Burke and Niedermayer to meet about future

Ducks General Manager Brian Burke will meet with Scott Niedermayer today to discuss whether the superstar defenseman intends to retire, as he strongly suggested in July, or consider playing part or all of the 2007-08 season.

“Obviously, with camp opening in a week, we need to know what’s going on,” Burke said Tuesday.

Burke said he was to meet with Niedermayer sometime “over the next 48 hours,” but Niedermayer’s agent, Kevin Epp, confirmed the two would get together today.

Epp said that Niedermayer “doesn’t want to completely close the door” on his career. Niedermayer, who played on three Stanley Cup-winning teams in New Jersey, led the Ducks to their first title in June.

“To say that he wants to completely retire is probably not correct,” Epp said, “but I don’t think he’s ready to start the season. I think he’s in limbo.”

Burke admitted that he discussed with Niedermayer the possibility of rejoining the team during the season in a conversation late last week.

“I think it’s pointing to a partial season, but I have nothing to base that on,” Burke said.

-- Eric Stephens

Center Jeremy Roenick signed a one-year contract with the San Jose Sharks, postponing retirement for another shot at a Stanley Cup.

The nine-time All-Star’s career seemed over after he scored only 28 points in 70 games with the Phoenix Coyotes last season. The 37-year-old center has 495 goals and 675 assists in an 18-year career also spent with Chicago, Philadelphia and the Kings.

Pierre Turgeon is expected to end his 19-season NHL career by announcing his retirement today. . . . Toronto forward Mark Bell was suspended indefinitely without pay by the NHL after his plea last month of no contest to drunken-driving and hit-and-run charges.

JURISPRUDENCE

Man charged in death of Howard Porter

Former Villanova basketball star Howard Porter was trying to trade money and crack cocaine for sex with a prostitute when he was beaten to death, according to murder charges filed against a St. Paul, Minn., man.

Porter, 58, died May 26, a week after he was found unconscious in a Minneapolis alley.

Rashad Arthur Raleigh, 29, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder. Raleigh was originally arrested in early June but was released without being charged.

A grand jury in Chicago indicted four men in the armed robbery of Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker.

Prosecutors say Antoine Larkins, 28; Demorris Hill, 25; Phillip Allison, 28; and Gregory Reedfields, 23, broke into Walker’s Chicago home June 9 and bound Walker and a relative with duct tape. Hill and Larkins also are charged in a July home robbery of New York Knicks forward Eddy Curry.

Former Florida A&M; basketball coach Mike Gillespie pleaded no contest to charges of stalking a former girlfriend and was sentenced to a year of probation in Tallahassee, Fla.

PRO BASKETBALL

Shaquille O’Neal files for divorce

Shaquille O’Neal has filed to divorce his wife after nearly five years of marriage, his attorney said.

Attorney Ira Elegant said the petition was filed on behalf of the Miami Heat center in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear who is representing Shaunie O’Neal in the case.

According to the filing, Shaquille O’Neal is asking Shaunie O’Neal to provide a “correct accounting of all money, funds, stocks, bonds, and other securities” that she had access to or obtained during the marriage.

They are the parents of six children; Shaquille and Shaunie O’Neal had four together, and each had one other before their Dec. 26, 2002 wedding.

Tony Parker scored 36 points, leading Group D leader France past Italy, 69-62, and handing the Olympic runner-up its second loss at the European championship in Madrid. . . . Glen Davis, a second-round draft pick from Louisiana State, signed with the Boston Celtics.

MISCELLANY

Chicago officially named bid city for 2016 Games

Chicago was officially named the U.S. bid city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, and now must convince the International Olympic Committee it deserves to stage the games.

Organizers were hopeful they could triumph over cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Madrid and Prague.

Also, Pyeongchang declared its intention to bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, a third consecutive attempt for the South Korean city.

Boxer Diego Corrales will be inducted into the posthumous category of the California Boxing Hall of Fame on Sept. 22 in Studio City.

PASSINGS

Former Clemson player Bynum dies at 45

Former Clemson basketball standout Clarke Bynum, who once helped thwart a plane hijacking, has died of cancer, the school said. He was 45. Bynum played in four seasons with the Tigers from 1980 to ’84. However, he may be better known for subduing a man who attacked a pilot in the cockpit of a British Airways jet in December 2000.