Lalas Named President, GM of MetroStars
Former U.S. World Cup star Alexi Lalas was plucked out of San Jose on Monday and named president and general manager of the MetroStars with virtual carte blanche to make the club a Major League Soccer power.
In making the move, Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which operates five MLS teams, said he was “embarrassed” by AEG’s previous lack of commitment to the team.
“What we have realized is that we have not put nearly the resources, the time or the energy into that club that we have the L.A. Galaxy,” Leiweke said during an afternoon conference call.
“Although the Galaxy and the Home Depot Center in particular are a great success story for MLS, we believe that we cannot be successful as a league without being successful in New York.
“We haven’t given it our best shot, and I’m embarrassed by that.... That’s going to change immediately.”
Lalas, 35, who has been president and general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes for the last two years, replaces Nick Sakiewicz, who was moved to a newly created position as president of AEG Soccer New York/New Jersey.
In San Jose, Kate McAllister, vice president of business operations, will be named the interim president and general manager of the Earthquakes, whose future is up in the air.
In addition to the Galaxy, MetroStars and Earthquakes, AEG operates the Chicago Fire and D.C. United, which the Washington Post reported last week was being sold.
Grahame L. Jones
*
Hockey
Talks between the NHL and NHL Players’ Assn. resumed in Toronto on Monday. Among the issues was the 2006 Winter Olympics. A source familiar with the negotiations said that the league is likely to approve of players’ playing in the Turin Games in February. The two sides, who have agreed on a framework for a salary cap tied to league revenue, will meet today to work on the finer points, including free agency, salary arbitration and drug testing, as well as Olympic participation. The source said a deal could be completed in two weeks.
*
Golf
Dana Quigley won the rain-shortened Bayer Advantage Classic, holing an 11-foot birdie putt on the only hole he played Monday to beat crowd favorite Tom Watson and Gil Morgan in a playoff in the Champions Tour event at Overland Park, Kan. Watson had a chance to win in regulation but left a long birdie putt hanging on the lip of the cup on his final hole. He played 12 holes Monday, finishing off a 66 to join Quigley and Morgan at 133. In the playoff, Watson and Morgan each two-putted for par on the 442-yard 18th.
*
Pro Football
Cleveland Brown tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. will undergo surgery today on the right knee he injured while attempting stunts on his high-powered motorcycle last month. On the opening day of Cleveland’s mini-camp, Brown Coach Romeo Crennel said Winslow, who has not commented publicly about the accident, would sit out the 2005 season -- the first time the team has been allowed to reveal that information because of federal privacy laws. ... Akili Smith was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the latest NFL team to part ways with the quarterback who was the third overall pick in the 1999 draft.
*
High Schools
Patrick Christopher, a 6-foot-4 senior guard considered among the top basketball prospects for the 2005-06 season, has transferred from Lakewood Mayfair High to Compton Dominguez. He played for Dominguez during last weekend’s Watts Summer Games.
The two leading hitters in Orange County are scheduled to play in the Orange County All-Star high school baseball game at 7 tonight at Glover Stadium in Anaheim. Brandon Laird of Westminster La Quinta, who finished the regular season batting .545 and was drafted by the Cleveland Indians, will play for the South against the North, led by Dennis Gerbasi of Orange, who finished at .520.
*
Tennis
Martina Navratilova played her first singles match since last year, losing to Claudine Schaul, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round at Den Bosch, Netherlands. French Open champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament, saying he needed rest. ... Third-seeded Dominik Hrbaty defeated Robby Ginepri, 6-2, 6-3, and fifth-seeded Taylor Dent swept Alexander Popp, 6-3, 6-3, in the Nottingham Open in England.
*
Miscellany
Chicago Bear defensive lineman Terry “Tank” Johnson faces a felony gun charge after police found a loaded handgun in the vehicle he was driving.
University of Florida guard Matt Walsh has eliminated any chance of returning for his senior season of basketball, telling Coach Billy Donovan he would go through with NBA draft plans.... Wake Forest center Eric Williams removed himself from NBA draft consideration and will return to the school for his senior year, his mother said. ... In the WNBA, Nicole Powell’s 18 points led host Sacramento over Houston, 74-68.
UCLA senior Monique Henderson, who won the 400-meter title at last weekend’s NCAA championships, won the Honda Award as the nation’s top college female track and field athlete as voted by the National Assn. of Collegiate Track and Field Coaches. The San Diego native prevailed over USC junior Virginia Powell, Texas sophomore Marshevet Hooker and Tennessee sophomore Tianna Madison. She will vie with other individual sport winners for the award for collegiate woman athlete of the year, to be announced June 29.
The Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, the Kings’ top affiliate, fired Coach Bruce Boudreau and assistants Jim Hughes and Dane Jackson after didn’t get beyond the first round of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
