Page AU DEC. 30, 199« JJort Lattò @ ÏClje JJortlanb © bseruer NBA center returns home V IL N IU S , L ith u a n ia - Free agent center A rvydas Sabonis today joined L ithuania’s national champion Zalgiras Vilnius and will play for them in the European league during the N BA lockout. Sabonis, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers last season, signed a five-m onth contract, but both sides said he could return to the N BA on short notice ifplayers and ow ners settle their labor dis­ pute. Carolina wasting little time in looking for new coach C H A R L O T T E — TheCarolina Panthers wasted little tim e search­ ing for a new head coach, bringing in form er San Francisco coach George Seifert to talk about the position vacated w ith Dom Ca­ pers’ dismissal. Holmes: Bout with Foreman is a go H O U S T O N — Larry Holmes has been reading in the new spa­ per that his “Birthday Bash” bout with George Foreman is off. Not as far as he knows. He said Tuesday that he spoke with prom oter R oger Levitt, who assured him the old-tim ers’ show ­ dow n in the H ouston A strodom e on Jan. 23 was still on. Pak named AP female athlete of year W oods and Pak have the same dynamic smile, the same knack for winning a major championship in unforgettable fashion. Theyboth were trained in unorthodox man­ ners by fathers obsessed with them becoming a champion. Pak helped thrust w om en’s g o lf back in the spotlight. “W hat we could not have an­ ticipated was the em ergence o f Se RiPak,” Bledsoe likely will miss playoff game F O X B O R O ,M ass.— The New- England Patriots have won all three gam es they’ve played against the Jacksonville Jaguars. F or the first time, it appears they’ll have to do it again w ithout Drew Bledsoe. Looking for a new coach ? E rickson was fired as coach o f the S eattle Seahaw ks M onday after an 8-8 season left the team out o f the playoffs for the 10th consecutive year. S e a h a w k s p r e s id e n t B o b W hitsitt said the d ecision to fire E rickson w as based on a three- y e a r e v a lu a tio n , sta rtin g w h en ow ner P aul A llen becam e in ter­ ested in acquiring the team . “ It w a sn ’t based on one gam e here or one gam e th ere,” W hitsitt said. E agles m ake ch a n g e, fire R hodes N FL team s d ec id e d to m ake coaching changes M onday — and they w asted no tim e doing it. Four coaches w ere fired before noon as th e C h ic a g o B e a rs’ D ave W annstedt, the B altim ore R av en s’ Ted M archibroda, the C arolina Pan­ th e rs’ D om C apers and the P h ila­ delp h ia E a g le s’ Ray R hodes all w ere let go by th eir resp ectiv e team s. B ut the firings d id n 't end there as la ter in the afternoon the S eahaw ks term inated coach D en­ nis E rick so n ’s contract. A roundup o f the d a y ’s firings: B ears fire W annstedt L A K E F O R E S T , 111. — D ave W annstedt w as fired M onday as coach o f the C hicago B ears, one day after the team finished 4-12 for the second co n secu tiv e sea­ so n . T e a m p r e s id e n t M ic h a e l M cC askey said he m ade the m ove b ecause “w e d id n ’t w in enough football g am es.” W annstedt w as the fourth N FL coach fired M on­ day. C apers let go by Panthers C H A R L O T T E ,N .C .— D om C apers w as fired M onday as coach o f the C aro lin a P anthers, w ho have plum m eted in the two years since they cam e w ith in a v ic­ tory o f reaching the S uper Bowl. C apers, w ho w as 30-34 as the only coach in the te a m ’s four-year h istory, w as released a day after the P anthers finished th eir w orst season at 4-12. In 1996, C apers led C arolina to a 13-5 reco rd and the N FC W est title, and w as the N F L ’s coach o f the year. B ut the team follow ed that success w ith a 7-9 season b efore falling even fur­ ther this year. P H IL A D E L P H IA — R ay Rhodes w as fired as coach o f the P h iladelphia E agles M onday, en d ­ ing a four-year reig n that began w ith a coach o f the year aw ard and co llap sed w ith a 3-13 season. F ollow ing R h o d es’ ad v ice and prediction, E agles ow n er Jeffrey Lurie fired the 4 8 -y ear-o ld coach after the te am ’s final gam e, a 20- 10 loss to the N ew Y o rk G iants on Sunday th a t c lin c h e d P h ilad e lp h ia’s first 13-loss sea­ son and w orst reco rd since 1972. “ W hen you d o n ’t w in, changes have to be m ade. T his is p art o f the b u sin ess,” R hodes said at a new s conference w ith L urie. Marchibroda fired as