Flyers Decide to Keep Ramsay as Their Coach

Craig Ramsay was hired Thursday as the 13th coach of the Philadelphia Flyers after stepping in for ailing Roger Neilson during the season and leading the team to within one victory of the Stanley Cup finals.

It’s the first head coaching job for Ramsay, who spent 15 years in various assistant coaching positions after his 14-year playing career with Buffalo ended in 1985. Ramsay was a forward on the Sabre team that lost to the Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals in 1975.

“There’s some doubt you’ll get the chance, but I never doubted I can do the job,” Ramsay said.

Ramsay finished the regular season with a 16-8-1 mark after Neilson stepped aside in February for cancer treatment. He took Philadelphia to a seventh game in the Eastern Conference finals against the New Jersey Devils.

The move ended speculation about whether Neilson would return for a fourth season. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in December and left the team Feb. 19 to pursue aggressive treatment.

“I’m very happy for Craig. It’s something he’s earned and I’m sure he’s going to do a great job,” Neilson said. “Naturally, I wish it was my job, but he deserves it and I’m happy for him.”

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The Kings exercised contract options on winger Steve McKenna and defenseman Jaroslav Modry, either or both of whom could wind up playing elsewhere next season anyway.

The moves involved part-time players whose pay will remain about the same as a year ago. Both probably will be exposed to the expansion draft to stock new franchises in Minnesota and Columbus.

McKenna, a 6-foot-8, 255-pound winger, earned $425,000 last season and did not score in 46 games, logging five assists and 125 penalty minutes.

Modry, the Kings’ seventh defenseman all season, earned $485,000 and had five goals--all on the power play--and nine assists.

The Kings also added 22-year-old defenseman Joe Corvo, signing him to a two-year contract after failing to sign him at all last season.

Jurisprudence

Defense lawyers rested their case after calling one witness in the trial of two men charged with murder in the post-Super Bowl slayings of two Atlanta-area men--a case that once included Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis as a defendant.

Football recruit Jason Respert, 18, pleaded no contest to trespassing and simple battery, without admitting he fondled a woman in her apartment during a recruiting trip to Florida. After the Jan. 29 incident in Gainesville, the universities of Georgia and Florida rescinded scholarship offers. Tennessee reportedly still plans to offer him a scholarship.

A judge in Wisconsin eased former Kentucky basketball recruit Michael Southall from jail Thursday, about 14 hours early, saying his loss of a scholarship has added more punishment for his drug conviction.

Colleges

Oklahoma men’s basketball Coach Kelvin Sampson decided to stay put and declined an offer to become coach at Illinois. Tulsa Coach Bill Self traveled to Illinois on Thursday night to meet with school officials.

Renovations at Civic Stadium in Portland, Ore., will force Portland State to play all its home football games next season at the much smaller Hillsboro Stadium in the suburbs. Civic Stadium, which seats about 30,000, is being spruced up to house the Dodgers’ triple-A baseball franchise that is moving from Albuquerque to Portland next season.

Miscellany

WNBA: Betty Lennox scored 24 points and Katie Smith 23 as the Minnesota Lynx took a 41-17 halftime lead and cruised to a 71-57 victory over the Orlando Miracle at Orlando, Fla. The Miracle set a franchise record for fewest points in a half. . . . Nikki McCray scored 21 points and Chamique Holdsclaw added 15 as the Washington Mystics defeated the Miami Sol, 73-51, at Miami. . . . Kate Starbird scored 17 points and Natalie Williams added 15 points and 16 rebounds as the Utah Starzz defeated the Portland Fire, 81-72, at Portland, Ore., despite 25 points by Sylvia Crawley of the Fire.

The Seattle Seahawks released wide receiver Sean Dawkins, who led the team with 992 yards receiving last season. Mike Holmgren, the Seahawks’ executive vice president and coach, tried to restructure Dawkins’ contract but the two sides could not reach an agreement.

Randall Cunningham, who was cut by Minnesota after declining to renegotiate his contract, agreed to become Troy Aikman’s backup in Dallas. Cunningham will receive a base salary of $500,000 this season, and a $500,000 signing bonus, the team said.

A high school senior-to-be collapsed and died after a summer football workout in Tucson. Kyle Valenzuela, a 17-year-old student at Sunnyside High, collapsed at home a couple of hours after a workout. An autopsy found no obvious cause of death.

Greg Biffle earned the pole for the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Pronto Auto Parts 400 by turning a lap of 178.130 mph at Texas Motor Speedway at Fort Worth. . . . After two similar accidents during a practice session at Texas Motor Speedway, qualifying for the Indy Racing League’s Casino Magic 500 was postponed.