Moceanu Gets Court Order Against Father

A month after winning legal independence from her parents, gymnast Dominique Moceanu on Monday obtained a protective order against her father, Dumitru Moceanu, accusing him of stalking her and threatening to harm her friends.

“I am terrified of my father,” the 17-year-old Olympic gold medalist states in a court affidavit in Houston. “I believe that all of my father’s actions are intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury or assault to me or my friends.”

In the affidavit, Moceanu states that a Houston police sergeant told her several weeks ago that her father was being investigated for trying to hire someone to kill her coach and a male friend, Brian Huggins.

However, a Houston police spokesman said, “The investigation was inconclusive and no charges and no arrests were made. The case has been closed.”

Pro Basketball

Isiah Thomas, former part owner of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and former players’ union president, said the players might need to replace Billy Hunter and Patrick Ewing at the bargaining table in order to get a deal done.

Thomas also said he expects the season to be canceled because of the mistrust that has developed.

“This is no knock on anyone, but the way I always ran the union was, if we brought in talent and that talent wasn’t performing, we had the opportunity to bring in someone else who would perform.”

Boxing

Felix “Tito” Trinidad, ending a long dispute, has signed a $42.9-million contract with promoter Don King for at least three fights a year over four years, said the boxer’s father in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Last week, the decision of a federal judge in New York forced Trinidad to cancel a contract he had signed with Dino Duva of Main Events.

Laurent Boudouani retained his World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight title by stopping an exhausted Terry Norris in the final seconds of the ninth round at Paris. It was the third straight loss for Norris, 31, of San Diego.

Jurisprudence

If a temporary restraining order stands, Olympic gold-medal swimmer Gary Hall will be allowed to participate in international competition this week at College Station, Texas, despite a marijuana-related suspension intended to extend until mid-December. U.S. District Court Judge Roger Strand in Hall’s hometown of Phoenix scheduled a morning hearing today to give FINA, swimming’s world governing body a chance to respond to his ruling.

A jury in Upper Marlboro, Md., heard a judge outline assault charges against Chris Webber of the Sacramento Kings. Webber is charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, marijuana possession and several other traffic-related offenses stemming from an arrest Jan. 20, when he played for the Washington Wizards. . . . Also in Upper Marlboro, former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, who is awaiting a probable jail sentence in North Carolina for kidnapping his estranged wife and five children in June, had an earlier assault charge involving his wife set aside.

Motorsports

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, once the exclusive domain of the Indianapolis 500, is expected to add a Formula One race in 2000.

Speedway president Tony George has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday amid speculation the international race series will return to the United States for the first time since 1991.

College Volleyball

In addition to USC and UCLA, top-ranked Long Beach State, Pepperdine and UC Santa Barbara will participate in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament. Thursday, Long Beach State (30-0) will play host to Southern (19-12), and Pepperdine (17-10) will take on No. 14 Michigan State (23-6) at East Lansing, Mich. No. 11 UC Santa Barbara (26-5) will play host to Santa Clara (20-9) on Saturday.