Bears, Hatley Agree That Change Is Needed to Improve Team

Mark Hatley, the Chicago Bears’ vice president of player personnel, left the team Monday in what he and President Ted Phillips called a “mutual termination.”

Hatley, the team’s personnel chief the last four years, was not fired, Phillips said. “The bottom line is, our record has not been good enough,” Hatley said at a news conference. “After much thought, I think it’s best if I move on.”

A search for Hatley’s successor will begin immediately, and Phillips said he hasn’t ruled out hiring a general manager. The Bears haven’t had a general manager since Jerry Vainisi was fired after the 1986 season.

When Hatley arrived in May 1997, he inherited a team that had had missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. The Bears have gone 4-12, 4-12, 6-10 and 5-11 since.

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Making a slower-than-expected recovery from abdominal surgery, Jacksonville Jaguar receiver Jimmy Smith was back in the hospital for tests.

Smith had two surgeries in early April to remove an obstruction to his small intestine. He was readmitted to the hospital Saturday.

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Carolina defensive tackle Eric Swann has retired after 10 seasons because of an arthritic condition in his left knee. . . . Receiver Reggie Jones signed a one-year deal with the San Diego Chargers. . . . The Arizona Cardinals re-signed safety Pat Tillman to a one-year contract. . . . The Cincinnati Bengals signed tackle Richmond Webb to a three-year contract worth $9 million.

College Basketball

Oregon women’s coach Jody Runge has resigned, ending weeks of turmoil that began with some players asking for her removal and continuing with an investigation by an outside law firm.

Runge, 38, led the Ducks to a 160-73 record in eight seasons, including eight consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, but the coach’s intense style and criticism of her players led to personality conflicts.

Indiana junior forward Kirk Haston declared for this year’s NBA draft.

Haston, who led the Hoosiers in scoring and rebounding last season, hasn’t signed with an agent and could return for his senior season.

Miscellany

The Galaxy plays another international soccer opponent today, taking on Chivas of Guadalajara in a friendly match at Mexico City’s Estadio de Ciudad Universitaria.

Chivas, a 10-time Mexican League champion, is led by former Galaxy forward Carlos Hermosillo, who played here in 1998 and ’99.

Earlier this year, the Galaxy played three matches in China and Japan and will play in the Club World Championship in Spain this summer.

Arturs Irbe shut out the U.S., 2-0, to keep Latvia’s chances alive for a second-round berth in the World Hockey Championships at Cologne, Germany. The U.S. is 1-1 entering its final preliminary-round game Wednesday against Sweden.

Former Florida football coach Charley Pell is fighting cancer that has spread throughout his body and left him with “a limited time” to live. Pell, 60, diagnosed with the disease last fall, learned in the last two weeks that it is now in his pancreas, liver and brain.

The crash that killed Italian racing driver Michele Alboreto was caused by a damaged tire, the Audi car company said. “Our investigation so far has determined that a sharp object penetrated the left rear tire, leading to a gradual loss of pressure,” Audi said. Alboreto was killed Wednesday on a high-speed straightaway of the EuroSpeedway circuit at Lausitz, Germany, where he was testing an Audi R8 for this summer’s Le Mans 24-hour race.

The recovery of Bill Johnson, the 1984 Olympic downhill gold medalist who had been in a coma for more than three weeks after a March 22 skiing accident, is progressing well. Johnson is walking and eating on his own. as he recovers from a racing crash. “We’re just thrilled with his progress,” Johnson’s mother, DB Johnson, said.

Second-seeded Andrew Ilie of Australia advanced to the second round of the U.S. men’s clay court tennis championships at Houston, beating Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller, 6-3, 7-5. Mardy Fish lost to Italy’s Andrea Gaudenzi, 6-4, 6-4. . . . At Munich, Germany, Franco Squillari of Argentina ousted Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, 6-3, 6-3, in the opening round of the BMW Open.

Dubai Millennium, winner of last year’s Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race, died after an intestinal sickness at Newmarket, England.

Passings

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Dave Feldman, a widely known horse racing writer and handicapper for Chicago newspapers for more than 70 years, died of heart failure. He was 85. (See story, B7.)

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T.J. SIMERS IS ON VACATION