South Carolina’s McGee Set to Retire

Mike McGee, South Carolina’s athletic director since 1993, said Tuesday that he would retire June 30.

University President Andrew Sorensen said he hoped to have a new athletic director in place early enough that the two can have some time to work together.

The 66-year-old McGee, the 1959 Outland Trophy winner as a Duke offensive lineman, also was the athletic director at USC from 1984 to 1992.

College Football

Missouri defensive lineman C.J. Mosley is passing up his final season of eligibility to make himself available for the NFL draft. Mosley had 61 tackles and 6 1/2 sacks as a junior last season.

Former Brigham Young coach Gary Crowton joined Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti’s staff as offensive coordinator. Crowton, 47, resigned under pressure from BYU on Dec. 1 after a four-year stint with the Cougars. He replaces Andy Ludwig, who left Oregon last month to become offensive coordinator at Utah.

Dennis Roland returned to Southeastern Louisiana to succeed Hal Mumme as coach. Roland was the assistant head coach and offensive line coach under Mumme at Southeastern Louisiana in 2003, when the Lions fielded a team for the first time since 1985. He spent last season as head coach and athletic director at North Gwinnett (Ga.) High. Mumme was hired as New Mexico State’s coach last month.

Soccer

Tickets for the 2006 World Cup go on sale online Feb. 1, with 850,000 available in the first stage.

Each fan may order up to four tickets for seven games each. Applications will be processed by lottery after the first two months of sales. Tickets for the 64 games also will be offered when World Cup qualifications end this year and after the final draw.

In all, 3.2 million seats will be available for the soccer showcase, but tickets must be set aside for sponsors, media, soccer federations and other official partners. The total number of tickets allocated strictly to fans was not immediately clear.

Organizers expect about $260 million from ticket sales. Prices range from $45.50 to $780.

The tournament begins June 9, 2006, in Munich and ends a month later in Berlin.

Swimming

South Africa’s Roland Schoeman broke the world record in the 100-meter individual medley at a short-course World Cup swim meet at Stockholm.

Ed Moses of the United States won both breaststroke events. He won the 50-meter breaststroke in 26.75 and followed with a victory in the 200 breaststroke in 2 minutes 5 seconds.

Schoeman topped Thomas Rupprath’s mark by 0.07 seconds, finishing in 52.51. South Africa’s Ryk Neethling was second in 52.61.

Schoeman also dominated the 100 freestyle, finishing in 46.45 seconds, more than half a second ahead of Neethling. Schoeman’s time was the fastest in a World Cup event, but 0.2 seconds behind Ian Crocker’s world record.

Sweden’s Josefin Lillhage and Therese Alshammar won the women’s 200-meter freestyle and 50-meter freestyle, respectively. Lillhage finished in 1:55.40, more than one second ahead of Britain’s Melanie Marshall (1:56.56). China’s Yu Yang was third in 1:57.28. Alshammar, who holds the world record, won in Stockholm for the fifth year in a row

Sponsors are coming forward to raise money for the swimming world championships in Montreal, but organizers still need almost $5 million to ensure that the cash-strapped event stays in Canada.

FINA, the sport’s governing body, is expected to decide the future of the July 17-31 event today in Frankfurt, Germany.

“It’s more than a bump in the road, but it’s manageable,” Roger Legare, the co-president of the organizing committee, told Associated Press.

Last week, FINA refused a Quebec government request to bail out the event.

The world championships, which have never been held in North America, are expected to attract 2,000 athletes, coaches and officials from 160 countries.

Miscellany

Jasey-Jay Anderson of Canada and Manuela Riegler of Austria won parallel giant slalom events in the snowboard world championships at Whistler, Canada.

Anderson, also the giant slalom winner in 2001, edged Urs Eiselin of Switzerland in the men’s final. Nicolas Huet of France was third.

Riegler beat Svetlana Boldikova of Russia in the women’s final.

A minor league hockey player was suspended for 25 games for hitting a referee.

Mike Wolf of the Flint Generals was disciplined by the United Hockey League for striking referee Steve Marofsky in the chest after a linesman pulled the 6-foot-5, 275-pound right wing away from a player in a Jan. 12 game at Port Huron, Mich.

“I didn’t like what I saw on the tape,” UHL vice president of hockey operations Brad Jones told the Flint Journal. “It was a direct punch to the chest of the official. We’re sending a message that we’re not going to tolerate that.”

Funeral services for Dolores Nikodinov of San Pedro, mother of figure skater Angela Nikodinov, will be held Saturday at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes. Dolores Nikodinov was killed in a traffic accident Jan. 12 in Portland, Ore., on the way to watch her daughter compete at the U.S. Figure Skating championships. The service will be private. Donations in her memory can be sent to the All Year Figure Skating Club in Culver City or the U.S. Figure Skating Memorial Fund in Colorado Springs, Colo.