Sports Desk

BASKETBALL

Oklahoma City's NBA team to be called Thunder

Thunder can be heard from miles away, an early warning that a storm is about to arrive. So, perhaps it's only fitting that the name of Oklahoma City's NBA team didn't sneak up on anyone.

Six weeks after the name first surfaced, team officials officially announced Wednesday that the team formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics would be known as the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"It's hard to keep a secret," team chairman Clay Bennett said after stepping to a podium on the ground floor of the downtown office building where the team is headquartered.

Chalmers, Arthur sent home from NBA rookie program

Former Kansas stars Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were sent home yesterday from the NBA's mandatory rookie transition program for violating unspecified league rules.

Both the Miami Heat, who acquired Chalmers in a draft-night trade, and agent Sam Goldfeder confirmed to The Associated Press that the guard left the program. Neither would divulge the reasons why the former Kansas standout, who hit the overtime-forcing jumper in the Jayhawks' win over Memphis in the national championship game five months ago, was asked to depart early from the resort in southern Westchester County, a short drive north of Manhattan, where the event was taking place.

"I'm in the process of investigating what exactly is going on," Goldfeder said.

The Heat said they also were investigating and declined further comment.

FOOTBALL

Belichick expects Brady to be ready

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick expects Tom Brady to be ready Sunday for the season opener against Kansas City after the NFL's reigning MVP missed all four exhibition games.

"He's practicing this week and I expect he'll be ready to go," Belichick said Wednesday during a conference call with Kansas City reporters.

Asked if that meant that the quarterback, who has had an injured right foot, would play, Belichick said: "He's been practicing all week. I expect him to be out there today and I expect him to be out there the rest of the week."

Brady, who participated fully in practice yesterday, said Monday the condition of his foot has improved and he could have played in all four exhibition games.

Season over for Ravens QB Boller

Kyle Boller was placed on injured reserve yesterday by the Baltimore Ravens, ending his season and raising the question of whether the quarterback will throw another pass for the team.

Boller has been sidelined since hurting his shoulder in Baltimore's second preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings on August 16.

"He has got either one of two injuries, either the torn labrum or he's got, I don't know the medical term, but there's a connection in the biceps to the shoulder that might be a problem," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "The torn labrum has not responded to the medication, and the other injury is a season ender. He's done."

BASEBALL

MLB's scoring committee rules against Sabathia

Upon further review, the play stands.

Major League Baseball's scoring review committee ruled yesterday that official scorer Bob Webb did not err when he decided that Pittsburgh's Andy LaRoche singled against Brewers pitcher CC Sabathia in the bottom of the fifth inning of Milwaukee's 7-0 win on Sunday.

Sabathia tried to make a barehanded pickup of LaRoche's softly hit grounder, but dropped it. Webb immediately ruled it a hit, explaining he watched LaRoche out of the batter's box and the runner was two-thirds of the way down the line as Sabathia was picking the ball up.

Webb said last night when reached at home that he was grateful for the kind words by MLB and also understood the Brewers' efforts to advocate for a potential historic game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

LSU-Troy game postponed until November

LSU postponed its football game against Troy after Hurricane Gustav damaged Tiger Stadium and battered Louisiana's capital city far worse than anticipated.

The university made the decision yesterday after having a full day to get a handle on damage to the stadium and the community, much of which is expected to be without power into next week.

"It's the right decision," LSU head coach Les Miles said. "Our guys are maybe a little more affected than the Katrina and Rita duo--more firsthand concerns, more power lines that they saw, more trees down that they saw and power outages affected us, affecting them than the last storm we had. They were a little ragged on Tuesday."

LSU players reported to their indoor practice field on Tuesday afternoon, first so coaches could make sure everyone was OK, then so they could have position meetings and practice in the hope that Saturday's game could be played as scheduled. A day later, it was obvious to LSU officials that was not going to happen.