NCAA Responds Sternly to Critical Reports

The Kansas City Star’s recent six-part series on the NCAA “badly misconstrues the NCAA’s educational mission and ignores almost all positive elements of the NCAA enterprise,” the organization said in a published response.

In a 2,300-word statement printed in the newspaper’s editorial pages, the NCAA said it was “deeply disappointed” in the series.

“The NCAA worked cooperatively with the Star for nearly two years to enhance the Star’s understanding of the Association. Much of that information was not reported,” stated the letter, which was signed by NCAA Executive Director Cedric Dempsey and Samuel Smith, president of Washington State University and chairman of the NCAA’s executive committee.

The Star’s series, completed after an 18-month investigation, focused on a number of issues, including health and safety of athletes, gender equity and Title IX, enforcement and the ethics of high NCAA officials.

College Basketball

Cazzie Russell, a three-time All-American at Michigan, has emerged as a leading candidate to become the school’s basketball coach.

Russell, head coach at Division III Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design, is to be interviewed today by Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss, the Detroit News reported.

Last Friday, Goss fired coach Steve Fisher in the wake of an independent investigation that uncovered alleged improprieties in Fisher’s program.

Tennis

It was a good day for the Americans as fourth-seeded Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Lisa Raymond advanced to the quarterfinals of the $926,250 European Indoor Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.

While both Davenport and Williams were catapulted through the second round because of injured opponents, Raymond produced a 7-5, 6-3 upset of fifth-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa to earn her place in the final eight.

Qualifier Diego Nargiso of Italy upset local favorite Petr Korda, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), to advance to the quarterfinals of the $1-million Czech Indoor tennis tournament in Ostrava.

Second-seeded Sergi Bruguera of Spain defeated American Jeff Tarango, 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-4.

Zimbabwe’s Byron Black defeated top-seeded Chilean Marcelo Rios, 6-7 (7-2), 7-5, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the $725,000 Marlboro Hong Kong tournament.

The world’s top-ranked women’s tennis player, Martina Hingis, announced plans to support the U.N. health agency’s immunization program. The Swiss tennis star’s first gesture was to donate $75,000 to the World Health Organization for its efforts to eradicate polio in Ethiopia.

Auto Racing

Gerhard Berger said he will retire from auto racing after running his 210th Formula One Grand Prix race in Jerez, Spain, on Oct. 26, an Austria paper reported.

At 38, Berger is currently the oldest driver on the circuit.

Soccer

After an angry visit by Jamaica’s top soccer official, El Salvador has agreed to set aside 1,000 seats for Jamaican fans for next month’s World Cup qualifying match.

That’s up from the 100 tickets it planned to reserve for Jamaicans in the 35,000-seat Cuscatlan Stadium.

Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaican Football Federation, made the announcement after returning from a one-day trip to San Salvador. He surprised Salvadoran officials, arriving with a sack of money and demanding to be sold a few thousand seats.

Instead, they agreed on a new seat limit for Jamaica.

Miscellany

Villanova has declined an invitation to join the Big East conference for football, a move that have required the school to upgrade its Division I-AA program to Division I-A.

A retiree’s idea to bring the 2012 Olympics to Tampa, Fla., captured government backing and $150,000 from a tourism board. “Why not Tampa Bay?” asked Tampa Mayor Dick Greco. “We can compete for anything.”

Hillsborough commissioners voted unanimously to spend $150,000 in tourist-tax money to put down a non-refundable deposit with the U.S. Olympic Committee before a Monday deadline.

Top officials say they have found mismanagement and possibly even fraud in the agency that oversees Cuba’s powerful sports agency, the Communist Party daily reported.

Names in the News

Lance Armstrong, the 1993 world cycling champion, signed a one-year contract to race with the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team in 1998 after declaring himself recovered after a year-long battle with testicular cancer.