South Carolina Players Charged With Stealing

Six current and former South Carolina football players were charged Thursday with stealing $18,000 worth of equipment from the school’s stadium last November.

Offensive lineman Woodly Telfort is charged with grand larceny, a felony. He admitted to investigators he took a $4,000 laptop, according to an arrest warrant.

Quarterbacks Syvelle Newton and Dondrial Pinkins have been charged with a misdemeanor, petty larceny, along with defensive lineman Freddy Saint-Preux and safety Rodriques Wilson.

A warrant is pending for a sixth player the university did not identify.

Newton is a junior and started several games last season. Saint-Preux, who was injured much of the season, and Telfort, who was a reserve in 2004, would be seniors next season.

All three will be suspended at least until the charges are resolved, Athletic Director Mike McGee said.

Pinkins and Wilson were co-captains. Wilson is no longer enrolled at the university. The thefts occurred on Nov. 22, 2004, shortly after university officials told the team it would not be allowed to accept a bowl bid because of a brawl against rival Clemson.

Telfort and Saint-Preux already are suspended for the 2005 opener against Central Florida because of their involvement in the brawl.

Coach Steve Spurrier said he would support the decisions of campus police and prosecutors as the case moved forward.

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As expected, USC football Coach Pete Carroll announced that Jethro Franklin was hired as defensive line coach.

Franklin replaces Ed Orgeron, who left to become head coach at Mississippi. Franklin, 39, spent the last five seasons as the Green Bay Packer defensive line coach.

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Oklahoma reinstated defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, who was kicked off the team in September after being involved in a bar fight. Since his dismissal, Dvoracek has undergone anger-management and alcohol-related counseling.... Temple’s football program will remain at the Division I-A level but will play without a conference next season, the school announced.... Melvin Spears was hired as Grambling State’s coach after serving on an interim basis last season.

Baseball

Second baseman Marcus Giles skipped salary arbitration by agreeing to a $2.35-million, one-year contract with the Atlanta Braves. He batted .311 last season, with eight homers, 48 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases.

Tampa Bay Devil Ray pitching prospect Jeff Niemann, the fourth pick in the first-year player draft last June, agreed to terms on a major league contract worth $5.2 million over five years.

Infielder Denny Hocking agreed to a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals and would get a $500,000 deal if he was added to the major league roster.

Miscellany

Tanja Poutiainen of Finland took over the lead in the World Cup standings after winning a slalom race at Sljeme, Croatia.

Poutiainen finished with a combined time of 1 minute 50.71 seconds to edge American Kristina Koznick by .07 seconds.

Poutiainen passed Renate Goetschl in the overall standings with 806 points to the Austrian’s 798.

Croatian Janica Kostelic, who was disqualified for missing a gate during her first run, is third with 789.

Peter Forsberg, the NHL’s most valuable player for the Colorado Avalanche in 2003, injured his wrist while played for his hometown team at Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, and might sit out the rest of the Swedish Elite League season.

According to the tabloid Aftonbladet, Forsberg underwent immediate surgery after X-rays revealed a possible broken bone in his wrist.

The UCLA men’s volleyball team, undefeated and ranked No. 1, will face USC in the 28th annual Kilgour Cup tonight at Pauley Pavilion at 7.

The Kilgour Cup is a fund-raiser in honor of the late Kirk Kilgour, a former UCLA All-American volleyball player who was paralyzed in 1976 while training in Italy. Proceeds will be awarded to a disabled UCLA student.

The 2010 PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Wash., will be moved to a different location because officials believe the event will clash with the Winter Olympics in nearby Vancouver, the PGA of America said.

The PGA has not yet made a decision where it will move the event.

D.C. United traded goalkeeper Doug Warren to the New England Revolution for a fourth-round pick in the 2006 MLS draft.... Dallas Burn defender Cory Gibbs agreed to a 4 1/2 -year contract with Feyenoord Rotterdam of the Netherlands.

Curler Mitchell Marks was suspended for two years for refusing to submit to a drug test, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said.