In Brief

FOOTBALL

Agent: T.O. recovering
from left knee surgery

Terrell Owens is recovering from left knee surgery and plans to be ready to play when the NFL season starts.

Owens' agent Drew Rosenhaus confirmed Tuesday that the 37-year-old receiver tore his anterior cruciate ligament, had surgery in early April and "will be playing at the start of the NFL season."

In an interview with ESPN, Rosenhaus called speculation that Owens was considering retirement "nonsense" and said the 15-year veteran is doing "fantastic" and could be recovered as early as August.

Rosenhaus said Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery to the same knee in which Owens tore his meniscus late last year.

"The old injury has been repaired," Rosenhaus said. "He is many months into recovery and doing fantastic. No predictions on training camp, but he comes back fast from injuries. I won't rule him out of anything. He will be a starting receiver for someone this year."

As for Owens considering retirement, Rosenhaus said "all the retirement talk is nonsense. There's been no discussion about that and this injury is not a big deal."

Also: Colin Kaepernick was a full participant at an informal minicamp of San Francisco 49ers players for the first time, showing off his strong arm and moving swiftly after surgery on his lower left leg in early May.

The second-round pick out of UNR said he skipped a symposium for NFL rookies this week because he didn't want to miss a chance to bond with teammates and learn the playbook.

About two dozen players gathered for the first day of a four-day minicamp in San Jose, Calif., led by quarterback Alex Smith. Smith is a free agent expected to re-sign with the team, although Kaepernick figures to put some pressure on him for the starting spot.

The Fiesta Bowl has asked 31 Arizona politicians who received free trips or game tickets to explain how they benefited the tax-exempt group, and it said it may ask them to repay the costs if the expenditures can't be justified.

The bowl sent letters this week to the current and former elected officials with a breakdown of what they received. The total was more than $160,000.

Some of the officials have already written checks to the bowl totaling $7,311, but none comes close to what the bowl might seek in repayment. The charitable group said it must try to recover money spent outside of Internal Revenue Service rules so it can maintain its tax-exempt status.

The tattoo parlor-owner embroiled in the Ohio State football scandal had a lucrative side business selling hundreds of pounds of marijuana in Columbus, a second job that federal prosecutors say allowed him to pay $21,500 for a luxury SUV.

But Edward Rife's guilty plea to drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges might have gone unnoticed had federal investigators not stumbled upon another of Rife's sidelines: buying Ohio State memorabilia from football players or giving them discounts on tattoos for the items.

That discovery triggered an NCAA investigation into the school, led to coach Jim Tressel's forced resignation, the departure of star quarterback Terrelle Pryor and the suspension of four players for the first five games of the upcoming season and one game for a fifth player.

PRO HOCKEY

Belfour, Gilmour, Howe,
Nieuwendyk hall-bound

Eddie the Eagle is a Hall of Famer.

Former All-Star goalie Ed Belfour was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, joining Doug Gilmour, Mark Howe and Joe Nieuwendyk as the newest class of inductees.

The four former NHL stars were chosen by the hall's 18-member selection committee. The induction ceremony will be held Nov. 14.

Belfour, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner as the league's top goalie, posted 484 wins -- third on the NHL career list -- and 76 shutouts during a 17-year career during which he played for Chicago, San Jose, Dallas, Toronto and Florida.

Also: Zdeno Chara hoisted the Stanley Cup as captain of the Boston Bruins two weeks ago. Next, the big defenseman will meet with the Montreal police.

Police said they intend to question Chara in the coming weeks and decide whether to press charges for the hit that sidelined Montreal forward Max Pacioretty with a concussion and a cracked vertebra.

Quebec's director of criminal prosecutions ordered an investigation into the hit by Chara during a regular-season game against the Canadiens on March 8.

Durable two-way center Brooks Laich signed a six-year, $27 million deal with the Washington Capitals, opting to stay with the team rather than test the open market.

Laich was poised to become an unrestricted free agent Friday, but he had stated an inclination to stay in Washington if the team wanted him back.

MISCELLANEOUS

Marsico, Ernst advance
to Publinx match play

Despite failing to break par, both Las Vegas' Max Marsico and UNLV's Derek Ernst advanced in the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Bandon, Ore.

Marsico had a 3-over-par 74 for a two-day total of 144. Ernst shot a 4-over 75 and finished the stroke-play portion of the event at 145. Both players will compete in the single-elimination match play portion of the tournament beginning today.

In the Women's Public Links Championship, Green Valley High School's Alex Kaui shot 81 for a 160 total. That left her just one stroke short of a nine-way playoff for the final two match-play spots.

Also: Former ESPN commentator Jay Mariotti must stand trial on charges he stalked, injured and assaulted his ex-girlfriend.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said that a judge found there is enough evidence for Mariotti to face the charges.

Prosecutors say Mariotti, a former Chicago Sun-Times columnist, grabbed the woman outside a Venice restaurant in April, pulled a chunk of her hair out and took her cellphone away while shouting at her.

He also allegedly confronted the woman on Sept. 30, the same day he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery count stemming from an August incident with her. In that plea, he was sentenced to 36 months of probation, community service and a domestic violence course.

Mariotti's lawyer, Shaw Holley, calls the allegations meritless and inconsistent with physical evidence in the case.

Crown Royal will end its sponsorship with Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the year, and parent company Diageo will not renew its deal as an official NASCAR partner.

Crown Royal has sponsored Matt Kenseth for the last two seasons, and the company sponsored Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray before that. Going forward, Crown Royal will only sponsor the Sprint Cup race at Richmond, Va.

The Houston Rockets picked up the team option for next season on backup point guard Goran Dragic.

The 6-foot-3-inch Dragic joined the Rockets at the trade deadline in February in a deal that sent Aaron Brooks to Phoenix.

Dragic played in 22 games, averaging 7.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish will lead the United States in a Davis Cup quarterfinal against Spain, with brothers Bob and Mike Bryan playing doubles.

The matches will be held July 8-10 in Austin at the Frank Erwin Center at the University of Texas.

Spain announced on Monday its lineup of David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers to represent the four-time champions.

Rafael Nadal chose not to play in the Davis Cup quarterfinal, saying he needed rest after Wimbledon.