Briefly in sports

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Sep 28, 2002 by Capital-Journal

Basketball: Hall class inducted

Magic Johnson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night in Springfield, Mass., reunited with his former rival in a ceremony that evoked tears for Drazen Petrovic and laughs for the antics of the Harlem Globetrotters before the star of Showtime stole the show.

The Hall christens a new $36 million home this weekend, starting with the enshrinement of the Class of 2002: Johnson, Petrovic, the Globetrotters, Philadelphia 76ers coach Larry Brown, North Carolina State women's coach Kay Yow and Arizona coach Lute Olson.

Brown brought his family onstage --- each in a cap from a different stop in a career in which has won more than 1,200 games and posted a winning record in 26 of his 30 seasons. He has coached six NBA teams, two in the ABA and two more in college, winning an NCAA title at Kansas in 1988, and led the 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001 after being named coach of the year.

The Boston Celtics, after their best season in 14 years, will be sold to a local investment group for $360 million in a surprise deal announced Friday.

The agreement to sell one of the most storied franchises in pro sports was signed in New York. NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said he expects league approval of the deal in a couple of weeks.

Paul Gaston, owner since 1992, is selling the team to a group led by venture capitalists Stephen Pagliuca and Wycliffe Grousbeck, as well as Grousbeck's father, H. Irving Grousbeck, the founder of Continental Cablevision and now a Stanford Business School professor.

The Denver Nuggets waived veteran point guard Mark Jackson on Friday.

Football: McNabb, Eagles hook up

Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles agreed to a new 12- year contract Friday that could be worth up to a record $115 million.

The total potential value would be the highest in NFL history, topping the 10-year, $103 million contract Drew Bledsoe signed with the New England Patriots in March 2001.

McNabb's deal runs through 2013, and includes a $20.5 million signing bonus, said his agent, Fletcher Smith. McNabb will receive $13.5 million of that bonus up front and the rest after next season.

Hall of Fame center Mike Webster was remembered at his funeral service Friday as a loving man who treated his friends, teammates and total strangers like they were family members.

Terry Bradshaw and several other former Steelers, including Lynn Swann, Franco Harris, and ex-coach Chuck Noll were among more than 200 people at the 80-minute service in Pittsburgh.

Denver Broncos quarterback Brian Griese returned to practice Friday after being injured when he tripped over his dog two days earlier.

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Kendrell Bell will miss his second straight game with a sprained ankle.

Hobbs Adams, the captain of Southern California's 1925 football team and a coach at Kansas State in the 1940s, has died. He was 99. Adams played end and was a three-year letterman for Trojans from 1923- 25. He was coach at Kansas State in 1940, 1941 and 1946, and his teams had a combined record of 4-21-2.

Local: Colbert event starts Monday

Ranked opponents will be featured along with host Kansas State at the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan. The Wildcats will host 11 other teams in the tournament, set for Monday and Tuesday. Play begins at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start both days.

Toledo, ranked No. 5 in the Sagarin rankings released Sept. 24, is one of the Top 100 in the field, along with No. 20 Lamar, No. 26 Kansas State, No. 80 Missouri, No. 88 Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 97 Tulsa and No. 99 Texas A&M. Other teams in the field are Colorado, Nebraska, Rice, Southern Methodist and Texas-San Antonio.

K-State is the defending champion. This year's Wildcat lineup will be junior co-captains Aaron Watkins and A.J. Elgert, junior Greg Douglas, sophomore Matt Van Cleave and freshman Josh Persons.

Team Topeka will be sparring today from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Sport Zone Arena at 3907 S.W. Burlingame Road. Admission is $1 per person.

The public can watch matches between Damon Reed, Andy Sample and Jim Franklin along with other members of Team Topeka. There will be an autograph session later.

The sparring will be a preview of the fighting scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Kansas Expocentre. Tickets are on sale at the Expocentre box office, online at ticketmaster.com, by phone at (785) 234-4545, or at all ticketmaster ticket centers.

Kansas State cross country teams will compete in the Roy Griak Minnesota Invitaional today at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Minneapolis.

The Wildcat men will compete against 27 teams starting at noon, followed by the 23-team women's race at 1 p.m.

Kansas State's women's rowing team will compete in today's Head of the Des Moines regatta at the Birdland Marina. The open 8 race begins at 12:15 p.m., with the open 2- at 2:15 and the open 4 at 4:45.

The Wildcats return six of eight rowers from last spring's first varsity 8 boat that received votes in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association poll for the first time. Also returning are the coxswains for all three varsity boats.