Chargers’ Arnsparger Decides to Call It Quits

San Diego Charger defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger, 68, said Wednesday he is retiring after 23 pro seasons.

“It’s difficult to walk away from something that’s been so much a part of your life for a long time,” Arnsparger said. “There’s a time for everything. I felt like this was the time for me to step down.”

Arnsparger’s retirement comes three days after the Chargers were routed, 49-26, by the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

He said that game didn’t affect his decision.

San Diego Coach Bobby Ross planned to talk with assistants Willie Shaw (defensive backs) and Dale Lindsey (linebackers) about replacing Arnsparger. The two are the only candidates.

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One day after re-dislocating his left elbow while swinging a golf club, Charger quarterback Stan Humphries is facing probable surgery. . . . Two police officers accused of being involved in a scheme to extort Cincinnati Bengal running back Derrick Fenner were fired. Andre Eddings and Claudia Vercellotti were dismissed after an internal investigation.

Hockey

The Kings sent goaltender Pauli Jaks and forward Gary Shuchuk to their International Hockey League affiliate in Phoenix. Goaltender Kelly Hrudey, out for four games because of a bruised right kneecap, has resumed practicing and is expected to play Saturday against Detroit.

Wayne Gretzky, suffering from flu, has not practiced this week.

Jurisprudence

Romanian gymnastics coach Florin Gheorghe, who caused the death of a promising young gymnast, was sentenced to eight years in jail. Witnesses said he lost his temper and beat 11-year-old Adriana Giurca after a sloppy training session in a Bucharest gym in the fall of 1993. She died in a hospital of a broken neck two days later, the sports daily Gazeta Sporturilor reported.

Names in the News

Heavyweight champion George Foreman, ignoring the World Boxing Assn.’s threat to strip him of his title, will defend against German Axel Schulz in April, Foreman’s promoter Bob Arum said. . . . Zina Garrison Jackson lost to Japan’s Naoko Sawamatsu, 6-1, 6-2; Gigi Fernandez lost to sixth-seeded Anke Huber of Germany, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, and qualifier Debbie Graham was eliminated by Japanese wild-card entry Kyoko Nagatsuka, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, in the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. . . . Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal will be sidelined at least a month after surgery on his right foot, but is expected to defend his Masters title in April.

Miscellany

Amy Van Dyken of Denver set a world short-course record of 26.73 seconds in the 50-meter butterfly at a World Cup swimming event in Espoo, Finland.

Mandy Woetzel and Ingo Steuer of Germany took advantage of the home ice to win the pairs event at the European Figure Skating Championship in Dortmund, Germany. Czechs Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novotny were second and Russians Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the world champions, finished third.

Toni Nieminen of Finland, the former whiz kid of ski jumping, suddenly regained his form and won a World Cup event at Kuopio, Finland. Nieminen rose from seventh after the first round to win.

America’s Cup races off San Diego were postponed because of a lack of wind.

Germany’s No. 1 sled, steered by Dirk Wiese, won for the second time this World Cup season, taking the four-man bobsled finals in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Organizers of four European indoor track and field meets have joined to form a tour offering $150,000 in prize money. Meets at Stuttgart, Germany; Lievin, France; Birmingham, England, and Stockholm will comprise the Ricoh Indoor Tour.