Thu, Apr 21, 2005 page19

• Sport Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ Football
  NFL coach Sam Mills dies

  Sam Mills, an undersized linebacker who became a Pro Bowl player with New Orleans and Carolina and was later an assistant coach for the Panthers, died in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday after fighting cancer for nearly two years, the Panthers said. He was 45. Mills, who was diagnosed with cancer of the small intestine in August 2003 but continued to coach Carolina's linebackers between chemotherapy treatments, died at his home. "Sam was one of the finest people you will ever meet. You would never know that he was a player who made Pro Bowls and had all this attention because he treated everybody the same no matter who they were," Carolina general manager Marty Hurney said. "He never had a bad thing to say about anybody and had a great ability to laugh at himself. "He was the type of guy you want your kids to grow up to be." A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Mills spent the final three seasons of his 12-year NFL career with the Panthers, beginning with their inaugural season in 1995.

  ■ Hockey

  NHL, players union meet

  National Hockey League and players' union officials returned to the bargaining table in New York on Tuesday and met for six hours, hoping to build momentum off talks that began two weeks earlier in an attempt to end the impasse that caused this past season to be cancelled. Negotiations centered around a new, hybrid concept -- which addresses the relationship between player salaries and league revenues -- that was first discussed during the last round of talks in Toronto on April 4. The idea contains an upper and lower salary cap that would float among the 30 teams depending on revenues. "While we continued to discuss various issues relating to the concept that was introduced at our April 4 meeting, no substantive progress toward a new agreement was made," NHL chief legal officer Bill Daly said in a statement.

  ■ Olympics

  Beijing may move event

  The IOC postponed a decision on Beijing's proposal to move the equestrian events at the 2008 Olympics to Hong Kong -- more than 1,900km from the host city. The IOC said more time was needed to study the issue. Hein Verbruggen, head of the IOC coordination commission for the Beijing Games, would confer with all sides to try to reach an agreement. Beijing organizers cited the risk of equine diseases and quarantine problems in the Chinese capital. The International Equestrian Federation opposed the switch, saying it would have "very grave" repercussions for the sport. Wang Wei, secretary general of the Beijing committee, made the formal proposal to the International Olympic Committee executive board.

  ■ Doping

  Defamation trial stayed

  Marion Jones' defamation trial in San Francisco against Victor Conte was stayed Tuesday until after the criminal case against the BALCO founder is completed. US District Judge Susan Illston granted a defense motion and ruled that Conte's Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination would be damaged if the civil case proceeded before the criminal case is resolved. Illston is also presiding over the BALCO steroids scandal case in which Conte and three others were indicted in February 2004 for allegedly distributing steroids to prominent athletes such as Jones and San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds.
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