her hair, punched her in the face, neck and arms and threatened her with a kitchen knife, Mexico City newspapers reported.

The couple is separated and she had filed--then dropped--similar charges in 1995.

Police alleged in an affidavit that Joan Ridgway, the wife of former Dallas Cowboy punter Colin Ridgway, paid an acquaintance to kill her husband, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Ridgway, 54, was killed when he shot repeatedly in the Dallas enclave of University Park on May 13, 1993.

She has denied the allegations.

Hockey

A report in the Arizona Republic quoting an unidentified source says that Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time scoring leader and a former King, is disenchanted with St. Louis Blues Coach Mike Keenan and would consider joining the Phoenix Coyotes when he becomes a free agent on July 1. Other teams he reportedly would consider include Vancouver, Toronto, Detroit and the Mighty Ducks.

Mike Modano, Dallas’ leading scorer but soon a restricted free agent, has rejected a four-year, $12-million offer from the Stars.

Tennis

Stefan Edberg ended top-seeded Thomas Muster’s recent run of success on grass with a 6-7 (7-2), 6-3, 6-2 victory in the semifinals of the Queens tournament, a major warmup for Wimbledon in London.

In the finals, Edberg will face Boris Becker, a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 winner over Wayne Ferreira.

American Meredith McGrath upset top-seeded Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals of the DFS Classic grass-court tournament in Birmingham, England, and advanced to a finals match against Nathalie Tauziat, who beat Mirian Oremans of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-3.

Richey Reneberg advanced to the final of the Heineken Open in Rosmalen, Netherlands, with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Jonas Bjoerkman of Sweden. Reneberg will play unseeded Frenchman Stephane Simian, whose run continued with still another upset, over Dutchman Paul Haarhuis, 6-3, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

Felix Mantilla trounced top-seeded fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya, 6-0, 6-4, in the semifinals of the Maia Open-Oporto Cup in Portugal. In the finals, Mantilla will play Hernan Gumy of Argentina.

Golf

Larry Mowry shot a one-under-par 69 to hold off Kermit Zarley, Lee Trevino, Jack Keifer and Don Bies in the Canadian Senior Open in Ancaster, Ontario.

Mowry is at 202 for 54 holes, with Zarley a stroke behind and Trevino, Bies and Keifer two strokes back.

Carin Koch shot a tournament-record 63 for a two-day total of 135 and a one-shot lead over Nancy Lopez in the Edina Realty LPGA tournament at Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Auto Racing

Five days after Mike Wallace was fired from his Winston Cup ride, he drove a Chevrolet to victory, leading the final 11 laps of the Syracuse Grand Prix 400K, an ARCA event at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. He averaged 133.590 mph and finished 5.165 seconds ahead of Tim Steele.

Mario Andretti’s chance of winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in France ended after electrical problems knocked his Courage-Porsche out of action for an hour. He is sharing the driving with Jan Lammers and Derek Warwick.

Two Porsches were battling for the lead, with the team of American Davy Jones, German Manuel Reuter and Austrian Alexander Wurz in first, with 176 laps, or 1,487.2 miles, behind them.

Cory McClenathan covered the quarter-mile in 4.937 seconds at 306.43 mph to beat Larry Dixon for the top fuel title in the National Hot Rod Assn.’s Pontiac Excitement Nationals in Hebron, Ohio.

Chuck Etchells took the funny car title in 5.178 seconds at 287.63 mph and Chuck Harris the pro stock in 7.168 seconds at 192.09 mph.

Damon Hill’s 1 minute 21.059-second lap knocked Williams-Renault teammate Jacques Villeneuve off the pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, to be run today on the 2.741-mile Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal.

Canadian Patrick Carpentier led from the start to win the Player’s-Toyota Atlantic Championship race at the Grand Prix Molson du Canada by 1.261 seconds, covering the 27 laps in Montreal in 44 minutes 55.555 seconds.

Bowling

Doug Kent won four consecutive matches to climb the ladder, then beat Jeff Zaffino at the top, 227-217, to win the Greater Detroit Open.