Murphy Acquitted of Charges

NBA Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy was acquitted Monday in Houston of charges that he sexually abused five of his 10 daughters more than a decade ago.

As soon as the verdict was read, Murphy shook hands with his attorney and wiped away tears.

Murphy, 56, had long denied the allegations, saying they were based on resentment and a dispute over money. He could have faced five years to life in prison for sex assault charges and two to 20 years for indecency charges.

“To hear that people believe in me and found me innocent of those charges, my heart just swelled up and started beating very fast in my body,” Murphy said outside the courtroom. “I cannot say enough for what they have done to give me my life back.”

*

Robert Mittleman, a former manager of Oscar De La Hoya, was sentenced to three years’ probation, including six months of home detention, after pleading guilty to fixing fights and trying to bribe a federal prosecutor and judge in Las Vegas.

Baseball

Pitcher Denny Neagle’s contract was terminated by the Colorado Rockies, three days after he was cited for solicitation. Neagle, 36, who agreed to a $51-million, five-year contract in December 2000, is owed $19 million by the Rockies: $10 million in 2005 and a $9-million buyout of a $12.5-million team option for 2006.

Commissioner Bud Selig had surgery in New York to remove a cancerous lesion from his forehead. The lesion was detected last month during Selig’s annual physical, and a biopsy confirmed that it contained melanoma, a form of skin cancer. “There is no evidence that the melanoma has extended beyond the skin,” the commissioner’s office said in a statement.... Former Kansas City Royal manager Hal McRae was hired by the St. Louis Cardinals as their hitting coach. The Cardinals also hired Jim Riggleman, bench coach for the Dodgers the last four seasons, to be their minor league field coordinator.... The Golden Baseball League said Garry Templeton will be the manager of its charter team in Fullerton.

Horse Racing

Jockey Eddie King, a former treasurer of the Jockeys’ Guild who is suing the organization, was ousted as a member at the guild’s annual meet in Irving, Texas.

King said that he was given no reason for his ouster.

Earlier he had been removed from the guild’s board of directors. King and other jockeys are unhappy that the guild dropped its $1-million-per-member catastrophic insurance policy in 2002. King said that his suit, which seeks an accounting of guild expenditures, would continue.

Zippy Chippy, a 13-year-old gelding who ran 100 races and lost them all, has been retired.

“A movie could be in the works, and the producer suggested that it would be better to retire him now than risk an unhappy ending,” trainer Felix Monserrate told the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.

Zippy Chippy fell short of the futility record of 105 losing starts set by Thrust in the 1950s.

Miscellany

Brian Davis of England won the PGA Tour qualifying tournament at La Quinta, closing with a 74 and finishing at 17-under-par 415 to earn a job on the PGA Tour next year.

Davis was one of 35 players who earned PGA Tour cards after making it through six rounds on two troublesome courses at PGA West in one of the most pressure-packed tournaments in golf.

Others who earned their card were past PGA Tour winners Bill Glasson, Jim Carter and J.P. Hayes. Former U.S. Open winner Scott Simpson shot a 66 but finished at 430, five shots off the PGA Tour card cut line.

NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol and his son were released from the hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., a week after their chartered jet crashed, killing three people, including Ebersol’s youngest son, Edward.

A statement by NBC Universal said Ebersol, 57, and his son Charlie, 21, “are continuing their recuperation” but did not disclose their conditions or whether they were transferred to another hospital.