WNBA Adds Two Franchises
The WNBA, its second season looming, has expanded again.
The WNBA announced Wednesday that it would add franchises in Minnesota’s Twin Cities and Orlando, Fla., for the 1999 season, bringing the league to 12 teams.
“This broadens our geographic reach to two new regions,” WNBA President Val Ackerman said.
The WNBA, owned and operated by the 29 NBA teams, begins its second season June 11 with expansion franchises in Detroit and Washington.
The addition of the two newest teams, which will be operated by the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic, is conditional on the sale of 5,000 season tickets by Sept. 1.
Football
The Miami Dolphins acquired former Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam from the Chicago Bears for a conditional 1999 draft pick. The Dolphins also released wide receiver Brett Perriman and running back Irving Spikes and signed free-agent tight end Syii Tucker.
The Seattle Seahawks signed Ohio State quarterback Stanley Jackson as a free agent. Coach Dennis Erickson said the team would try to turn him into a wide receiver.
The NFL is interested in establishing formal ties with the Arena Football League.
Arena League Commissioner David Baker said negotiations between his league and the NFL could lead to NFL team owners also owning Arena franchises.
Former Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame officials waived the usual three-year waiting period.
Golf
Greg Norman is out for the rest of the PGA Tour season after arthroscopic surgery to repair his injured left shoulder at Vail, Colo. Norman, who missed the cut at the Masters, will miss the U.S. Open, British Open and the PGA Championship.
Arizona sophomore Jenna Daniels shot a five-over-par 78 to win individual honors and the Wildcats won their second consecutive Pacific 10 Conference women’s title at Tijeras Creek in Rancho Santa Margarita.
Miscellany
University of New Mexico basketball star Kenny Thomas has pleaded not guilty to aggravated drunken-driving charges at Albuquerque. Thomas was arrested April 4.
Meanwhile, prosecutors asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s decision that allowed another Lobo basketball player, Royce Olney, to serve two days under house arrest instead of in jail. Olney pleaded guilty last week to a charge of aggravated drunken driving, stemming from an arrest Oct. 5.
Steve McClain, who a week ago became an assistant at Texas A&M;, was named head basketball coach at Wyoming. McClain, 35, who had been an assistant at Texas Christian, will replace Larry Shyatt, who left the Cowboys for Clemson.
Tayshaun Prince of Compton Dominguez High has qualified academically to play basketball next season for Kentucky. The 6-foot-7 swingman signed with the Wildcats last November.
The NCAA said it will allow athletes to hold part-time jobs, beginning in August. Division I athletes who have been enrolled for one year will be able to earn up to $2,000 a year.
Greek basketball fans will be restrained by a cage at today’s title game in the European Championships at Barcelona, Spain, after clashing with riot police during Tuesday’s game.
NASCAR fined Rusty Wallace $1,500 for excessive speed in the pits during a practice session at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia last Saturday.
Two Connecticut football players, wide receiver Michael Robinson and linebacker Carlos Harris, were among five people arrested on various drug charges after campus police said they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia during a search of a dormitory room at Storrs, Conn.
Winless Nationalore, who lost his 15th consecutive race when he finished sixth in the Santa Anita Derby, will run in the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs officials said. Nationalore will be the first maiden to run in the Derby since Pendleton Ridge finished 13th in 1990.
Olympic speedskating gold medalist Dan Jansen and his wife, Robin, have been granted a divorce at Milwaukee.
The Jansens were the center of media attention during the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, when Jansen won the 1,000-meter event and skated a victory lap carrying his infant daughter.