FOOTBALL

GIANTS’ STOUTMIRE OUT FOR YEAR New York Giants free safety Omar Stoutmire is going to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Stoutmire, who started every game the last two years only to lose his job this season to Brent Alexander, tore an anterior cruciate ligament Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Coach Tom Coughlin did not say yesterday which knee was injured, but that Stoutmire would be placed on injured reserve.

GREEN BAY’S MCKENZIE ENDS HOLDOUT Cornerback Mike McKenzie returned to the Green Bay Packers yesterday after holding out throughout training camp and missing the season opener. McKenzie practiced with the team as the Packers prepared for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears in Green Bay.

Head coach Mike Sherman said McKenzie’s contract has not been reworked, and the team has two weeks to activate him to play. Just because he’s back doesn’t mean McKenzie has resolved his differences with the Packers. There’s always the possibility they could still part ways by the October 19 trading deadline.

BOWLING GREEN FRESHMAN DIES DURING PRACTICE A Bowling Green football player died at a hospital yesterday after becoming ill during the first 10 minutes of practice, school officials said.

Aaron Richardson, a freshman, was taken to Wood County Hospital, where he died, athletic department spokesman J.D. Campbell said. Richardson was participating in his first practice as a non-recruited walk-on, Campbell said.

There was no obvious cause of death and an autopsy was planned for today, said Wood County coroner Douglas Hess.

BASKETBALL

NETS WAVE HARRIS Backup guard Lucious Harris was waived by the Nets yesterday. Harris averaged 7.7 points, 1.6 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 456 games since being acquired in June 1997 as part of an eight-player trade with Philadelphia. He played a big part in helping the Nets win two Eastern Division titles.

The 11-year veteran finished his Nets career ranked sixth in games played and fifth in 3-pointers made with 236. Harris appeared in 54 playoff games, averaging 7.3 points and 2.5 rebounds.

LAETTNER JOINS FOURTH TEAM IN THREE MONTHS Christian Laettner wanted to play close to his home and for a winning team. The Miami Heat was an obvious choice, even before they traded for Shaquille O’Neal.

Laettner, 35, signed a one-year contract yesterday with the Heat for the veteran minimum of $1.1 million, sending him to a fourth team in less than three months. Laettner was traded from Washington to Dallas earlier this summer. Then he was moved from Dallas to Golden State in an eight-player deal last month. The Warriors waived Laettner last week.

SOCCER

REAL MADRID STUNNED IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Bayer Leverkusen stunned defending champion Real Madrid 3-0 yesterday in the opening rotation of the Champions League.

In Rome, a match between Roma and Dynamo Kiev was abandoned with Dynamo leading 1-0 after Swedish referee Anders Frisk was hit in the head by an object thrown from the stands. Frisk was helped off the pitch with blood streaming down his forehead and face.

In other opening-round action, four-time champions Liverpool defeated last season’s finalists Monaco,2-0.Fellow English side Manchester United rallied from a 2-0 half-time deficit to draw France’s Lyon, 2-2. Juventus defeated four-time champions Ajax, 1-0, and Bayern Munich defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv, 1-0, in the Israeli club’s debut in the Champion League. In two other matches, Deportivo and Olympiakos played a 0-0 draw, and Turkish side Fenerbahce defeated Sparta Prague, 1-0.

– Associated Press