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.

HOCKEY
RANGERS DOUBLE UP LIGHTNING AT THE GARDEN Tom Poti scored New York’s third power-play goal with just 1:48 left and the Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak last night by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2.
Poti, who has heard boos from the home crowd all season long, fired a slap shot from the slot for his first goal of the season. That rescued the Rangers, who blew a two-goal lead over the defending Stanley Cup champions earlier in the period.
Martin Rucinsky had an empty-net goal and two assists, and fellow Czech Republic Olympians Petr Prucha and Martin Straka also scored for New York, which only netted four goals in the losing streak that took place entirely at home. Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves hours after being chosen to the Swedish Olympic team.
FOOTBALL
DUNGY’S SON FOUND DEAD OF APPARENT SUICIDE James Dungy, the 18-year-old son of Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, was found dead of an apparent suicide early yesterday, the sheriff’s office said.
James Dungy’s girlfriend found him when she returned to the Campus Lodge Apartments at about 1:30 a.m., Hillsborough County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
Dungy wasn’t breathing when he was found, Carter said. A sheriff’s deputy performed CPR before an ambulance took him to University Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Tony Dungy took the team plane from Indianapolis to Tampa, Fla., where he had coached the Buccaneers from 1996 to 2001.
The Colts (13-1) travel to Seattle for a game Saturday, and team president Bill Polian said assistant head coach Jim Caldwell will take over “for however long Tony will be away, and however long he will be away is entirely up to him.”
BASEBALL
MLB REAPPLIES FOR CUBA PERMIT Hours after U.S. baseball officials reapplied for a permit that would allow Cuba to join next year’s inaugural World Baseball Classic, the island’s communist government said last night it would donate any money received at the tournament to hurricane victims.
Officials from Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association reapplied yesterday to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, seeking permission for Cuba to play in the 16-team tournament, scheduled for March 3-20.The permit is required because of U.S. laws and regulations governing certain transactions with Cuba, and the Bush administration last week denied the first request, seemingly because Cubans would have received money.
FLAHERTY SIGNS WITH RED SOX Two days after losing Johnny Damon to the Yankees, the Red Sox took a player from New York. Backup catcher John Flaherty and the Red Sox reached a preliminary agreement yesterday on a $650,000, one-year contract.
Also yesterday, Rondell White agreed to a contract with the Minnesota Twins that guarantees him $3.25 million for one year and could be worth up to $8.5 million over two seasons if he plays regularly. The 33-year-old White, who spent the last two seasons in Detroit, hit .313 with 12 homers and 53 RBI in 97 games for the Tigers last season. In Los Angeles, pitcher Brett Tomko to an $8.7 million, two-year contract with the Dodgers. The right-hander went 8-15 with a 4.48 ERA for the Giants last season.
– Associated Press