Parcells Will Stay With Jets as Football Operations Boss

Although the coaching juices no longer flow, Bill Parcells still wants to be involved with the NFL, so he will remain with the New York Jets as director of football operations.

Parcells said Friday that he will oversee the team for the 2000 season, helping in the transition to a new owner, Woody Johnson, and a new coach, Al Groh. Parcells resigned as coach on Jan. 3 and was expected to leave the Jets.

“I indicated some time ago that I would not abandon this franchise,” Parcells said. “I look forward to working with Woody Johnson and Al Groh in a collective effort to try to bring a championship to New York. I view my job very simply: to try to get good players for the coach.”

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In a salary-cap move, the St. Louis Rams have cut linebacker Lorenzo Styles, a valuable reserve on their Super Bowl championship team. . . . Seattle Seahawk offensive lineman Robbie Tobeck will be out for at least six months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn tendon in his left knee.

Tennis

Venus Williams’ winning ways lasted only one match into her comeback from a six-month injury layoff as she sprayed hitting errors throughout her 6-3, 6-4 loss to eighth-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa in the quarterfinals of the Betty Barclay Cup at Hamburg, Germany.

Martina Hingis of Switzerland rallied from a set down to beat Anna Kournikova of Russia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, and will play Anke Huber of Germany, who upset third-seeded Conchita Martinez, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Miscellany

Sophomore Elaine Zivich scored five goals for UCLA and Aniko Pelte scored seven for USC as both schools advanced to the NCAA Women’s Water Polo semifinals at Bloomington, Ind. UCLA, seeking its fourth title in five years, defeated Michigan and UC Davis by identical 15-2 scores. USC, the defending national champion, defeated Loyola Marymount, 11-3, and Massachusetts, 10-7. UCLA faces California and USC plays Stanford today.

Blaine McCallister had an eagle and five birdies in a six-hole stretch to tie defending champion Carlos Franco for the second-round lead in the Compaq Classic golf tournament at New Orleans. McCallister finished with a seven-under-par 65 to match Franco at 10-under 134 on the wind-swept English Turn course. . . . David Lundstrom carded a six-under 66 for the first-round lead in the Senior PGA Tour Home Depot Invitational at Charlotte, N.C. . . . Laura Davies shot a second-round, three-under 67 to move into a first-place tie with Sherri Turner at 135 in the Philips Invitational at Austin, Texas.

The defense’s request for separate trials for Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis and two co-defendants was denied and their murder trial will start May 15 in Atlanta.

Lewis, the NFL’s leading tackler last season, Joseph Sweeting and Reginald Oakley are charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar after a post-Super Bowl party.

Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones dropped his appeal of charges of interfering with a police officer during a traffic stop last Aug. 29 and will begin serving six months’ probation. . . . Kansas football Coach Terry Allen and Athletic Director Bob Frederick apologized for the handling of a sexual abuse charge against two players and said an investigation was being launched.

Alabama sophomore Schea Cotton, a former Mater Dei and St. John Bosco high school star, has made himself available for the NBA draft.

Rusty Wallace took advantage of cloud cover that cooled the track late in qualifying and won the pole for the Pontiac 400 at Richmond, Va. with a speed of 124.749 mph in his Ford. . . . Jeff Green outfoxed Mark Martin with 85 laps to go, then held off a nose-to-tail challenge by Matt Kenseth and won the Hardee’s 250 Busch Grand National race at Richmond. Martin, racing after learning of the death of his nephew earlier in the day, made a furious dash from 22nd on a restart with 42 laps to go to finish fourth. . . . Kenny Bernstein led top-fuel qualifying for the Advance Auto Parts NHRA Southern Nationals at Commerce, Ga., with a quarter-mile run of 4.601 seconds and a top speed of 312.06 mph.

Clemson football Coach Tommy Bowden agreed to a one-year contract extension through 2004 that increases his yearly financial package to at least $825,000. . . . UCLA two-sport star Danny Farmer was awarded a $5,000 NCAA postgraduate scholarship. Farmer was one of 16 football player across the nation to be honored.

Chris Luongo’s goal at 6:17 of the second period gave the unbeaten United States a 1-0 victory over Belarus in the World Hockey Championships at St. Petersburg, Russia. . . . Mighty Duck assistant coach George Burnett resigned to become coach and general manager of the junior league team in Oshawa, Canada.