Brand Pushes for Reforms in College Sports

Myles Brand, who will forever be known as the man who fired Bob Knight, took his newfound celebrity to the national stage to push for reforms in college sports Tuesday.

“I didn’t ask for what happened with Bob Knight,” the Indiana University president said. “But it has given me a platform to say what is good about intercollegiate athletics, but also what has to change. It gives me a chance to say something productive and something that’s important--and maybe I’ll be heard.”

In a nationally televised speech to the National Press Club in Washington, Brand said it was time to scale back the basketball and football “arms race” he believes has become a “threat to the academic integrity” of universities.

Brand became one of the country’s most recognized university presidents last year when he instituted a “zero tolerance” policy on Knight, whose teams won three NCAA basketball championships, then fired the temperamental coach for violating it.

Boxing

Dave Hilton Jr., World Boxing Council super-middleweight champion, sexually abused a girl over a three-year period, the girl, now 17, testified on the opening day of his trial in Montreal.

The girl said Hilton taught her how to kiss when she was 12, touched her inappropriately and had sex with her. The abuse happened daily at times and was more infrequent during other times, she said.

Earlier in the day, Hilton, 37, pleaded not guilty to nine sex-related charges involving two young girls. Their names and other details of their relationship to Hilton were not disclosed because of their ages.

Lennox Lewis appears headed for a WBC-International Boxing Federation heavyweight championship defense against Hasim Rahman.

Contracts are yet to be signed, but if there are no problems, Rahman, the IBF’s No. 4 contender from Baltimore, will challenge Lewis on April 21, a spokesman for Main Events said.

Former world featherweight champion Naseem Hamed of Britain will make his Las Vegas debut when he fights highly rated Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico on April 7.

Winter Sports

Defending champion Yevgeny Plushchenko mastered a quad-triple combination to win the men’s short program in the European figure skating championships at Bratislava, Slovakia.

Earlier, French world champions Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat had unexpectedly tied their Italian rivals, Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, after the compulsory portion of ice dancing.

Karin Ruby of France won her third world championship in snowboarding, edging teammate Isabelle Blanc in a giant slalom at Madonna Di Campiglio, Italy.

Skier Benjamin Raich of Austria won his third consecutive World Cup slalom at Schladming, Austria, virtually assuring himself a spot at next week’s World Championships in his home country.

Miscellany

Jury selection began in Janesville, Wis., in the trial of former Green Bay Packer tight end Mark Chmura, charged with sexually assaulting his children’s 17-year-old former baby-sitter during a drunken prom party.

Chmura, 31, could get up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

Former NFL receiver Mark Ingram was arrested in Miami on a charge of grand theft auto, and police said he had $3,029 in counterfeit bills in his pocket.

Ingram, who played for the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins and two other teams, was being interviewed late Tuesday by U.S. Secret Service agents in Miami, hours after his arrest.

Alcorn State alumni plan to hold a rally and withhold donations to protest the retention of football Coach Johnny Thomas, whose team finished 0-11 last season. Alumni and fans have largely blamed Thomas for the team’s poor record. The coach is 8-25 in three seasons. . . . Ohio State linebacker Joe Cooper, a third-team All-American, has been granted another year of eligibility. . . . Virginia Tech linebacker Ben Taylor, a third-team All-American, will have surgery on his right ankle Friday and his status for next season is uncertain. . . . Colorado hired former running back Eric Bieniemy as an assistant coach, the school said.

Trial costs for former Olympic bid leaders Tom Welch and Dave Johnson will be covered under an insurance policy at the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, ending a dispute that began with their indictment last summer.

But defense lawyers lost time negotiating the settlement that will pay their bills, and that could push the bribery trial from June into the fall and closer to the next Winter Games, said Johnson’s lawyer, Max Wheeler.

The inexperienced United States team lost to Germany, 40-12, in a Group C match on the opening day of the men’s team handball World Championships at Paris.

Soccer

Igor Dujlaj’s early goal earned Yugoslavia a 1-0 victory over Japan at Calcutta, India, and a berth in the Millennium Cup final. In the title game Thursday, Yugoslavia will take on Bosnia. . . . With FIFA President Sepp Blatter getting personally involved, soccer authorities and the European Union resume talks today in Brussels on a new transfer system amid signs that a breakthrough could be imminent. . . . The federal government and Canadian Soccer Assn. are working together on a bid to host soccer’s 2010 World Cup. . . . Four top Italian teams were fined for violent fan behavior at last weekend’s games, among them Napoli, which will have to give up a match at home for the repeated violence at San Paolo Stadium. . . . First-division Romanian clubs have agreed to double salaries of referees in an effort to curb corruption. . . . Chicago Fire assistant Mike Jeffries was named coach of the Dallas Burn.