Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 5

i 2D DETROIT FREE 8 THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2001 MM STEVE CROWE oortsTocl 0XIMG Compiled from Free Press staff and news services his a Mayweather is fighting mad 33-0 Corrales in path of HBO deal STEVE SCHRADER'S horming urn FORGET the cliche "these two guys just plain don't like each other." In Saturday night's fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. of Grand Rapids and Diego Corrales, these two guys don't like that they get only gloves to go at f- I A THEY SAID IT "All that proves is that you could play golf under different rules. Is it essential to the game of baseball that the pitcher bat? Is it fundamental to baseball that the strike jzone be from the shoulders to the knees? All sports rules are silly rules, aren't they?" each other. World Boxing Council super-featherweight champ Mayweather (24-0, 18 knockouts) has promised to beat up Corrales "on behalf of bat Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, questioning Casey Martin's lawyer, who contends his client should be allowed to use a cart on the PGA Tour. tered women everywhere.

Corrales (33-0, 27 KOs) has stated his intention to "kill Floyd Mayweather." At least, that's a caption on one of many pictures of Mayweather that Corrales hung in the gym during 3 NATION WORLD Team Penske Racing returning to Indy 500 after seven-year gap Team Penske Racing will be returning to the Indianapolis 500 after a seven-year absence, Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said Wednesday. "Our team is going to field a Marlboro Penske Racing Team at Indianapolis (May 27) and make an entry in the (Indy Racing League opener March 18) in Phoenix," he said at California Speedway in Fontana. Roger Penske, the most successful owner at the classic U.S. open wheel race with 10 Indy victories, failed to qualify a driver in 1995 and hasn't returned to Indianapolis since. In 1996 the IRL series was formed to rival the CART series and took over the Indy 500.

Penske drivers have won 10 national championships in Indy-car racing, although he is currently entered only in CART. The two series use different equipment. AUTO RACING: CART champion Gil de Ferran and 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack were added to the International Race of Champions series. Their inclusion closes out the 12-driver field for the annual four-race, all-star series. The selection of de Ferran and 2000 CART rookie of the year Brack, who won the 500 while competing in the Indy Racing League, puts CART back in the field after a one-year absence caused by schedule conflicts.

IROC, which matches the top stock car and open-wheel drivers, will race for the first time this year at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 16. The other races will be April 21 at Talladega, June 9 at Michigan International Speedway near Brooklyn, and Aug. 4 at Indianapolis. The drivers compete in identically prepared Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams.

With de Ferran, the field includes the defending champions of the four top American racing series. Previously announced as participants were NASCAR Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte, IRL champion Buddy Lazier and NASCAR Busch series titlist Jeff Green. Back to defend his IROC title is Dale Earnhardt. The Winston Cup series also is represented by Jeff Burton, Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd. The other IRL drivers are Eddie Cheever, Mark Dismore and Scott Goodyear.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Bob Stoops, who led Oklahoma to the national championship in his second season at the school, received the Bear Bryant Award as the nation's top college football coach. Stoops was selected from a field of six finalists in voting by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Other finalists were Florida State's Bobby Bowden, South Carolina's Lou Holtz, Oregon State's Dennis Erick-son, Miami's Butch Davis and Texas Christian's Dennis Franchione (now at Alabama). Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer agreed to a new contract, worth $9.1 million, through 2007. SWIMMING: Britain's Mark Foster broke the short-course world record in the 50-meter butterfly, clocking 22.87 seconds at a World Cup meet in Sheffield, England.

Foster, the former record-holder in the 50 freestyle, eclipsed the old butterfly mark of 23.19, set by Sweden's Lars Frolander at the short-course world championships in March at Athens, Greece. BOWLING: Jason Couch of Clermont, had an eight-game pinfall of 2,008 to take the lead after the first round of qualifying in the PBA Tour's Silicon Valley Open at Daly City, Calif. New Jersey prep guard nets 100 training. Corrales faces trial next month on a felony charge of spousal abuse. Mayweather's Saturday purse is $1.7 million, $300,000 more than Corrales'.

Mayweather, 23, intent, on making Floyd Mayweather Jr. i 4 RICK STEVENSAssociated Prew Venus Williams turned a few heads with the new outfit she wore Tuesday at the Australian Open. It's a mystic number for a basketball player, scoring 100 points in a game. It's not so great for the team on the receiving end. Dajuan Wagner of Camden (N.J.) High scored 100 in a 157-67 victory over Gloucester Township Tech on Tuesday night.

