FOOTBALL

EAGLES SET TO START CAMP WITHOUT OWENS

With or without Terrell Owens, the Philadelphia Eagles return to the field today for the first time since losing the Super Bowl. Owens, the flamboyant All-Pro wide receiver, likely will skip the team’s mini-camp this weekend because he wants a new contract just 13 months after signing a seven year deal worth almost $49 million.

Pro Bowl running back Brian Westbrook and defensive tackle Corey Simon also aren’t expected to show up for the practices because of contract disputes. Owens set team records with 14 touchdown receptions and seven 100-yard games in his first season in Philadelphia after eight years with San Francisco.

CHIEFS GIVE HEISMAN WINNER WHITE A CHANCE

Jason White, who won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma but was snubbed in the NFL draft, is being given a chance by the Kansas City Chiefs. White and other undrafted rookies will join the drafted players in a mini-camp this weekend. White, who has not signed a contract, will be given a chance to show what he can do. White threw for 8,012 yards and 81 touchdowns at Oklahoma, winning the 2003 Heisman and taking the Sooners to consecutive national title games in 2003 and ’04. However, many scouts felt his arm was not strong enough for the NFL. He’s also had major reconstructive surgery on both knees.

PITT’S TROUTMAN TO TRY OUT FOR REDSKINS

Chevon Troutman, who just finished a stellar career as a power forward on the University of Pittsburgh basketball team, will be at the Washington Redskins’ mini-camp this week in hopes of becoming an NFL tight end. Troutman, 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, has said he would prefer to play in the NBA and still hopes to be invited to the league’s pre-draft camp in Chicago in June.

SOCCER

GERMAN FEDERATION STARTS BETTING OPERATION

The German soccer federation announced plans yesterday to set up its own bookmaking operation and banned all betting on games by players, coaches, officials, and referees in the wake of the country’s match-fixing scandal.

“We want a fair part of this market,” federation co-president Theo Zwanziger said. “We can’t allow soccer to remain a platform for others to make a profit while we get used.”

The soccer betting market is estimated to be worth about $3.9 billion a year in Germany. The decisions were made during an emergency session of the federation’s general assembly, which was called in reaction to the country’s worst match-fixing scandal in more than 30 years.

Referee Robert Hoyzer has admitted receiving $87,000 from Croatian gamblers to fix games. He has confessed to manipulating four games and trying to fix three others. Berlin prosecutors are investigating 25 people – including four referees and 14 players – suspected of fixing at least 10 games, mostly in lower divisions.

HOCKEY

NHLPA ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT REPLACEMENTS IN CANADA

The NHL Players’ Association applied for union certification in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and British Columbia to prevent the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks from using replacement players at home during the lockout.

Employees in Quebec and British Columbia can’t be replaced during a lockout or strike that is governed by the provincial labor code. The players’ association wants to establish itself in those provinces as a certified union under the provincial labor codes.

The NHL, which has filed two charges against the players’ association in the United States with the National Labor Relations Board, said the union’s actions are out of line. So far, the NHL hasn’t said it would use replacement players next season should the lockout that wiped out the season continue.

The Canadiens and Canucks wouldn’t be allowed to use replacements at home if the NHLPA becomes a certified union in Quebec and British Columbia. If the teams tried to play their home games elsewhere, they would likely face charges of unfair labor practices.

BASKETBALL

CLIPPERS’ SIMMONS IS NBA’S MOST IMPROVED

Bobby Simmons of the Los Angeles Clippers was a runaway winner of the NBA Most Improved Player award yesterday.

The 24-year-old Simmons averaged career-highs of 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 37.3 minutes in 75 games. A year earlier, in his first season with the Clippers, he averaged 7.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 24.6 minutes in 56 games.

TENNIS

MOYA ADVANCES PAST FERRERO AT ESTORIL OPEN

Top-seeded Carlos Moya defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4 yesterday to move into the quarterfinals of the Estoril Open. In another all-Spanish match, fourth seeded Tommy Robredo struggled before beating unseeded Santiago Ventura 7-5, 6-0. Paul-Henri Mathieu also advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Tomas Cakl, and Davide Sanguinetti rallied to defeat Albert Costa 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

– Associated Press