NFL, players meet again with mediator

The NFL and its locked-out players wrapped up another round of court-ordered mediation Tuesday without any signs of a new agreement and the clock ticking on the 2011 season.

Officials and attorneys for both sides said they will return for more closed-door talks with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan on June 7, four days after a key appeals court hearing in St. Louis on the legality of the lockout.

NFL lead negotiator Jeff Pash and former Vikings standout Carl Eller both said the talks went well, but there was no indication of any progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement. Pash said he thought Boylan had done a good job of “pushing the parties,” but he doesn’t believe the dispute over the future of the $9-billion business will be settled in court.

“The only way we’re going to solve this is by sitting down together,” Pash said, echoing the NFL’s preference for traditional negotiations outside the courts. “I think we got some work done today and we’re going to keep at it.”

There are some huge court decisions coming up, including the June 3 hearing before the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on the legality of the lockout. The same three-judge panel handling the hearing has already ruled twice in favor of the league, keeping the lockout in place.

U.S. District Judge David Doty is also deciding whether to award players more than $707 million in damages and to bar the NFL from using $4 billion in broadcast revenue. Doty has already said the league failed to secure the most income for the players when it re-negotiated those broadcast contracts.

And a federal antitrust lawsuit filed against the NFL by the players is still pending.

Bird considering Adelman for Pacers coach

Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird said interim coach Frank Vogel, Mike Brown and Rick Adelman are among candidates he wants to talk to about filling the head coaching position.

Bird said Vogel is the front-runner. He took over at midseason when the Pacers fired Jim O’Brien, finished the regular season with a 20-18 record and led the team to the playoffs.

Brown, a former Pacers assistant, led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals and was NBA coach of the year in 2009. Adelman ranks eighth in NBA history in wins with a career record of 945-616.

“I’ll probably make a call, just to see where he’s at,” Bird said. “I hear the Lakers are interested in him. Rick’s a very good coach. He’s an easygoing guy that gets a lot out of his players.”

Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers is recovering from surgery to remove a benign polyp from his throat. The team said doctors told Rivers he is cancer free.

Bryan Colangelo will remain in charge of rebuilding the Toronto Raptors. The team’s president and general manager agreed to a multiyear contract extension with the team, where he has spent five years at the helm.

TENNIS

Injured Roddick pulls out of Nice tournament

French wild card Julien Benneteau upset sixth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the first round of the Open de Nice in France.

Fourth-seeded Andy Roddick pulled out of the tournament ahead of his opening match after injuring his right shoulder at last week’s Italian Open.

French Open champion Francesca Schiavone reached the second round of the Brussels Open, one of five seeded players to advance in the clay-court tuneup for the French Open.

Schiavone, seeded third, beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, 6-2, 7-5. Also winning first-round matches were No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, No. 6 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, No. 7 Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania and No. 8 Peng Shuai of China.

ETC.

Fiesta Bowl wants McCain, Kyl to return contributions

The Fiesta Bowl wants U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl to return thousands of dollars in campaign contributions that the bowl reimbursed employees and their families for making.

Documents obtained Tuesday by the Associated Press show the bowl also wants nearly two dozen other Arizona politicians to return campaign funds they received. In all, it wants $48,225.17 returned.

McCain received, by far, the most cash from Fiesta Bowl employees or their families. Documents say he is being asked to return $19,500 given to three of his campaign accounts.

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Kings forward Oscar Moller, a restricted free agent, is expected to return to his native Sweden to play in the Elite League next season but the Kings will retain his NHL rights.

General Manager Dean Lombardi said the move was Moller’s choice. The fleet but small winger — he’s listed at 5 feet 10 and 189 pounds — played only 13 games during the season and only one playoff game. He acquitted himself well while filling in for the suspended Jarret Stoll in the second game of the Kings’ playoff series against San Jose but didn’t get another chance to play.

His fatal flaw apparently is his size, at least in the eyes of Lombardi and Coach Terry Murray. Moller has skill and his speed is an element Kings forwards sorely lack, but he couldn’t win a regular spot. And he has little to prove in the American Hockey League after scoring 23 goals and 50 points in 59 games with the Kings’ Manchester farm team last season.

— Helene Elliott

There will be no rematch between Animal Kingdom and Nehro at the Preakness. Nehro, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby behind Animal Kingdom, will skip Saturday’s second leg of the Triple Crown and be pointed toward next month’s Belmont.

Nehro’s owner, Ahmed Zayat, said the decision was based on the horse’s hectic spring schedule. Although Nehro emerged well from the Derby, the Preakness would have been his fourth race in two months.

Deion Sanders and former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr are among the 16 players and coaches selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Sanders was an All-American cornerback at Florida State from 1985-88 before going on to a stellar NFL career. Carr won 75% of his games and the 1997 national championship in 13 seasons as Michigan’s coach.

France has been named the host country for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

The French bid, which centers on Le Golf National course near Paris, was selected over rival candidates Spain, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands. It’s the first time France has been awarded hosting rights for the biennial match between Europe and the United States.