Canada Also Drops Out of Soccer Tournament
Canada will not take part in Copa America, the South American soccer tournament that was reinstated Thursday less than a week before its scheduled start in Colombia.
The Canadian Soccer Assn. said in a statement Friday that it wouldn’t be able to regroup players scattered around Europe with their clubs in preseason camps.
Canada is the second country to pull out of Copa America, after Argentina said Thursday it wouldn’t participate in the regional tournament because it had already allowed its players to take vacations.
Alfonso Mondelo resigned as coach of the Tampa Bay Mutiny after directing the team to an MLS-worst 3-12-1 record in his first season with the team. . . . Greg Andrulis will remain coach of the Columbus Crew for the rest of the season, General Manager Jim Smith said. Andrulis has led the Crew to a 4-2-2 record since replacing Tom Fitzgerald on May 17.
Hockey
The Kings have signed defenseman Tomas Zizka to a three-year contract. Zizka, 21, was the club’s sixth-round pick in the 1998 draft and has played exclusively in the Czech Republic.
The Boston Bruins signed forward Rob Zamuner to a three-year contract. . . . Left wing Andrew Brunette signed a multiyear contract with the Minnesota Wild after spending the last two seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers. . . . Dan McGillis signed a three-year contract to stay with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Jurisprudence
Utah Jazz rookie DeShawn Stevenson pleaded not guilty in a Fresno courtroom to the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Stevenson, a 6-foot-5 guard who went to the NBA directly from high school, faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors dropped a bribery investigation of former Stockholm bid chairman Olof Stenhammer, who tried to win the 2004 Olympics that went to Athens, Greece.
Former Cincinnati Bengal running back Ty Douthard was released from prison this week after an Ohio appeals court threw out his conviction for marijuana possession.
Miscellany
Racing remained tight in the 41st Transpacific Yacht Race to Honolulu, with three Division I boats within three miles of each other at Friday’s roll call.
Chance, Bob McNulty’s 74-footer from Corona del Mar, is 1,200 miles from the Diamond Head finish point. Philippe Kahn’s Pegasus, which dropped from first to third on Thursday, is in second place two miles back and Roy E. Disney’s Pyewacket is in third.
Marion Jones ran the fastest women’s 100-meter dash of the season, clocking 10.84 seconds at the Paris Grand Prix in Saint-Denis, France. Another Olympic champion, Maurice Greene, easily won the men’s 100 in 9.96.
A fire killed all 28 horses inside a barn at the Meadows harness track in Canonsburg, Pa., early Friday morning.
Chris Webber, one of the NBA’s most sought-after free agents this summer, met with Detroit Piston President Joe Dumars for two hours. They are expected to meet again next week.
Loren Woods, a second-round draft choice of the Minnesota Timberwolves, said he might play in Europe next season instead of signing with the club.
Market Square Arena, the Indiana Pacers’ home for more than two decades and the site of Elvis Presley’s final concert, will be imploded Sunday. . . . About 100 protesters scuffled with Athens police at the proposed suburban site of the Olympic equestrian center, authorities said.
