Redskins Send Coles to Jets for Santana Moss

The Washington Redskins traded disgruntled receiver Laveranues Coles back to the New York Jets on Saturday and got speedy receiver-kick returner Santana Moss in return.

The deal was contingent on both players’ passing physicals. A source within the league, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Coles got the new deal he wanted, which held up the trade for the last week. Terms of the deal weren’t available.

Coles met with Coach Joe Gibbs twice after the season to express his desire to leave after an unsatisfying year in the team’s conservative offense.

He had 90 receptions for 950 yards for a career-low 10.6 yards a catch and only one touchdown. The year before, under pass-oriented coach Steve Spurrier, he had 82 receptions for 1,204 yards and six touchdowns.

Coles left the Jets as a restricted free agent after the season, when the team declined to match the Redskins’ seven-year, $35-million offer -- including a $13-million bonus.

Moss had a breakout year in 2003 with 1,105 yards and 10 touchdowns. But his productivity slipped in 2004, when he had 45 catches for 838 yards and five touchdowns, due in part to a sore hamstring.

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The Cleveland Browns acquired veteran quarterback Trent Dilfer from the Seattle Seahawks for a fourth-round draft choice. The trade is contingent on league approval and Dilfer’s passing a physical.

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Andy Kelly threw five touchdown passes to help the New Orleans VooDoo beat the Dallas Desperados, 53-51, in an Arena League game at Dallas.

Winter Sports

Hermann Maier led a 1-2 Austrian finish in a World Cup downhill on the Olympic course in Lillehammer, Norway.

Maier covered the 3,035-meter course in 1 minute 46.10 seconds. Mario Scheiber finished 0.13 of a second behind. Ambrosi Hoffmann of Switzerland was third, 0.31 back.

Bode Miller of Franconia, N.H., was fourth, 0.65 of a second behind as he improved his chances of becoming the first American since Phil Mahre in 1983 to win the overall title. He leads Benjamin Raich, who finished 12th, by 57 points -- 1,303 to 1,246.

Roar Ljokelsoy led Norway to a victory over rival Finland in a World Cup team ski jumping event at Lahti, Finland. The team of Ljokelsoy, Bjorn Einar Romoren, Henning Stensrud and Daniel Forfang had 1,013.7 points, exceeding 120 meters on all eight jumps. Finland was second with 986.7 points.

Motor Racing

Giancarlo Fisichella won the season-opening Formula One Australian Grand Prix today in Melbourne, capping a weekend highlighted by a downpour during qualifying that ended Michael Schumacher’s hopes of defending his title.

Fisichella finished 57 laps on the 3.295-mile Albert Park circuit in 1 hour 24 minutes 17.336 seconds in his Renault.

Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello finished second, 5.55 seconds back, and Fisichella’s Renault teammate, Fernando Alonso, was third.

Schumacher, the Ferrari star who won 13 races last year en route to his seventh world championship, crashed with 15 laps left after starting in the back row.

Mexico’s Jorge Goeters stunned the field and thrilled the hometown fans by winning the pole for today’s NASCAR Busch Series Motorola 200, the first NASCAR event in Mexico.

Goeters’ fast lap of 103.366 mph in a Ford gave him the pole in his first NASCAR start. His run on the on the 2.518-mile road course in Mexico City bumped Nextel Cup veteran Robby Gordon to second. Gordon had a fast lap of 103.174 in a Chevrolet.

Tomas Scheckter easily won the pole for today’s season-opening Indy Racing League Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Scheckter got around the 1 1/2 -mile oval at 215.115 mph in a Chevrolet-powered Dallara, nearly a full mile per hour faster than the 214.317 by Vitor Meira’s Honda-powered Panoz.

Ricky Carmichael won his 40th THQ AMA Supercross Series race in front of 53,197 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. The Suzuki star held off Yamaha’s Chad Reed for his seventh victory of the year.

Tennis

Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport fought off a break point late in the third set and defeated 19-year-old Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to win the Dubai Open in the United Arab Emirates for her 46th WTA Tour title.

Miscellany

Jason Gardener won his third consecutive European indoor 60-meter title, leading a 1-2 finish for Britain at Madrid. Gardener was timed in 6.55, adding to the championships he won in 2000 and 2002. Mark Lewis-Francis got the silver in 6.59.

German long jumper Bianca Kappler was awarded gold for a leap of 22-10 on her final of six attempts. But she protested, telling judges that she deserved silver because she couldn’t jump more than 21-11 1/2 or 21-11 3/4 . Her other jumps were 21-1 1/2 , 21-5 1/4 and 21-3 1/4 .

Naide Gomes of Portugal jumped 21-11 3/4 to be initially awarded silver and Stiliani Pilatou of Greece was given bronze with 21-9 1/2 . European Athletics Assn. spokesman Nicolas Russi said the judges agreed to resolve the issue by letting Kappler take her final jump again today.

Four-time champion Martin Buser was among the 78 mushers who took part in the ceremonial start of the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail sled dog race at Anchorage. The race officially starts today from Willow, 70 miles north of Anchorage.

Ohio State introduced Gene Smith as its new athletic director, putting the former Arizona State athletic director in charge of a department that is being investigated by the NCAA about possible improper benefits given to athletes. Smith, the athletic director at Arizona State since 2000, will replace Andy Geiger, who said he was retiring because he was burned out.

Junior left-hander Paul Coleman set a school record with 16 strikeouts while pitching a complete game to lead Pepperdine (8-7) to a 9-0 victory over New Orleans (3-9) in the Dairy Queen Classic at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Coleman (3-0) yielded two hits and one walk. His 16 strikeouts bettered the mark of 15 set by Noah Lowry on April 7, 2001 at Santa Clara.

Bryan Petersen’s single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave UC Irvine (8-6) a 1-0 victory over Dallas Baptist (7-7) Friday night and spoiled a brilliant performance by the Patriots’ Stuart Sutherland.

Sutherland pitched nine no-hit innings, striking out five and walking one. The Anteaters’ Chris Nicoll matched him with nine shutout innings, yielding three hits and striking out a career-high 13.