Williams Must Repay Dolphins $8.6 Million

An arbitration ruling that ordered Ricky Williams to repay the Miami Dolphins $8.6 million was upheld Tuesday by a federal judge in Miami, who rejected arguments that the award disregarded Florida law and was excessive.

U.S. District Judge James Cohn ruled arbitrator Richard Bloch was “well within the scope of his authority” in his interpretation of the case.

Bloch ruled in September that Williams breached his contract by abruptly retiring. Under the terms of that contract, the 2002 NFL rushing champion was required to repay the Dolphins $8.6 million in bonus money he had received, Bloch said.

Attorney Jeffrey Kessler, representing the NFL Players’ Assn., said a decision would be made in the next several days regarding whether to appeal Cohn’s ruling.

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The Indianapolis Colts are replacing their field at the RCA Dome, recently voted the worst playing surface in the NFL, with new synthetic turf.

The city’s Capital Improvement Board of Managers approved $800,000 for a new FieldTurf surface, plus $900,000 for a hard cover to protect the turf when the stadium holds non-football events. The Colts rent the stadium from the city.

The RCA Dome and St. Louis’ Edward Jones Dome are the only two NFL stadiums that still have AstroTurf. The survey ranked the Edward Jones Dome as the league’s second-worst field.

FieldTurf simulates real grass with individual blades rather than the dense carpet-like surface currently in Indianapolis.

The new surface will not be ready for the NFL scouting combine, which begins next week.

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The Bengals used their franchise tag on running back Rudi Johnson, who set a Cincinnati rushing record last season but couldn’t secure a long-term deal.

By using the tag on Johnson, the Bengals can keep him for $6.3 million next season while waiting to see whether first-round draft pick Chris Perry pans out. A hamstring injury and a hernia essentially wiped out Perry’s rookie season.

Tennis

Top-seeded Andy Roddick, coming off a title in San Jose, defeated Hyung-Taik Lee, 6-3, 6-4, in the opening round at Memphis, Tenn.

Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters defeated Jelena Kostanic, 6-2, 6-3, in the Diamond Games at Antwerp, Belgium, in her first match in four months.

Clijsters said the left wrist injury that sidelined her in 2004 did not bother her as she opened the defense of her hometown title.

Nathalie Dechy, a semifinalist at the Australian Open, lost to Klara Koukalova, 7-6 (7), 6-4.

Fourth-seeded David Nalbandian was upset by Radek Stepanek, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, in the first round of the ABN Amro tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands, then complained he couldn’t follow the ball on the red indoor court.

Also, No. 3 Tim Henman defeated Nicolas Kiefer, 7-5, 6-4.

Top-seeded Fabiola Zuluaga and No. 2 Flavia Pennetta moved into the second round of the Colsanitas Cup with straight-set victories at Bogota, Colombia.

Miscellany

Olympic gold medal skier Bill Johnson was released from jail late Monday in Portland, Ore., after being held over the weekend after a traffic stop that resulted in charges of assaulting police officers and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

A Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy and a suburban Troutdale police officer stopped Johnson in his pickup truck Friday near his mother’s house in Gresham.

Johnson allegedly punched the deputy repeatedly and kicked the Troutdale officer in the groin after taunting them with his gold medal from the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, where Johnson became the first U.S. skier to win the downhill.

Defense lawyer Gerald Doblie said Johnson suffers from poor judgment and lack of impulse control as a result of the March 2001 head injury suffered during a comeback attempt.

Featherweight Edgar Vargas (8-0, 1 knockout) of Santa Ana will meet Michaelangelo Lynks (5-2-2, 1) of Los Angeles in a scheduled eight-round bout as the co-main event of a six-bout card at the Irvine Marriott tonight.

The Atlantic Coast Conference will use instant replay in the 2005 football season, experimenting with a system based on the one the Big Ten debuted last season.