Sports Briefs: Cigar and friends dominate Eclipses

Friday, Jan. 10, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

It pays to have connections in high places, and there are none higher than those of Cigar.

For the second straight year, Cigar's connections -- owner Allen Paulson, trainer Bill Mott and jockey Jerry Bailey -- swept top honors on the human side of the Eclipse Awards, while Cigar himself was named top older horse or gelding in North America again.

"I'm going to miss the big guy, no doubt about it," Bailey said of Cigar, who was retired after finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Classic in Toronto on Oct. 26.

Horse of the Year will be announced Feb. 4, and Cigar is expected to capture that award for the second straight year as well.

Cigar is the first horse to win the older horse division in consecutive years since Forego won it from 1974-'77. Cigar won five of eight starts in 1996, including the $4 million Dubai World Cup, and tied the modern record of Citation with 16 consecutive victories. He ended his career at age 6 as the richest race horse ever, just $185 shy of $10 million.

Bobby Unser could be jailed

Auto racing legend Bobby Unser, still recovering from a near-fatal ordeal in the snow, could face a six-month jail term for snowmobiling in a federally protected wilderness, the Forest Service says. Unser said he's unsure, but he might have strayed a quarter-mile or half-mile into Colorado's South San Juan Wilderness on Dec. 20 while snowmobiling with a friend, Robert Gayton. The two became lost in a blizzard for two days after their snowmobile broke down, and Unser says even the Forest Service wasn't sure exactly where it happened. "There's no signs up there that say this is a wilderness," Unser said "We didn't see any signs, but even if there were 100 signs, how do you see them in a blizzard? If I could see in a blizzard, I wouldn't be lost, and if I weren't lost, I wouldn't have nearly died."

Fresno football player dies

Earl Young, a backup defensive back for Fresno State, died after he collapsed while walking to class. Young, 21, of Marrero, La., complained of breathing difficulties to a passerby, Fresno State sports information director Dave Haglund said. Authorities did not issue a cause of death.

Swoopes expecting

Olympic gold medalist Sheryl Swoopes, who led Texas Tech to the 1993 NCAA championship, announced that she is expecting a baby in June, and will miss the start of the new Women's NBA season. Swoopes, 25, faces at least a six-week wait after delivery and hopes to play at the end of the season, which runs June 21 through Aug. 30.

Golota fined $7,000

Heavyweight Andrew Golota received a two-year suspended sentence and a $7,000 fine for beating up a man in 1990. Prosecutors in Warsaw originally charged Golota, who fled Poland in 1990 and has lived in Chicago since 1991, with assault and robbery with a deadly weapon, which carries a minimum penalty of five years in prison. Golota admitted beating up Pawel Bialostocki, but denied pointing a gun at him. Golota, disqualified in two recent fights with Riddick Bowe for low blows, reportedly agreed to pay Bialostocki $10,052 in compensation.