"I was just hot off the bat," said Wagner, a 6-foot-3 senior guard who has committed to the University of Memphis. "I scored 24 in the first quarter and I knew I was in for a big game." Wagner's best quarter was the fourth, when he scored 28. The 100th point came on a three-pointer with about four minutes left, and he left the game after that. He was 42-of-61, including 10-for-15 from three-point range. The NBA's only 100-point effort was by the Philadelphia Warriors' Wilt Chamberlain in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks in 1962.

Twelve other high school boys and one girl have done it. "At the end of the third quarter, when he had 72, 1 said to him that he had three minutes left to play and then I was going to take him out," Camden coach Glenn Jackson said. "But two minutes into the quarter, he was up to 90, so I decided to let him go for it." To the ire of Tech coach Bob Sweeney, who was upset Camden pressed the entire game. "He smiled at him," Sweeney told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I knew what they were going to do.

And (Jackson) is doing it at the expense of my kids. That's not Iright. It's a shallow 100." the red wiNCS' little air -dent this week got some people wondering, what would the NHL do if there were a disaster? A contingency plan has been on the books for some time; a new squad would be fielded quickly. There would be a draft from the other teams; each would protect one goalie, 10 skaters and all first-year players. No team would lose more than one player.

Whether the plan would have im- ed als nt ch tte UO I ha o-4, i id 3 1, i Parker Bonn III of Jackson, N.J., was second, 19 pins behind Couch. Joe Salvemini of Las Vegas was in third with 1,941 pins. I i t- METRO STATE Sports agent Black pleads guilty in drug money-laundering case ByJOESWICKARD free press staff writer 1 VENUS' NEW CLOTHES Venus Williams is grabbing headlines at the Australian Open for her daring new outfit and its revealing, blue-and-black halter top (see above). The Herald Sun ran a frontpage photo of Williams with the headline: "Venus' fashion front." "The $70 million ace wore a skirt teamed with a complicated strappy top that kept stunned fans guessing whether it was a too-tiny bra or a two-tone slashed-front top," the Herald Sun wrote. "Every time Venus tossed up to serve I was thinking: 'Oh no, they won't fali out, will former player Pam Shriver told the Australian newspaper.

"Thankfully they things were much simpler in my day. I do not think many of us would be comfortable wearing Venus's contraption." The Age flagged its coverage "Crimes of Fashion," and said: "Excluding every day of Anna Kournikova's career, an outfit rarely generates as much interest as Venus Williams' apparel did." Williams and her sister, Serena, are serious about their fashion statements. Venus, 20, recently signed a $40-million deal with Reebok and she's studying fashion design. Serena, who wore a more modest outfit in bright fuchsia for her first-round match, thought her big sister's outfit was "cute." "A lot of people try to keep up with us, but it's pretty hard," Serena said. "We're the original first, the last." ON THE WEB The official Super Bowl web site superbowl.com is up and running, with everything you want to know about the big game, souvenirs and such.

TODAY'S SUPER HYPE Breathe Right has issued limited-edition nasal strips in purple and yellow, the Baltimore Ravens' colors. New York Giants fans will have to breathe through their mouths. TWO CENTS WORTH Just how long is the Lions' list of coaching candidates going to get while Matt Millen gets to know Gary Moeller? Of course, It's not Millen's fault. It's what happens when you give an interim coach a three-year contract and then have doubts after a season-ending embarrassment. Didn't they see that coming? Hasn't Steve Yzerman earned an annual pass to the NHL's AJI-Star Game? Sure, he has played in only 23 games this season, but that's more than twice as many as Mario Lemieux.

Both should go. Pretty amazing, isn't it, that Ohio State is hiring a Division I-AA guy, Youngstown State's Jim Tressel, to replace John Cooper. Do the Buckeyes know Tressel is 1 -4 against Eastern Michigan? NOT THERE! San Jose Sharks goalie Steve Shields is glad Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden took a pass on the Buckeyes. "That's the last place I want to see him go," said Shields, still a Michigan man. THE LIST We're not saying he should have been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but here are some X-factors that might have cost Tigers great Kirk Gibson a few votes: Sure, he's mellowed now, but used to be a major league grouch.

Writers just didn't know him didn't play long enough in major media market like LA Needs a shave. It's the old anti-Spartans bias. Sneaking suspicion he's riding Eli Zaret's coattails. Voters afraid to antagonize anti-hunting lobby. Butterfly ballot confused some Gibby supporters.

Couldn't hit a hanging chad. his boxing name huge instead of just big, is roughly a 9-5 favorite to beat Corrales, whose 6-foot frame gives him a four-inch advantage over Mayweather. The winner will parlay his still spotless record into a lucrative six-fight deal with HBO, whose telecast starts at 9 p.m. Saturday. In HBO's opening bout, Jose Luis Castillo (41-4-1, 37 KOs) risks his WBC lightweight title against top-ranked contender Cesar Bazan KOs).

