Colorado AD Has Liquor Store Stake

Colorado Athletic Director Dick Tharp plans to keep a stake in a liquor store despite concerns that doing so conflicts with his job to reform a program that has been criticized for allowing players to abuse alcohol.

Tharp told university officials last month that he would resign from the board of the Liquor Mart near the Boulder campus.

“I felt like it was just giving an appearance of impropriety,” he said. But he said his continuing partial ownership of the store, like his other investments, was not relevant to his job.

An independent commission investigating a football-recruiting scandal at the school concluded that sex and alcohol were allowed at recruiting activities, but there was no evidence that university officials knowingly permitted them.

Commission members questioned Tharp’s role with the liquor store. He said the store does not support underage drinking.

At least nine women have reported being sexually assaulted by the university’s football players and recruits since 1997, and many of the alleged attacks involved alcohol.

Motor Racing

Jeremy Mayfield won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series MBNA America 400 with a record-setting qualifying run in a Dodge at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. He had a fast lap of 161.522 mph. Ryan Newman also broke the record with a lap of 160.643 in a Dodge to also land on the front row. The record was 159.954 by Rusty Wallace in 1999.

David Green drove an untested Chevrolet to a NASCAR Busch Series qualifying record at Dover, winning his first pole of the season for today’s MBNA America 200.

Green’s lap of 157.916 mph beat Joe Nemechek’s year-old record of 156.747.

Chad Chaffin took the lead in his Dodge during a caution period and held on over the last 52 laps at Dover for his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. Rick Crawford was second in a Ford, .382 seconds behind.

College Golf

Peter Tomasulo shot a three-under-par 67 and Jeff Hood shot 69 to help California win its first NCAA Division I men’s golf championship at Hot Springs, Va. The Bears shot a one-under 279 and finished at 1,134, six strokes ahead of UCLA (1,140), the third-round leader. Ryan Moore of Nevada Las Vegas shot a four-under 66 to win the individual title at 13-under 267.

Pro Basketball

Wendy Palmer had 21 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season, leading the Connecticut Sun (3-2) to a 72-63 victory over the Washington Mystics (2-4) in a WNBA game in front of 13,246 in Washington.

Chamique Holdsclaw of the Mystics scored a game-high 25 points.

Miscellany

The Southeastern Conference announced another financial windfall, doling out a record $108.8 million to its 12 members for this school year. The amount is 6% more than last year and nearly $75 million more than the schools got a decade ago.

Schools that participated in football bowl games also kept an additional $7.9 million from their payouts. The NCAA also provided $624,000 for academic enhancements.

The bulk of the money was generated by football. The SEC received $44.5 million from its TV packages, $21 million from bowls and $12.5 million from the league’s championship game.

Oxnard lightweight prospect Rolando Reyes (21-3-2) could not recover from a first-round knockdown and was upset by Miguel Angel Huerta (21-6-1) of Mexico City by split decision in the main event of a Telefutura/Solo Boxeo card at the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas.

Allen Iverson’s Rolls-Royce was ticketed for being left in a handicapped parking space at Philadelphia International Airport. Two tickets written Wednesday showed a $300 fine for parking in a handicapped space, and a $100 citation for expired tags.

Australian swimmer Grant Hackett has withdrawn from next week’s Janet Evans Invitational in Long Beach and returned home, according to the Australian news agency AAP.