Sports Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
FOOTBALL
EAGLES FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST COWBOYS REGARDING OWENS
The Philadelphia Eagles have filed a tampering complaint against the Dallas Cowboys after Dallas owner Jerry Jones suggested on a radio show that his team is often interested in players such as suspended wide receiver Terrell Owens.
“In general, I am a risk-taker. We’ve gone down that road,” Jones said when asked if the Cowboys might be interested in Owens. “I probably have a propensity to try and make things work. … A top receiver could flourish with Drew Bledsoe. That’s always appealing.”
NFL spokesman Michael Signora confirmed yesterday the Eagles filed the complaint over Jones’s remark and said “the matter is under review.”
Owens was suspended for four games by the Eagles on November 5 for criticizing quarterback Donovan McNabb, fighting with team “ambassador” Hugh Douglas, and other actions deemed detrimental to the team. Last Tuesday, the suspension was upheld by an arbitrator. After the suspension ends, the Eagles are expected to de-activate Owens for the rest of the season.
NFL bylaws prohibit “any interference by a member club with the employer employee relationship of another club or any attempt by a club to impermissibly induce a person to seek employment with that club or with the NFL.”
BASKETBALL
ARTEST RETURNS TO LEAD PACERS OVER CLIPPERS
Ron Artest scored 22 points, Jermaine O’Neal had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 97-92 yesterday.
Elton Brand had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who have lost consecutive games for the first time this season after a franchise-best 9-2 start and were beaten at home for the first time.
Artest, who missed Friday’s 87-85 loss to Atlanta because of a bruised right wrist he injured on a hard foul by Cleveland’s LeBron James on Thursday, shot 8-for-19 from the field. Stephen Jackson scored 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting after going 4-for-15 against the Hawks
In Atlanta, Darius Miles scored on a bank shot with 1.3 seconds left to give Portland a 77-75 victory and end Atlanta’s two-game winning streak. Hawks rookie Salim Stoudamire missed a last-second jumper following Miles’s go-ahead basket over Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia. Zach Randolph led Portland with 24 points, making 12-of-15 shots from the field. The Hawks opened the season with nine straight losses.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
RANKED TEAMS COME AWAY WITH WINS
Chris McCray scored 20 points and no. 23 Maryland opened the second half with a 16-0 run to breeze past Nicholls State 88-56 yesterday. Two days after returning from Hawaii, where they played three games in less than 48 hours at the Maui Invitational, the Terrapins (4-1) endured a sluggish first half before pulling away.
In East Lansing, Mich., Paul Davis had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Maurice Ager added 20 points for no. 12 Michigan State (3-2), who returned home from Hawaii to defeat IPFW 84-73.
Elsewhere in top 25 action, Chris Rodgers matched his season high with 20 points, scoring 15 in the second half as no. 9 Arizona ran away from Virginia for an 81-51 victory. And in Villanova, Pa., Allan Ray set Villanova’s individual 3-point record with eight and scored 26 points as the no. 4 Wildcats also set a team mark with 17 3-pointers in an 84-47 win over Lehigh.
GOLFSANS SKIRT, FUNK WINS FIRST SKINS GAME
Fred Funk, who had to wear a skirt for one hole on Saturday after being out driven by Annika Sorenstam, won the Skins Game yesterday with a total of $925,000 and 15 skins, clinching a record setting victory when Tiger Woods missed an 8-foot birdie putt on no. 18.
The 49-year-old Funk became the oldest Skins Game winner with a two-putt birdie on 18 that gave him the final $550,000 and six skins. He won all $700,000 available yesterday.
Almost as surprising as Funk winning practically the entire purse was Fred Couples, the King of Skins, getting shut out for the first time in 12 appearances. Woods won the other $75,000, on the third hole on Saturday. Sorenstam was shut out for the second straight year.
The $925,000 and 15 skins were records for a rookie. Funk got into his first Skins Game by winning the Players Championship in March. With more than half the purse up for grabs on the final hole, Funk played it brilliantly. As usual, his drive was in the middle of the fairway on the 524-yard, par-5 finishing hole. His approach shot left him with a 30-foot eagle putt, which curled just to the left, leaving him a tap-in for birdie.
HOCKEY
AVS LOSE KONOWALCHUK FOR SEASON
Colorado Avalanche left wing Steve Konowalchuk will have surgery on his right wrist and be out the rest of the season.
“Further examination along with an MRI confirmed that Steve has torn ligaments in his right wrist and that surgery is necessary,” Avalanche head athletic trainer Matt Sokolowski said yesterday. “We anticipate the recovery time to be between six and seven months.”
The Avalanche assistant captain, who was injured November 21 in a game against Calgary, had been a major contributor with 15 points, including six goals, and was plus-5 in 21 games.