Sports Briefs: George in last day at Atlanta

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Jeff George's time with the Atlanta Falcons is almost over.

The quarterback, suspended the past four games after a sideline tirade against coach June Jones, was expected to be waived by the team today. He is subject to a waiver claim until Wednesday afternoon.

"There really aren't any options," said Jones, who suspended George for conduct detrimental to the team following the Sept. 22 incident.

In the ensuing days before the NFL trading deadline, the Falcons unsuccessfully tried to trade George.

The waiver leaves George's grievance against the team, subject of a scheduled hearing next week, as the last order of business between the Falcons and the quarterback once considered the cornerstone of the team.

Any team claiming George on waivers would assume the remaining prorated share of his $3.6 million salary -- which now totals about $1.9 million. Few teams have that kind of money available under their salary cap.

After Wednesday, he would be an unrestricted free agent and could sign a new contract with any team.

In other NFL news:

* Steve Young's groin strain probably won't get much better for the rest of this season. The San Francisco 49ers are just hoping it doesn't get any worse. Coach George Seifert said Monday that Young would probably start at quarterback next Sunday, when the 49ers play at Houston, provided his condition doesn't deteriorate. The availability of backup Elvis Grbac is questionable because of a left shoulder strain and there's a chance third-stringer Jeff Brohm could wind up as the Sunday's starter for the 49ers, Seifert said.

* Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Alvin Harper looked at the bandaged finger on his left hand and tried to find words to describe how an assistant trainer inadvertently cut off a portion of the tip. He joked that Joe-Joe Petrone will be banned from using scissors the rest of the season. And, he insisted the latest of a string of nagging injuries is not nearly as bad as it sounds. "It looks much better than it looked when it happened," Harper said. "It's not anything to get all concerned about. It was a freak accident."

Kentucky fires Curry

Bill Curry, 23-51 in his seventh season at Kentucky, will be fired at the end of the season, Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton announced. Newton told a news conference in Lexington Monday that Curry was informed Sunday night that Kentucky would be making a coaching change at the end of the season. Newton said the decision affects the entire coaching staff. He said there was no timetable to find a successor. Curry's best season was 1993 when the Wildcats finished 6-6 after losing to Clemson in the Peach Bowl. They are 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the SEC this year.

Harrick cleared

Now UCLA basketball coach Jim Harrick can concentrate on the business at hand -- getting his team ready for the upcoming season. Harrick, admitting he's been through "a trying time," was cleared Monday by the Pacific-10 Conference of violating NCAA rules in the sale of a car he owned to the sister of a top recruit. The conference, the university and the NCAA all looked into the sale of a car by Harrick's son, Glenn, to Lisa Davis-Hodoh on Sept. 20, UCLA athletic director Peter T. Dalis said at a news conference. "The Pacific-10 Conference has determined, based upon the information obtained during its investigation, that no NCAA rules violation occurred when Glenn Harrick sold a 1991 Chevrolet S10 Blazer to Lisa Davis-Hodoh, sister of prospective athlete Baron Davis," the Pac-10 said in a statement.

In other college basketball news:

* The University of Dayton announced plans to build an addition onto its basketball arena. John McHale, a 1978 Dayton graduate who lives in Austin, Texas, contributed half of the addition's $2.5 million cost. The rest will be funded by other charitable gifts to the school.

Kemp coming back

Shawn Kemp, a no-show at training camp, was expected to be at practice for the Seattle SuperSonics today after a 22-day absence. The Sonics returned Monday from Seville, Spain, where they played an exhibition game Sunday against Indiana. The team didn't practice Monday. "We expect him back when the team is back, participating," general manager Wally Walker said Monday. Kemp, a four-time All-Star who led the Sonics to the NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls, missed Seattle's first five exhibition games.

Edberg, Woodbridge win

Stefan Edberg beat Britain's Tim Henman 6-4, 6-2, and Australian Todd Woodbridge overcame Czech Daniel Vacek 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 at the $2.2 million Stuttgart (Germany) ATP tournament. In other first-round matches, Sweden's Magnus Gustafsson downed Jason Stoltenberg of Australia 6-4, 6-4; Czech Bohdan Ulihrach ousted Spain's Alex Corretja 6-3, 6-1; France's Arnaud Boetsch outlasted Germany's Alexander Radulescu 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4; and Dutchman Jan Siemerink topped German Hendrik Dreekmann 6-1, 7-5.

In another tennis tournament:

* Slovakian Henrienta Nagyova upset second-seeded South African Amanda Coetzer 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 to reach the second round of the $164,250 Luxembourg Open. Third-seeded Barbara Paulus of Austria outlasted Russia's Elena Makarova 6-3, 4-6, 7-5; sixth-seeded Austrian Judith Wiesner topped Spain's Gala Leon Garcia 6-4, 6-1, and eighth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France routed Leila Meskhi of Georgia 6-0, 6-3.