Judge Places McCall in Mental Hospital After Complaint

Former world heavyweight champion Oliver McCall was ordered to a mental hospital in Danville, Va., after his wife took out an emergency custody order against him.

McCall was picked up in Martinsville on Saturday after his wife sought the emergency custody order. He was evaluated by a mental health expert, who testified at a detention hearing Saturday night that McCall was mentally ill and needed hospitalization.

McCall, who broke down crying in his corner during a February fight against Lennox Lewis in Las Vegas, has a history of drug abuse and has run afoul of the law, serving time at a North Carolina drug rehabilitation center in August.

Jurisprudence

Litigation has been resolved regarding the punching of high school football referee Ken Smotrys during a game at Beverly Hills High in October 1995.

On Oct. 20, 1995, Smotrys was struck by Compton Centennial High player Kumasi Simmons during a game against Beverly Hills. Then Centennial Coach Omar Bradley alleged that Simmons was provoked because Smotrys called him a racial epithet.

After more than a year of litigation and investigation, attorneys representing Smotrys and Bradley mutually agreed that the allegation was the result of a mistake or misunderstanding and that Smotrys didn’t use a racial epithet. The lawsuit has been resolved and terms are confidential.

A 26-year-old woman testified in Cleveland that Indians’ pitcher Jose Mesa struck her in the mouth with a bathroom door and fondled her against her will in a motel room last Dec. 21.

Former Detroit Lion defensive lineman Reggie Rogers, who spent a year in jail for negligent homicide for intoxication after an accident that caused the deaths of three teenagers 8 1/2 years ago in Pontiac, Mich., was sentenced to another year in jail and a $5,000 fine for a drunk-driving incident in May.

Brent Alan Kilby, 19, accompanied by his lawyer, surrendered to police in Tulsa, Okla., who had accused him of murder in the slaying of former NBA player Anthony Roberts on Saturday.

Football

The Green Bay Packers, in their first workout since winning the Super Bowl on Jan. 26, opened their four-day passing camp with only two quarterbacks, Brett Favre and Doug Pederson.

Six weeks after waiving quarterback Rodney Peete, the Philadelphia Eagles re-signed him to a one-year contract with the promise he will get to compete for a starting job.. . . . The Oakland Raiders signed former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Danny Villa, 32, to a free-agent contract.

Ken-Yon Rambo of Long Beach Poly High, one of the nation’s top high school receivers, signed a letter of intent to play for Ohio State.

Miscellany

Natalie Gulbis, 14, has qualified to play in this week’s Longs Drugs Challenge, an LPGA tournament in Lincoln, Calif. . . . Finland scored two goals in the final nine minutes to earn a 3-3 tie with the United States in the Women’s World Ice Hockey Championship in Brantford, Canada. . . . Midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos will miss the Galaxy’s match at Kansas City on Saturday to play for El Salvador in a World Cup qualifier the following day.

Tennis

Monica Seles struggled at first before pounding out a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Taiwan’s Shi-Ting Wang in second-round action at the Family Circle Magazine Cup at Hilton Head Island, S.C. Jennifer Capriati, playing in her first Family Circle since 1993, upset fellow American and 11th-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), in a first-round match.

Names in the News

Former race car champion Bobby Unser pleaded innocent in federal court to the misdemeanor charge of driving a snowmobile in a wilderness area. . . . Compton College will commemorate the death of former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, a Compton alumnus, with a memorial service Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the board room of the campus administration building. . . . Laker broadcaster Chick Hearn was named winner of the John Wooden Lifetime Achievement Award by the Paralysis Project Sports Legends Council.