Sports Desk

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The New York Sun

CYCLING


ARMSTRONG RESPONDS TO TOUR OFFICIAL’S COMMENTS


Lance Armstrong went on the offensive yesterday, saying it was “preposterous” for Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc to say that the legendary cyclist “fooled” race officials and the sporting world by cheating his way to seven straight titles.


Comments by Leblanc appeared in the French sports daily L’Equipe yesterday, a day after the newspaper reported that six urine samples provided by Armstrong during the 1999 Tour tested positive for the red blood cell-booster EPO.


“I actually spoke to him for about 30 minutes, and he didn’t say any of that stuff to me personally,” Armstrong said, referring to Leblanc.


COLLEGE BASKETBALL


HUGGINS RESIGNS CINCINNATI COACHING POST


Bob Huggins agreed yesterday to step down as Cincinnati’s basketball coach, ousted by a school president determined to change the program’s image.


One day after Huggins was given a choice of resigning or being fired, he agreed to take a $3 million buyout of his contract. The school’s offer includes a chance to stay for three more months, giving advice on basketball recruits and related matters.


An interim coach has not been chosen. The school doesn’t anticipate hiring a permanent replacement until after the 2005-06 season. Huggins won more games than any other coach at Cincinnati, but his tenure was also marked by player arrests and NCAA rules violations that landed the school on probation. After a DUI arrest last year, Huggins was placed on unpaid leave over the summer but returned and coached last season, the last before Cincinnati moved into the Big East.


HOCKEY


ST. LOUIS SIGNS SIX-YEAR DEAL WITH LIGHTNING


The Tampa Bay Lightning took another step to keep the core of their Stanley Cup championship team together yesterday, signing Martin St. Louis to a six-year contract worth more than $31 million.


The 30-year-old right wing had 38 goals and 56 assists for 94 points during the 2003-04 season to win the Hart Trophy as MVP, the Art Ross Trophy (scoring leader) and the Lester B. Pearson Award (MVP as chosen by the players) while leading the Lightning to their first league title.


PRO FOOTBALL


EAGLES’ BUCKHALTER OUT FOR SEASON


Philadelphia Eagles backup running back Correll Buckhalter, who has a history of injuries, will miss the season after undergoing knee surgery for the third time in four years.


Buckhalter, who missed nearly all of training camp, underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a torn patella tendon in his right knee. Last year, he had season-ending surgery on the same tendon after he injured it in a preseason game.


Buckhalter was injured in practice August 5, but initial MRI tests were inconclusive. Dr. James Andrews, the same surgeon who operated on Buckhalter’s knee last year, performed the surgery Tuesday in Alabama on the fifth-year pro out of Nebraska.


FRANKS AGREES TO LONG-TERM DEAL WITH PACKERS


Three-time Pro Bowl tight end Bubba Franks has agreed to a long-term contract with the Packers, his agent confirmed yesterday. Franks signed a seven-year, $28 million deal, according to a person familiar with the contract who requested anonymity. The deal was also reported on the Web site ESPN.com. Packers general manager Ted Thompson refused to comment until the deal was signed.


Franks and his agent were flying to Green Bay from Florida last night. It is unlikely that the five-year veteran will play in the preseason game scheduled tomorrow night against New England. Franks, 27, was picked by the Packers in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft and signed a five-year, $6.5 million deal pact his rookie year.


– Associated Press


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