Lett Suspended Indefinitely

Leon Lett, the Dallas Cowboys’ Pro Bowl defensive tackle, was suspended indefinitely by the NFL on Friday for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy for the third time.

NFL spokesman Joe Browne refused to discuss the details of Lett’s case other than to say the lineman can reapply for admission to the league in the future.

The length of the suspension will be determined by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue based on evaluations of Lett’s progress by officials in the league’s substance-abuse program.

Lett, 30, has been enrolled in the NFL’s substance-abuse program since 1995. He was suspended four games in 1995, for the last three games of 1996 and the first 13 of 1997.

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Wide receiver Terrell Owens reportedly signed a one-year contract worth $3.5 million with the San Francisco 49ers. . . . Charlie Sanders, former Detroit Lion tight end and coach, was released on bond in Pontiac, Mich., after being charged with domestic violence. Sanders, 52, who is 6 feet 4 and 220 pounds, punched his wife, Georgianna, in the forehead, then bit her lip, police and prosecutors told the Oakland Press of Pontiac. . . . Backup quarterback Mark Rypien, 36, has told the San Diego Chargers he doesn’t intend to play this season and hinted he may retire. . . . The Seattle Seahawks released veteran wide receiver Brian Blades.

College Football

The new formula for the Bowl Championship Series will be released this month and its chairman said there will be a few new wrinkles to the system that debuted last year.

Most notably, it probably will include additional computer rankings to go with those compiled by Jeff Sagarin, the New York Times and Seattle Times.

“That will give it a broader diversity of information,” BCS Chairman Roy Kramer said. “The more information you put in, the better information you get, in most cases.”

Kramer said he was pleased with the formula that landed Tennessee and Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl last season.

Some football fans, however, felt alienated by a system that used complex math formulas--nothing that could be done on a pad of paper at home--to factor the Associated Press media poll, the coaches’ poll, computer rankings, strength of schedule and overall record.

The NCAA held a hearing in Indianapolis on a former Notre Dame booster and possible financial help she might have given to as many as a dozen football players.

The NCAA is investigating whether Kimberly Dunbar’s relationship with players broke a rule stipulating that schools and their representatives cannot provide an athlete or a relative or friend of an athlete a benefit not authorized by the NCAA.

Court records show Dunbar, who is serving a four-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to embezzling more that $1.4 million from her former employer in South Bend, Ind., gave players, their families and friends more than $35,000 in gifts and trips.

The hearing was closed, and the school said a decision is expected in July or August.

The Army-Navy game will be played in Baltimore next year before returning to Philadelphia in 2001 and 2002. This year’s game will be at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

Miscellany

The Sparks beat the Detroit Shock, 89-83, in a WNBA exhibition game at Grand Rapids, Mich. Tamecka Dixon and Lisa Leslie scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, to lead the Sparks, who open their regular season Thursday at the Forum against Sacramento.

A federal judge in Pittsburgh removed a major obstacle to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ financial reorganization by canceling their lease with the Civic Arena. Calling the Penguins “our team,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bernard Markovitz said he was invalidating the long-term lease in the best interest of the team and its many creditors.

The lease was a major obstacle to reorganizing the team. Mario Lemieux, the former Penguin center and potential new owner, had been unable to renegotiate the agreement with SMG Inc., the team’s landlord at the publicly owned Civic Arena.

Carl Lindros, father and agent of Eric Lindros, said his son would follow through on a handshake agreement with the Philadelphia Flyers and sign a one-year, $8.5-million deal, plus incentives, that would prevent him from becoming a restricted free agent.

King defenseman Garry Galley underwent hernia surgery to repair two small tears in his abdominal wall. Galley, 36, had four goals, 12 assists and 30 penalty minutes in 60 games this season.

Cyclist Marco Pantani virtually clinched his second consecutive Tour of Italy victory as he dominated the 20th stage.

Melinda Almazan, who helped lead Denver’s Regis University volleyball team to a 31-4 record and a berth in the NCAA semifinals, has won the Honda Award as the Division II woman athlete of the year.

The Division III recipient is Kelly Schade of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, who pitched her team to the NCAA Division III softball championship.