Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.sports From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: sports Tue, Mar 31 1992 Date: Tue, 31 Mar 92 05:49:46 EST Message-ID: 03-31 0000 DECISIONLINE: Sports USA TODAY Update March 31, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network STRIKE DEADLINE NOW WEDNESDAY: National Hockey League players Monday moved their strike deadline to 3 p.m. EST Wednesday, but a walkout seems destined. Players canceled a noon Monday strike to give all players a chance to vote on a final owners contract offer. Players association director Bob Goodenow said the negotiating committee and player representatives are recommending that players reject the proposal. WHITE SOX GET BELL: Three players will be moving across town for this year's baseball season. George Bell was traded Monday from the Chicago Cubs to the White Sox for outfielder Sammy Sosa and relief pitcher Ken Patterson. The White Sox also get cash considerations, believed to be $400,000. Bell will primarily be the DH for the White Sox, who have been searching for one since Bo Jackson was sidelined. NOTRE DAME, VIRGINIA WIN IN NIT: Notre Dame and Virginia will meet Wednesday in the final of the National Invitational Tournament after winning semifinal basketball games Monday. Notre Dame edged Utah 58-55, and Virginia beat Florida 62-56. Bryant Stith had 27 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Daimon Sweet sank two free throws after a technical foul on Utah coach Rick Majerus with 9.7 seconds left for the Irish. NO SUSPENSION FOR LAETTNER: The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee decided Monday not to suspend Duke's Christian Laettner for stepping on the chest of a Kentucky player in Saturday's tournament game. Committee chairman Roy Kramer said, "It is the committee's opinion that the game officials made the proper call." Said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski: "He did something wrong, and he was punished for it." DUNBAR IS NO. 1: Baltimore's Dunbar (29-0) coached by Pete Pompey finished No. 1 in the final USA TODAY Super 25 in boys high school basketball. The USA TODAY national title is the third for the Poets. They also won in 1983 and '85. Star seniors Donta Bright, 6-6, and Michael Lloyd, 6-2, still are considering their college choices but might decide in early April. TYSON REFUSES TO EAT: Saying he wants to lose weight, boxer Mike Tyson has refused to eat in prison, and he faces disciplinary action for giving other inmates his autograph, Indiana correctional officials said Monday. Tyson, serving six years for rape, says he needs to lose 30 pounds to get down to his fighting weight of 220. OLAJUWON WANTS TO PLAY: Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon, who was suspended for allegedly faking a hamstring injury, says he wants to play Tuesday but he wants to be traded before next season. The team had no comment. The Rockets contend Olajuwon was feigning injury as a contract renegotiation ploy. "It's best for everybody if we just pack and leave," said Olajuwon. NETS TOP SPURS: The New Jersey Nets downed the San Antonio Spurs 117-109 Monday, handing the Spurs their fifth straight loss. It was the Nets' first win over the Spurs since 1989, a span of six games. In other NBA games: Charlotte 123, Orlando 112; Utah 120, Milwaukee 100; Philadelphia 124; Golden State 106. DECISIONS FACE OFFICIALS: Officials face some difficult issues concerning South Africa's involvement in the 1992 Olympic Summer Games, the country's first Olympic involvement since 1960. This week, a delegation from the International Olympic Committee is meeting in Johannesburg to look at everything from the size of the team to progress on ending apartheid in the country, a condition for inclusion. DELIBERATIONS CONTINUE: A Texas state court will continue deliberations Tuesday in the $30 million lawsuit by reporter Jack Taylor Jr. against former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer. The dispute is about Switzer's autobiography, "Bootlegger's Boy." In the book, Taylor says Switzer linked him to an alleged conspiracy to plant drugs on an Oklahoma player around the time of the 1988 Orange Bowl. ELLIOTT STILL TRAILS: Bill Elliott, despite winning the last four races, still trails Davey Allison in the Winston Cup points race. Allison, who won the season-opening Daytona 500 - where Elliott crashed and departed early - remains the leader with 865 points. Elliott moved into second place with 817 points, five ahead of Harry Gant, by winning Sunday's TranSouth 500. SCHRAMM RECOVERING: Former Dallas Cowboys executive Tex Schramm was recovering Monday from quintuple bypass surgery ordered by doctors after an apparent heart attack. Schramm's condition at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas was upgraded from critical to serious, but he remained in the hospital's cardiac intensive care unit, hospital spokeswoman Susan Hall said. TICKET PRICES INCREASE: A trip to the ballpark this summer will be a bit more costly for baseball fans. Though consumer prices are rising at an annual rate of about 3%, baseball's average ticket prices are up 7.7% over last year. The new average ticket price: $9.41. According to a survey by the Chicago newsletter Team Marketing Report, 21 baseball teams have raised prices. 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Sports Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Sports Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 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