Men’s Hockey Team Barred From White House Visit

The men’s hockey team will not go with the rest of the U.S. Winter Olympic athletes to the traditional White House reception later this month because of the trashing of some players’ rooms in Nagano, Japan.

“We do not think it appropriate that the hockey team be invited to the White House because it would detract from the truly great achievements which occurred by various athletes in Nagano,” USOC President Bill Hybl said Thursday.

The U.S. Olympic team is to attend a White House reception April 28.

Hybl and USOC Executive Director Dick Schultz said they would not rule out further action against the hockey team.

Golf

Using a putting stroke he says he lost more than two years ago, Tom Wargo shot a four-under-par 68 and took a one-shot lead in the Tradition at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Wargo carded four birdies during his opening round in the $1.4-million tournament--one of four majors on the Senior PGA Tour.

David Graham, Hale Irwin, the 1997 player of the year, and Spain’s Jose Maria Canizares each shot 69 on the Cochise Course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

Glen Day made eight birdies on the first 12 holes, then played steady par over the final six to finish at 64 for the first-round lead in the PGA Tour’s Freeport-McDermott Classic at New Orleans. Jay Delsing and Steve Flesch were tied for second at 66.

Carin Koch of Sweden shot a six-under 66 and holds a four-stroke lead over five players after the chilly first round of the LPGA Tour’s Longs Drugs Challenge in Lincoln, Calif.

Pro Football

The Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos will open the NFL season on national television, playing the New England Patriots on Monday night, Sept. 7, at Mile High Stadium.

The 240-game regular season will end the weekend of Dec. 26-28. The playoffs begin with wild-card games Jan. 2-3 and conclude with the Super Bowl on Jan. 31 at Miami.

Tennis

Lindsay Davenport nearly joined the exodus of star players from the Family Circle Cup, escaping in three sets against Ruxandra Dragomir at Hilton Head Island, S.C. The top-seeded player rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set to win, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, and reach the quarterfinals.

Second-seeded Jana Novotna lost to Spain’s Magui Serna, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Anne Miller beat former Australian Open champion Mary Pierce, 6-3, 6-3. Third-seeded Monica Seles, who lost to Martina Hingis in last year’s final, continued her trek back with a 6-0, 6-7 (7-5), 6-2 victory over No. 16 Natasha Zvereva.

Miscellany

Portland’s Natalie Williams, the ABL’s most valuable player, officially has asked the league to trade her to the Long Beach StingRays, her agent said. Williams exercised a contract option that requires the ABL to trade her at her request. Williams owns a home in Long Beach near the Pyramid, the StingRays’ home arena.

Portland Coach Lin Dunn said she expects Long Beach’s Yolanda Griffith to be sent to Portland as compensation.

Cuban baseball player Jorge Luis Toca, detained with other defectors in the Bahamas, accepted an offer of asylum from Japan, immigration officials said at Nassau, Bahamas. The 23-year-old first baseman qualified for a visa because his wife, Miyo Toca Gomez, is Japanese.

Jeff Fogelson, athletic director at Xavier, was named to the same position at Seton Hall.

Bubba Berenzweig scored twice at Boston to lead Michigan past New Hampshire, 4-0, for a chance at a record ninth NCAA hockey title in Saturday’s final against Boston College.

In the other semifinal, Marty Reasoner broke a third-period tie and added an insurance goal to give the Eagles a 5-2 victory over Ohio State and a shot at their first title since 1949.

Sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe, the women’s 200-meter silver medalist at last year’s World Championships, has failed a drug test, the Sri Lanka Amateur Athletic Assn. reported. Jayasinghe was not available for comment, but the athletic association’s statement said she had been asked to give an explanation by today.

The owners of Wembley Stadium, the home of English soccer, agreed to sell the venue for $170 million to the English National Stadium Trust.

FBI agent and former world-class sprinter Daron Council pleaded guilty at New Orleans to demanding and taking $6,000 in bribes from a cocaine dealer. Council faces 10-16 months in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. Sentencing is scheduled for July 8.

The top cyclists in the U.S. will race today through Sunday in the EDS Track Cup ’98 at the Olympic Velodrome at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson. Racing today starts at 10 a.m.

Former Laker star Jamaal Wilkes has been hired by the Continental Basketball Assn. as director of program development.

Ashley Tappin continued a comeback from rotator-cuff surgery with a dominant victory in the women’s 100-meter freestyle, and Gary Hall’s strong finish carried him to victory in the men’s 100 freestyle on the second day of the National Swimming Championships in Minnesota. Tappin clocked a personal-best 55.28 seconds and Hall was timed in 49.6 seconds.