Change in Rules Allows Paterno, Bowden Into Hall

Since Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden failed to meet the qualifications for induction into the college football Hall of Fame, the folks who run the hall simply changed the rules.

Instead of requiring a coach to be retired, the National Football Foundation decided to make any active coach over age 75 eligible for induction.

With the red tape cut, the winningest coaches in Division I-A were elected Tuesday and can now be called Hall of Famers.

“I wasn’t expecting it, because I thought you had to die first -- and I didn’t want to volunteer for that,” Bowden, 76, said during a conference call. “They might have changed the rules to get me and Joe in. But I’m very excited about it.”

Paterno, 79, has won 354 games and two national championships in 40 seasons as Penn State’s coach.

Bowden, 76, leads major college football with 359 victories, 286 -- and two national titles -- since taking over at Florida State in 1976.

Joining Paterno and Bowden are 13 former players: Florida’s Emmitt Smith, Virginia Tech’s Bruce Smith, Nebraska’s Mike Rozier, Florida State’s Charlie Ward, Colorado’s Bobby Anderson, Miami’s Bennie Blades, Minnesota’s Carl Eller, Washington’s Steve Emtman, Baylor’s Thomas Everett, Air Force’s Chad Hennings, Tennessee’s Chip Kell, Purdue’s Mike Phipps and Stanford’s Jeff Siemon.

ABC has announced a 12-week series of games airing Saturdays at 5 p.m. this fall.

USC is scheduled to make five appearances -- Sept. 16 against Nebraska, Sept. 23 at Arizona, Oct. 14 against Arizona State, Nov. 18 against California and Nov. 25 against Notre Dame.

UCLA’s games at California on Nov. 4 and against Washington State on Oct. 28 will also be part of the series, which begins Sept. 2 with Notre Dame at Georgia Tech.

Every telecast will be in high definition. Some games, including USC’s home games against Nebraska and Notre Dame, will be televised nationally.

ABC will televise the Dec. 2 game between USC and UCLA at 1:30 p.m. ESPN will televise the Trojans’ Sept. 2 opener at Arkansas. The time has not been announced.

-- Gary Klein

SOCCER

Barcelona, Arsenal Meet in Champions Final

FC Barcelona, featuring FIFA world player of the year Ronaldinho, will meet Arsenal today in the Champions League final at Stade de France in Paris.

Arsenal has beaten powerhouses Real Madrid and Italian champion Juventus but will have to find a way to slow Ronaldinho, who is returning to where he played two seasons for Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Barcelona.

UEFA replaced assistant referee Ole Hermann Borgan for the Champions League final after a photograph of the Norwegian linesman in a Barcelona shirt appeared in a newspaper.

Borgan will be replaced by Arild Sundet, who was scheduled to fly this morning to Paris from Norway.

Two masked gunmen burst into a suburban city hall outside of Paris, demanding tickets for the Champions League final and pointing a gun at one man’s head. No one was injured, and the men fled without tickets.

The New York Red Bulls fined midfielder Amado Guevara $4,000 for leaving the field after being replaced in the 55th minute of a 1-1 tie against the Chicago Fire.

Guevara also was suspended for the Red Bulls’ home game Saturday against Chivas USA.

TENNIS

Davenport Won’t Play in the French Open

Formerly No. 1-ranked Lindsay Davenport has pulled out of the upcoming French Open because she is not fully over a back injury.

In a statement, the Laguna Beach resident said she had not recovered enough to “compete to the best of my ability.” The French Open, which starts May 28, is the lone Grand Slam singles title missing from Davenport’s resume.

-- Lisa Dillman

Martina Hingis beat Nicole Vaidisova, 7-5, 6-3, and Venus Williams eliminated Lucie Safarova, 6-1, 6-4, in the third round of the Italian Open in Rome.

Hingis will face Italian Francesca Schiavone, a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Mara Santangelo.

HORSE RACING

Preakness Field Grows to Nine

Platinum Couple, fifth in the Wood Memorial won by Bob and John over a sloppy track, and Greeley’s Legacy, seventh in the Wood, will be entered in the Preakness Stakes before today’s draw, their trainers said.

“We have a lot of respect for Barbaro, Brother Derek and a couple of the other horses in there, but we want to take a shot,” said George Weaver, trainer of Greeley’s Legacy. “We’ve got to step up to have a chance to win it, but we think he’s ready to run a big one.”

Barbaro, winner of the Kentucky Derby by 6 1/2 lengths, leads a field that has grown to nine.

-- Robyn Norwood

MISCELLANY

Commission OKs Plan to Remodel Coliseum

The plan to remodel the Coliseum for NFL use won approval Tuesday from the Los Angeles city planning commission, a milestone in advance of an NFL owners meeting next week.

The league, absent from the Los Angeles market for nearly 12 years, is due to weigh competing plans from the Coliseum and from Anaheim.

The Los Angeles City Council is due Friday to review the Coliseum plan.

-- Alan Abrahamson

The Adidas Track Classic, which will be held Sunday at Home Depot Center in Carson, suffered a blow when Allyson Felix withdrew because of a hamstring injury.

Felix, the reigning women’s 200-meter world champion, aggravated her hamstring this week when she won the Qatar Super Grand Prix 200 in 22.77. Felix was scheduled to run Sunday against Sanya Richards, one of the top 400-meter runners in the world, in the 200.

Felix joins former 100-meter world-record holder Maurice Greene (foot injury) and two-time Olympian Marla Runyan (ankle injury) in pulling out.

-- Lonnie White

Bill Ferguson, an assistant coach, has been promoted to head coach of the men’s volleyball team at USC.

Arnold Palmer, 76, withdrew from the Senior PGA Championship in Oklahoma City because of concerns he wouldn’t be competitive.

Dustin Brown of the Kings scored his team-leading fifth goal to lead the United States over the Czech Republic, 3-1, setting up a quarterfinal meeting with Olympic champion Sweden at the World Ice Hockey Championship in Riga, Latvia.

Former basketball player Ralph Sampson, 46, pleaded not guilty in Richmond, Va., to charges of lying to federal authorities about his finances in a child support case. His trial was scheduled for July 17.

He is charged with perjury, making a false claim, mail fraud and making a false statement.