Schwarzenegger Supports NFL Team in L.A. Area

The NFL received a powerful -- if predictable -- endorsement Friday in favor of putting a team back in Los Angeles.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave a thumbs up to the idea after meeting in Sacramento for an hour with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who stopped in on his way to Hawaii for the annual league meetings.

“A Los Angeles NFL team means good jobs, increased tourism and economic growth for California,” the governor said in a written statement. “As you know, I love action and I want to bring NFL action back to Los Angeles.”

A Schwarzenegger spokesman clarified that the governor was backing the concept of a team in the L.A. area, not a specific stadium site, meaning he wasn’t ruling out a team at the Rose Bowl, Carson or Anaheim. Still, L.A. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who hopes to bring a team to the Coliseum, saw the endorsement as “very encouraging.”

It’s unlikely that major decisions concerning L.A. will be made at the NFL meetings, which take place Monday through Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Kapalua on Maui. The group of league executives investigating the four sites will make a presentation to team owners, but there are no votes scheduled.

Among the other issues to be discussed by league owners are the status of television and collective-bargaining-agreement negotiations; Reggie Fowler’s bid to buy the Minnesota Vikings; and some minor rule changes involving instant replay and unnecessary roughness.

-- Sam Farmer

Olympics

Sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were cleared by Greek officials of evading pre-Olympic drug tests.

The ruling by the Greek Athletics Federation came after two months of hearings into a scandal that embarrassed the hosts of last summer’s Athens Games. The sprinters had faced possible two-year bans if found guilty.

Their coach, Christos Tzekos, was blamed for the athletes’ missed tests and was suspended for four years. He was cleared of separate accusations of distributing banned substances.

But all three still face criminal charges as a result of the pre-Olympic incident.

Motor Racing

Ryan Newman extended his record for consecutive poles at Atlanta Motor Speedway, winning his fifth in a row. He turned a fast lap of 194.690 mph in a Dodge for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Golden Corral 500. Bobby Hamilton Jr. turned in the best qualifying run of his career (193.785) in a Chevrolet to earn a front-row spot alongside Newman.

Soccer

The U.S. men’s national soccer team will play Guatemala today at Albuquerque in its final warmup match before World Cup qualifying games against Mexico in Mexico City on March 27 and against Guatemala in Birmingham, Ala., on March 30.

Forward Eddie Gaven has left camp to join the U.S. under-20 national team for its three-game trip to South Korea. Defenders Eddie Pope (groin) and Frankie Hejduk (ankle) are injured, and midfielder Brian Mullan is questionable because of a mild ankle sprain.

Midfielders Bobby Convey and Kerry Zavagnin have been added to the squad.

Swimming

Georgia set an American record in the 800-yard freestyle relay in the NCAA women’s championships at West Lafayette, Ind.

Mary Descenza, Kara Lynn Joyce, Elizabeth Hill and Amanda Weir won in 7 minutes 1.03 seconds to break the record of 7:04.06 set by Stanford in 1992 and matched by the Bulldogs earlier this season. They also broke the NCAA meet record of 7:02.72 set by Auburn in 2003.

Blythe Hartley of USC won the three-meter springboard diving event with 586.15 points.

Miscellany

USC running back LenDale White, tight end Dominique Byrd and defensive lineman Manuel Wright will not participate in spring practice, so they can address academic issues, an athletic department official said. The Trojans begin workouts Tuesday.

White, a junior who led the team in rushing yardage the last two seasons, underwent arthroscopic ankle surgery in January. Byrd, a senior, underwent arthroscopic toe surgery.

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Jockey Pat Day will undergo hip surgery and could sit out the Kentucky Derby for the first time since 1984.

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Tonight’s racing program at Ventura Raceway has been canceled because of rain. Racing there will resume March 26.