First Day of Arguments Heard in Lockout Grievance Hearing

A unique clause in Sacramento Kings center Olden Polynice’s contract was cited by the players union Monday during the first day of arguments in a key lockout-related grievance hearing at New York.

The clause, agreed to when Polynice signed a five-year deal in 1994, protected the Kings from losing any money they had paid Polynice in the event games were canceled due to a work stoppage--whether a strike or a lockout.

Shawn Kemp of Cleveland is the only other NBA player with any type of lockout language in his contract, but his clause is more complicated than Polynice’s.�This is not a good thing, I don’t think, for the league,� said agent Keith Glass, who negotiated the contract for Polynice before the player twice switched agents. “I don’t know how they explain this one away.�

The hearing is being held over the union’s grievance contending that players with guaranteed contracts should be paid during a lockout.

Soccer

Two days after his team had been beaten, 5-1, by the Galaxy, Thomas Rongen, 41, resigned as coach of Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution, which immediately named former Italian World Cup goalkeeper Walter Zenga coach.

Golf

Mitch Voges of Simi Valley, Calif., the 1991 champion, was among seven golfers to shoot a 68 in first-round qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Championship at Rochester, N.Y. Voges opened at two under on Oak Hill’s 6,908-yard East Course. Defending champion Matt Kuchar, 1997 runnerup Joel Kribel and British Amateur champion Sergio Garcia opened with 70s.

Arnold Palmer, playing in his last tournament before undergoing follow-up radiation therapy for prostate cancer, was met by huge crowds and shouts of encouragement at every hole in the opening round of the Fred Meyer Challenge at Aloha, Ore. Palmer and Peter Jacobsen finished with a five-under-par 67 in the best-ball format, four strokes behind leaders Craig Stadler and Steve Elkington.

Tennis

The world’s two top-ranked players--Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis--were named the top seeded players for next week’s U.S. Open tennis tournament at New York.

Britain’s Greg Rusedski, playing his second event since spraining his left ankle at Wimbledon, beat Sweden’s Magnus Norman, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Hamlet Cup at Commack N.Y. Next he’ll play Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni, a 6-7 (7-2), 6-4, 6-3 winner over France’s Guillaume Raoux. Fourth-ranked Petr Korda of the Czech Republic and Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia withdrew. Korda has a neck injury. Kafelnikov’s injury was not known.

Russia’s Anna Kournikova, ranked 14th in the world but unseeded, broke Austria’s Barbara Schett in six of her eight service games en route to a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the Pilot Pen International at New Haven, Conn. Mary Joe Fernandez defeated Belgium’s Dominique Van Roost, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Gianluca Pozzi of Italy, at 33, the oldest player on the ATP tour, upset sixth-seeded Fabrice Santoro of France, 6-2, 6-2, at the MFS Pro Tennis Championships at Brookline, Mass. Thomas Muster swept Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay, 6-0, 6-3.

Pro Hockey

The Kings reduced their list of unsigned players to five when center Nathan LaFayette agreed to a two-year contract. Yet to be signed are defensemen Rob Blake and Aki Berg, left wingers Matt Johnson and Steve McKenna and goalie Jamie Storr.

Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Nick Kypreos announced his retirement and his intention to enter the broadcast booth.

Miscellany

The former women’s swim coach of East Germany admitted in a Berlin court that he secretly gave his athletes banned performance-enhancing drugs. Rolf Glaeser, 58, apologized to his former swimmers and was separated from his co-defendants.

Darryl Henley, the former Ram cornerback serving prison time for trying to have his ex-girlfriend and a federal judge killed, has filed court papers alleging misconduct by his former defense attorney. The court records on Henley’s motion have been sealed at the request of his lawyer, Raul Ayala. According to some documents obtained by City News Service, Henley claims lawyer David Reed promised that in exchange for a guilty plea on the murder-for-hire charges prosecutors would request a sentence reduction.

Two years after being cleared of drug-taking charges, Diane Modahl gave the bankrupt British Athletic Federation a seven-day deadline to come up with an acceptable compensation or face further legal action. Modahl, one of the world’s top female 800-meter runners, is suing the BAF for $1.3 million after successfully appealing a four-year doping ban.

Dennis Mitchell, a three-time Olympian sprinter, said he will fight the drug suspension handed down by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.