Mourning Will Attempt Comeback With the Nets

Seven-time All-Star Alonzo Mourning will attempt a comeback with the New Jersey Nets this season, less than a year after a kidney transplant.

“I am feeling great and am excited about attending training camp and possibly resuming my career,” Mourning, 34, said in a statement released by the Nets on Wednesday.

“We look forward to Alonzo joining the Nets in training camp,” Net President Rod Thorn said. “Hopefully, he will be able to resume his career and play at the high level he has in the past.”

The center, who had signed with the Nets before last season, played only 12 games before retiring Nov. 24 because of complications from a kidney disease. He was diagnosed before the 2000-01 season, when he was with the Miami Heat.

Mourning received a kidney from a cousin on Dec. 19.

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Restricted free-agent forward Darius Miles signed a six-year, $48-million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Portland acquired Miles last season in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers for guard Jeff McInnis and center Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje.

Pro Football

Chad Pennington agreed to a $64-million, seven-year contract extension with the New York Jets that includes $23 million in guaranteed money. A source familiar with the negotiations told Associated Press that Pennington will average $9.172 million a year.

The quarterback, beginning his fifth season, also receives the second-largest amount of up-front money, behind only Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, who got a $34.5-million signing bonus.

Jurisprudence

Air Force linebacker Overton Spence was found not guilty of drug charges after telling a court-martial he thought the steroids he had taken were legal. Spence hopes to return to the academy football team, his civilian attorney, Serge Herscovici, said. He probably will be allowed to play, said Athletic Director Hans Mueh.

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A federal appeals court in San Francisco cleared former Dodger star Steve Garvey of wrongdoing for hawking a weight-loss product that makers claimed would work even if dieters continued to eat fatty food. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did reinstate the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against producers of the television infomercials Garvey appeared in to endorse the two products, known as Fat Trapper and Exercise in a Bottle.

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Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks will go on trial for assault beginning Jan. 17. Bertuzzi was charged with assault June 24 after sucker-punching Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore during a game March 8. Bertuzzi has pleaded not guilty.

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Oscar De La Hoya is being sued by independent producer Leigh Ann Burton, who claims the boxer’s company, Golden Boy Promotions, stole an idea from her about a reality television boxing show.

Hockey

The impasse involving NHL owners and the NHL Players’ Assn. dragged on through a nine-hour meeting, followed by the announcement that the two sides would meet again today in Montreal.

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The Mighty Ducks signed center Zenon Konopka to a two-year contract. Konopka, 23, played for Utah in the American Hockey League and Idaho in the East Coast Hockey League last season.

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Peter Forsberg, Mattias Ohlund and Henrik Zetterberg each scored on the power play for Sweden (2-0), which held on for a 4-3 win over the Czech Republic (0-2) in the World Cup of Hockey at Stockholm. Also, Ryan Smyth scored two goals to lead Canada (2-0) to a 5-1 win over Slovakia (0-1).

Miscellany

The MGM Grand beat out Staples Center to be the site of the third fight between World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation super-featherweight champion Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera on Nov. 27 in a 130-pound bout.

Each has a disputed victory over the other. Barrera won a unanimous decision at 126 pounds in 2002, and Morales got a split decision at 122 pounds in 2000.

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Churchill Downs Inc. has agreed to buy the bankrupt Fair Grounds in a $47-million deal that requires federal bankruptcy court approval, the New Orleans track announced.

The Fair Grounds had reached a preliminary agreement with horse owner Mike Pegram for $40 million that would have made Pegram an 86% owner of the track, but Pegram declined an offer to match the Churchill offer, the Fair Grounds said.

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Andy Williams and Justin Mapp each had a goal and two assists to lead the Chicago Fire to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Kansas City Wizards in a Major League Soccer game.