The ABA tabbed the Pennsylvania Pit Bulls as a last-minute replacement for the Pittsburgh Hardhats, leaving general manager Freddie Lewis little time to put together a roster.
Most of that work will be done during the team’s tryouts in two sessions from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Penn State-McKeesport’s Wunderly Gymnasium, which will also be the team’s home floor this season.
“We expect players to come in from out of state as well,” said Phil Williams, the team contact for the tryout. “They will probably have the team together in a week or so after the tryouts.
“We won’t turn people away if their schedule makes them come later, but we hope they will be there by 8:45 a.m. I’d be there at 8 with a ball in my hands.”
The team currently has no players on the roster, which will include 10 active players and a two-man taxi squad. Lewis has invited some players to the tryout, but it is open to anybody willing to pay the entry fee, which is $100 in advance and $125 at the door.
The fee can be mailed to the Pennsylvania Pit Bulls at PO Box 69, McKeesport, Pa. 15132.
OLYMPICS
Dr. Patrick Schamasch, IOC’s medical director, said yesterday the growing number of banned substances and improved tests have raised the stakes for athletes who gamble with performance-enhancing drugs. “The room for cheaters is getting smaller and smaller every day,” he said during the FINA World Sports Medicine Congress in Indianapolis. Schamasch said the anti-doping effort will continue to expand. Schamasch said nearly 2,800 blood and urine samples were tested at the Athens Olympics. A record 24 athletes were caught, while five refused tests. Six medals were stripped because of positive tests.
The Athens Olympics broke global TV viewing records, with nearly 4 billion people tuning in, IOC president Jacques Rogge said yesterday. Rogge said 3.9 billion people watched an Olympic broadcast at least once during the Aug. 13-29 games, beating the previous record of 3.6 billion viewers for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. World population is about 6.4 billion.
Jacques Rogge, IOC president, said the IOC is committed to keeping the size and cost of the Olympics in check, including a cap of 28 sports, 300 events and 10,500 athletes. The IOC is assessing the 28 sports on the program in Athens to determine the lineup for the 2012 games. Five non-Olympic sports — golf, rugby, karate, squash and roller sports — are in contention for possible inclusion. Sports only will be added if others are dropped.
YACHTING
Team New Zealand won the second pre-regatta for the 2007 America’s Cup yesterday because it was ahead in the standings when the final day of racing was canceled due to light wind. Team New Zealand, routed by Alinghi of Switzerland in the 2003 America’s Cup, finished with 11 1/2 points, one point ahead of Italy’s Luna Rossa. San Francisco-based BMW Oracle Racing was third in the match-race competition, and Alinghi was fourth.
BASKETBALL
Connecticut freshman guard A.J. Price remains in critical condition at Hartford Hospital more than a week after having a brain hemorrhage. Price was rushed to the hospital Oct. 5 and has been in critical condition since, but family members said yesterday he is responding to therapy and slowly showing improvement.
Penn State announced Tuesday that forward/center Amanda Brown has mononucleosis. She is expected to miss four to six weeks. Brown, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from Kennett Square,played in 33 games last season and averaged 3.7 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game.
TENNIS
Olympic champion Nicolas Massu defeated Karol Kucera, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4, at the CA Trophy tournament yesterday. Top-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina won, 6-4, 6-3, over Italian qualifier Andreas Seppi.
Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat Victor Hanescu of Romania, 6-4, 6-4, yesterday in the first round of the Open de Moselle. Defending champion Arnaud Clement of France, countryman Jerome Haehnel and Alex Corretja of Spain also won.
Venus Williams defeated Russian qualifier Alina Jidkova, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening round of the Kremlin Cup yesterday in her first match since losing in the fourth round at last month’s U.S. Open. Elena Dementieva was one of four Russian players ranked in the Top 20 who advanced. Runner-up in the French and U.S. open, the fifth-seeded Dementieva beat Patty Schnyder, 6-2, 6-3; sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva defeated Nathalie Dechy of France, 6-0, 6-2; eighth-seeded Nadia Petrova topped Paola Suares of Argentina, 7-5, 6-4; and unseeded Elena Bovina defeated Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-3.
OFF THE FIELD
Kim King, one of Georgia Tech’s best quarterbacks and a radio analyst for Yellow Jackets sports for the past 30 years, died yesterday of leukemia at age 59. King, known as “The Young Lefthander,” had a standout career from 1965-67 for coach Bobby Dodd, leading the team to the Gator and Orange bowls. Once the school’s career passing leader with 2,763 yards, he is eighth on the school list.
FOOD DRIVE
Members of the Franklin Regional varsity and junior varsity basketball teams, as well as Middle School volunteers, will conduct a food drive at the Panthers’ final home football game Oct. 15 to benefit the Westmoreland County Food Bank and victims of the recent flooding.
Non-perishable food items can be deposited in the collection receptacle which will be set up at each gate of the stadium beginning at 6 p.m.