Sports briefs for April 8, 2005

Friday, April 8, 2005 | 9:33 a.m.

Rocker comeback starts in New York

John Rocker signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League.

The left-handed reliever became the center of controversy while with the Atlanta Braves in 1999 when he made derogatory comments in Sports Illustrated about gays, minorities and the city of New York.

"John Rocker wants to pitch on Long Island," Ducks pitching coach and former big leaguer Dave LaPoint said. "He had opportunities to pitch elsewhere and he chose to pitch here."

BYU blanks UNLV

The Rebels suffered their third shutout of the season Thursday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, losing to BYU 4-0 despite strong winds blowing out of the park, conditions almost identical to the Sunday game when the Rebels scored 16 runs and hit three home runs.

But against BYU starter Dave Horlacher, UNLV (14-20 overall, 8-2 Mountain West Conference) managed just four hits and now stand a game back of BYU (22-7-1, 9-1).

Davenport cruises

Lindsay Davenport needed just 55 minutes to beat Kveta Peschke 6-2, 6-2, before rain canceled most of the evening and afternoon matches at the Bausch & Lomb Championships on Amelia Island, Fla.

Fifth-seeded Venus Williams and Marta Domachowska were tied at one set each before the delay. They will finish their match Friday. The winner will face Davenport.

Bowe wins split decision

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe won a 10-round split decision against journeyman Billy Zumbrun in the second bout of his comeback in Temecula, Calif.

The 37-year-old Bowe weighed 280 pounds, some 40 more than in his prime and 54 more than the game Zumbrun. At 6-feet-4 1/2, Bowe also towered over his 5-11 opponent.

Bowe, who sent Zumbrun crumbling to the canvas with a powerful left to the body in the fourth round, over the course of the bout appeared to take more punishment than he gave.

Players, GMs meet to discuss rules

Even with NHL ice empty for nearly seven months, general managers and players are trying to find better ways to fill the net.

Thirty GMs and selected players met for more than six hours at a suburban Detroit hotel Thursday, discussing possible rules changes designed to add more scoring punch to an increasingly defensive-oriented game that has been halted by labor strife.

"We do feel that part of the reason we're not playing is that the game needs to be more entertaining," Detroit Red Wings forward Brendan Shanahan said.

Changes could include cutting down the size of goaltending equipment, limiting the goalie's ability to play the puck behind the net, widening the blue lines and instituting shootouts to eliminate tie games.

On Saturday, the defending champions will go for a fourth consecutive win against the Fighting Sioux in the championship game.

The Fighting Sioux clinched their berth with a 4-2 win against Minnesota. Denver rolled rival Colorado College 6-2 in the first semifinal at Ohio State's Value City Arena.

The Pioneers scored all six of their goals with a man advantage, making the most of 12 power-play chances.

"Coming into this weekend, we made the power play a priority," Denver coach George Gwozdecky said. "Having so many power plays and taking advantage of those opportunities was huge for us because we knew they were hard to score on 5-on-5."-- Sun wire services