McPherson Faces Gambling Charge

Former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson was charged with one misdemeanor count of gambling, including on games in which he played.

McPherson, who started four games for Florida State last season, placed bets over the Internet on college and pro games during the 2002 football season, the school said Tuesday.

He bet on every Seminole game last season, always wagering that they would win, according to Florida State Police Chief Carey Drayton. Sources told investigators McPherson bet large amounts and owed a Tallahassee man, identified as Dereck Delach, a total of $8,000, police said.

Delach and Florida State football team equipment manager Jeffrey Inderhees were charged Tuesday with one felony count of bookmaking.

McPherson was kicked off Florida State’s team in November after police said he was connected to the theft of a blank check, later cashed for $3,500.

Drayton said no other charges are expected.

McPherson’s lawyer, Grady Irvin Jr., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Inderhees was in Tallahassee on Tuesday and was expected to turn himself in to Tallahassee police, Drayton said. Delach was in Pennsylvania, according to authorities.

Tennis

Top-seeded Andy Roddick turned his left ankle and was forced to retire from his first-round match against Mardy Fish in the International Tennis Championships at Delray Beach, Fla.

Roddick was behind, 7-6 (4), 4-3, when he fell to the ground while chasing a shot at 0-15 in the eighth game. Roddick stood up but said he felt stabbing pain in the ankle and returned to the ground.

“I’m just disappointed right now,” said Roddick, who sat out three weeks after the Australian Open in January because of right wrist tendinitis.

“It’s tough because I was just getting my momentum going. The one thing that is good is I know how to come back from this type of thing.”

Roddick took a 5-2 lead over Fish in the first set but squandered five set points.

Fifth-seeded Arnaud Clement of France also lost in the first round, 6-3, 7-6 (5), to Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland.

Seventh-seeded Stefan Koubek, the 2000 champion at this tournament, lost to qualifier Robert Kendrick, 6-4, 6-4.

Eighth-seeded Vincent Spadea, also a Boca Raton resident, beat Michael Llodra of France, 6-3, 6-0.

Giovanni Lapentti won his first ATP Tour match, defeating fourth-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, 7-6 (2), 6-2, in the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz.

The 20-year-old Ecuadorian’s win was the tournament’s second upset in as many days. Defending champion Andre Agassi was beaten by Thomas Enqvist on Monday.

Seventh-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina also failed to get past the first round, falling to Mark Philippoussis of Australia, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-1. Since Philippoussis won at Scottsdale in 1997, he is 11-2 in the event. Fifth-seeded Rainer Schuettler and sixth-seeded Alex Corretja also advanced.

Wrestling

Iran’s national wrestling team will boycott the world freestyle championships in New York because of a U.S. Defense Department decision to fingerprint all participants.

Iranian Wrestling Federation official Javad Rofougar said that his country finds the fingerprinting procedure to be “humiliating and insulting to our identity.”

On Monday, USA Wrestling spokesman John Fuller said his organization has not sent a response to the Iranians.

The world championships, set for Sept. 12-14 at Madison Square Garden, are one of four qualifiers for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Miscellany

Saturday’s Roy Jones-John Ruiz fight for the World Boxing Assn. heavyweight championship at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center got 525,000 pay-per-view buys, exceeding expectations. Mark Taffet, head of Home Box Office pay-per-view, had predicted around 400,000.

By comparison, both Lennox Lewis-Hasim Rahman II and Felix Trinidad-Bernard Hopkins attracted 450,00 pay-per-view buys.

The figure for Jones-Ruiz translates into $26.5 million in revenue.

The president of the NCAA said at Washington, he opposes any changes to Title IX, the sexual equality law that greatly enhanced women’s participation in sports.

Myles Brand endorsed the law at a National Press Club luncheon shortly after expressing the same views to Education Secretary Rod Paige, who is considering changes to Title IX proposed by an advisory committee appointed by the Bush administration.

Norwegian musher Robert Sorlie arrived first at the Tanana, Alaska, checkpoint to keep his lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Sorlie left Manley at 4:30 a.m. and arrived at Tanana at 11:55 a.m., about 45 minutes ahead of John Baker.

Four-time and defending champion Martin Buser left Manley at 5:01 a.m.

Grammy award-winning rapper Nelly will buy into a Craftsman Truck Series racing team starting at Darlington Raceway on March 14.

The deal to purchase part of Billy Ballew Motorsports will last the rest of the season. The truck will sport a new paint scheme and feature Nelly’s Vokal clothing label. It will be unveiled in time for the Darlington 200 truck event.

An 18-year-old University of Hawaii swimmer died Tuesday after collapsing during practice. The male swimmer apparently had a seizure while in the school’s pool, paramedics said. The student’s name was not released.

Passings

George Kelly, a 17-year assistant football coach at Notre Dame under Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Gerry Faust, has died at age 75 after a short illness, the university said. Kelly was hired by Parseghian as Notre Dame’s linebacker coach in 1969, and continued as an assistant until joining the athletic administration staff in 1986.