Goss Ends a Stormy Stint by Resigning at Michigan

Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss resigned Tuesday in Ann Arbor, ending a 2 1/2-year stay marked by a budget deficit, a stadium controversy and the suspension of the basketball team’s leading scorer.

Goss, 53, was said to have angered university President Lee Bollinger by not telling him of an NCAA investigation into the eligibility of Wolverine freshman basketball player Jamal Crawford. Bollinger refused to comment on that.

“I love this place, I’d like to stay, but I think it’s time to make the next move,” Goss said.

Bollinger wasn’t expected to pick a permanent replacement until about May.

Goss, who earned $275,000 a year as the first African American to run the department, was expected to receive $280,500 in severance pay.

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Father E. William Beauchamp, Notre Dame’s executive vice president, was another loser in an athletic department shake-up that Monday brought the resignation of Athletic Director Mike Wadsworth.

Father William A. Malloy, university president, will assume control of a department that Beauchamp had overseen for 13 years. Malloy set no timetable for naming Wadsworth’s successor.

Jurisprudence

Green Bay Packer receiver Antonio Freeman was sentenced to a year on probation after pleading no contest to lying to police about a December traffic accident in Green Bay, Wis. Freeman also was fined $1,000, ordered to pay $315 in court costs and to do 50 hours of community service.

Jerry Jones’ appeal of a plea-bargain arrangement with prosecutors halted the release of a police videotape of the aftermath of the Dallas Cowboy owner’s Aug. 29 traffic stop. It also put his sentence of six months’ probation and community service on hold.

Fontana High football player Anthony Robinson pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of battery on school property and a judge sentenced him to three years’ probation. The charge stemmed from the 18-year-old running back’s involvement in a postgame brawl Nov. 19 during a playoff game against Loyola High at Pierce College. Robinson will have to serve 30 days on a Caltrans work crew, said Rick Schmidt, an assistant city attorney. A hearing is set for March 15 to determine if Robinson must pay restitution to his victim, Loyola High assistant football coach Ric Pedroarias.

Pro Football

Defensive line coach Andre Patterson is leaving Minnesota for the Dallas Cowboys, marking the sixth coaching change since the end of the season for the Vikings. Minnesota replaced him with Fred vonAppen, a former NFL assistant who coached at Hawaii from 1996-98. . . . Pete Carmichael, Jacksonville’s wide receiver coach for the last five years, was hired as offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, who went through their expansion season without one.

Secondary coach Tim Lewis was named new defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers. . . . Running back Cecil Collins was waived by the Miami Dolphins. . . . Quarterback Mark Brunell was one of eight Jacksonville Jaguars to restructure their contracts, giving the team$8 million to $10 million more in salary-cap room to sign free agents.

Tennis

Top-seeded Andre Agassi withdrew from the Sybase Open in San Jose because of a lower back strain. Agassi reported cramps while flying to San Francisco from Zimbabwe, where he helped the United States to a 3-2 first-round victory in the Davis Cup. . . . Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder defeated Belgium’s Sabine Appelmans, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of the Paris Open to set up a match against top-seeded Serena Williams. Seventh-seeded Elena Likhovtseva of Russia was the first seeded player to fall, losing to Italy’s Silvia Farina, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Top-seeded Nicolas Kiefer beat fellow German Lars Burgsmuller, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, in the Dubai Open in the United Arab Emirates. Karim Alami of Morocco upset second-seeded Magnus Norman of Sweden, 7-6 (6), 7-5. . . . The Marseille Open in France included two first-round upsets, with third-seeded Dominic Hrbaty of Slovakia losing to countryman Jan Kroslak, 7-6 (7), 6-4, and fifth-seeded Marat Safin of Russia falling to Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden, 6-3, 6-3.

Soccer

Senegalese soccer fans stormed the Nigerian embassy, smashing windows, tearing up signposts, damaging an official car and injuring at least 12 Nigerians in the embassy after Nigeria defeated Senegal, 2-1, in an African Nationals Cup quarterfinal in Dakar, Senegal. . . . The Czech Republic used two second-half goals to beat defending champion Mexico, 2-1, for the Carlsberg Cup at Hong Kong.

Track and Field

Top British 400-meter runner Mark Richardson faces a two-year suspension after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone. Richardson, 27, denied any wrongdoing. . . . Hector Torres and Juan Pablo Hernandez, Mexico’s top milers, signed to compete in the 40th annual Los Angeles Invitational indoor meet Feb. 19 at the Sports Arena.

Miscellany

Heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis will defend his undisputed title April 29 against undefeated Michael Grant at New York City. . . . Tiger Woods’ rain-postponed victory Monday in the final round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am got a 2.8 overnight rating and an 8 share on CBS, meaning it was watched by less than 3% of the national TV households but by 8% of the sets in use at the time.

Louisville is pursuing the Houston Rockets, the WNBA Comets and Houston’s arena football franchise, Houston television station KRIV reported. . . . Alexei Yagudin narrowly led Russian rival Yevgeny Plushchenko after the short program at the European Figure Skating Championships in Vienna. . . . Keeneland agreed to buy the Kentucky Horse Center, a Lexington thoroughbred training facility, for $5 million from Churchill Downs.