Corrales, moving down from 135 (lightweight) to 130 pounds, is coming off impressive consecutive knockouts of Derrick Gainer and Angel Man-fredy, a former KO victim of Mayweather. Mayweather, voted top fighter of 1998 by the Boxing Writers Association of America, most recently stopped rugged Emanuel Burton in October, at Detroit's Fox Theatre and on HBO's "KO Nation." "I got no hatred for any man," Mayweather said. "But if someone puts up a picture of me in the gym saying he wants to kill me, we've got a problem. He can't fight the picture. He's got to fight me." CUTS BY GLENN: Two gloved thumbs up to Glenn Hirsch of Bloomfield Hills, who had the lone Michigan Athletic Board of Control vote Tuesday against kid-glove treatment for Mike Tyson.

The board voted, 6-1, with two members absent, to approve a stipulation from Tyson to accept a penalty of $200,000 for refusing to take a urine test before his Oct. 20 Palace win over Andrew Golota. The money goes to state-selected charities, which somewhat lessens the stench. Tyson's pre-fine take for the two-round fight, which Golota quit, was about $10 million. Tyson also was suspended for 90 days, about as meaningful as saying he can't leave the planet until Christmas.

Somewhat lost in the story is that Tyson submitted to a urine test after the fight, testing positive for marijuana. "WTiy are we, as inspectors and officials, even there if not to establish criteria?" said Hirsch, who had hoped Tyson's suspension would be long enough to force him to put off a mega-money fight. "It seems real simple. "And what's so silly is that if Mike had acted accordingly and failed (the test) beforehand, it would have been just 30 days and $500. No big deal." Hirsch noted that after the board meeting disposed of Tyson's case, 30-day suspensions and $500 fines were given to four other boxers for traces of marijuana found in their tests.

No victories were reversed. "If our rules and regulations are that you take it before a fight, you take it," Hirsch said. "It's all about accountability. And we're barely inconveniencing Mike Tyson with these sanctions." CALLING OUT KLITSCHKO: Derrick Jefferson, whose huge heart and punishing style have impressed many in boxing, might take them into a March title fight in Germany against World Boxing Organization heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko. That was confirmed Wednesday by Bill (Fight Night) Kozerski, Jefferson's promoter, who has begun negotiations with the German handlers of Ukrainian brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko.

Jefferson, 32, of Detroit, has approached star status with valiant nonstop punching performances in TKO losses to David Izon last January and Oleg Maskaev on May 20, both on HBO. Jefferson (23-2-1, 19 KOs) suffered a severe ankle sprain against Maskaev, then aggravated it in subsequent training. In his most recent appearance, on the Nov. 4 Shane Mosley-Antonio Diaz undercard at Madison Square Garden, Jefferson scored a first-round TKO win over Marcus Johnson (7-9-1). Wladimir Klitschko (35-1, 32 KOs) won the title from Flint's Chris Byrd via 12-round decision Oct.

14 at Cologne, Germany. In April, Byrd (31-2, 19 KOs) also promoted bv Kozerski took the WBO title when Vitali Klitschko (28-1, 27 KOs) quit after nine rounds. "There have been rumors about this fight happening before, and it's the fight Derrick has. really been pushing for," Kozerski said. "There were also some recent discussions about other HBO opportunities, but Derrick is intent on fighting for a title.

It's a tremendously positive state of mind." Conlact STEVE CROWE at 313-222-2115. to be modified for the larger 30-team league such as would all 29 give up a player would be addressed by the Board of Governors if the situation arose. Compiled by STEVE SCHRADER, who can be reached at 313-222-6710 or schraderfreepress.com. FREEP FREEDIES Sports agent William (Tank) Black faces a potential 6'2-year federal prison term and a fine after pleading guilty Wednesday to participating in a money-laundering scheme. Black who once represented Lions wide receiver Germane Crowell and other NFL players will be sentenced May 10 in Detroit by U.S.

District Court Judge Lawrence Zatkoff. Black, 43, was named in a six-count federal indictment last summer. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder $1.1 million for drug dealers. According to his plea agreement, Black used a series of phony corporations to disguise drug money as legitimate business profits. The money from Detroit drug dealers moved first to Black's base of operations in Columbia, S.C., and then overseas, according to the plea agreement.

