Bills, Moulds Agree to a Six-Year Deal

Eric Moulds’ desire to stay in Buffalo made it easier for the Bills to re-sign their all-pro wide receiver Friday, so he will not become one of the prize free agents on the NFL open market.

Moulds, who set the franchise record with 94 receptions last season, agreed to a six-year deal worth $40-45 million. That includes a reported signing bonus of $12 million--one of the highest for a player who elected to remain with the same team.

Had he not signed, Moulds would have become an unrestricted free agent March 2.

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Fred Pagac, former assistant coach at Ohio State, has joined the Oakland Raiders as linebacker coach. . . . Jim Zorn, the Seattle Seahawks’ first starting quarterback, has been named the team’s new quarterback coach. . . . The Baltimore Ravens have hired Mike Nolan, the former defensive coordinator for the New York Jets and two other NFL teams, to coach their wide receivers. . . . Eric Price, son of Washington State Coach Mike Price, has been hired as an offensive assistant with the Jets.

College Football

The NCAA Football Rules Committee approved eight changes this week, including moves to speed up play. Among the changes, the committee voted to eliminate radio and television timeouts during overtime, and also said a team timeout may be a minimum of 30 seconds, if desired by the team calling the timeout.

Alabama Coach Dennis Franchione’s $7.7-million, seven-year contract has been approved by school’s trustees, about 2 1/2 months after he was hired to replace Mike DuBose. . . . Vincent White was hired as Utah’s new receiver coach.

Tennis

Top-seeded Martina Hingis breezed into the semifinals of the Qatar Open with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Joannette Kruger of South Africa at Doha. Hingis will face Barbara Schett, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over qualifier Lina Krasnoroutskaya of Russia. . . . Venus Williams reached the semifinals of the $565,000 Terazura Open at Nice, France, with a 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over fellow American Meilen Tu. Williams will play unseeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria in today’s semifinals. Maleeva defeated Elena Dementieva of Russia, 6-3, 6-3.

Defending champion Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden defeated Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller, 6-2, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the Copenhagen Open in Denmark. Vinciguerra will play 18-year-old Russian Mikhail Youzhny, a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) winner over two-time Copenhagen Open champion Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden. . . . Max Mirnyi of Belarus reached the semifinals of the Marseille Open in France with a a 6-2, 6-3 victory over France’s Julien Boutter. Mirnyi will play France’s Sebastien Grosjean, who defeated Karol Kucera of Slovakia, 6-3, 6-2.

Miscellany

Basketball star Dajuan Wagner of Camden High in New Jersey, who scored 100 points in a game last month, and two classmates pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault charges in the beating of a student.

Organizers of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens must begin construction on key venues within six months or they will be responsible for hurting the quality of the games, the chief International Olympic Committee inspector warned.

But IOC envoy Jacques Rogge noted there is no discussion of stripping Athens of the Games.

Italy’s largest daily newspaper suggested that violence which preceded the AS Roma-Liverpool UEFA Cup soccer game was the result of “premeditated guerrilla” actions by Roma fans.

Corriere della Sera of Milan wrote that the stabbing of six Liverpool supporters and attacks against riot police outside Rome’s Olympic stadium “looked like the insane plan of groups of Roma fans to revenge the beating of a Roma supporter [by policemen] at Bologna last Sunday.”

Dutch defender Jaap Stam signed a one-year extension with Manchester United of the English Premier League, keeping him there until July 2006.

Zippy Chippy, the winless 10-year-old gelding, made his first start of the year and absorbed his 89th consecutive loss, finishing last, 32 1/2 lengths behind the winner in a race at Penn National in Grantville, Pa. . . . In the last race at Santa Anita, Neutral Zone seemed a sure winner 50 yards before the wire, but his right foreleg snapped and he went down, spilling jockey Martin Pedroza. Neutral Zone was euthanized and Pedroza, who did not appear to be seriously injured, was sent to Arcadia Methodist Hospital for precautionary X-rays.

The Ice Dogs defeated the Colorado Gold Kings, 5-2, at Colorado Springs, the first West Coast Hockey League home loss for the Gold Kings since Jan. 7