sports in brief

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 7, 2007

Local & state: Heartland Park cancels dirt track practice session

Today's Heartland Park Topeka dirt track practice has been canceled.

Because of heavy rains and cold weather over the past 10 days, track officials have been unable to properly prepare the track. The next dirt track practice day is scheduled for April 15.

The Street Legal Drags, scheduled for April 11, has also been canceled. Due to the poor weather conditions, HPT's new fiber optic timing and scoring system will not be completed in time for the event. The April 13 test and tune drag racing event is scheduled to take place as planned.

Football: NFL commissioner establishes six-player council

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has established a six-member council of veteran players to advise him on a variety of issues, including player conduct.

Most of the players named to the council, which includes players union president Troy Vincent, safety Donovin Darius, of Jacksonville; fullback Tony Richardson ,of Minnesota; center Jeff Saturday, of Indianapolis; linebacker Takeo Spikes, of Philadelphia, and wide receiver James Thrash, of Washington, met this week with Goodell on the same day the commissioner heard from Adam "Pacman" Jones of Tennessee and Chris Henry of Cincinnati to discuss their off-field problems.

Ricky Williams, the former NFL star who played in Canada last season after being suspended for a year for substance abuse, has applied for reinstatement.

Williams' agent, Leigh Steinberg, said the running back, who will turn 30 in May, had sent a letter asking that he be allowed to return to the Miami Dolphins.

David Carr agreed Friday to a two-year deal to play for the Carolina Panthers. Carr, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Houston Texans, will serve as Jake Delhomme's backup.

Basketball: Son of KU associate AD takes Santa Clara coaching job

Kerry Keating, a UCLA assistant, was hired by Santa Clara as its new head coach Friday to replace the retired Dick Davey.

Keating, 35, son of Kansas associate athletic director Larry Keating, served as assistant at UCLA for four seasons, including the Bruins' back-to-back runs to the Final Four in 2006-07. UCLA posted a 91-41 record during his tenure.

Donnie Jones has left Billy Donovan's Florida basketball staff to take over Marshall's program.

Donovan announced Jones' appointment Friday night at Florida's championship celebration. Jones, who will replace fired coach Ron Jirsa, was to be introduced at a news conference today in Huntington, W.Va.

Rick Pitino didn't look far to find his newest assistant.

The Louisville basketball coach hired his 24-year-old son, Richard Pitino, a former assistant at Duquesne, on Friday.

Pitino said another assistant, Kevin Willard, left to take the head coaching job at Iona College in New York.

Tia Jackson was named women's coach at Washington, which means the school is the first major college to have blacks coaching each of the three biggest sports programs.

Desmond Mason, New Orleans Hornets forward, will need surgery for his broken nose and will miss the rest of the regular season. If the Hornets make the playoffs, Mason could return, general manager Jeff Bower said.

Auto racing: Ganassi submitsfour cars for Indianapolis 500

Ganassi Racing, one of the last major teams to enter the Indianapolis 500, submitted four cars for former winner Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, the IndyCar Series leader after the first two races this season.

The Ganassi cars late Thursday boosted the number of entries to 60. The Speedway will accept others that were postmarked before the midnight Wednesday deadline.

Dixon, the 2003 series champion, has a 5-point lead over Wheldon and Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves after finishing second at Homestead-Miami and St. Petersburg, Fla. The New Zealand driver has been runner-up in three straight races and four of the past five going back to last year.

PAUL TRACY, the 2003 Champ Car series champion and the oldest driver in the Vegas Grand Prix field at 38, won the provisional pole for Sunday's race with a time of 1 minute, 19.784 seconds (110.097 mph) .

Friday was the first round of qualifying for the season-opening race on a new Las Vegas downtown street circuit.

General: U.S. singles players lift team to 2-0 Davis Cup lead

Andy Roddick and James Blake dominated Friday to give the United States a 2-0 lead over Spain in the Davis Cup quarterfinals at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Playing just over a week after straining his left hamstring, Roddick shook off a slow start to beat Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (5), 6- 1, 6-4 on the fast, indoor hard court. In the first match of the best-of-five event, Blake broke out of his slump to beat Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

The U.S. can secure a spot in the semifinals against Sweden or Argentina with a win today by the top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan against Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez.

Venus Williams dropped out of the Baush & Lomb Championships on Friday, falling 6-2, 6-3 to France's Tatiana Golovin at Amelia Island, Fla.

The eighth-seeded Golovin set up a semifinal against sixth- seeded Ana Ivanovic, a 7-5, 6-3 winner over second-seeded Jelena Jankovic in the clay-court tournament.