Tice Is Fined $100,000 in Super Bowl Scalping

Minnesota Viking Coach Mike Tice was fined $100,000 by the NFL on Thursday for scalping his Super Bowl tickets.

Running backs coach Dean Dalton and special teams coach Rusty Tillman were each fined $10,000 for scalping their tickets. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue notified the three coaches of their punishment in a letter.

Tice was on vacation and unavailable for comment, but he issued a statement through the team, in which he said he used “poor judgment.”

“It will not happen again,” Tice said. “I apologize to my family, Commissioner Tagliabue, the NFL, the entire Vikings organization and the fans.”

Tice has acknowledged reselling some of his personal allotment of 12 Super Bowl tickets last season and also had resold his tickets as a Viking assistant coach from 1996 to 2001.

Each NFL player has the right to purchase up to two Super Bowl tickets at face value, which this year was $500 and $600 depending on the seat. But they must sign a document saying they won’t resell them at a profit. Individual teams determine the number of tickets available to coaches.

*

Detroit Lion defensive end Kalimba Edwards pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and failing to produce a driver’s license during a traffic stop in May, and was sentenced to one year of probation.

Auto Racing

The former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledges that the team made a costly mistake by swapping crews and cars with teammate Michael Waltrip during the off-season.

Tony Eury Sr., now the director of competition at Dale Earnhardt Inc., said that the somewhat-surprising move turned out to be detrimental for both teams in Nextel Cup competition. He was the first team member to call the changes an error.

Earnhardt, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet, has no wins and sits 18th in the points race. Waltrip has three top-10 finishes in the last six races but is 15th in the standings.

Pro Basketball

Houston forward Sheryl Swoopes and Indiana forward Tamika Catchings were the top vote-getters in fan balloting for the WNBA All-Star game.

Swoopes will be joined in the Western Conference starting lineup July 9 in Uncasville, Conn., by Sacramento center Yolanda Griffith, Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi, and Seattle forward Lauren Jackson and guard Sue Bird.

Catchings will be joined on the Eastern Conference squad by Charlotte guard Dawn Staley, New York guard Becky Hammon, and Detroit forward Swin Cash and center Ruth Riley.

Nykesha Sales had 18 points to help the Connecticut Sun (12-2) stay unbeaten at home in six games and win its fourth straight overall with a 71-56 victory over the Minnesota Lynx (8-7). ... Rookie Temeka Johnson and Alana Beard had 14 points apiece to help the Washington Mystics (8-7) beat the Charlotte Sting (2-11), 65-50, in Washington. ... DeMya Walker had 20 points to lead the visiting Sacramento Monarchs (10-4) past the New York Liberty, 61-50. The Liberty is 5-6.... Shannon Johnson scored 18 points as the San Antonio Silver Stars (4-12) defeated visiting Seattle, 81-69, the fourth consecutive defeat for the Storm (7-8).

College Basketball

Kansas guard J.R. Giddens is leaving the program, a month after the junior was stabbed during a bar fight.

Giddens, the Jayhawks’ top returning scorer, is recovering from a knife wound he sustained in Lawrence, Kan., last month.

High Schools

The number of students participating in athletics in the state has increased by nearly 25,000 -- 3.8% -- since 2003, the last time the California Interscholastic Federation conducted a participation survey.

The 2005 survey shows a total of 676,968 student athletes -- 398,684 boys and 278,284 girls -- with boys’ participation increasing by 4.3% and girls’ by 3% from two years ago.

Football remains the most popular boys’ sport with 99,079 players, followed by track and field (45,038) -- up from fourth place two years ago -- and basketball (42,061). Soccer remains the most popular girls’ sport with 37,424 participants, followed by track and field (36,113) and volleyball (34,015).

Miscellany

USC junior Jeff Clement won the Johnny Bench Award as the nation’s top college catcher. Clement received the award at a banquet in Wichita, Kan.

Former boxing champion Thomas Hearns is planning to a return to the ring for a July 30 card in Detroit. Hearns, 46, will fight on the same card as his son, Ronald Hearns, 26, a middleweight who is 6-0. An opponent for Hearns (59-5-1, 46 knockouts) will be announced today.

Dave Ogrean returned to USA Hockey as executive director, six years after leaving the top job at the ruling federation for the sport in the U.S.

Maurice Greene pulled out of the 100 meters at today’s Gaz de France track meet in Paris because of an injured hamstring. The former world-record holder was hurt at the U.S. championships last weekend in Carson.

Defender Alfonso Loera, released by Chivas USA on Monday, re-signed with the team after clearing waivers. Loera, 26, one of eight Mexicans originally sent to the Major League Soccer expansion franchise by the Guadalajara parent club, occupies one of Chivas’ four senior international slots.... Goalkeeper Tony Meola, 36, was signed by the MetroStars, the team he began his MLS career with in 1996.

Atletico Paranaense advanced to the championship of the Copa Libertadores with a 2-2 tie against Chivas de Guadalajara and will play Sao Paulo in an all-Brazilian final.

Yale, Cornell and California advanced to the quarterfinals in the Temple Cup for student eights with victories at the Henley Royal Regatta in Henley-On-Thames, England.

Cornell beat Abingdon School of England by a length, and California defeated the University of Durham, England, by four lengths.

Yale defeated England’s Nottingham University by 1 3/4 lengths and will next meet Scottish national champion Glasgow University in the quarterfinals.