Rahlves Speaks Out on Teammate Miller

Skier Daron Rahlves says he wasn’t surprised by any of the comments or behavior of Olympic teammate Bode Miller, who he says spends much of his time partying and “trying to look for girls.”

“For him to go out and party, that’s nothing new. He does that all the time,” said Rahlves, who finished third Sunday at the Jeep King of the Mountain Professional Skiing and Snowboarding World Championships at Squaw Valley, Calif.

“He doesn’t just do it at the Olympics, he does it all year,” he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Rahlves said he wasn’t bothered by criticism from Miller, who poked fun at his fellow U.S. Ski Team member for taking the Olympics too seriously.

“Look at what happened to Rahlves,” Miller said. “He was holed up in his RV; he’s probably the fittest guy out here, and he made a point of talking about how important the Olympics were to him.... And he’s got nothing to show for the whole thing.”

Rahlves, 32, was the favorite in the downhill but finished 10th and also failed to win a medal in his other two events.

“You live the way you want to live your life,” Rahlves said Sunday, “and I don’t want to go out late and stay out late all night. I’ve got a wife I want to hang out with,” he told the newspaper.

“I have way more than Bode has as far as a life, I think. He just goes around trying to look for girls all the time. That’s his biggest thing.”

TENNIS

Agassi Ousts Rusedski in First Round at Dubai

Andre Agassi defeated Greg Rusedski, 7-6 (4), 6-0, in the opening round of the Dubai Open in the United Arab Emirates, showing no signs of a lower back strain.

Agassi, who said Sunday that he would skip the clay-court season in hopes of being ready for Wimbledon, improved to 9-2 against Rusedski.

In other matches, Tim Henman moved into the second round with a 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over Feliciano Lopez. Henman, who received a wild card when Ivan Ljubicic withdrew because of a shoulder injury, rallied from 0-3 down in the second-set tiebreaker.

Fifth-seeded David Ferrer became the first seeded player to drop out, losing 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 to Rainer Schuettler.

Top-seeded Roger Federer plays his first match today.

Jonas Bjorkman defeated sixth-seeded Gael Monfils, 7-6 (8), 6-3, at the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas on a rough day for seeded players.

Three of the eight seeded men were out after the first session, including Tommy Haas, seeded seventh, who withdrew because of a right shoulder injury.

Eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco also went down, losing to unseeded Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-7 (9), 7-5, 6-2.

MISCELLANY

Lawyer: Jockeys’ Guild May Sue Former Leader

Jockeys’ Guild attorney Barry Broad, speaking at the guild’s annual assembly in Dallas, said a lawsuit was possible against the group’s former president L. Wayne Gertmenian, according to SportsBusiness Journal. Gertmenian was fired by the guild late last year amid accusations of financial mishandling and allowing the jockeys’ accident insurance policy to lapse.

Lee Trevino will join fellow Champions Tour players Raymond Floyd and Hale Irwin in the Toshiba Classic, March 13-19 at Newport Beach Country Club.

Stanford completed its football coaching staff by hiring Jeff Hammerschmidt as the team’s coach for outside linebackers and special teams. Hammerschmidt coached at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last season. He has also coached at Montana, St. Mary’s, Indiana, Southern Utah and Arizona.

Heisman Trophy winners Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, Duke’s high-scoring guard J.J. Redick and Bode Miller are among the 10 finalists for the Sullivan Award, given annually to the nation’s top amateur athlete.

The 2005 winner will be announced April 12 in New York.

JURISPRUDENCE

Texas Man Is Guilty in Shooting of Prep Coach

An East Texas jury found a man guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of a high school football coach.

The same panel then began considering a penalty for Jeff Doyal Robertson, who faces a prison sentence of two to 20 years. The jury in Canton, about 60 miles east of Dallas, rejected a charge of aggravated assault on a public servant in favor of the lesser charge.

Robertson’s attorney argued that then-Canton High football coach Gary Joe Kinne wasn’t a public servant when he was shot. He said a high school football coach doesn’t meet the standard of a public servant under the state penal code, which doesn’t explicitly mention school district employees.

Robertson, a heating and air conditioning repairman, shot Kinne in April. Kinne was critically injured but has since recovered and is on the coaching staff of Baylor University.

Robertson’s son played on Canton’s freshman football team with Kinne’s son.

Former NBA player Manute Bol and his wife were arrested after a fight at their home in West Hartford, Conn., police said. Bol, 45, and his 27-year-old wife, Ajok Kuag, were charged with disorderly conduct Sunday.

Police said they were arrested after arriving at the police station to file complaints against each other.