Giant Coach Fassel Given Contract Extension

Jim Fassel, whose guarantee of a playoff berth ignited the New York Giants’ run to the Super Bowl, was rewarded Tuesday with a contract that makes him one of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches.

Financial terms were not immediately available, but Fassel reportedly will earn $11 million over the length of the contract. He earned $1.1 million last season, when the Giants turned from also-rans into NFC champions.

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Troy Aikman’s contract with the Dallas Cowboys could be revised, a move that would delay a decision on the quarterback’s status for the 2001 season. Under a plan that must be approved by the NFL Management Council, Cowboy owner Jerry Jones and Aikman’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, have agreed to delay the due date for Aikman’s $7-million bonus from March 15 to June 1. . . . Thurman Thomas, the Buffalo Bills’ all-time leading rusher, signed a one-day contract with the team and then announced his retirement during a ceremony at Orchard Park, N.Y. . . . Three years after the Chicago Bears made Curtis Enis the fifth overall pick in the draft, the team decided not to tender a contract offer to the running back, making him a free agent.

Miscellany

His cracked right front hoof repaired a second time, Tiznow galloped 1 1/2 miles Tuesday and his trainer, Jay Robbins, proclaimed the 2000 horse of the year ready to run in Saturday’s $1-million Santa Anita Handicap. However, both Robbins and Mike Cooper, one of Tiznow’s owners, said the 4-year-old colt wouldn’t run if the track isn’t safe.

All horse racing in Britain and Ireland was suspended and a major rugby match was called off because of the fast-spreading outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. A number of sports events have been threatened by the outbreak of at least 17 separate cases of the livestock ailment in England and Wales.

Michael Kennedy, the getaway driver in the ambush slaying of Rae Carruth’s pregnant girlfriend, was sentenced in Charlotte, N.C., to up to 14 years and two months in prison after pleading guilty to murder.

Robbie Loomis, the crew chief for three-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, was fined $25,000 by NASCAR for fielding a car that failed to meet the minimum height requirement in the Dura-Lube 400.

Top-seeded Marat Safin of Russia defeated David Prinosil of Germany, 7-5, 6-2, in the Dubai Open tennis tournament in the United Arab Emirates. . . . Andy Roddick, the youngest player in the tournament at 18, defeated fellow American Chris Woodruff, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the Sybase Open at San Jose. Andre Agassi had trouble with Korean Hyung-Taik Lee, but the Australian Open champion prevailed, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

Nevada football Coach Chris Tormey harmed the school’s integrity by mishandling a police inquiry into a fight involving his players, but he won’t be fired, Athletic Director Chris Ault said. . . . An autopsy on Florida State linebacker Devaughn Darling, who collapsed and died after an off-season workout Monday, was inconclusive and investigators say it may be weeks before the medical examiner knows the cause of death. . . . The University of Texas has established a scholarship in the name of Texas defensive end Cole Pittman, who died Monday in a car accident. . . . Ja’Warren Hooker, a University of Washington sprinter and football receiver, will not play football for the Huskies this fall, Coach Rick Neuheisel said.

San Francisco 49er Coach Steve Mariucci will receive the Brian Piccolo Award as the outstanding Italian American sportsman of the year during a March 18 banquet at the Marriott Hotel in Century City. . . . Duke Nalon, who began racing during the 1930s and twice started the Indianapolis 500 from the pole position, died Monday. He was 87.