UCLA’s Guerrero to chair basketball committee

UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero was appointed chairman of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee for 2009-2010. Guerrero will replace current chairman Mike Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, Sept. 1, 2009.

Guerrero is already vice president of the National Assn. of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and chair of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball academic enhancement group.

“It is truly an honor to follow in the footsteps of my colleagues who have previously served the NCAA membership,” Guerrero said in a statement.

During his tenure, Guerrero will be the face of the NCAA basketball tournament. It will be Guerrero who will explain why certain teams do or don’t get at-large bids to March Madness.

-- Diane Pucin

MOTOR SPORTS

Stewart to leave Joe Gibbs Racing

Ending one of NASCAR’s most successful marriages, Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart said he planned to leave Joe Gibbs Racing after this season. Stewart won 32 races and two Cup championships during his 10 years with Gibbs.

Stewart, 37, is expected to purchase a major stake in another team, rumored to be the struggling two-car team of Haas CNC Racing, where he would be a co-owner and driver in 2009. Stewart scheduled a news conference for today to announce his plans.

Stewart had disclosed in April that he was exploring multiple offers, including the possibility of buying into another team, and mulling whether to leave Gibbs before his contract expired at the end of next year.

Terms of his release were not disclosed. Stewart is currently 12th in NASCAR Cup points. Gibbs next must decide who will replace Stewart. There is widespread speculation that the ride could go to Joey Logano, an 18-year-old Gibbs driver in NASCAR’s second-tier Nationwide Series who won his first series race in June in only his third start.

-- Jim Peltz

TENNIS

Gimelstob dropped from ad campaign

The U.S. Tennis Assn. has dropped controversial Justin Gimelstob from its planned television ad campaign for the 2008 Olympus U.S. Open Series.

“Justin Gimelstob’s recent comments on a Washington D.C., radio program were derogatory and demeaning to female tennis players and to women in general,” the USTA said in a statement.

In the radio appearance, Gimelstob, a former UCLA player and touring tennis pro, used a derogatory term in describing Anna Kournikova, a former tennis player, and made suggestive comments about current player Nicole Vaidisova.

The strongly worded statement went on to say it would not tolerate such “harmful remarks” and said that Gimelstob had expressed remorse for his comments, which in particular targeted Kournikova.

-- Lisa Dillman

Potito Starace beat Wimbledon semifinalist Marat Safin, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4, and reached the quarterfinals of the Swedish Open at Bastad.

The win was the Italian’s second three-set match in two days, after ousting 2002 champion Carlos Moya in the first round. Starace defeated Safin for the first time since losing to the Russian at the 2004 French Open.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Starace will play fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych, who topped former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

Qualifier Bjorn Rehnquist also advanced to the last eight at the clay-court tournament, at the expense of wild card and compatriot Michael Ryderstedt, 6-3, 7-5.

Top-seeded Mardy Fish lost his first match at the Hall of Fame championships for the second consecutive year, falling to qualifier Rohan Bopanna, 7-6, (6) 7-5.

MISCELLANY

Rodriguez, Michigan agree to pay $4 million

Former West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan have agreed to pay a $4-million buyout and settle a lawsuit that West Virginia filed after he broke his contract in December.

Rodriguez will pay $1.5 million in three annual payments beginning in January 2010. The Wolverines athletic department, his new employer, will pay $2.5 million by the end of July.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has spoken to three countries about playing host to the 2010 World Cup if a natural catastrophe forces it away from South Africa.

Concerns are mounting about South Africa fulfilling its hosting obligations after Tuesday’s announcement that the Port Elizabeth stadium is unlikely to be completed in time for next June’s Confederations Cup tuneup event.

Blatter would not name the countries when asked whether 1966 host England was one of his options.

Chinese organizers, under pressure from global broadcasters and the International Olympic Committee, apparently have lifted some restrictions on television crews for the Beijing Olympics.

Key issues included moving satellite trucks freely around the sprawling city, access to venues such as Tiananmen Square, frequency allocations and clear rules about filming.

Quarterback Trent Dilfer, 36, who played the last of his 13 NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers last year, said he’ll make a formal announcement in the coming days that he is retiring from football.

A judge delayed the sentencing of former referee Tim Donaghy to have more time to decide how much restitution he and two co-conspirators should pay the NBA for their roles in a betting scandal.

Coach Ken Hitchcock signed a three-year contract extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hitchcock, 56, has a career NHL record of 470-314-117 at Dallas, Philadelphia and Columbus.