Albert Avoids Jail Sentence With Apology

Marv Albert was spared a jail sentence Friday after a grudging courtroom apology to the woman he bit during a sexual romp.

“I’m sorry if she felt she was harmed,� the former NBC sportscaster said at a sentencing in Arlington, Va., where he could have gotten a year in jail. Instead, his criminal record will be erased if he stays out of trouble for a year.

Lurid allegations about Albert’s sex life, including his fondness for threesomes and wearing women’s panties, led the 56-year-old announcer to cut short his trial and plead guilty last month to assault and battery. Prosecutors dropped forcible sodomy charges, punishable by five years to life in prison.

Prosecutors took the unusual step of calling Albert to the stand in an attempt to show that he was not truly remorseful. While Albert did offer an apology, he said in the same breath that biting was “normal activity� when the two had previously had sex.

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Trevor Ruffin, who was waived by the New Jersey Nets last fall, was among three men accused of kidnapping at gunpoint an 11-year-old boy who had reportedly broken into Ruffin’s car in Buffalo, N.Y.

Ruffin, 27, was charged Thursday with kidnapping, criminal use of a firearm, endangering the welfare of a child and robbery.

Tennis

Third-ranked Patrick Rafter, the U.S. Open champion, battled for more than two hours before beating Todd Martin and reaching the semifinals of the Eurocard Open at Stuttgart, Germany.

Rafter, the highest-ranked player left in the tournament, rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 victory over Martin, who lost in the qualifying round but got into the tournament when injured Magnus Norman dropped out.

Rafter’s next opponent is Czech Petr Korda, who upset Marcelo Rios of Chile, 6-3, 6-4.

Top-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa beat Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands, 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, and advanced to the semifinals of the Seat Open at Luxembourg.

Soccer

American national team goalkeeper Brad Friedel could be headed to Liverpool in England’s Premier League if he is granted a work permit by the English Department of Employment.

The storied English club reached a deal worth a reported $1.6 million with Major League Soccer, where Friedel has played with the Columbus Crew for the last 1 1/2 seasons.

British newspapers said Friedel had agreed to terms and was ready to sign a four-year contract.

England’s soccer governing body accused Italian authorities of “deliberate intimidation� of English fans at the World Cup qualifier in Rome on Oct. 11.

Clashes between English fans and Italian police occurred before, during and after the game at the Olympic Stadium. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, allowing England to qualify for next year’s World Cup in France.

The Football Assn., in a 50-page report compiled from the testimony of nearly 1,500 English fans who contacted an FA hotline, laid the majority of the blame for the disturbances on the Italians.

Southland

Four UCLA teams will be competing on campus Sunday. At noon, the men’s water polo team faces Pacific. At 2 p.m., the women’s soccer team hosts USC in a battle of the Pac-10’s only undefeated teams and the women’s volleyball team plays Washington State at Pauley Pavilion. And at 4:30, the men’s soccer team plays Cal State Los Angeles.

Motor Racing

Chuck Etchells recorded the fastest funny car speed in NHRA history, 315.56 mph, but Tony Pedregon took the No. 1 qualifying spot in the category at 4.908 seconds in the Matco Tools SuperNationals at Baytown, Texas.

Other top qualifiers were Joe Amato in top fuel and Mark Osborne in pro stock.

Bobby Labonte, the younger brother of defending Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte, won the pole for Sunday’s ACDelco 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, N.C., turning a fast lap of 156.696 mph in a Pontiac. He beat out Dale Jarrett, who ran 156.522 in a Ford.

Miscellany

Brian Ellerbe, the assistant coach who had been running Michigan basketball practices since Steve Fisher was fired, was named interim coach.

“I decided to keep our group intact,� Athletic Director Tom Goss said at a news conference.

Michelle Kwan, the 1996 world and U.S. champion who was dethroned by Tara Lipinski for both crowns last year, won the short program at Skate America in Detroit. Kwan’s presentation earned her first place with eight of the nine judges. The Japanese judge went for Lipinski.

All finals are today.

Heavyweight boxer Andrew Golota was fined $5,000 for secretly using a pain killer 1 1/2 hours before a fight, according to New Jersey boxing commissioner Larry Hazzard.

Lennox Lewis could defend his World Boxing Council heavyweight title on Feb. 21 against Americans Buster Douglas or Lou Savarese, the British champion’s manager said, if Lewis can’t get a unification fight against the winner of the Evander Holyfield-Michael Moorer bout Nov. 8.

Austria’s Josef Strobl, using women’s skis, and France’s Leila Piccard, whose brother was an Olympic champion, won the opening races of the World Cup skiing season at Tignes, France.

They won parallel races, which count for individual World Cup points for the first time in nearly 23 years.

Malabar Man won the Breeders Crown 3-year-old Colt & Gelding Trot in a romp at Mohawk Raceway in Campbellville, Canada. The victory in 1:55 2/5 could lead to a harness horse-of-the-year award.