Ravens coach B A L T IM O R E - T ed M archibroda w as fired as coach o f the B altim ore R avens M onday a f­ ter he failed to p roduce a w inning season in his three years w ith the team . M arch ib ro d a’s entire sta ff o f assistant coaches also w as d is­ m issed . “ I t ’s a b ittersw ee t m o­ m en t,” R avens ow ner A rt M odell said. ''I 'm saddened by w hat I had to do M onday, b u t look forw ard to w inning again. I d id n ’t com e from C leveland to B altim ore to lo se.” S eahaw ks fire E rickson K IR K L A N D , W a sh . — D ennis Four confirmed dead, two others feared lost as rescue efforts end 33-year-old Briton Glyn Charles, had represented Britain in the Star Class at the 1996 SummerOlympics in Atlanta, where he finished 11 th. The othermiss- ing sailor was Australian John Dean, a crew member on the yacht Winston Churchill, which sank. The bodies o f two other W in s ton Churc hi 11 crew mem­ bers, J im Lawler and M ichael Bannister, were found Tuesday. Two other sailors were found dead Monday after the 40- foot boat Business Post Naiad capsized 60 miles off the New South Wales town ofMenmbula. 1 he dead were both A u s ­ tralians — the yacht’s owner-skipper Bruce Guy and crewman Phil Skeggs. The four confirmed deaths from the storm already have made this the dead­ liest Sydney-to-Hobart race. Mitchell wants to ensure bidding process is 'fair and above reproach' W A S H IN G T O N — Form er Senate M ajority L eader G eorge M itchell T uesday p rom ised a “thorough and prom pt” investi­ gation into claim s that bribes helped Salt Lake City w in the right to stage the 2002 W inter O lym ­ pics. Boxing-Botha to use Holyfield strategy against Tyson N E W Y O R K -FrancoisB othais studying how to beat M ike Tyson b y w a tc h in g h o w E v a n d e r H o ly field h andled th e form er heavyw eight cham pion twice. “I am going to use the same strategy the w ay H olyfield fought him ,” the South A frican said in a teleconference call Tuesday from his training cam p in Las Vegas where he will fight Tyson at the M GM G rand H otel on January 16. Tigers sign Jefferies to a two-year deal DETROIT- GreggJeffenes.who has failed to live up to his potential since breaking into the m ajor leagues in 1987, agreed M onday to a tw o-year contract with the D etroit Ti gers worth about $5 mil­ lion. Jefferies, a 31-year outfielder, spent more than 3 seasons with P h iladelphia until the Phillies traded him to A naheim last Aug. 28. H e became a free agent after the season. Dismasted racing yacht Stand Aside is stranded in Bass Strait SYDNEY, A ustralia— Authorities ecovered the bodies o f four sailors and pve up hope Tuesday o f finding two ithers after a monstrous storm deci- nated the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race, ts 90-mph winds and 35-foot swells napping masts and flipping boats over. FormerBritishOlympic sailor and an Australian competitor were missing and resumed drowned, Australian Man- ime Safety Authority spokesman Brian fill said. “We wouldn’t stop searching or them if we thought they were still live,” Hill told The Associated Press. It’s tragic, but most people would real- re that we do have to be realistic.” Australian officials Tuesday halted ne o f the country’s largest maritime escue operations ever after finding the ■odies o f four sailors in a span o f two toys. Military helicopters plucked about 0 other sailors to safety o ff Australia’s southeastern coast, 250 miles south o f Sydney. The race continued, however, finishing Tuesday morning when Ameri­ can Larry Ellison and his maxi yacht Sayonara arrived in Hobart, Tasmania, to take line honors ahead ofBrindabella. Ellison, the chief executive officer and founder o f Oracle Corp., also won the race in 1995. The 23-member crew ar­ rived at Constitution Dock to a funereal atmosphere, rather than the usual pop­ ping o f champagne corks and booming o f cannons. “It was just awful. I’ve never experi­ enced anything remotely like this.” Ellison saidofthe raging seas that peaked Sunday and Monday. “It’s been a very emotional experience to get here. This is not what this is supposed to be about It’s a tough crew, but the guys were choked up.” ONEOFTHEMBSINGSAILORS, NEW YEARS DAY SALE & ¡day only" 5 0^ $$$ EVERYTHING $$$ — BIN ITEMS & COMPUTERS NOT INCLUDED 4636 N.E. 42 AVE ONE BLOCK NORTH OF N X . PRESCOTT MON - SAT 9 A M. to 7 P.M. 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