Sports briefs for April 28, 2005

Thursday, April 28, 2005 | 9:44 a.m.

NASCAR penalties discourage cheating

NASCAR's game of cat and mouse between car inspectors and crews has turned in favor of the inspectors, so many of the crews are running scared as they head to Talladega for Sunday's Aaron's 499.

NASCAR's latest crackdown on cheating and rules infractions has resulted in the suspension of several crew chiefs, five-figure fines and the deduction of Nextel Cup points. That means drivers and crew chiefs throughout the garage are rethinking their approach to gaining mechanical advantages through creative interpretations of the rule book.

Talladega, long synonymous with cheating, probably won't be that way this week.

"I know that it changes our mind-set with the gray areas and how we push things and how we work with NASCAR, because we don't want to lose our crew chief and we don't want to lose points," said points leader Jimmie Johnson, whose crew chief, Chad Knaus, was suspended when their No. 48 failed a post-race inspection at Las Vegas last month. The penalty later was reduced on appeal.

U.S. basketball team given new direction

Eight months after the U.S. men's basketball team settled for the bronze medal at the Athens Olympics, Jerry Colangelo pledged to overhaul the player selection process to restore the team's reputation as the best in the world.

Colangelo, 65, who was named the national team's first managing director Wednesday, abolished the selection committee, expressed interest in holding tryouts and left open the possibility of choosing college players.

He made it clear that high-profile NBA players need not apply unless they are ready to make a commitment for two to three summers.

"I think we need a change of direction," Colangelo said. "If we can do it the right way and change the perception the world had of our Olympic effort, which left a lot to be desired, we have to turn back the clock a bit in terms of being very respectful."

The multicolored "inukshuk" -- based on traditional Inuit stone figures used to point traveling Inuit to safety and symbolize friendship -- is comprised of blocks in the colors of the Olympic rings. It's called "Ilanaaq" (pronounced ih-lah-nawk), the Inuit word for "friend."

It was denounced by Edward John, the grand chief of Canada's First Nations Summit.

He said the logo, unveiled Saturday in Vancouver, didn't reflect the indigenous people of Canada's western coast. The Inuit are natives of Canada's northern and Arctic Circle territories.

Sun wire services