Sports briefs for August 2, 2005

Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

Rebels name sportsman, sportswoman of year

Golfer Ryan Moore has been named the 2005 UNLV Sportsman of the Year, while softball standout Marissa Nichols won the Sportswoman of the Year award, the UNLV athletics department announced Monday.

Moore, now a four-time recipient of the award, completed his senior year with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, a title he won in 2004. He won the Hogan, Nicklaus and Haskins awards for national collegiate player of the year, becoming just the second Rebel to win his respective sport's national collegiate player of the year award (Larry Johnson).

Nichols, from Diamond Bar, Calif., finished her freshman year at UNLV by earning NFCA first team All-America honors, becoming the program's first player recognized as such since 2000.

She was named MWC Freshman of the Year and was a member of the All-MWC and MWC All-Tournament teams. Additionally, she was selected the MWC Player of the Week a record six times.

The Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards were voted on by head coaches, administrators and sports information personnel at UNLV.

Panthers strike first in free agent period

The Florida Panthers signed four-time All-Star center Joe Nieuwendyk and left wing Gary Roberts away from the Toronto Maple Leafs, less than two hours into the free agent signing period.

Both players were unrestricted free agents and the first to agree to contracts after the signing period began at noon EDT.

Daly sues newspaper for defamation

John Daly sued The Florida Times-Union and its Web site, contending he was defamed by a columnist who called the golfer a thug who allegedly beats women.

Columnist Mike Freeman's article appeared during The Players Championship last spring. It discusses Daly's past and how fans continue to root for him. The former British Open and PGA champion is known for his battles with alcohol, his temper and his weight and chain smokes on the course.

Michigan picked to win Big Ten

Michigan was picked as the preseason favorite in a media poll released Monday, followed by Ohio State and Iowa.

OSU senior linebacker A.J. Hawk repeated as the conference's preseason defensive player of the year, while Iowa junior quarterback Drew Tate was honored on offense.

Two seeded players lose in first round

At Carlsbad, Calif., Anna Chakvetadze scored one of two upsets in the Acura Classic, ousting 12th-seeded Tatiana Golovin.

Chakvetadze, one of 11 Russians in a field of 64, defeated the French player 6-4, 6-4 on the opening day of the $1.3 million event.

Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria pulled off the other upset with a 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 victory over No. 13 Shinobu Asagoe of Japan.

In one of the later matches, 2002 tournament champion James Blake battled through to defeat Jean-Rene Lisnard of France 6-4, 6-3. Blake will face fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in the second round on Wednesday.

He will face Romanian Razvan Sabau, who beat Oscar Hernandez of Spain 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. Eighth-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania defeated Spain's Albert Montanes 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3.

-- Staff and wire reports