Sport Briefs: A Tiger could upstage Pack

Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Tiger Woods has long had the fame. Now comes the fortune.

Woods, the most heralded player to come out of the amateur ranks since Jack Nicklaus 35 years ago, announced Tuesday he would be playing in this weekend's Greater Milwaukee Open as a pro.

Woods was ineligible to win today's pro-am event with partner Duffy Waldorf. When Woods emerged from the clubhouse, there was no doubt his amateur days were really over.

He was dressed in black slacks with green Nike shirt, black Nike cap and black Nike golf shoes, all emblazoned with the trademark Nike swoosh. Woods also had a brand new Titlist golf bag with "Tiger Woods" in big letters on the side.

His appearance for a practice round Tuesday caused a sensation.

"If he's in the hunt on Sunday," a man in the gallery said, "then for the first time in history, I think the Green Bay Packers would take a back seat to golf."

Just 20 years old, Woods, the 1996 NCAA champion, won an unprecedented third consecutive U.S. Amateur title Sunday, leaving little else for him to achieve as an amateur.

WAC gets another bowl game

The Western Athletic Conference is on the verge of signing a contract that would send a WAC team to the Haka Bowl in Auckland, New Zealand, annually, commissioner Karl Benson said. The first Haka Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 27. Benson's office has been pushing for a new bowl contract since his league was reduced to two guaranteed bowl berths with the latest maneuverings by bowls, conferences and the bowl alliance. The Haka Bowl will be sponsored by Air New Zealand and televised by ESPN. It recently was sanctioned by the NCAA and added to the bowl schedule. Under the proposed contract, a WAC team will be invited and probably will be a division runner-up that does not advance to the annual WAC championship game. The Copper bowl also has a WAC tie-in and likely will invite the WAC title-game loser. The WAC champion will go to the Cotton or Holiday bowl. The WAC team's Haka Bowl opponent will be the No. 3 choice in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Haka bowl's payout will be $1.5 million for each team.

CFL star retiring to LV

Ray Elgaard, the Canadian Football League's career pass receiving leader, retired after 14 years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Elgaard, two days shy of his 37th birthday, said Tuesday he is going to join his family in Las Vegas. He said his retirement has nothing to do with the disappointing season the Roughriders are having. They are 2-7 and tied with the B.C. Lions for last place in the Western Division. Elgaard said he planned to quit at the end of the season regardless, but coach Jim Daley said Elgaard's announcement came as a surprise.

Lightning obtains Ciccarelli

The Detroit Red Wings today traded right wing Dino Ciccarelli to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a conditional draft choice. Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman said the impending waiver draft meant the team could not protect more than 18 players, a limit it exceeded. Ciccarelli, 36, the No. 12 goal-scorer in NHL history, has said he doesn't want to leave Detroit, where he believes a Stanley Cup is within reach. "Look, I want to win another Stanley Cup," Ciccarelli told The Tampa Tribune on Tuesday before learning the deal had been finalized. "I'm not saying that I'm not going to report or that I'm going to retire or anything. But I'm going to have to take some time to think about this."

In other hockey news:

* The Phoenix Coyotes gave 23-year-old Russian Nikolai Khabibulin a $3.26 million, three-year contract, adding nearly $700,000 to what he was scheduled to make in the final year of his original deal.

* Finland scored three goals in a 40-second span of the first period for a 7-3 victory over the Czech Republic in their World Cup of Hockey opener at Helsinki, Finland. Teemu Selanne of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks had a goal and two assists.

Butler working out

Less than four months since the operations to remove the cancer from his neck, Brett Butler worked out with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Montreal. "I'm not 100 percent but I'm working on that," Butler said after his first workout with the Dodgers since he last played May 1. "The question is: Can I play at the major league level and produce?" he said. "That's the level we're trying to reach." Butler, 39, hit in the batting cage and shagged fly balls in the outfield before a game against the Expos.

Pazienza suspended, fined

World Boxing Union super middleweight champion Vinny Pazienza was suspended for 90 days and fined $5,000 on for decking a referee who stepped in to halt his fight with Dana Rosenblatt in Atlantic City, N.J. Pazienza, 33, of Providence, R.I., punched referee Tony Orlando after Orlando jumped between the fighters to stop the bout at 2:13 of the fourth round.

A Jawz is MVP

Hugo Belanger of the Long Island Jawz was selected the league's player of the year after becoming the first player in Roller Hockey International to score more than 100 points in a season. Belanger was second with 48 goals and third in assists with 53. He played in 25 games before leaving to play for a pro ice hockey team in Ginsburg, Germany. "Hugo is a great example on an off the court," Jawz coach Phil DeGaetano said Tuesday. "He practiced hard and was always there, you knew what you were getting from Hugo. He was fantastic from start to finish."