Black took a 25 percent cut of the cash, federal authorities said, as well as a share of interest earned on the laundered money. Black, who will be held in federal custody pending his sentencing, also faces additional charges in Florida and Louisiana. The Florida case involves allegations that he swindled NFL players out of $5 million. In Louisiana, he is accused of conspiring to bribe two people connected with the Louisiana State University football program. Contact JOE SWICKARD at 313-223-4537 or swickardfreepress.com Baseball: The Toledo Mud Hens will hold their annual Fandemonium, previewing the 2001 season, 2-5 p.m.

Sunday in Recreation Hall at Ned Skeleton Stadium. Scheduled to appear are right-hander Adam Bernero, mfielder Robert Rck and right-hander Matt Wheatland, the Tigers' top draft pick last year. Tickets, $3, can be purchased at the door or by phone at 419-893-9483. Junior Olympics: The 2003 Junior Olympic Games will be held in metro Detroit, the Amateur Athletic Union announced. The games will span two weeks and involve up to 1 5,000 athletes in 23 sports.

Swimming: Bowling Green's Ryan Golden (Washington Township, Rochester Adams) is Mid-American Conference swimmer of the week Golden won three events last weekend 1 ,000 freestyle 500 free (4:45.24) and 200 tree (1 :47.98). He also was on two 200-free relay teams that finished third. High school sports Basketball: Dion Sherrell scored 24 points. Marten Summers added 21, Lamar Showers had 13 and James Godily grabbed 10 rebounds as Detroit Henry Ford (4-3, 2-3 West) took a 77-65 victory over Detroit Cody (0-7, 0-5). Hockey.

Chris Garbutt recorded his third shutout in four games as Uvonla Franklin and Uvonla Churchill played to a scoreless tie. Garbutt made 28 saves for Franklin (6-1-5). Ryan McBroom had 15 saves for Churchill (8-2-2). Volleyball: Uz laciura had nine kills, lifting Grosst Points South over Eastoointe East Detroit 7-15, 15-1 j. 15-13.

We have a special Free Press Publishing package to give away, including the sports poster series and copies of The Detroit Almanac," "Century of Champions" and "The Corner." The question: Who won the last time New York and Baltimore teams representing the cities, not the Giants' and Ravens franchises played in the Super Bowl? To enter. Fill out this coupon no photocopies allowed. ALSO write your answer on the back of your envelope. All entries must be postmarked by Saturday. A random drawing among correct entrants will determine the winner.

Name: THE GUIDE Address City: Chicago, WWJ-AM (950). Area events Women's college basketball: Wayne State vs. Saginaw Valley State. 5:30 pm.Matthaei Building. 313-577-4280.

College basketball: Oakland vs. Chicago State. 7 p.m., Athletics Center. 248-370-3190. Hockey: Vipers vs.

Cincinnati, 7 p.m., Palace. 248377-0100. Women's college basketball: Detroit Mercy vs. Illinois-Chicago, 7 Cahhan Hall. 313-993-1700.

College basketball: Wayne State vs. Saginaw Valley State, 7:30 p.m.. Matthaei Building. 31 3-577-4280. Junior hockey: Windsor Spitfires vs.

Kingston, 7:30 Windsor Arena. 519-256-4549. California at Arizona. 11:00 (MB Golf: Australasia Tour, New Zealand Open Championship, second round (taped). Midnight (EHt College basketball: Long Beach State at Cal-Santa Barbara.

Radio highlights 7:00 p.m. CoHege basketball: Michigan at Ohio State. WJR-AM (760), WTKA-AM(1050). 7:00 College basketball: Oakland vs. Chicago State, WXOU-FM (88.3).

7:00 NHL Toronto at New York Rangers. CHYR-FM (96 7). 7:00 Vipers: Detroit vs. Cincinnati. WXDX-AM (1310).

7:30 Junior hockey: Windsor vs. Kingston, CKLW-AM (800). 8:30 Pistons: Detroit at TV highlights 9 a.m. iGOLEJ Golf European Tour, Alfred Dunhill Championship, first round (taped). 1 p.m.

(ESPN) Tennis: Australian Open (taped). 1:30 (ME Golf: LPGA Subaru Memorial of Naples, first round. 4:00 QBD Golf: PGA Sony Open, first round. 7:00 ISEf College basketball: Michiaan at Ohio State. 7:30 (EPN2 U.S.

Figure Skating Championships. 8:00 OBD NBA: Miami at Portland. 8:30 ODD Pistons: Detroit at Chicaao. 9:00 tliPlt College basketball: St. Louis at Memphis.

9:30 Tennis: Australian Open. 1O.30 CDH) College basketball: Southern State: Bp: Home phone: Work phone: Man to: Free Press Sports, 600 W. Fort, Detroit, Ml 48226 .1.