Supreme Court Ruling Goes Against Ravens

An amateur artist who successfully argued that the Baltimore Ravens stole his idea for a logo won again Monday when the Supreme Court declined to review the case.

The court’s action, taken without comment, means Frederick Bouchat can continue with his $10-million lawsuit against the Ravens and a division of the NFL.

At the behest of a team backer, Bouchat faxed his drawing of a bird and shield to an office shared by team owner Art Modell months before the Ravens’ shield-shaped logo made its debut.

Bouchat, a security guard at a state office building in Baltimore, contended that the Raven logo is a copy of the drawing he made in 1995. Jurors sided with him after a five-week trial in federal court in Baltimore in 1998.

The Ravens, the Super Bowl champions, appealed before the case got to the point of awarding Bouchat money. Bouchat is under a gag order until the damages phase of the trial begins, said his attorney, Howard Schulman.

“He’s happy that his intellectual property rights were vindicated, and it’s been conclusively determined that he did, in fact, create the logo in question,” Schulman said Monday.

Tennis

Southern Methodist freshman Johan Brunstrom wasted five match points before finally putting away UCLA’s Travis Rettenmaier, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6), to give the Mustangs a 4-3 victory over the second-seeded Bruins in the quarterfinals of the NCAA men’s tennis tournament at Athens, Ga.

SMU will meet Georgia in the semifinals. The Bulldogs defeated Duke, 4-3.

Tennessee eliminated defending champion Stanford, 4-2, and Texas Christian advanced with a 4-0 victory over Texas A&M.;

Lauren Kalvaria won two matches as undefeated Stanford swept Vanderbilt, 4-0, to win its 11th NCAA women’s tennis championship at Stone Mountain, Ga.

Kalvaria got the clinching point for the top-seeded Cardinal by defeating Sarah Riske, 6-2, 6-2. Earlier, she helped Stanford win the doubles point by teaming with Lauren Barnikow to defeat Julie Ditty and Kate Burson, 8-6.

Marcelo Rios lost to Andrea Gaudenzi, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, in the opening round of the Raiffeisen Grand Prix at St. Poelten, Austria.

In other first-round play, Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands topped Hugo Armando of the United States, 7-6 (3), 6-3, and Guillermo Canas of Argentina defeated Bob Bryan of the U.S., 6-3, 6-2.

Pat Rafter won his singles and doubles matches to lead Australia past Spain, 2-1, in the World Team Cup at Duesseldorf, Germany.

The two-time U.S. Open champion routed Spain’s Juan Balcells, 6-3, 6-2. He then teamed with Lleyton Hewitt to beat Alex Corretja and Balcells, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.

Balcells replaced Juan Carlos Ferrero, the world’s fourth-ranked player. Ferrero has a groin injury and might sit out the French Open, which starts Monday.

Germany defeated Sweden, 2-1, in the second Blue Group. The event, a tuneup for the French Open, features eight countries and eight of the world’s top 10 players.

Kristina Brandi upset American compatriot Amy Frazier, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, in the rain-plagued first round of the Spanish Open at Madrid.

Corina Morariu, who won the Wimbledon doubles title with Lindsay Davenport in 1999, has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and is undergoing chemotherapy at a hospital near her home in Boca Raton, Fla.

The 23-year-old, who is the 85th-ranked player in the world, withdrew from this month’s German Open, returned home and was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Morariu, who has been ranked as high as No. 29, won the Australian Open mixed doubles title in January with Ellis Ferreira.

Soccer

Manchester City Manager Joe Royle was fired after clashing with the board over the future of the newly relegated soccer club.

Royle, 52, took over in 1998. After relegation that season to the Second Division, he guided the club to successive promotion campaigns and into the Premier League last year. But this season City was relegated back to the First Division while rival Manchester United romped away with the league title for the seventh time in nine seasons.

Failures by stadium managers to follow safety guidelines are responsible for soccer disasters such as those in Africa and Asia that left more than 170 people dead in four weeks, the president of the sport’s world governing body said.

“It is too easy--and wrong--to point to the fans as the cause of the trouble,” FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter said. “The onus is upon the people receiving these fans at the stadium.”

Brazilian star Ronaldo was declared ready to play by the Paris doctor who has been treating his knee injury. The Internazionale striker “is ready to play a professional match at every level,” surgeon Gerard Saillant was quoted as saying on the club’s official Web site after Ronaldo’s latest checkup.

Pro Football

The Philadelphia Eagles released running back Thomas Hamner, who has been charged in New Jersey with animal cruelty several times during the last year.

The Buffalo Bills bolstered their offensive line by claiming Craig Heimburger off waivers from the Cincinnati Bengals. . . . The Denver Broncos released quarterback Steve Stenstrom and signed free-agent defensive back Greg Brown, the team said.

Miscellany

Felipe Giaffone will start 33rd in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

Starting at the back of the field beat the alternative for Giaffone, who benefited when team owner Fred Treadway replaced Raul Boesel.

College basketball player of the year Shane Battier of Duke, NBA rookie of the year Mike Miller of the Orlando Magic and Laker rookie Mark Madsen were among 12 players selected to the U.S. team for the Goodwill Games.

The three will be joined by nine NBA players for the Sept. 3-9 competition at Brisbane, Australia:

Baron Davis, Charlotte Hornets; Marc Jackson, Golden State Warriors; Kenyon Martin, New Jersey Nets; Rashard Lewis, Seattle SuperSonics; Shawn Marion, Phoenix Suns; Andre Miller, Cleveland Cavaliers; Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana Pacers; Wally Szczerbiak, Minnesota Timberwolves; and Jason Terry, Atlanta Hawks.

NFL Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon was hired as South Florida’s athletic director.

Diver Matt Bricker, a third-place finisher at the national indoor championships last month, has been given a two-month suspension for using a banned stimulant.