Sports briefs for July 30, 2004

Friday, July 30, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

Southern Cal No. 1 in preseason ranking

Southern Cal was an overwhelming choice as the preseason No. 1 team in the country in the ESPN-USA Today coaches' poll released today. The Trojans, who were No. 2 in the final coaches' poll for 2003, received 449 out of 466 possible first-place votes.

Oklahoma was ranked second with 12 first-place votes and Louisiana State, the defending coaches' poll champion, was third with five first-place votes. Georgia and Miami rounded out the top five followed by Florida State, Michigan, Texas, Ohio State and Florida.

The second 10 consisted of West Virginia at No. 11 followed by Iowa, Kansas State, Tennessee, California, Clemson, Missouri, Auburn, Virginia and Maryland.

Utah of the Mountain West Conference was ranked 21st, followed by Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue and Oregon.

L.A. gets Kittles

The Los Angeles Clippers acquired 30-year-old Kerry Kittles from New Jersey for a second-round draft choice next year. Kittles figures to replace Quentin Richardson at shooting guard. The Clippers decided not to match the free-agent offer of six years and approximately $45 million Richardson received from the Phoenix Suns.

Showdown on course

Top seeds Roger Federer and Andy Roddick stayed on a course toward a showdown in the final by advancing to the quarterfinal roun dof the Masters Canada tournament in Toronto. Federer beat Max Mirnyi 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) and Roddick beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-1, 6-4. Tenth-seeded Andre Agassi lost to Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-3.

Blues keep Pronger

The St. Louis Blues today re-signed restricted free-agent defenseman Chris Pronger to a one-year, $10 million contract.

Australian banned

Australian cyclist Jobie Dajka was omitted from the country's Olympic team after admitting he lied to a federal inquiry into drug-taking allegations.

Wrigley Field cleared

City building inspectors gave the go-ahead for the Chicago Cubs to play at Wrigley Field today after protective netting was installed to keep chunks of concrete from falling from the upper deck. The city could have prevented the game at the 90-year-old ballpark if the netting wasn't fully installed or if they concluded it didn't adequately protect fans.

Chelsea wins on tour

Matej Kezman scored his third goal in two games as Chelsea beat AS Roma 3-0 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on the fifth match of its nine-team, 11-game North American tour.

Jockey breaks leg

Jockey Mike Luzzi broke his right leg when he was thrown from his mount Thursday during the first race at Saratoga Race Course.