Another Johnson (Rob) Joins Tampa Bay Quarterback Mix

Coach Jon Gruden is making good on his promise to make the competition for Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback job interesting next season.

The Buccaneers agreed to contract terms Saturday with free agent Rob Johnson, who was released by the Buffalo Bills in a salary-cap move last month.

The length of the deal and financial terms were not disclosed.

Johnson has passed for 5,166 yards with 29 touchdowns and 20 interceptions in seven seasons.

Johnson was embroiled in a quarterback controversy with Doug Flutie during much of his stay in Buffalo.

Tampa Bay signed Brad Johnson to a $28-million, five-year contract before last season. The Buccaneers also have Shaun King, who Gruden has said is a good young player who could make the competition “interesting.”

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Winter Sports

Ann Patrice McDonough, 16, of the United States won the women’s title in the figure skating World Junior Championships at Hamar, Norway. Beatrisa Liang of Granada Hills finished fourth.

Jennifer Kirk, fifth in this year’s U.S. figure skating championships, will replace Olympic champion Sarah Hughes on the U.S. team in next week’s world figure skating championships at Nagano, Japan. The first alternate, Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro, was unable to compete because of an arm injury.

Hughes withdrew because she hasn’t had enough time to train since the Olympics. The other U.S. women’s entry is Sasha Cohen of Laguna Niguel, who was fourth at Salt Lake City.

Olympic bronze medalist Tim Goebel, who trains at El Segundo, leads the U.S. men.

Kirk, 17, announced she has switched coaches from Evy and Mary Scotvold to Richard Callaghan, who guided Tara Lipinski to the gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Callaghan will coach Kirk at the world competition.

Olympic speed skating champion Catriona LeMay Doan of Canada had her 20-race winning streak in the 500 meters ended by Germany’s Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt at Inzell, Germany, in the season’s final World Cup event.

Bode Miller of the U.S. finished second to Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic at Flachau, Austria, in the World Cup season’s final slalom. Kostelic won the overall title and Miller finished second, the best U.S. result in 20 years.

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Motor Racing

Ricky Carmichael won the Daytona (Fla.) Supercross 250cc motorcycle race for the third year in a row. Chad Reed won the 125cc race, the Australian’s fourth victory in as many starts.... Damon Lusk beat Chad Blount back to the caution flag by .001 of a second--about the length of Lusk’s front bumper--to win the rain-shortened ARCA Series Pork The Other White Meat 400 at Hampton, Ga.... Jon Fogarty won the CART-sanctioned Toyota Atlantic in Monterrey, Mexico.

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Miscellany

UCLA senior Darnesha Griffith won the women’s high jump with a jump of 6 feet 3/4 inches in the NCAA indoor championships at Fayetteville, Ark. The UCLA women had 43 points and finished second to Louisiana State (57 points).

USC junior Erik Vendt won the 1,650-yard freestyle in 14 minutes 44.22 seconds in the Pacific 10 Conference swimming championships at Long Beach’s Belmont Plaza.

Trevor Demmans scored three goals as the Long Beach Ice Dogs won their 10th consecutive West Coast Hockey League game, defeating the San Diego Gulls, 6-1, at the San Diego Sports Arena.

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Passings

Sprint car driver George Gervais of Mira Loma died Friday from injuries suffered in a Sprint Car Racing Assn. race July 28 at Perris Auto Speedway. He was 41. Gervais, who never regained consciousness, died in a Redlands rehabilitation center from respiratory complications related to pneumonia.