The American Basketball League officially granted Long...

The American Basketball League officially granted Long Beach the league’s first expansion franchise Tuesday, and promised a nickname, players, a coach and general manager within a month. The team will play in Long Beach State’s Pyramid next fall, in the ABL’s Western Conference, with San Jose, Portland, Seattle and Denver. The ABL season runs from October to March. . . . Lin Dunn, who filed a grievance with Purdue after she was fired as women’s basketball coach last year, has resolved all disagreements with the university.

Hockey

Several Kings have been invited to participate in the World Championships starting April 26 in Finland. Defenseman Rob Blake has been added to Team Canada’s roster, defenseman Mattias Norstrom is playing for Sweden and forward Kai Nurminen for Finland. Assistant coach Jay Leach and trainer Pete Demers will be working for Team USA.

Also, goaltender Stephane Fiset is scheduled to have hernia surgery today in Anaheim. Fiset was sidelined for 12 games because of the abdominal injury. Forward Vladimir Tsyplakov, the team’s third-leading scorer, will also have hernia surgery later this month.

The practice of throwing octopuses on the ice has been a playoff tradition in Detroit since 1952. But the club said no octopuses will be allowed in Joe Louis Arena.

Miscellany

More than 50 million people saw all or part of Tiger Woods’ historic Masters victory over the weekend, making it the most-watched golf tournament ever, CBS said. Sunday’s final round received a 14.1 Nielsen national rating and 31 share, shattering all ratings records for Grand Slam golf tournaments.

NASCAR officials announced driver Geoff Bodine has been fined $10,000 for banging into driver Jimmy Spencer during Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee and later saying, “Spencer just ran into me. That was stupid. He’s a jerk.”

Northwestern and Oklahoma will open the 1997 college football season, meeting in the Pigskin Classic Aug. 23 at Soldier Field.

Goran Ivanisevic, the No. 3-seeded player, was eliminated at the Open Seat Godo tournament at Barcelona, losing, 6-2, 6-3, to Morocco’s Karim Alami. . . . Returning to singles play after a two-month layoff because of a wrist injury, Boris Becker defeated Sebastien Lareau 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to advance to the round of 16 at the Japan Open at Tokyo.

Names in the News

Michael Johnson said he will run the 200 meters at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., May 25, one week before his 150-meter match race against Donovan Bailey in Toronto on June 1.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell was named co-chairman of the United States Olympic Committee’s ethics panel.

A two-year investigation by the IRS of NBA referees downgrading league-issued plane tickets and pocketing the difference has yielded a fourth indictment, this one against Jess Kersey.