Caligiuri’s Sprained Ankle Turns Into a Broken Leg
Galaxy defender Paul Caligiuri will be sidelined up to six more weeks after a bone scan Thursday revealed he has a stress fracture of his lower left fibula.
Caligiuri suffered the injury, originally diagnosed as a sprained left ankle, during the second half of a 3-2 victory at New York/New Jersey on April 11. He sat out the next three matches before playing the final 38 minutes of a 7-4 victory over Colorado on May 6.
*
David Regis probably will play for the United States in Sunday’s exhibition against Kuwait, only four days after becoming an American citizen. The former Frenchman might not start against Kuwait, but many think he will be in the starting lineup in the opening World Cup game, against Germany on June 15. Regis, born in Martinique, was eligible for U.S. citizenship because his wife is American.
Midfielder Tab Ramos, who has overcome serious knee injuries in the past two years, was added to the U.S. team by Coach Steve Sampson.
*
Roberto Baggio, 31, was brought back to Italy’s national team as Coach Cesare Maldini selected his roster for next month’s World Cup. In a surprising decision, Maldini also picked 34-year-old defender Giuseppe Bergomi and bypassed forwards Gianfranco Zola and PierLuigi Casiraghi.
*
Kristine Lilly scored a goal for the U.S. women’s team that beat Japan, 2-0, in Kobe, Japan, and became the all-time leader in international appearances with 152.
Tennis
The rich got richer with the announcement that players will be competing for $14 million in this year’s U.S. Open.
The men’s and women’s singles champions will earn $700,000, up from the $650,000 pocketed by Patrick Rafter and Martina Hingis last year. The losing singles finalists will earn $400,000, also a $50,000 increase.
Top-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa lost to Julie Halard-Decugis of France, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, and became one of three upset victims in the quarterfinals of the Strasbourg Open in France.
Third-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France and fourth-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan also lost, leaving No. 2 Irina Spirlea of Romania as the top-seeded player left in the tournament.
Top-seeded Sandrine Testud of France beat Chanda Rubin of the United States, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the Villa de Madrid tournament in Spain. Testud, ranked 14th in the world, was joined in the semifinals by the next three seeded players: Dominique Van Roost of Belgium, Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and Barbara Schett of Austria.
Top-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile and fourth-seeded Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy won in straight sets and will meet in the semifinals of the Raiffeisen Grand Prix at St. Poelten, Austria. American Vince Spadea will face Holland’s Sjeng Schalken, who defeated Austria’s Thomas Muster, 6-3, 6-4.
Karol Kucera needed three sets and Carlos Moya’s disappearing serve to beat Moya, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, and lead Slovakia past Spain, 3-0, in the World Team Cup at Duesseldorf, Germany. Boris Becker helped Germany beat France by teaming with David Prinosil to beat Fabrice Santoro and Olivier Delaitre, 6-3, 6-4 in the deciding doubles.
Jurisprudence
After a grand jury heard testimony from many of the 40 guests who attended a party at the house of Washington Wizard player Juwan Howard, he and former teammate Chris Webber will not be prosecuted in connection with a sexual assault complaint.
Howard and Webber, who was traded last week to the Sacramento Kings in part because of his off-the-court problems, were named by a Connecticut woman in a complaint filed April 6 after the party.
Webber is awaiting trial on charges of marijuana possession, second-degree assault, resisting arrest and several traffic-related offenses.
Xavier basketball player Darnell Williams avoided a possible jail sentence by entering into a plea agreement in Cincinnati in a case in which he had been charged with driving under the influence.
Jacksonville Jaguar defensive end Jabbar Threats was arrested on charges of driving with a suspended license and giving police a false name.
Softball
Defending champion Arizona got a sixth-inning home run from Toni Mascarenas and beat Oklahoma State, 1-0, in the opening game of the Women’s College World Series at Oklahoma City. Arizona (65-3) advances to play Washington (50-13), which defeated Massachusetts, 1-0, in the second game.
Michigan beat Texas, 7-2, and Fresno State defeated Nebraska, 6-1.
Auto Racing
Bobby Labonte, subbing for Tony Stewart, drove his Pontiac on a 173.822-mph lap and picked up his first Busch Grand National pole since 1996 in qualifying for the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Robert Pressley was the only one of 11 drivers taking part in second round of Coca-Cola 600 time trials to go fast enough to qualify for a starting spot in Sunday’s Winston Cup race, turning a fast lap of 179.647 mph.
Boxing
The promoter of a proposed fight between former heavyweight champions George Foreman, 49, and Larry Holmes, 48, wants the bout to take place either in the Houston Astrodome or at a Las Vegas casino. . . . Tony Ayala Jr., a former world junior-middleweight contender who went to prison in 1983 for raping a neighbor and has said he is eager to return to the ring, was denied parole in New Jersey.
Pro Football
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said a brief labor protest by assistant coaches at an owners’ meeting in Coral Gables, Fla., “borders on silliness.” About 60 coaches rallied in a lobby of a hotel where team owners were meeting, asking for better contracts and demonstrating concerns about health insurance, pensions, severance pay, job insecurity and the consequences of frequent moves.
Names in the News
Herbert Aaron, father of home run champion Hank Aaron, died in Mobile, Ala., at 89. . . . Rudy Washington, executive director of the Black Coaches Assn., was appointed commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
