Price Files Lawsuit Over Article
Former Alabama football coach Mike Price sued Time Inc. for $20 million Friday, contending he was defamed by a Sports Illustrated article about the strip club visit that led to his firing.
The suit seeks $10 million in compensation, the value of the seven-year deal Price had with Alabama, which fired him before he coached a game for the Crimson Tide.
The suit, filed in state court, seeks another $10 million in punitive damages from Time, which publishes Sports Illustrated.
Also named in the suit was Don Yaeger, who wrote the article and appeared as a guest on a Birmingham, Ala., radio show to discuss the piece. Additional people who helped with the story will be added as defendants later, the suit said.
Art Berke, a Sports Illustrated spokesman, said the magazine stands by its story. He said he had not seen a copy of the lawsuit and could not comment on it.
The lawsuit cited seven parts of the article as being inaccurate, including its report that Price had sex with two women in his hotel room after a visit to Arety’s Angels strip club in Pensacola, Fla., in April.
*
Hawaii Coach June Jones received a new five-year contract worth more than $4 million, making him the state’s highest-paid employee.
The deal was approved by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents. Jones’ original five-year contract was to expire after this season.
Tennis
Wimbledon was hit with more withdrawals with Amelie Mauresmo, Marat Safin, Alex Corretja and Magnus Norman pulling out three days before the tournament starts.
Corretja withdrew for the fifth consecutive year, this time because of the birth of his first child.
Mauresmo, seeded sixth, has a rib injury. The 18th-seeded Safin cited a hand problem. Norman pulled out because of an unspecified injury.
Defending champion Chanda Rubin saved two match points and beat Jennifer Capriati, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, to reach the Eastbourne finals in England.
Rubin, seeded second, will face former Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez of Spain, who downed Italy’s Silvia Farina Elia, 6-2, 6-4, in the other semifinal.
Mardy Fish beat defending champion Jonas Bjorkman, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, at the Samsung Open to reach a final at Nottingham, England.
The eighth-seeded American will play Britain’s Greg Rusedski, who defeated Morocco’s Hicham Arazi, 7-5, 7-5, in the Wimbledon tuneup.
Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne won semifinal matches in the Ordina Open at Rosmalen, Netherlands.
Henin-Hardenne, seeded second, defeated fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3. The top-seeded Clijsters scored a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Germany’s Barbara Rittner.
Among the men, top-seeded Jiri Novak was upset by Czech countryman Jan Vacek, 6-4, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.
Individual session tickets for the Mercedes-Benz Cup at the Los Angeles Tennis Center go on sale Monday.
The event will be held July 28-Aug. 3. Information: 310-824-1010.
WNBA
Swin Cash scored 15 points, all in the last nine minutes, and Deanna Nolan matched a career-high with 18 points as the Detroit Shock defeated the New York Liberty, 88-83, in a WNBA game in front of 8,014 at Auburn Hills, Mich.... LaToya Thomas scored 18 points to lead the Cleveland Rockers to a 79-74 victory over the Washington Mystics in front of 6,119 at Cleveland.... Allison Feaster scored 17 points as the Charlotte Sting built a 17-point lead and held on for a 76-72 victory over the Minnesota Lynx in front of 7,558 at Charlotte, N.C.... Coretta Brown came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points to lead the Indiana Fever to an 84-74 over the Connecticut Sun in front of 8,383 at Indianapolis.... Marie Ferdinand scored 20 points to lead the San Antonio Silver Stars to a 76-69 victory over the Houston Comets in front of 11,791 at San Antonio.
Miscellany
Arena Football League coach Fran Papasedero was killed in a crash after losing control of the car he was driving. The 34-year-old coach of the Orlando Predators was driving alone on a city street Thursday night when the car overturned several times, police said.
Robert (Bob) L. Howland, the father of UCLA Coach Ben Howland, died Thursday night at a Marin County hospital from a head injury after a May 24 fall at a wedding. Howland, who was 76, was a Presbyterian minister for 33 years. From 1960 to ‘72, he served with the UC Santa Barbara Religious Conference and was also minister at the Goleta Presbyterian Church.
Oronde Gadsden, the Miami Dolphins’ top receiver in 2000 and 2001, re-signed with the team. Gadsden signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $530,000.... The Green Bay Packers have signed running back Adam Tate, a former Alhambra High standout.
UCLA will spend a week of fall camp at Cal State Fullerton, beginning Aug. 16. The Bruins will practice from Aug. 13-15 at UCLA. Practices at Fullerton will be open to the public.
