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Sports Briefs

■ Football
Vikings suspend Onterrio
Troubled Minnesota Vikings running back Onterrio Smith was suspended by the NFL for the entire 2005 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The NFL did not specify a reason. The announcement was expected for several weeks, ever since Vikings head coach Mike Tice suspended Smith indefinitely following an embarrassing run-in at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. In April, Smith's bag set off a screening device, and a search found several vials of dried urine and "The Original Whizzinator," a prosthetic used to beat drug tests. Smith told police the gear was for his cousin. He wasn't charged by police, and the NFL said possession of the device alone wasn't enough to violate league drug policies. Smith missed four games last season for violating the league's drug policy, and had two strikes against him before the latest violation. The third strike in the program comes with an automatic one-year suspension.

■ Basketball
Skiles stays with Bulls
Scott Skiles agreed to a contract extension with the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, one day after the coach said he had ended negotiations for a deal the the National Basketball Association club. General manager John Paxson would not disclose the terms of the contract, but Skiles told reporters it was for four years. Skiles had ended negotiations for a contract extension a month after leading the team to its first playoff appearance in seven years, and it was unclear as early as Tuesday afternoon whether he would stay with the team. In the Bulls' second season under Skiles, they improved from 19-47 to 47-35 then lost to Washington in the first round of the playoffs.

■ Soccer
Razov goes to MetroStars
The Columbus Crew dealt disgruntled forward Ante Razov and a portion of an allocation to the MetroStars for another former US international John Wolyniec on Tuesday. Razov has been unhappy since joining the Crew before this season because of a lack of playing time. He had one goal for Columbus, the lowest-scoring team in Major League Soccer with seven goals in 10 matches. Wolyniec had two goals in eight games this season for the MetroStars. He tied for the team lead a year ago with 10 goals, and has 21 in his seven-year MLS career spent with the MetroStars, Chicago and New England. Razov entered this season as the MLS leader in multiple-goal games (16), tied for fifth in goals (77), and second in game-winning goals (23). He has also played for Los Angeles and Chicago.

■ Hockey
NHL ponders shootouts
When the National Hockey League finally returns to the ice, the drawn game will probably be a thing of the past. "If they don't have a shootout, I'll be shocked," New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury said Tuesday. "That's an easy one. The fans want it, and it's the least we can do after spitting at them for the last 12 months." Fans in the American Hockey League and other minor leagues have grown to enjoy penalty shootouts to decide drawn games. The NHL seems ready to implement the system. "It sounds like most people want a definite outcome -- a win or loss -- one way or the other," Vancouver Canucks director of player personnel Steve Tambellini said during a break on the second day of the three-day NHL research camp. Shootouts would be used to determine a winner if a game remained tied after a five-minute overtime period.

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