Wisconsin’s Alvarez to Step Down After ’05

Barry Alvarez eliminated all the surprise and speculation: His 16th season as Wisconsin football coach will be his last.

Alvarez said Thursday he would step down after this year and focus solely on his role as the school’s athletic director, a job he took on in 2004.

And he’s already picked his successor: Bret Bielema, his defensive coordinator.

When Alvarez assumed both positions in April 2004, he said he planned to eventually become a full-time athletic director. But he gave no clue as to how much longer he would coach.

It took only a year for double duty to take its toll because of the constant demands on his time.

“I believe it’s the right time,” Alvarez said at a news conference. “I certainly didn’t want it to slip, and I just saw some potential for things.”

Alvarez, 58, was hired in 1990 to turn around a program that had only five winning seasons in 27 years. Three seasons later, he led Wisconsin to its first Rose Bowl since 1963, one of three Rose Bowl titles in his tenure.

Alvarez is the winningest coach in school history with a record of 108-70-4. He brought in Bielema last year to take over the Badger defense, which ranked in the top 10 nationally in points (15.4) and yards (291.2) given up.

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Southern Mississippi Coach Jeff Bower suspended two players, including star kick returner John Eubanks, dismissed two others and announced that the team’s leading rusher and another player have quit the squad.

Eubanks and backup tight end Pedi Causey were suspended for the Sept. 4 season opener against Tulane for violating unspecified team policies.

Defensive back Darrell Bennett and linebacker Kenneth Boley were dismissed for violating team policies. Leaving the team were running back Anthony Harris and linebacker Naton Stewart.

Tennis

Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport retired during the first set of her opening match in the Bank of the West Classic at Palo Alto because of a lower back strain, the same injury that hampered her in the Wimbledon final this month.

Davenport, ranked No. 1 in the world and playing her first match since losing the Wimbledon final to Venus Williams, trailed Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 5-0, when the trainer came on court to examine her. She shook hands and conceded the match several minutes later.

“I knew it was going to be a tough day,” she said. “I did everything I could do. It’s frustrating because it’s so on and off. It’s almost moody. I get clearance to play, clearance to practice and clearance to do stuff, and then it flares up again.”

Davenport stretched for a backhand during a practice earlier in the day when her back “locked up.” She underwent two hours of treatment and decided to give it a go, but quickly realized she wasn’t right.

Earlier, Iveta Benesova upset eighth-seeded Francesca Schiavone, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), to reach the quarterfinals. She will play third-seeded Patty Schnyder. Daniela Hantuchova beat Meghann Shaughnessy, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, ending the match with four aces.

Boxing

Antonio Tarver and Roy Jones Jr. will go another round in their battle for light-heavyweight supremacy.

“It’s the trilogy. It’s the third fight,” Brad Jacobs, Jones’ Miami-based advisor, said after the two camps set an Oct. 1 date for the title fight at a site to be determined.

Jacobs and Tarver’s promoter, Joe DeGuardia, said the rubber match between the 36-year-old fighters might be at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Soccer

Chelsea beat D.C. United, 2-1, at Landover, Md., in the first game pitting reigning champions from the English Premier League and Major League Soccer. Chelsea is touring the U.S. to prepare for the start of its regular season next month.

Philip Anschutz is reducing the number of MLS teams he controls from five to four with the sale of D.C. United, a move officials hope will help expedite construction of a stadium for the four-time league champions. United announced that its operating rights will be sold to a group led by club President Kevin Payne and businessmen Willi Lauterbach and Tim Kissler.

Pro Basketball

Laker second-round draft pick Ronny Turiaf is “feeling fine,” he said while recovering from heart surgery.

In a statement released from Stanford Hospital & Clinics, former Gonzaga star Turiaf said: “My surgery went well.”

Turiaf underwent surgery Tuesday to repair an enlarged aortic root.

Denver Nugget Coach George Karl underwent prostate surgery, the team said. The surgery, which took about five hours, was performed at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.

Free-agent guard Juan Dixon has agreed to a three-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, ending his three-year stay with the Washington Wizards, a league official told Associated Press.... The Detroit Pistons exercised their team option on Darko Milicic, keeping the 20-year-old center under contract for the next two seasons.

Pro Hockey

Brendan Shanahan decided to stay with the Detroit Red Wings, exercising an option on the final year of his contract.

Shanahan, 36, will make about $2.3 million, after the 24% cut NHL players agreed to take, as the league resumes play after a lockout canceled last season.

The 36-year-old forward is among active leaders with 558 goals and 1,151 points.

The Mighty Ducks exercised their one-year option on goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov and signed defenseman Nathan Saunders to a three-year contract

Passings

Al Sparlis, a three-year football letterman as a guard at UCLA and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, died July 9 in Porterville, Calif. He was 85.