Gimelstob’s Latest Loss Brings Talk of Retirement

Justin Gimelstob’s latest loss had the former UCLA player talking about giving up tennis, returning to school and becoming a lawyer.

“I’ve always been a good arguer,” he said.

Gimelstob, 24, didn’t raise the subject, but when asked about retirement he admitted that a bad back and poor results this year are pushing him in that direction. He lost Wednesday to Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, in the first round of the Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne, Fla.

“If I continue on this path, I probably will stop playing sooner rather than later,” he said.

Gimelstob’s three-year run in the top 100 has ended thanks to a record of 0-6 this year, dropping his ranking to No. 118. He had to win two qualifying matches just to get into the main draw at Key Biscayne.

Andy Roddick, the top American teenager on the men’s tour, defeated Harel Levy, 6-3, 6-2, and will next face 1998 champion Marcelo Rios. Todd Martin, playing his first match after being sidelined for six weeks because of a back injury, lost to Max Mirnyi, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Jurisprudence

A Senate committee in Florida unanimously approved a bill written on behalf of Dale Earnhardt’s widow that would keep autopsy photos sealed.

The legislation is needed to keep autopsy photos of the NASCAR driver and others off of Web sites such as the Gallery of the Grotesque, Death n Dementia, Celebrity Morgue, Faces of Death and the Dead Body Picture Page, said bill sponsor Sen. Jim King.

Teresa Earnhardt asked King to file a bill after the Orlando Sentinel requested copies of her husband’s autopsy photos. The newspaper said it did not plan to publish the photos, but wanted an independent expert to review them.

Teresa Earnhardt sued to keep the photos sealed and reached a settlement with the newspaper last week. Earnhardt died last month in a crash in the Daytona 500.

Another Web site, https://websitecity.com, that is seeking access to the autopsy photos requested all audio recordings from the autopsy as well.

Baylor baseball players Derek Brehm and Clint Bowers were charged with cruelty to animals after police in Waco, Texas, found a skinned cat head in the back seat of a car. Brehm and Bowers were arrested March 9 after police received complaints about cats being shot in a Waco neighborhood, a police spokesman said. . . . Billy Sims, the 1978 Heisman Trophy winner, failed to appear at a child-support hearing in Tulsa, Okla., but might not face an arrest warrant. . . . Arnold Eaton, a Navy petty officer convicted of drunk driving in a crash that killed Purdue basketball player Tiffany Young has pleaded guilty in Crown Point, Ind., to perjury. Eaton, an inmate at the Lakeside Correctional Facility in Michigan City, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months’ probation for perjury. He was sentenced in September to seven years and nine months in prison on the drunk-driving conviction. He is eligible for parole in three years.

Miscellany

Chad Knaus and Matt Chambers, crew chiefs for Stacy Compton and rookie Kurt Busch, have each been fined $5,000 and suspended by NASCAR for two races for using illegal shoulder harnesses. Knaus, who works for Melling Racing, and Chambers, an employee of Roush Racing, will both miss races Sunday at Bristol, Tenn., and on April 1 at Fort Worth. . . . Robby Gordon, who had been insisting that his driving job with Morgan-McClure Motorsports was safe, was released by the NASCAR team. Gordon, 32, made the field for all five races this season, with a best finish of 20th in Atlanta on March 11.

Billy Ray Smith Sr., the former Arkansas football star who played 13 seasons in the NFL, died Wednesday in Little Rock after a two-year fight with cancer. He was 66. Smith, a tackle for the Razorbacks from 1954-56, played in two Super Bowls for the Baltimore Colts.

Linebacker James Darling agreed to terms on a contract with the New York Jets, pending his passing a physical. . . . The Dallas Cowboys re-signed free-agent fullback Robert Thomas to a three-year contract, reportedly worth $3 million. . . . Free-agent safety Gerald McBurrows agreed to a three-year, $2.6-million deal to stay with the Atlanta Falcons. . . . Right tackle Matt Lepsis re-signed with the Denver Broncos. . . . Tight end Tyrone Davis re-signed with the Green Bay Packers. . . . Tight end Reggie Davis re-signed with the San Diego Chargers for one year.

The Columbus Crew traded midfielder Miles Joseph to the Dallas Burn for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2002 MLS draft.

Jacques Rogge of Belgium, one of the top contenders to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch as president of the International Olympic Committee, will officially declare his candidacy next week for the most powerful post in international sports.

China should not be allowed to hold the 2008 Olympics because its “abominable human rights record violates the spirit of the games,” a bipartisan group of House members declared.

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), the House International Relations Committee’s top Democrat, quoted the State Department’s annual Human Rights Report, which said China’s human rights record has worsened in the last year as the regime continued to commit “numerous serious abuses.”

A toxic chemical has been spilled at an abandoned U.S. military base near the site of the planned 2004 Olympics rowing center, the World Wide Fund for Nature and Athens daily Ta Nea said.

The former U.S. Navy communications base, shut down about 10 years ago, is a few miles north of the proposed rowing site and about 20 miles northeast of Athens.

Top sprinter Tayseer, who was to run in Saturday’s $2-million Dubai Golden Shaheen, was destroyed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, after suffering a broken leg.

Former WBA heavyweight champion Greg Page remains in serious condition at University Hospital in Cincinnati with head injuries.

Page, 42, has been hospitalized since being knocked out by Dale Crowe in the 10th round of their Kentucky State heavyweight fight March 9 in nearby Erlanger, Ky.

Ken Donahue, a former Alabama defensive coordinator who helped put together teams that won four national championships and 12 Southeastern Conference football titles, died during a workout at a fitness club in Corryton, Tenn., an Alabama spokesman said. Donahue was 76.

Colorado goalie Frederick Beaubien notched his seventh victory in a row as the Gold Kings defeated the Ice Dogs, 4-1, in a West Coast Hockey League game before 2,090 at the Long Beach Arena.

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T.J. Simers is on vacation.