Laguna Niguel Man Is Master of a New Angel Domain

Terry Notko, a Laguna Niguel businessman, has registered the domain name www.losangelesangelsofanaheim.com in the hope that Angel owner Arte Moreno might adopt that team name and buy him out.

Moreno would prefer to call his team the Los Angeles Angels -- or, as a second choice, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The city of Anaheim has voted to sue Moreno if he changes the name from Anaheim Angels.

Notko paid $8.95 last week to register the domain name. Major league officials paid $20,000 to acquire the site www.nationals.com so it could serve as the web address of the Washington Nationals, according to several reports.

Rick Ho of Orange, who sells sports and pop culture T-shirts online, registered the domain name www.thelosangelesangelsofanaheim.com two weeks ago.

The site is used to sell merchandise that expresses opposition to the proposed name change. Ho did not return a call for comment.

The www.losangelesangels.com site is registered to Chris Anderson, whose Dallas company Classic Sports Logos sells T-shirts from defunct teams and leagues, including the Anaheim Oranges of World Team Tennis and the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League. The company site is www.classicsportslogos.com.

Anderson registered the losangelesangels.com name two years ago. The site is unused now but could be used in the future, he said, to display historical information about the old Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League as well as to link to his company site.

No one affiliated with the Angels has contacted him to inquire about buying the domain name, he said.

-- Bill Shaikin

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Oakland right-hander Tim Hudson set a March 1 deadline for the Athletics to offer him a contract extension, or he plans to leave as a free agent after the 2005 season.

Hudson, 12-6 last season, doesn’t want the distraction of contract talk during spring training, agent Paul Cohen said.

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Toronto re-signed infielder Frank Menechino to a one-year, $650,000 contract with a club option for the 2006 season. The Blue Jays also acquired infielder John McDonald from Cleveland for a player to be named.

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Commissioner Bud Selig scheduled a conference call today for a vote by owners to approve the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington.

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Left-hander Michael Tejera agreed to a minor league contract with Texas and was invited to spring training. He has pitched in 108 games, compiling an 11-13 record.

Golf

The worst U.S. loss in Ryder Cup history led to a shakeup in the qualification process, a change geared toward making sure the Americans are on top of their game when the 2006 matches are played in Ireland.

The PGA of America revamped its criteria by putting even more emphasis on major championships, giving an extra 75 points for PGA Tour victories and quadrupling points for top-10 finishes in Ryder Cup years.

Australia’s Stuart Appleby shot a two-under-par 70 but closed with bogeys on the final two holes, leaving him tied for the first-round lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa. Appleby shared the lead with Lee Westwood, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in the $4.06-million event.

Dan Olsen shot a seven-under 65 to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the six-round PGA Tour qualifying tournament at La Quinta.

Miscellany

USC senior Gregg Guenther is expected to start Saturday in place of injured power forward Jeff McMillan (broken left hand) in the Trojans’ nonconference home game against Brigham Young.

Scott Hamilton, the 1984 men’s Olympic figure skating gold medalist, will undergo radiation treatment for a slow-growing, noncancerous brain tumor later this month at the Cleveland Clinic.

Hamilton’s tumor was diagnosed last month. The popular skater, a co-producer of the Stars on Ice show, overcame testicular cancer in 1997.

Bode Miller’s three-race winning streak ended but the American added to his commanding lead in the World Cup overall standings by finishing second to Stephan Goergl in a Super G at Beaver Creek, Colo.

Miller is trying to become the first U.S. man since Phil Mahre in 1983 to win the overall title.

Five-time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjorndalen won the season-opening 10-K biathlon event in Beitostolen, Norway.

Jayson Williams will be retried on a manslaughter charge in the shotgun slaying of limousine driver Costas Christofi at the former NBA player’s mansion, a judge in Somerville, N.J., ruled.

Basketball Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy took the stand in a Houston court to deny charges he sexually molested five of his daughters. He was charged in March with molesting his daughters between 1988 and 1991 when they ranged in age from 6 to 13. The case could go to the jury on Monday.

The Galaxy will play host to Necaxa of Mexico in an international exhibition at 7:30 tonight at the Home Depot Center.

Athens 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki was voted European of the Year in a poll conducted by European Voice.