■ Baseball
Devil Rays secure Seo
Right-hander Seo Jae agreed to a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday. The 29-year-old South Korean, who avoided salary arbitration in his next contract, was 1-8 with a 5.00 ERA in 17 games with the Devil Rays this season. He was obtained as part of the June 27 trade that sent catcher Toby Hall and pitcher Mark Hendrickson to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Seo was a combined 3-12 with a 5.33 ERA in 36 games this past US Major League Baseball season, including 26 starts, for the Devil Rays and Dodgers.
■ Hockey
Lemaire signs extension
The Minnesota Wild signed coach Jacques Lemaire to a multi-year contract extension on Wednesday following the team's perfect start to the new season. Terms of the deal were not announced. The only head coach the Wild have ever had behind the bench, Lemaire has compiled a record of 164-168-81 in six-plus seasons in Minnesota, including a 3-0 start to the current campaign. "I love it here," Lemaire said on the Wild Web site. "That's why I'm staying. I've been very lucky to work with a good organization. I think in the near future, we'll see us reach our goal and I want to be part of that." The winner of eight Stanley Cups as a player, Lemaire won another as coach guiding the New Jersey Devils to the championship.
■ Soccer
Pessotto didn't jump: wife
Juventus team manager Gianluca Pessotto did not intend to commit suicide when he fell from a window at club headquarters in June, his wife said in an interview. "He didn't want to jump out. The doctors explained to me that it was a blackout," Reana Pessotto said in an interview with Donna Moderna magazine. Gianluca Pessotto, a former Juventus and Italy player, suffered multiple fractures after his fall on June 27. The circumstances of his fall remain unclear. "Something disconnected in his mind that morning. If he was lucid, he would never have done it," she said. Pessotto was released from the hospital on Sept. 5. He is continuing his recovery at a clinic and made a surprise visit in his wheelchair to Juve's headquarters on Friday.
■ Soccer
PSG sack Dhorasoo
Former France international midfielder Vikash Dhorasoo has been sacked by his club Paris Saint Germain, his lawyer said in a statement on Wednesday. The 33-year-old is the first player to be sacked since the Professional Footballers Charter was set up in 1973 as a consequence of a players' strike. "He received today [Wednesday] by registered post a letter telling him that his contract -- which ran till June 30 next year -- had been terminated with immediate effect," said the statement. The statement also listed the reasons for the former AC Milan midfielder's firing as: "His refusal to play for the reserves, his lack of loyalty, also his insubordination, disobedience and his permanent air of provocation." However the lawyers said that Dhorasoo would contest it.
■ NFL
Dan Morgan out for season
The Carolina Panthers have lost middle linebacker Dan Morgan for the remainder of the season as a result of concussions, the team said on Wednesday. Morgan sustained concussions in a pre-season game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and again a few weeks later in the team's season opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Doctors recommended Morgan sit out the rest of the season but did not rule out a return next year. Carolina's first round pick in the 2001 draft, Morgan is the Panthers' third all-time leading tackler. He also has seven sacks and five interceptions in 56 career games.



