NEWSWIRE : Barnett Reportedly Is Leaving Northwestern for Colorado Job

Northwestern football Coach Gary Barnett finally has received an offer he could not refuse.

Hailed as a miracle worker after leading the perennial Big Ten Conference doormat to the 1996 Rose Bowl, Barnett reportedly will be named the new coach at Colorado as early as today. WGN Radio, which broadcasts Northwestern football, reported Tuesday that Barnett has agreed to a multiyear contract at Colorado, where he served for six years as an assistant under Bill McCartney.

Barnett, 52, would replace Rick Neuheisel, who left to coach Washington.

Baseball

The Dodgers whittled their list of salary arbitration cases to oney, signing pitcher Darren Dreifort to a one-year contract for $1.9 million. Dreifort went 8-12 with a 4.00 earned-run average last season.

Shortstop Mark Grudzielanek exchanged salary proposals with the Dodgers, asking for $2.6 million while the Dodgers offered $1.9 million. Grudzielanek hit .272 with 10 home runs last season.

The Angels resolved their last potential arbitration case by signing pitcher Steve Sparks to a one-year contract for $1.35 million. Sparks went 9-4 with a 4.34 ERA last season.

Andy Pettitte and 11 other players don’t have to worry about salary arbitration as they agreed to contracts.

Pettitte agreed to a $5.95-million, one-year contract, up from $3.8 million last year.

In addition to Pettitte, Houston right-hander Jay Powell got a $3.65-million, three-year contract and seven right-handed pitchers agreed to one-year deals: Montreal’s Dustin Hermanson ($2.05 million), James Baldwin of the Chicago White Sox ($1.9 million), Houston’s Sean Bergman ($1,875,000), Detroit’s Bryce Florie ($1.3 million) and Oakland’s T.J. Mathews ($750,000).

Also agreeing to one-year contracts were Cub infielder Jose Hernandez ($2.4 million) and catcher Tyler Houston ($715,000); Philadelphia left-hander Paul Spoljaric ($750,000); Texas catcher Gregg Zaun ($425,000); and Tampa Bay left-hander Terrell Wade ($250,000).

The New York Mets had a tentative deal with right-hander Jason Isringhausen.

Among free agents, the Mets agreed to a $750,000, one-year contract with left-hander Allen Watson, Minnesota agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Bob Wells and Toronto agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Vincente Palacios.

Tennis

John McEnroe, the tempestuous winner of four U.S. Open championships and three Wimbledon titles, was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Also voted into the hall was Ken McGregor of Australia. He was elected as a master player. The two will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at Newport, R.I., July 10.

Names in the News

Marion Jones, the former Thousand Oaks High star who threatened Florence Griffith Joyner’s world sprint records last year, won the 1999 Jesse Owens International Trophy Award.

Jones, 23, won 36 of 37 finals last year, losing only her last competition, the long jump to Germany’s Heike Drechsler. Jones received 85 votes in balloting by an international panel of electors.

Cross-country skier Bjorn Daehlie of Norway, winner of three gold medals and one silver at the 1998 Winter Olympics, finished second with 78 votes.

Ohio State offensive coordinator Mike Jacobs pleaded not guilty in Columbus to beating his ex-wife, who appeared in court with a black eye and said she feared for her safety.

Franklin County Municipal Judge James Fais didn’t require bail on a charge of assault, but set bond at $5,000 on a domestic violence charge. Jacobs spent two nights in jail after turning himself in to police just after midnight Sunday.

A neck injury sustained in an auto collision will keep William Joppy from defending the World Boxing Assn. middleweight title Feb. 6 against Darren Obah of Australia, but it will not prevent him from resuming his career.

Defensive tackle Aaron Williams of USC pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor prowling charge and three traffic violations at Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach and a pretrial hearing was set for Feb. 8 if the case is not resolved.

Robert Van Hoy, an attorney representing Williams, said he has witnesses who corroborate Williams’ contention that he was searching for a friend’s house and was lost when he was arrested Dec. 16 in Costa Mesa.

Laurentiu Rosoiu of the Romanian figure skating team died Monday after the car he was traveling in collided with a truck, the national news agency in Romania reported. He was 19.

His coach, Anghel Alexandru, and international ice skating judge Mariana Chitu, who also were in the car, died immediately.

Miscellany

Organizers for the 1998 Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race in which six sailors died said they plan no dramatic changes for this year’s race in December.

Anti-drug investigations now being carried out by the French Cycling Federation point to possible errors in previous testing, federation President Daniel Baal told a French newspaper.

Baal told France Soir that investigations have confirmed a widespread use of banned drugs.