Mets Trade Shinjo, Relaford to Giants for Estes

The busy New York Mets made another deal Sunday, trading outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo and infielder Desi Relaford to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Shawn Estes.

Estes, 28, had a 9-8 record and a 4.02 earned-run average in 27 starts last season. The left-hander was an all-star in 1997, when he won 19 games, and has averaged 29 starts the last five seasons.

He is 64-50 with a 4.25 ERA in 160 starts.

Shinjo, 29, batted .267 with 10 home runs and 56 runs batted in. He led major league rookie outfielders with 12 assists.

Relaford, 28, batted .302 with eight home runs and 36 RBIs. He played second base, shortstop and third base.

College Basketball

The general manager of Houston’s Compaq Center said Bob Knight cursed him and offered to fight when he confronted the Texas Tech men’s coach over remarks about the building’s locker rooms.

Jerry MacDonald said he approached Knight after the coach criticized the size of the arena’s locker rooms after a game Friday night. Knight responded with a flurry of profanity, MacDonald said.

“He said, ‘If you want to settle this right now, let’s step outside,”’ MacDonald said. “I could not believe what I was hearing. I said, ‘Step outside and settle the size of our locker rooms? Are you nuts?”’

Knight, fired as coach at Indiana after a series of outbursts, was unavailable for comment.

Texas Tech spokesman Randy Farley said he witnessed the exchange between Knight and MacDonald, on a loading dock that leads to where team busses are parked. Farley said he could not hear the conversation, but added he never considered it confrontational.

“At no time did [Knight] raise his voice or respond unprofessionally to a situation that was foisted upon him,” Farley said.

“To the contrary, the coach talked calmly and quietly with the Compaq [Center] employee before getting on the bus and taking his seat.”

Soccer

North Carolina won its first NCAA men’s title, defeating Indiana, 2-0, at Columbus, Ohio, on goals by Ryan Kneipper and Danny Jackson.

Kneipper scored on a header in the 12th minute and Jackson made a penalty kick in the 75th.

Goalie Michael Ueltschey posted his 14th shutout this season and 30th of his career.

The Tar Heels finished 21-4. Indiana was 18-4-1.

Winter Sports

Frederic Covili of France won a World Cup giant slalom at Alta Badia, Italy, after Bode Miller of the United States fell early in the second run after recording the best time in the first run, 1 minute 19.88 seconds.

Covili was timed in 2:40.58, beating world champion Michael Von Gruenigen of Switzerland by 0.02 seconds. Sami Uotila of Finland finished in 2:40.67 for a career-best third place.

Switzerland’s Sonja Nef won her favorite event for the first time this season, capturing a World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere, France.

The defending World Cup champion was timed in 2:23.80.

Sweden’s Anja Paerson was second in 2:24.46 and Austria’s Michaela Dorfmeister, who won the season’s opening giant slalom, was third in 2:24.63.

Sarah Schleper of the United States was seventh after a promising first run, but finished 12th. American Kristina Koznick was 19th.

Karsten Albert led a sweep by Germany in a World Cup luge men’s singles event at Oberhof, Germany.

Albert was followed by David Moeller and Denis Geppert.

The men’s doubles was won by Steffen Skel and Steffen Woeller. The two were not selected to Germany’s Olympic team because of the country’s depth.

Two Italian teams finished behind the Germans--Kurt Brugger and Wilfried Huber, followed by Christian Oberstolz and Patric Gruber.

The top Americans were Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin, who finished fifth.

Germany’s Susi Erdmann won a World Cup bobsled race at Calgary, Canada, the final event this season, to secure the overall title.

Jean Racine of the United States finished second and Sandra Prokoff of Germany finished third.

Raphael Poiree of France won the World Cup men’s biathlon pursuit race and Magdalena Forsberg of Sweden won the women’s race, both at Pokljuka, Slovenia.

Swimming

Slovakia’s Martina Moravcova won gold medals within an hour, adding the 100-meter butterfly and 200 freestyle to her 100 medley title in the European short course championships at Antwerp, Belgium.

Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands won the 50 free for her second gold medal.

Pieter van den Hoogenband broke Giorgio Lamberti’s 11-year-old European record to win the 200 free in 1:42.46, slashing 1.18 off the Italian’s mark.

Moravcova kept her perfect streak in the 200 free intact, improving her own European record with a time of 1:54.74. She won the 100 butterfly in a championship record 57.20.

Germany’s Nicole Hetzer set a European record in the 400 medley.

Germany’s Anne Poleska won the 100 breaststroke to go with her 200 breaststroke title.

Tennis

The first round of the Davis Cup between the United States and Slovakia will be played at Oklahoma City on Feb. 8-10.

The selection was confirmed by Arlen Kantarian, chief executive of the U.S. Tennis Assn.