Selanne Not Injured After Causing Traffic Accident

Mighty Duck right wing Teemu Selanne, the NHL’s top goal scorer last season, escaped injury after crashing into a car driven by Finland’s hockey chief, who was hospitalized at Helsinki, Finland.

Selanne, who turned 29 Saturday, collided with a car driven by Kalervo Kummola, president of the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation and a member of parliament. The accident happened Friday while Selanne was practicing for a road rally.

Kummola was accompanied by former NHL player Raimo Helminen, two of Selanne’s friends from Anaheim, and the son of Selanne’s co-driver. The other passengers were treated for minor injuries.

Kummola was expected to recover from undisclosed injuries. He was being held at least over the weekend in a hospital near Ikalis, about 130 miles from Helsinki.

Police said Selanne’s car was traveling 80-90 mph when it hit the other vehicle after the hockey star reversed direction. Police said Selanne probably would be charged with severely endangering the road safety.

“The incident was my fault,” Selanne said. “I was so eager going with the fantastic car that I forgot that one car was coming after me, and I turned and went off.”

Basketball

Less than one week after the team he put together lost in the NBA finals, Ernie Grunfeld is gone from the New York Knicks.

Grunfeld was general manager before being demoted to special consultant on April 21.

Now, the Knicks have bought out the remaining three years of his contract, reportedly for between $4 million and $5 million.

New York was 21-21 when Grunfeld was demoted, but made the playoffs with a 27-23 record and advanced to the NBA finals, losing in five games to the San Antonio Spurs.

“As a player, coach, president and general manager, the commitment Ernie made on and off the court helped shape the Knicks for the last two decades and will continue into the future,” said Madison Square Garden President Dave Checketts, who fired him.

Carlton Myers scored 18 points and Gregor Fucka pulled down 10 rebounds as Italy won the European Championship by beating Spain, 64-56, in the title game at Paris.

In the bronze-medal game, Vlade Divac scored 19 points to lead Yugoslavia to a 74-62 victory over France.

Scooter McCray, a former player and longtime assistant to Louisville basketball coach Denny Crum, has left his job as special assistant to athletic director Tom Jurich.

McCray, who was at the center of an investigation of the basketball program, was reassigned to Jurich’s office after the NCAA blamed him for rule violations.

Miscellany

Olympic champion and former 100-meter world record-holder Donovan Bailey finished eighth in the St. Denis Grand Prix track and field meet at St. Denis, France.

Bailey ruptured an Achilles’ tendon playing basketball in September and has been unimpressive in races this season, including a third in the Canadian championships last week.

Britain’s Dwain Chambers won Saturday’s race in 10.12. Bailey ran 10.43.

Regina Jacobs set an American record for the 1,000-meter run in the Distance Festival meet in Brunswick, Maine. Jacobs, who set a national record in the 5,000 in last year’s meet, set the 1,000 record in 2 minutes 31.80 seconds, 1.13 seconds faster than Suzy Hamilton’s record set four years ago in Eugene, Ore.

Kevin Freeman, a member of Connecticut’s NCAA champions, scored 18 points as the United States struggled for a half before beating South Korea, 96-77, in the men’s basketball tournament at the World University Games at Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands.

The first gold medal of the Games went to Russia in women’s team gymnastics.

Chris Brown scored the game-winner in the shootout round as the Kansas City Wizards ended a road losing streak at 16 games with a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Mutiny in Major League Soccer.

Harvard and Princeton crews rowed to victories at the Henley Regatta at Henley-on-Thames and qualified for the semifinals of the Temple Cup for university eights.

George Deiderich, an All-America guard for Vanderbilt in 1958, has died after a long battle with cancer at Gallatin, Tenn. He was 63.

Deiderich was an offensive and defensive guard for the Commodores and a two-time All-Southeastern Conference selection.

Michael Carbajal stopped Oscar Calzada in the fourth round Friday night at Tucson, Ariz., to win the World Boxing Organization super-flyweight Latin American title. Also on the card, Willie Jorrin scored a seventh-round knockdown en route to winning a 12-round split decision over Aristed Clayton for the North American Boxing Federation super bantamweight title.