Sports briefs for April 8, 2004

Thursday, April 8, 2004 | 11:16 a.m.

Giants talk trade for No. 1 draft spot

New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi confirmed Wednesday that he had spoken with San Diego Chargers general manager A.J. Smith about a potential trade for the Chargers' No. 1 draft choice.

"We have talked to the Chargers, but we have also talked with another team picking ahead ofus and a team picking behind us," Accorsi said. The Giants have the No. 4 selection in the two-day draft, which begins April 24.

Presumably the Giants are interested in making Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning their choice if they move up to No. 1. If they decide instead that they want Iowa offensive tackle Robert Gallery, they may opt to trade up to second or third.

In 2000, the last time the Chargers had the No. 1 choice, they traded it to the Atlanta Falcons, who used it to select Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick.

Gulls in 2-0 hole

Fourth-seeded Alaska stunned the San Diego Gulls 4-3 in overtime to go up two games to none in their best-of-five ECHL Pacific Division playoff series. The Aces will try to wrap up the series this weekend in Anchorage. The winner will meet either the Wranglers or Idaho Steelheads.

Nehles honored

UNLV sophomore Henner Nehles was named Mountain West Conference men's player of the week for the second time this season. He was 3-0 to improve his season records to 16-6 in singles and 17-6 in doubles.

Utah State AD pleads

Rance Pugmire, who resigned Friday as Utah State University's athletic director, pleaded guilty in Brigham City, Utah, to a reduced charge of alcohol-related reckless driving.

AC Milan knocked out

Defending champion AC Milan was stunned by Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 in a Champions League quarterfinal, overcoming a 4-1 deficit from the first game of the total-goals series.

Beijing breaks ground

Ground was broken in Beijing for the 100,000-seat stadium that will be the centerpiece of the 2008 Games.