Matthaeus Says He’ll Rejoin the MetroStars
Lothar Matthaeus said he will rejoin the New York-New Jersey MetroStars for training next week, apparently ending a rift with the team.
The accord came after Matthaeus met for three hours Friday with Commissioner Don Garber, MetroStar General Manager Nick Sakiewicz and Coach Octavio Zambrano at Major League Soccer’s headquarters in New York.
Matthaeus, 39, left the team in mid-May to return to his native Germany for the European Championship. In his absence, the club, which added several players while he was away, went from one of the worst clubs in the league to one of the best.
Matthaeus returned but has not played for the MetroStars since injuring his back June 28 against San Jose.
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Colorado and Chicago battled to a 1-1 MLS tie in Denver on first-half goals by the Rapids’ Junior Agogo and the Fire’s Carlos Bocanegra.
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Bernard Murray, a former senior police officer in South Yorkshire, England, was found not guilty of two charges of manslaughter in a case stemming from a 1989 disaster in which 96 fans died during an FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, England. A verdict has not been returned on former Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield. A private prosecution brought by the Hillsborough Family Support Group centered on the officers’ failure to close a tunnel leading to pens where the trapped victims were crushed against riot-control fences.
Hockey
Claude Lemieux told Bloomberg News that he will not return to the New Jersey Devils after rejecting a one-time, take-it-or-leave-it offer. Lemieux, 35, helped the Devils win the Stanley Cup last season after being reacquired from the Colorado Avalanche in November. It was the forward’s fourth Stanley Cup and his second with New Jersey.
Lemieux wouldn’t disclose the offer, but he made $2.47 million last season and was seeking a four-year contract worth between $14 million and $16 million. The New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars have shown interest in signing him.
The Detroit Red Wings re-signed left wing Brent Gilchrist to a one-year contract. Gilchrist, 33, appeared in 24 of Detroit’s final 26 games last season, getting four goals and two assists. Hernia surgery kept him out of the first 56 games.
The Atlanta Thrashers agreed to a contract with free-agent center Jarrod Skalde, 29, a former Mighty Duck who was the fifth-leading scorer in the International Hockey League with 25 goals and 54 assists in 77 games for the Utah Grizzlies last season.
Motor Sports
Tony Stewart, after sitting out a rain delay of more than 25 minutes and then inspecting the track in the pace car, set a record in qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Winston Cup Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono International Raceway.
Stewart earned the pole position with an average speed of 172.391 mph around the 2 1/2-mile oval, breaking the record of 172.157 set by Rusty Wallace earlier in the session.
Rookie Jamie McMurray, who changed teams since last competing on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series three races ago, took the pole position for the Michigan 200 at 177.414 mph at Brooklyn, Mich.
College Sports
Cal State Northridge basketball Coach Bobby Braswell has agreed to a four-year contract extension, with a $100,116 base salary, plus $38,000 a year from outside sources.
Braswell, 37, has a 65-53 record in four years. The Matadors have recorded consecutive winning seasons for the first time since moving to NCAA Division I in the 1990-91 season.
Michigan State and Nike have agreed to a five-year contract projected to bring the university more than $1 million annually in athletic equipment and royalties.
Tennis
Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden beat sixth-seeded Nicolas Massu of Chile, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, at Amsterdam to advance to the semifinals and is the only seeded player left in the $400,000 Dutch Open. . . . Argentina’s Franco Squillari is the only seeded player left in the $1-million Mercedes Cup at Stuttgart, Germany, after advancing to the semifinals by beating Karol Kucera, 7-5, 6-1. Squillari’s semifinal opponent will be German wild card Daniel Elsner, who routed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1.
Miscellany
A memorial service for Allen Paulson, who bred and raced horses such as Cigar and Arazi, will be held Monday at the Nativity Catholic Church in Rancho Santa Fe, with a reception to follow at Del Mar Country Club. Paulson, 78, died of cancer Wednesday night. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of North Coast, 5421 Avenida Encinas, Suite N, Carlsbad, 92008
London Marathon champion Tegla Loroupe of Kenya moved closer to her goal of winning the 10,000 meters and marathon at the Sydney Olympics by winning the women’s 10,000-meter final at the Kenyan Olympic trials at Nairobi. She won in 32:13.5.
New Zealand’s David Tua, looking for a November bout with heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, stopped Robert Daniels in the third round at Las Vegas. . . . Spain’s Javier Castillejo completed his fourth successful defense of his World Boxing Council super-welterweight title when he scored a unanimous decision over American Tony Marshall at Madrid.
Cuba announced it is banning weightlifter Ernesto Montoya Laurencia for life after he failed a drug test at a local tournament on July 6. Montoya, who was not in Cuba’s pre-Olympic squad, tested positive for an anabolic steroid.
Paul Mokeski, a former NBA player and USC assistant coach who recently became coach of the minor league Kansas City Knights, has been charged with misdemeanor possession of cocaine in Thiensville, Wis.
