James’ School: No TV Deal

Officials at St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio, have decided not to sign a contract with ESPN to have LeBron James’ final regular-season basketball game televised Sunday.

“We have been getting some bad press from ESPN and from other media sources,� Athletic Director Grant Innocenzi said Wednesday. “We’re at the point that enough is enough. It’s that simple.�

The network televised two of the school’s games this season.

The school has been accused of exploiting James’ celebrity for profit, a charge Headmaster David Rathz denies.

“The rumors were out there we got huge amounts of money from ESPN,� Rathz said. “We didn’t get a penny. Those games are all done by promoters.�

Spokesman Josh Krulewitz said ESPN did not pay rights fees to the school for the early broadcasts.

Pro Football

San Francisco Coach Dennis Erickson said at a news conference announcing his hiring that Greg Knapp will return for a third season as offensive coordinator of the 49ers.

Knapp signed a one-year contract extension shortly after Steve Mariucci was fired as coach Jan. 15. Offensive line coach Pat Morris and secondary coach Brett Maxie also are under contract to the 49ers, but most of the rest of Mariucci’s former staff has left.

Jurisprudence

A federal judge in Chicago set a Feb. 23, 2004, trial date for a lawsuit the Cubs filed against the owners of rooftop bleachers that overlook Wrigley Field.

The Cubs contend the rooftop owners violate copyright laws and compete with the club for ticket sales.

Prosecutors in Miami dropped charges against a photographer and his wife who clashed with the bodyguard of Anna Kournikova while she dined with singer Enrique Iglesias last summer in North Miami Beach.

Tennis

Top-seeded and defending champion Venus Williams defeated Maja Matevzic of Slovenia, 6-1, 6-1, to reach the quarterfinals of the Diamond Games at Antwerp, Belgium.... Defending champion Monica Seles was upset by 18-year-old wild-card entry Lina Krasnoroutskaya of Russia, 7-5, 7-5, in the second round of the Qatar Open at Doha.... Second-seeded Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic lost to Nicolas Escude of France, 6-2, 6-1, one of five seeded players who were upset in the first round of the Open 13 at Marseille, France.

Miscellany

Pepperdine won the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge women’s golf tournament when rain washed out the third and final round at Palos Verdes Golf Club.

The Waves had a 36-hole score of 598, five shots better than USC. Arizona was third, Oklahoma State fourth and UCLA fifth. Pepperdine senior Katherine Hull took medalist honors by shooting rounds of 69 and 75.

Olympic figure skating champion Sarah Hughes and short-track speed skating champion Apolo Anton Ohno are among the five finalists for the 2002 James E. Sullivan Award presented to the nation’s outstanding amateur athlete.

The other finalists are swimmer Natalie Coughlin, wrestler Cael Sanderson, and paralympic skier and track and field athlete Chris Waddell.

The award will be presented March 18 at the New York Athletic Club.

Steve Springer of The Times has won the Nat Fleischer Memorial Award for excellence in boxing journalism. Only past winners vote in conjunction with the Boxing Writers Assn. of America.

He will be honored April 25 in New York. The only previous winner from The Times was Jim Murray in 1989.

Passings

Former Boston Red Sox co-owner and general manager Haywood Sullivan died at Fort Myers, Fla. He was 72.

Sullivan, who lived in Naples, Fla., died after having a stroke, the Red Sox said. Story in Section B.