Sports briefs for December 29, 2004

Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004 | 10:48 a.m.

Trash talk over cars led to player's shooting

Vanderbilt running back Kwane Doster was shot to death after his friends and a group of other men exchanged "trash talk" about their cars, Tampa police said Tuesday.

Police continued to appeal for help in making an arrest in the Sunday morning shooting. Police said they have suspects, but need witnesses who might have seen who fired the fatal shot.

Doster, 21, was shot to death at a sandwich shop after visiting a local club with two friends about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

While leaving the club, Doster's friends had a discussion with three other men about their cars, said Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin. Both groups were driving what Durkin described as "show" cars, and the arguments centered on whose car was better.

The two groups met again at a stoplight, where they again exchanged words and mean stares, Durkin said. The suspects were riding in an orange Infiniti.

Blocks later, Doster and his friends pulled into a sandwich shop. The Infiniti pulled up, one man got out and opened fire with a handgun, Durkin said.

Doster, who was sitting in the back seat of his friend's car, was killed with a single shot. No one else was injured.

"There was no indication they knew each other," Durkin said.

Mathis returning

One year after signing with the German team Hannover 96 of the Bundesliga, former MetroStars midfielder Clint Mathis announced his return to Major League Soccer. He will join the expansion team Real Salt Lake in 2005.

Tough guy sues union

Veteran enforcer Rob Ray, an unrestricted free agent who played six games last season for the Ottawa Senators, filed suit in a Buffalo, N.Y., court against the NHL Players Association. He claimed he was shut out of the union's lockout compensation fund as punishment because he said in October he would return to the ice if the NHL used replacement players.

Yankees, D'backs talk

New York Yankees president Randy Levine and Arizona Diamondbacks chief executive officer Jeff Moorad continued their conversations about a possible trade that would send pitcher Randy Johnson to New York for pitcher Javier Vazquez.

Vazquez keeps title

Israel Vazquez made the first defense of his IBF junior featherweight championship and handed top-ranked contender Artyom Simonyan his first defeat with a fifth-round knockout at El Cajon, Calif.

MNF ratings down

ABC's "Monday Night Football" had an all-time low average season rating of 11.0, a drop of 4 percent from last year, but remained No. 7 among all prime-time network shows in the fall season.