Sports briefs for February 23, 2004

Monday, Feb. 23, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

Joe Louis statue vandalized in Detroit

A sculpture commemorating boxing great Joe Louis was vandalized with white paint early today, and two men were in custody. The suspects, who were not immediately identified, were stopped by police in a Detroit suburb after authorities were tipped off by a motorist. The motorist saw two men covered with white paint driving out of Detroit and followed them while contacting police.

Louis is a hero in Detroit. The Detroit Red Wings play in a downtown arena named for him, and the 24-foot sculpture of an arm and fist, called Memorial to Joe Louis, has a prominent location on Jefferson Avenue.

Detroit police spokesman Glenn Woods said there was no reason to believe the vandalism was racially motivated, though he acknowledged it was a possibility. Louis, who died in 1981, was black.

Firefighters removed the gloss paint with high-powered hoses.

Hewitt beats Ferrero

Sixth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt beat second-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-7 (1), 7-5, 6-4 to win the ABN Amro in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

UNLV teams third

Both the UNLV men's and women's teams finished third in the Mountain West Conference championships at Oklahoma City. BYU won both meets for the fifth consecutive year. UNLV earned an individual championship when sophomore Adam Martinson won the men's 200-yard backstroke.

MVP has broken leg

Kansas City midfielder Preki, the MVP in 2003 of Major League Soccer, will miss as much as four months after his left leg was broken and ankle dislocated in an exhibition match Saturday against Columbus.

Rebels rained out

Four of the five games in the UNLV tournament were canceled because of rain. In the game played, Northwestern State beat Arkansas 6-1. UNLV's game against Louisiana-Monroe wasn't rescheduled.

McGrady fined for kick

Orlando's Tracy McGrady was fined $10,000 by the NBA for kicking a basketball into the stands twice at the end of the first half of the Magic's victory against Denver on Friday.

ESPN gets Arrington

Jill Arrington, a popular sideline reporter for college football broadcasts, is leaving CBS Sports to return to ESPN for a new contract reportedly worth $200,000.