Two Raider Candidates Back Out of Coach Hunt

Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and Louisville Coach Bobby Petrino have pulled out of consideration for the Oakland Raiders’ coaching vacancy.

Whisenhunt was in the Bay Area to interview Wednesday with owner Al Davis and team officials, a day after celebrating the Steelers’ Super Bowl win with a parade in Pittsburgh.

He told the Raiders on Thursday that he had decided to stay in Pittsburgh for another season, making him one of the top coaching candidates for after next season. Oakland is the only team with a head-coach opening.

The Raiders also talked with Petrino, who had said he had no interest in the NFL. Louisville assistant sports information director Rocco Gasparro said Petrino would stay at the school.

Oakland has been without a coach since Norv Turner was fired Jan. 3, giving a new coach little time to put together a staff and set his off-season priorities before the scouting combine begins Feb. 22.

Davis has already interviewed Al Saunders, James Lofton and Rod Marinelli, and talked with former St. Louis Ram coach Mike Martz, former Raider coach Art Shell and Oakland quarterback coach John Shoop.

Saunders took a job running the Washington Redskins’ offense, Marinelli was hired as the Detroit Lions’ coach, and Martz will be the Lions’ offensive coordinator next season.

A judge dismissed Hamilton County, Ohio’s federal antitrust lawsuit against the Cincinnati Bengals and the NFL because the suit was not filed within the four-year statute of limitations.

U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel threw out the suit without getting to the merits of the county’s argument that the Bengals misled taxpayers and officials by contending they needed a new stadium to be profitable and might move if they didn’t get one.

County taxpayers in 1996 approved a half-cent sales tax increase to finance $450-million Paul Brown Stadium. Commissioners signed a lease with the Bengals the next year.

The antitrust lawsuit was filed in 2003, three years after the Bengals began using the stadium.

PRO BASKETBALL

Sparks and Player Settle Her Termination Suit

A settlement has been reached in the wrongful-termination lawsuit between Latasha Byears and the Sparks and Lakers, and the veteran forward will be invited to the Sparks’ training camp.

Byears played on the Sparks’ 2001 and 2002 WNBA championship teams. But the team waived her in 2003 while Byears was being investigated by Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives over an allegation that she sexually assaulted a former teammate. No charges were filed in that investigation. She has not played in the WNBA since, and filed suit in November 2004.

A confidentiality clause prohibits either side from revealing the terms of the settlement, Laker attorney Jeffrey Lenkov said.

Spark President Johnny Buss said he would welcome Byears’ return.

“This is not the first time we’ve been gone after by a player or agent,” he said. “But if there is one thing I have learned from my father [Laker owner Jerry Buss], it is forgive and forget. That is on the Buss side of things. Will her teammates have a problem? That remains to be seen. But there is no problem as far as I’m concerned.”

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-- Mike Terry

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Veteran guard Vickie Johnson signed with the San Antonio Silver Stars.

HOCKEY

Montreal Goalie Tests

Positive for Propecia

Montreal goalie Jose Theodore has tested positive for a banned substance in pre-Olympic screening because he was using a hair-growth drug that can be used as a masking agent, the Canadiens’ team doctor said.

The test wasn’t part of the NHL’s new testing program, so he will not be subject to league discipline.

Theodore was not picked for Canada’s Olympic team, but he was on the preliminary 81-player eligibility list. No punishment was handed down because he is appealing the result to an arbitrator.

Canadien team doctor David Mulder said at a news conference that Theodore was tested Dec. 12. A month later, the Hockey Canada doctor informed Mulder about Theodore’s test result.

Mulder said Theodore tested positive because the goalie has been taking Propecia, a hair-growth stimulant, for about eight years -- even though he has a full head of hair.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NCAA Rules Committee Recommends Replay

The NCAA will give college football coaches at least one replay challenge a game next season and require conferences to use a universal review format if Thursday’s recommended changes by the rules committee are approved in March.

The announcement was made at the conclusion of the committee’s three-day meeting in Indianapolis.

Texas Coach Mack Brown received a $390,000 pay raise after leading the Longhorns to their first national championship in 36 years.

University system regents unanimously approved the salary bump, which gives Brown, 54, an annual salary of about $2.55 million.

MISCELLANY

Rugby Tournament Comes to Carson

The USA Sevens tournament will be played at the Home Depot Center in Carson this weekend.

The 16-team tournament, the fourth in a series of eight International Rugby Board sevens events, is the largest international rugby tournament in North America. It features a 44-game schedule played Saturday and Sunday. The championship game is Sunday at 5:45 p.m.

Sevens is a scaled-down version of traditional rugby. Instead of 15 players on a team, there are seven, making for a faster game.

Games last 15 minutes -- seven-minute halves with a one-minute halftime -- and each team will play three games of pool play Saturday and then elimination rounds Sunday.

-- Peter Yoon