Williams Has Lots of Incentive

Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams has either the best contract ever or one of the worst, depending on how his NFL career plays out.

Williams, the New Orleans Saints’ only draft pick, signed a seven-year contract Friday with an optional eighth year. The contract includes an $8.84-million signing bonus and will be worth $11.1 million to $68.4 million, depending upon his performance.

If he plays in the NFL as he did in college, his contract will be the most lucrative ever given a rookie. If he fails to reach goals set in incentive clauses, he will earn the league minimum for the next seven years, $175,000 the first year, increasing annually to $400,000 in the final year.

“I decided to go with the big bonus on the front end and the rest I have to work for,” Williams said. “With this contract I’m going to be making great money if I’m playing well enough.”

Tennis

Patrick Rafter moved closer to the No. 1 ranking with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open at Rome.

Rafter, ranked No. 4, will jump to No. 1 if he wins the tournament. The three players ahead of him--No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, No. 2 Pete Sampras and No. 3 Carlos Moya--have already lost.

Australian Rafter next plays 15th-seeded Felix Mantilla of Spain, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over German qualifier David Prinosil.

Third-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain defeated unseeded Argentine Franco Squillari, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, and No. 16 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, the 1997 French Open champion, defeated No. 10 Karol Kucera of Slovakia, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

A hobbling Steffi Graf lost in three sets and Serena Williams withdrew because of an arm injury at the German Open in Berlin.

Top-seeded Martina Hingis had to struggle but advanced to the semifinals of the $1.05-million tournament by defeating Barbara Schett of Austria, 7-5, 7-5.

Graf, returning from an ankle injury, lost to unseeded Julie Halard-Decugis of France, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Graf, playing her first tournament on clay in nearly two years, developed back pain and needed treatment during changeovers.

Motor Racing

Mark Martin outran Roush Racing teammate Jeff Burton over the last fifth of the rain-delayed Hardee’s 250 Busch Grand National race at Richmond, Va., and Matt Kenseth took over the series points lead. . . . Qualifying for today’s NASCAR Winston Cup Pontiac 400 at Richmond was rained out.

A wheel that flew off Stan Wattles’ race car was initially contained by a catch fence at Lowe’s Motor Speedway before it was deflected back onto the track and propelled into the stands when struck by another car. That’s what Indy Racing League officials said in a preliminary report on the accident that killed three spectators at the VisionAire 500 on May 1 at Concord, N.C.

Five-time world motorcycle champion Mick Doohan is recovering in Menlo Park, Calif., after surgery to repair several broken bones suffered in a qualifying accident, and his doctor said prospects for his return to racing were excellent.

Hometown driver Christian Fittipaldi won the pole position for today’s Rio 200 CART race at Rio de Janeiro, setting a track qualifying record of 174.515 mph in a Newman-Haas Swift-Ford.

Miscellany

UC Irvine’s students overwhelming passed a referendum this week to raise student fees $33 per quarter in order to fully fund all Anteater sports, restore the baseball program and add women’s water polo and another women’s sport yet to be decided. The fee will go into effect in the fall of 2000, and the baseball team is expected to return in 2002.

The top-seeded qualifying teams of Canyon Ceman-Adam Jewell and Patty Dodd-Angela Rock advanced to the main draw of the Alero Beach Volleyball Series at Huntington Beach.

The Salt Lake Organizing Committee announced the first new Olympic national sponsor in nearly a year. Marker Ltd. of Salt Lake City will supply all the uniforms for staff at the games, a sponsorship worth at least $20 million.

Two other Utah companies have agreed to donate the medals and natural gas for the games. The value of those deals is $5 million to $10 million each.

Luke Recker, who led Indiana in scoring last basketball season, will transfer to Arizona. Recker will sit out next season and have two years of eligibility left.

A memorial service for former USC golf coach Stan Wood, who died last week at 79, will be held at 1 p.m. May 22 at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. . . . Former Auburn wide receiver Robert Baker, paroled in March after serving 10 months of a 15-year sentence for drug trafficking, will make himself eligible for the NFL’s supplemental draft. . . . Professional boxer Dezi Ford was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the beating death of his toddler son in Canton, Ohio, and was sentenced to eight years in prison. . . . Southern Illinois wide receiver Charles Teague died after the sport utility vehicle he was driving overturned several times on an interstate in Jackson, Miss. . . . Kevin Keegan was hired as England’s national soccer coach, two months after replacing Glenn Hoddle on a temporary basis.